Back Story-All we ask is that you give us your heart

I’m a big advocate for hacking backstory dumps out of your books.

I believe I’ve mentioned this before (ad nauseum).

But when I’ve written about it, I’ve always sort of thought that backstory is like any unnecessary, slow moving part of a book, not more or less important.

However, based on a few experiences with my own writing, with other published authors I’ve read, and some of the critiques I’ve given for writer’s contests I’ve taken on a new theory about backstory.

It isn’t the same as a regular scene that needs to be trimmed or cut outright.

No, in fact, I’ve decided that authors (myself included) are PASSIONATELY IN LOVE with their backstory.

It’s not like cutting a scene where you’ve gone on too long about the clothes or the beautiful sunrise. Or a dialogue scene where the talking went on just a bit too long and needs to be edited down.

TO CUT BACKSTORY IS TO CUT OUT YOUR HEART!!

And that’s what I’m talking about today….cutting out your heart.

(suddenly this is no longer about writing, it’s about ancient Aztec human sacrifice, but moving on…)

Why do we cling to our backstory?

I have a theory (you know I was going to have one of those, right?)

I think the backstory we create is … powerful. It’s the utmost creative process. It’s the artistic vision that is the foundation of our whole books. It’s MATERNAL (whether you’re male or female). We created these people. We know them. We love them. We want readers to know and love them so we want to SHARE! They are our children. Our precious babies. (sniffle)

Well fine, acknowledge that then STOP IT!

Your backstory is a love story with a Romeo and Juliet ending. Your backstory is Wuthering Heights. Your backstory is a romance that must DIE!!!

Here is my TWO TIMES THEORY OF BACKSTORY (TTTofB or, a more ruthless acronym 3T-BS). I believe that we all use the backstory we create TWICE in every book.

Why would we create it if we didn’t need it? If it didn’t mean something? So because we create it and it means something, it finds its way into the book where we need it. BUT it also appears, usually way, way too close to the beginning in our beloved (yet so evil) BACKSTORY DUMP. And it is PRECIOUS to us because it's a little story all of it's own

CUT IT OUT! (I mean that-literally).

The first half of the 3T-BS is boring. Whatever action you’ve got going to EXPLODE YOUR STORY, is dragged to a grinding halt every time you talk about: his broken engagement or her unkind father or his struggle to begin a business of making hand crafted sneakers for the mutant-footed or her dreams of crashing through the glass ceiling in the non-Vietnamese pedicurist community.

STOP THAT! It is killing your action-filled, gripping, hook-that-editor, spellbind-that-reader beginning.

But I’ve decided the reason it’s so hard to cut that is because YOU LOVE IT.

We are emotionally invested in it and it hurts, it feels wrong. We’re sure the reader won’t love our characters as much as we do, won’t understand the story on a deep emotional level if we don’t explain, in excruciating detail, all that has come before.

Houston, we have a logo!

Cutting the WRONG half of the 3T-BS doesn’t mean you aren’t using it. I believe that story is in there elsewhere, doled out in the correct form, one sentence or one paragraph at a time.

And writing a backstory dump, then cutting it is NOT time wasted. You need to do it. You need to make all that up so you have it in order in your own head….IT JUST CAN’T BE IN YOUR BOOK, NOT IN A BACKSTORY DUMP.

So, go look at your beginning. Look HARD. Look with brutal eyes. Seek out new 3T-BS and boldly go where no man has gone before…or at least where they never go until they get tired of writing for fun and decide they'd like to get paid for a book.

Click to Buy on Amazon
(for a price so low I'm a little hurt)

There should be no backstory at the beginning, or so close to none, that it doesn’t own an entire sentence.

I would like to insert here a reminder of last month’s very sweet (except maybe for the opossum) “Seeker Mothers” blog post to prove I don’t yell all the time. But today…….yes.

Because I am trying to grab your attention. Because I'm probably talking about YOU. I know I'm talking about ME! Now go read the first three pages of your WIP. Find me the backstory. Recognize it. Confess to it. OWN it---then cut it. Then bring it here to Seekerville so we can enjoy that you have the professionalism to CUT OUT YOUR HEART.

I have been snarly this morning, so by way of apology, I’m giving away a signed copy of Sophie’s Daughter’s Trilogy which is releasing this month. It's a 3 in 1 collection containing Doctor in Petticoats, Wrangler in Petticoats and Sharpshooter in Petticoats.

If you’ve already read it (them?), put your name in the drawing anyway. I’ll send it and you can donate it to your church or local library (or leave it on a park bench and run……whatever).

http://www.maryconnealy.com