Writing workshop volume 12: How to write your character's background
It's Day 3 of #challenge30days! My third post is a new installment in my writing workshop series. You can see the previous volumes at the end of this post.
How to write your character’s background
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Some of the biggest challenges for many fiction writers include: where to start, how much background to provide, and where to fit the background information in.
I personally think these three challenges are tied together and can be resolved together. For example:
Where to start? Whenever possible, don’t start with background information. It tends to sound really dry as the opening to a story. The opening is where you want to hook your reader. For most stories, you want to jump right into the story’s action, and perhaps the character’s conflict, so your readers feel compelled to read on.
How much background to provide? This is absolutely a matter of opinion and circumstance. If you are writing a longer story with many interwoven characters and lives, you may need quite a bit of background to support your story line. But fit it into the story where it will be the most impactful.
Where to fit the background information in? Unless it’s critical for launching the story, it's often best to weave it into the action of the story so it integrates with what readers really want, which is for stuff to happen. Of course you have more leeway with a novel, and can devote multiple consecutive paragraphs to background information once your story is underway. For a shorter story, go as minimal as possible on the background information. (In fact, when you’re editing the story, keep an eye open for unnecessary background information that you can extract to make the story zip along faster.)
I am going to admit that this has always been a weak area for me. I personally love the background and history of characters, and I want to tell it all. But I also realize tha I may as well throw cold water on the reader! I’ve had to really work at the discipline to not start my stories with all the stuff I think you may need to know before I really tell you the story.
So, here are a few techniques I’d like to share that I think can work pretty well:
Write it, then set it aside and judiciously sprinkle it in later
It’s important for you to know the background, but it probably isn’t important to tell your readers straight off that Harald is Chester’s second cousin and is twice divorced and has two kids in Portland Maine and two in Boston. It’s more important that you share something about Harald (preferably through action or dialog) that shows us who is. Maybe he walks into the barber shop twirling his moustache, tips his hat, and flips a quarter into the fish tank. Much better. Later you can mention Chester and the two wives and four kids, because then it will seem interesting once we know him.
Leave it out all together
You may just not need it. If Brenda is divorcing Sam and somehow secretly wants custody of one child but not the other, we need to know why she wants that. We probably don’t need to know where she grew up, so you can just leave that out. But we may need to know what happened between Brenda and Sam that led to the divorce, and if it’s somehow related to this despicable choice of hers to pick one child over the other.
Spice it up
Sometimes it’s just fine to start out with some background information, especially if it’s really spicy and fairly brief. Interesting, character-forming, well-told background description can be fun to read and can set the stage for the story.
Here’s a little example I made up for this post that is hopefully spicy enough that you become interested and want to read more.
Aunt Suzie was the unfortunate misfit child in a family of sports stars. Suzie only wanted to compete in chess competitions. Of course, that is how she met Uncle Pete, who was the grandmaster of the Kansas City Chess Club at the time. But it never would have happened if Suzie’s brother Ralph, the star quarterback of Kansas City High School, hadn’t picked a fight with the Science Olympiad teacher.
The idea behind opening the story with this background information is that it's just enough to give readers a flavor of what's to come. In this case, what I have in mind is a wild romp of a story in which there are a number of intriguing characters and odd relationships, and starting out with action or dialog might not set the stage effectively. For the very next paragraph, however, I would get someone talking or doing something absolutely riveting.
In his book Writing Tools, 10th Anniversary Edition, Roy Peter Clark spends a chapter talking about the difference between a report and story. "A report sounds like this: The school board will meet Thursday to discuss the new desegregation plan. A story sounds like this: Wanda Mitchell shook her fist at the school board chairman, tears streaming down her face."
Too much background information, particularly if it is delivered early on, will make your story sound like a report. But showing your reader what your characters are all about, through interesting action and dialog, will grip your readers and make them want to follow wherever your story takes them.
Where are you in your writing journey? Whether you are a new or experienced writer, I would love to hear from you about how you incorporate your characters' background information into your stories.
Thank you for reading!
The previous volumes in this series are:
- Volume 1: The Beginning
- Volume 2: Exploring voice in writing
- Volume 3: Say what you want to say
- Volume 4: Serial fiction projects on Steemit
- Volume 5: Getting organized and actually writing
- Volume 6: Tips for writing anywhere, anytime
- Volume 7: Should you write historical fiction?
- Volume 8: Prompts, contests, and challenges--oh my!
- Volume 9: Pushing through insecurity and writing anyway
- Volume 10: Perspective and point of view in fiction writing
- Volume 11: Second person point of view in fiction
To your success!
If you haven't done so already, be sure to check out The Writers' Block on Discord where you can get help from a community of writers and editors.
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Excellent points! I find I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum, where I don't really have that background info to give. Do you have suggestions on how to come up with a character (maybe another post idea)?
Yes, I think that’s a great idea for a post, @morodiene. It’s an art I am trying to develop myself. Very often they just come to me. But I have had some really fun ideas pop into my head lately about ways to come up with characters. I will collect them in a post! Thanks for reading!
That is is true.....as I reader I judge a book's readability by the first paragraph or two. If it draws me in I will buy it. A cover tells so much but it's definitely the first bits that do it.
It's true about too much background. One pet peeve of mine is to get confused during character development and a need to go back a few pages or a chapter or two to figure things out - sometimes, well a lot of times that's where I find writing mistakes. The author gets confused!!! lol
I got a lot out of this post! Thanks!
Thanks so much for your comment, @countrygirl! I'm glad it resonates with you. I think authors do have trouble sometimes making sure that they keep clarity so we poor readers don't have to work hard. If you're paging back to try make sense of who's who and who's doing what, I think the writer needed to do some more work in the editing phase. Of course some books are so complex that you practically have to keep a spreadsheet of characters and their affiliations to keep it all straight! I weirdly enjoy reading those sometimes. A truly gifted and experienced writer can ensure that everyone in a huge cast of characters has a memorable name, and remains identifiable and true to their character throughout.
Thanks again for stopping by and sharing your experience.
That's so true. I am reading one right now, I have to put it away for a bit. Michael Phillips....wrote the Celtic Legend — it's an historical fiction with a lot of era change and character change. He's a good writer but I find there is too much change for me right now. I go through periods where I need light reading vs something this epic.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I do the same! Mostly I need books that are not too deep or complex because I don't have enough time to read and I want to move through books. Right now, however, I'm alternating between various books for my book clubs, and Outlander, which is an expansive tome. But it's told from one person's perspective in first person, so it's really easy to follow!
I haven't read it but watched it. Holy sex scenes....and horrible rape scenes....I had to fast forward those. But I love the story and the history. I can imagine what the reading is like.
I loved reading through your explanation and analysis of how to approach this topic. The emphasis on showing who your characters are through dialogue and action is where I am at at the moment. Learning to see where I drift into to much tell and need to edit to show the details more.
I'm going to have to spend some time soon going through your earlier volumes that you linked. Always eager to keep learning and exploring when it comes to writing.
Thank you for reading and commenting, @naquoya. It's so great to hear your experience. Developing as a writer really does take time, and it's the nuances that you learn and master along the way that get you there. Sometimes you start doing things in a more sophisticated way and then you forget ever doing it the old "newbie" way. As you can tell, I'm passionate about this. Good luck with your writing! It's nice to be getting to know you.