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mary rosenblum
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Hello all.
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you all had a good
weekend.
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mary rosenblum
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We had quite a crowd here
Sunday night for our casual chat. :-) They're a lot of fun.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about planting backstory. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me
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mary rosenblum
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I wanted to talk about
backstory. For nearly all of us, when we're first starting to write
fiction, backstory is hard to master.
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mary rosenblum
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You have to find a balance
between too much and too little. And the temptation is to tell all.
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mary rosenblum
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Too much backstory means you
don't leave a lot for the reader to discover later on...and will often give
away your plot!
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mary rosenblum
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Too little means your readers
flounder around searching for clues rather than paying attention to what is
going on.
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mary rosenblum
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But you're better off to err
on the side of 'too little' rather than 'too much'.
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mary rosenblum
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Human curiosity is a major
driving force for your readers. We are full of curiosity and slowly
discovering a main character's past is a pastime most readers find
engaging. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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What many novice writers try
to do, is to simply tell all the backstory right away, before the story
begins.
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mary rosenblum
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This is a very common mistake
and I see it all the time in the manuscripts of novice writers.
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onepozy
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Can you spread a back story over
several chapters
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mary rosenblum
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Absolutely, one.
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mary rosenblum
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You can keep on inserting
backstory right up to the climax of your story or your novel.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember that if you hide some
aspects of the backstory, that may increase the suspense of the story...why
is this character doing this?
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mary rosenblum
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As the backstory emerges, it
begins to explain behavior that may seem puzzling.
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telcontar
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lol... what do you do when the
character refuses to explain his backstory?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, tel, it
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mary rosenblum
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it's time for some tough love.
I would send my character to his/her room and tell that character that the
story will continue after we all know the backstory.
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mary rosenblum
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Your character can hide it
from the readers.
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mary rosenblum
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But YOU need to know or that
character's behavior will be inconsistant and that character will seem
unreal, a plot puppet, to the reader.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember, that while it's fun
to pretend that your characters are independent entities, you really are
responsible for knowing them well enough to make them seem real to the
reader.
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mary rosenblum
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They may seem real to you, but
that translation to the reader is the critical part! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It's true that sometimes it
takes awhile to come up with the character's backstory.
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mary rosenblum
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I often get partway into a
story or novel, realize I need to create my character more deeply, and
shelve that project until...
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mary rosenblum
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I have done that to my
satisfaction.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about planting backstory. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me
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mary rosenblum
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You handle initial backstory
quite differently in short fiction than you do in novel form.
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mary rosenblum
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In short fiction, it is very
rare that a 'backstory start' will work.
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mary rosenblum
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Many new short story writers
try to start off with a 'who/where/when/what' start and only then get into
the story plot.
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mary rosenblum
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However, in short fiction,
with its limited length, it's much more important to start with a plot
element -- action or dialogue -- and weave that who/where/when/why into the
first scene.
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mary rosenblum
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Readers are very willing to
wait for those backstory puzzle pieces.
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mary rosenblum
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Of course you do need to start
weaving them in right away.
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mary rosenblum
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The first scene of a short
story is always the most work for me. Especially in SF, where I need to
create a world and new technology, I have to design a first scene
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mary rosenblum
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that permits me to weave in
sufficient backstory that my reader doesn't drown!
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speckledorf
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Is there a way to decide just
how much backstory we need to start with?
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mary rosenblum
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The best way, speck, is to ask
yourself 'what MUST my reader know in order for this scene to work'?
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mary rosenblum
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Say we have a woman opening
the door to a barn and finding a dead body.
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mary rosenblum
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What MUST we know here?
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mary rosenblum
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Not much really. She's going
to run to the house and call 911 or use her cell phone.
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mary rosenblum
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All we need to know RIGHT NOW
is that she does or does not recognize the dead person. We don't need to
know anything about her past, her job, her marital status...anything.
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mary rosenblum
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We don't have to create the
universe...this is the usual real world.
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mary rosenblum
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Later on, as she deals with
homicide, we can find out more about her...the detectives will ask her
questions.
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mary rosenblum
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She'll probably think about
this experience, and if she recognizes the person, of course we'll learn a
lot more.
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janecj333
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Maybe she booby-trapped the barn
and was hoping to catch the intruder. Maybe the body is her clone and she's
been desperate waiting for her arrival.
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mary rosenblum
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And if that was the case,
you'd have to weave that in within her reaction.
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mary rosenblum
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She has planned this, and when
she sees the body, her reactions, both physical and mental, will fill that
story in for us...
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mary rosenblum
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but not necessarily in depth.
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mary rosenblum
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All we might need in that case
is a 'ah, got him! The SOB'. And then she pulls out her cell and calls 911.
:-)
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mary rosenblum
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Later on, as she's neatly
evading the detectives' questions she can reveal more to us about how and
why she planned this. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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In Jane's version, we DO need
the backstory of her plot to kill this person in order to understand the
scene.
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mary rosenblum
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In the first example, we don't
need to know anything about her background or the victim's background...the
obvious murder is enough.
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mary rosenblum
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If you're creating a
universe...a fantasy world or a SF future...you have to give much more
thought to what you need to include.
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mary rosenblum
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Again, less is more.
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mary rosenblum
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What MUST the reader know in
order for this to make sense?
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mary rosenblum
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Stop there.
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mary rosenblum
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Weave more details in later.
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mary rosenblum
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The history of a country, the
nature of its ruler...you probably don't need much of this right away.
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mary rosenblum
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Now in a novel, you have all
of chapter one to bring readers up to speed as far as your backstory
goes...
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mary rosenblum
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although, again, don't be
tempted to thoroughly reveal every last item of your characters' history.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember...curiosity keeps
readers reading!
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mary rosenblum
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And if they know TOO much
about your characters' nature, they'll guess what's going to happen.
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mary rosenblum
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An obvious skeleton in your
character's closet, one he or she doesn't want to deal with, is an enticing
foreshadowing of interesting revelations to come.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about planting backstory. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me
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mary rosenblum
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Charie, who couldn't be here
today, sent me a question.
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mary rosenblum
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Charie asked: What if the
backstory is a secondary plot thread?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, a plot thread is a plot
thread, and you weave it into the main plot the same way you'd weave in any
backstory.
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mary rosenblum
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Often, backstory is a strong
secondary plot thread.
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mary rosenblum
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If your MC is hoping to run
into the man who killed his father as he serves in the army, even though
he's involved with a different main plot thread...
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mary rosenblum
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we're going to receive hints
that this is going on, and at some point, this secondary 'backstory plot'
may climax with a confrontation...
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mary rosenblum
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that may be entwined with the
main plot. (I would certainly hope it was entwined with the main plot!)
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tarsus
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When you say less is more, would
that also apply if the supernatural is part of the story? I mean, would
introducing the ghost now, for example, too much overshadow the crime
scene?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, not at all Tarsus.
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mary rosenblum
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If the ghost is part of your
plot, a major player, then introducing that ghost at the crime scene is
fine.
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mary rosenblum
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I would not go into the nature
of ghosts, what the afterlife is like, even how this ghost became a ghost.
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mary rosenblum
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One glimpse to start with
might be just fine.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about planting backstory. If you're new here, remember that you need
to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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onepozy
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Would you have a backstory for
some secondary characters
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mary rosenblum
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Actually, one, I develop
backstory for all my characters, even the spear carriers. :-) But it won't
all show up in the story...unless it's necessary and appropriate.
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mary rosenblum
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But it helps me make their
behavior consistent as they act.
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janecj333
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Some stories start where it's
dark and we can't identify even the mc, or where the character is trapped
and can't be seen, can't move or act. How can we handle that ?
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mary rosenblum
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Ah, good question, Jane. And
in first person, we won't know what that character looks like.
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mary rosenblum
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That's fine.
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mary rosenblum
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You really don't need to give
readers a lot of physical description...each reader is going to see the
character that pleases him/her.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...
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mary rosenblum
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You want to be sure you are
all on the same page regarding a few key details.
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mary rosenblum
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If your character is in the
dark or you're writing in first person, make sure your readers know that
character's gender.
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mary rosenblum
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Start there. And if you're
using a MC who is not your gender, it's doubly important.
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mary rosenblum
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If you're in third person,
this isn't an issue. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Pronouns are a nice thing.
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mary rosenblum
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In first it IS an issue.
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mary rosenblum
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If your character is
floundering in the dark, don't worry about details. Maybe he'll push a
tangle of hair back from his sweaty face...so now we know he has long
hair...
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mary rosenblum
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or she stands on tiptoe to
reach for something (she's short)...
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mary rosenblum
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Or he grabs something and he
swings himself easily up through a window. (he's athletic)
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mary rosenblum
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The trick is to wait for the
end of your hook scene in a short story.
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mary rosenblum
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Plan a following scene that
gives your readers a bit of a breather and allows you to weave in the
backstory readers need to continue.
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mary rosenblum
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In a novel, where you have
that complete chapter to introduce your first plot element...
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mary rosenblum
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it's still a good idea to have
your character doing some kind of action at the start of the chapter.
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mary rosenblum
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Pick something that is going
to engage the readers. It may be your first plot element, or may be some
slightly related...
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mary rosenblum
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activity that will lead up to
your first plot element.
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mary rosenblum
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But give readers something to
look at as you weave in backstory.
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mary rosenblum
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A long narrative opening
describing the MC's childhood, fears, current job, girlfriend, and what
have you, is not likely to compell readers to carry this book to the cash
register and pay money for it.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about planting backstory. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
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mary rosenblum
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Let's go back to our
body-in-the-barn example.
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mary rosenblum
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If I was doing that as a short
story, I'd start with the MC opening the door and finding the body.
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mary rosenblum
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If this is going to be chapter
one of a mystery novel, I might have my MC doing what she normally
does...let's say she's a sheep farmer.
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mary rosenblum
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She goes about some tasks, but
I'd do my best to add some suspense...the sheep are behaving oddly or her
sheep dog is...
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mary rosenblum
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or something else is wrong in
her life and she's worried about it. So I'd have the actions of her
everyday morning chores
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mary rosenblum
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to carry reader interest with
hopefully as sense of trouble pending to keep readers engaged as they learn
necessary backstory.
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speckledorf
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Whatever backstory we use it
should do the enhance setting, advance plot and deepen characterization
tripod right?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, it shouldn't be a scene
on its own, speck.
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mary rosenblum
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That rarerly works except in
flashback, and flashback has its own price.
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mary rosenblum
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Your scene should adhere to
all these and the backstory is extra.
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mary rosenblum
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Where writers run into trouble
is when a scene is all backstory.
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mary rosenblum
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It does NOT advance the plot,
it merely fills in the past.
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mary rosenblum
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It probably doesn't enhance
the setting -- not if the author is telling us about this character's
history.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, it is going to deepen the
characterization, but that's one out of three 'tripod legs'. Not a strong
scene at all.
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janecj333
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What kind of backstory is most
crucial once we do use it?
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mary rosenblum
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The only crucial backstory is
'what must the reader know for this to work'.
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mary rosenblum
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MUST is the key.
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mary rosenblum
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And of course, that's going to
vary from story to story.
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mary rosenblum
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If you develop a really three
dimensional character, you're going to know tons of cool backstory.
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mary rosenblum
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But the iceberg metaphor
applies.
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mary rosenblum
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Only the tip of that backstory
iceberg should show up in the story.
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mary rosenblum
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What is hard is to leave out
cool stuff you thought up. Yeah, it's going to add to what we know about
the character...no kidding!
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mary rosenblum
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But remember...it's the story
that comes first.
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mary rosenblum
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If that backstory adds to the
characterization but bogs down the story, it shouldn't be there.
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mary rosenblum
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You can reveal that three
dimensional character without using all the details you've made up.
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mary rosenblum
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If the childhood trauma in
your MC's past is going to directly influence her actions in a crucial
scene...
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mary rosenblum
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then we need to know about
that past, or at least know that something bad happened back then.
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mary rosenblum
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If it does not influence her
actions in the story, but is simply part of what makes her who she is...
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mary rosenblum
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we may not need to know what.
It may be quite sufficient to see her as someone who is more wary and
personally defended than most people.
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mary rosenblum
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The 'why' for that may be
interesting, but may not be important enough to add to the story.
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janecj333
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How about using internal
monologue in the opening scene to enrich the reader's understanding?
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mary rosenblum
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I see that a lot in novice
fiction, jane. It is very rarely done in such a way that it works.
Narrative is narrative, whether you are talking or your character is
thinking.
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mary rosenblum
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We're simply listening.
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mary rosenblum
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You are much better off to
weave small fragments of that internal narrative into strong action.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember...you don't need much
backstory to get the story rolling.
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mary rosenblum
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Weave it in over the next
scenes.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about planting backstory. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
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mary rosenblum
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Where it may work better is in
a first person narrative.
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mary rosenblum
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That is a form of telling.
Your first person POV is telling you a story or talking to himself/herself
as he/she acts.
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mary rosenblum
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If the narrator is telling
readers about something that happened in the past, you can get away with
that 'this is me' start...
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mary rosenblum
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but only if you have a strong
character voice (which you'd better have or first person is not your best
choice!)
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...if you do the first
person that is essentially the character thinking to himself/herself as
he/she deals with the plot...
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mary rosenblum
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then your POV may not have
reason to think about his/her past life much.
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mary rosenblum
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And you face the same
backstory issues that you do in third person.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about planting backstory. If you're new here, remember that you
need to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the
red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon
in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can
also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach
me.
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mary rosenblum
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The best way to achieve that
tightrope balance of too much/too little is from informed reader input.
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mary rosenblum
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In other words, you need to
give the story to people and ask them, after they have read it, did you
understand this? Was it clear why this is happening? Did you get it, why my
character did whatever?
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mary rosenblum
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And finally: Was there enough
backstory or too much?
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mary rosenblum
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Now you're going to get a wide
range of responses on that last one. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Some readers love action and
are impatient with backstory...they just want the characters to act.
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mary rosenblum
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Other readers are more curious
and internal and they like lots of backstory.
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mary rosenblum
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So you need to find that
balance where the 'action only' folk aren't turned off by all that
introspective musing and the 'more backstory' people get enough to feel
that the character is real. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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You are NEVER going to please
everyone!
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mary rosenblum
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Well, we're going to have to
end this Forum in a few minutes...I have to stick to a 'real world' hour
now. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Any last questions on
backstory before we wrap up?
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janecj333
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Now that you mention first
person pov where everything is essentially 'told' to the reader, it gives
me more insight into backstory in 3rd person pov and why it's so tempting
to use.
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mary rosenblum
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No kidding, Jane!
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mary rosenblum
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It takes some time and
practice to really separate 'first person technique' from 'third person
technique'.
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mary rosenblum
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Narrative is an important part
of third person POV, but you need to use it sparingly and you need to use
powerful narrative that adds to the story rather than convenient...
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mary rosenblum
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narrative that simply
short-cuts something you should show with a bit more work. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Use character dialogue and
your MC's reaction to events, comments to reveal a lot of your backstory.
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mary rosenblum
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You can 'show' most of it, and
the occasional internal narrative can illuminate still more.
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mary rosenblum
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Just avoid the temptation to
have that character muse at length in third person. That really brings the
momentum to a grinding halt.
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mary rosenblum
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One of the most common
'problem starts' I see in both short story and novel is the strong action
hook...
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mary rosenblum
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followed by pages of internal
narrative as the MC lays out all the backstory. *YAWN*
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tolkienlvr
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Mary - It would be interesting
to have a forum on showing character's emotions effectively - making them
believable - writing our characters believably...
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mary rosenblum
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Your wish, Tolkien! :-) I will
schedule it!
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mary rosenblum
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Our Forums will
alternate...Tuesday morning one week, Friday afternon the next.
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mary rosenblum
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If you haven't signed up for
the 'Free Writers News' on the LR website, do so. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I'm expanding the newsletter a
lot and I'll have the Forum schedule as well as highlights from the Forum I
just held every week...
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mary rosenblum
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as well as interviews with LR
instructors, a new market or two every week, and a Q&A column..
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mary rosenblum
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where you can send me any
question you have, about assignments or writing topics in general.
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mary rosenblum
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You'll find a 'free writers
news' link on most pages on the website, in the navigation bar on the left,
and on the home page.
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tolkienlvr
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Can we do the character forum on
a Tuesday please - I must work day job on Fridays. : ) Thanks!!!! I look
forward to it!
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mary rosenblum
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Will do, Tolkien. I'll
schedule it for our next Tuesday Forum.
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mary rosenblum
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Lessee...that'll beTuesday,
October 17. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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We'll talk about how to make
your readers hear your character's tone of voice, so that you don't have to
say 'he said angrily', too. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post the transcripts in
the usual place: Writing Craft: Forum Transcripts.
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mary rosenblum
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Have a good week, all!
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mary rosenblum
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Do join us for our casual
chats most weekday mornings...and on Sunday at 5 PM Pacific...
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mary rosenblum
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6 Mt, 7 Central, and 8 east
coast.
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mary rosenblum
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Work on that backstory, and
have a good week all!
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