Back Stories

Hi guys. Sorry this post is late but I got sick and then I had two papers to write and when I went to the Writing Center they made so many edits I practically had to rewrite one of them completely. From scratch. And then I went to down my sorrows in chocolate but as I had spent the whole night writing the Creamery was closed...

See all that? That is what we in the writing business refer to as back story. Back story is literally as self-explanatory as it seems--it means describing what happened to your character in the past to shape their state of mind and their actions in the present. What makes them the character you know and love (or hate, villains should have back stories too.)

However there is such a thing as too much back story. You probably weren't interested to hear all the details about my academic woe, but it would have been even worse if I'd added in how I woke up at 6:30, brushed my teeth, ate a bowl of Lucky Charms...those details are even more unnecessary. Follow the sacred law of writing--show don't tell. In Harry Potter, we know that he was sent to live with his horrid aunt and uncle, and little details such as the fact that Harry is super skinny and has to wear his cousin's hand me down clothes are enough proof that he's been neglected during his childhood. We don't need a full out explanation of all the past eleven years of his life. That's just info dumping.

So how do you create a back story? Well...work backwards. For example in the recent movie Maleficent the plot is all about Maleficent's back story. Why did she curse baby Princess Aurora? Because Stephen, her lover, betrayed her trust and cut off her wings in order to become King. Here's another important part of back story--don't make it simple. Maleficent doesn't hate Stephen just because he is the human king and humans are awful to fairies. She hates him because he emotionally manipulated and deceived her. Make your back stories complicated. People are complicated. That's just who we are.

However just because your character might have a long and complicated back story, doesn't mean the reader needs to know every detail of it. Think of J.K Rowling's tidbits she posted on the Pottermore website. (And if you don't have a Pottermore account GET ONE NOW.) She has pages of back story on Remus Lupin's tragic and horrible life, but she doesn't include all of his childhood in the books. Why? Because what furthers the plot is his grief over his dead friends and his determination to help protect his best friend's son. That's what matters.

Above all when it comes to back story, listen to your character. This is their story. They know what you want.

Writing Major and Minor Characters

This week we talked about the importance of not only developing your major characters, but making sure that your minor characters are compelling even when they have a minimal role.

How do authors do this well? Well let's take a look at JK Rowling, who has hundreds of minor characters and yet somehow we remember every single one of them. Not only do each of them have a distinct voice and appearance, she also only introduces them as they become necessary to the plot. For example, she doesn't just list of the names of each of the professor's at Hogwarts and expect us to remember them. Rather, we're introduced to Snape and McGonnaGall and Quirrell as Harry progresses through the school year and his classes, and we learn more about their personalities as Harry learns more about them.

However while it is important to at least acknowledge the existence of each of your minor characters, they don't need to be as fleshed out as the main character. We don't need to spend a page talking about characters that have little relevance to the plot. The amount of detail a character gets should reflect on how necessary they are.

Major Characters: When it comes to developing your main character there are two important parts to every single one of them; they all have to want something and they all have to have character flaws. Every character wants something, rather it's to marry the prince, become famous, carry the Ring to Mordor, or defeat the evil wizard. You get the gist. And no one is interested in perfect characters either. Character flaws make it so the reader can relate to your story.

Stereotypes: Avoid these like the plague--well mostly. There are some stereotypes that can be helpful, especially when you're writing from the point of view of the opposite gender. While it's true that guys are less emotional and girls more so (most of the time anyway)--don't make either of these points the defining trait of your character. When writing books with female characters there is a system known as the Beckdale Test: which basically states that does your work contain two or more girls, and do they talk about something other than boys?

Here are some older posts on the site that also talk about character development:

http://ypublish.blogspot.com/2013/07/characters-realistic-exciting.html

http://ypublish.blogspot.com/2013/03/developing-characters.html

Here are also some good questions for you to ask yourself about your main character. Once you've done that trying having your character "write" a letter to you the way you think they would, and then write one back. It's a great way to get to know their voice.

What/Who/Where is your character's...?

Name: 

Nickname:

Occupation:

Food Dislikes:

School:

Hair.Eyes/Height:

Personality:

Shoes:

Wants to:

Weapons:

Obstacles:

BF/GF:

Home:

Love:

First Kiss:

Age:

Religion: