Backstory: When and How to Use It Effectively

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While revising my novel to get rid of the unnecessary, I came up against that bane and blessing of the writer's existence—backstory. The problem in this instance wasn't so much literal backstory, meaning past events, but backstory in the sense of material that qualified more as supporting the story, rather than the story itself.

So, what is backstory? Merriam's describes it as "a story that tells what led up to the main story or plot." Simply put, it's any aspect of the work that's not part of what's happening now. Even with a working definition, it can be hard to tell where backstory leaves off and story begins.

What was sneaky about my material was that it wasn't quite throat-clearing. The prose was clear, the story flowed, characters were developed, but there was no traction until chapter five, when something brings two main characters together after years apart. In this case, five chapters were way too much to read before reaching an inciting incident. That incident may not need to happen on page one, but the elements should be in place so that by chapter two, the reader is off and running.

To understand how to use backstory effectively, consider three caveats:
Don't put it at the beginning.
Don't use the wrong medium for the message.
Don't overdo it.

For more on how to treat backstory, visit my online workshop: The Art of Editing in Writing for October.

      

"The Art and Craft of Concentration: Teaching Yourself to Write Well"

The art of concentration

It's said writing is 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration. Okay, that could be said of all work — and despite our love of writing and its feel-good factor, it's still work. And it takes work to improve as a writer. It also takes time — and self-awareness.

Writing — here I mean revising, because you shouldn't hamstring yourself on draft one —  is one place where self-consciousness is a good thing. Revision is the place to slow down and watch your word choices so you can purposefully gauge their effects on the sentence, paragraph, chapter and story — all of it, if possible.

It's essential to master this process because it's the only way to improve your writing. Sound grandiose? Not really. You can read the best writers, attend the best conferences, study at the best schools, but until you learn to develop your writing ear and critical writer's eye — for your own work above all — none of those tools will help. It's like reading a diet book and never putting the principles into practice.

So how do we use this technique? My favorite way is to take a blank page and write — a sentence, a paragraph or a chapter, whatever my goal is. Then I let it sit and do other things. When I return, I do what I'm doing now, take time to tinker. I cut every unnecessary word.  I use a thesaurus to replace clichés and Google to replace generic terms with precise language, especially if I'm working on something topical. As I make each change, I consider how the choices will fortify the meaning of the section and story. To make things easier, I do this by scene.

Once I'm done, I let the work sit and repeat the process until I find myself changing words I've changed before. To make sure I've done the best job possible, I read the work in different venues, times of day and formats (single-spaced, double-spaced, online, printed, etc.). Each time I read, I read with awareness, as if for an audience — even if it's an audience of one.

Time and thought are heady things. Make the best use of them. Happy writing!

For more on the art of concentration, see The Art of Concentration.

Flat Screen, Flat Scene: When a Scene Doesn't Work

I recently read part of the first draft of a novel where a 30^th-birthday dinner  was to end in conflict. This one didn't. The scene was well-written and the characters distinct, but the scene was flat as a newly tarred driveway. Why? No tension.

A scene can lack tension for various reasons. In this case, it was because none of the characters was allowed to react to the discomfiture of a main character when someone inadvertently reminds him he was away from his wife when she was dying of cancer. Actually, it may be more accurate to say everyone's reactions to the moment were subdued. It made the scene and the characters appear dull, one-dimensional.

Conflict should be palpable

The other reason there was no tension was that the protagonist's own emotions were muted. What did he really feel? How would he show that? How would others respond to his pain, especially his daughter-in-law, whose birthday they were celebrating? Would she feel empathy? Would others sense something is wrong but not be sure how to respond? What about the man's date—does she long to reach out to him but can't because he won't accept her love? What about his son? Does he feel guilt because he was with this mother when his father wasn't? Since he's a doctor, was he complicit in his mother's passing?

In this case, the universal lack of response drained the life out of the scene. Yet, characters—I like to call them people—long to get out of their shells if we'll let them. We don't need permission to write the truth; it will set us writers and our characters free.

Tip: The fix in a case like this is to revise by re-visualizing, re-visioning the scene, if we can use those words as Natalie Goldberg did in Writing Down the Bones. Start with a clean sheet of paper or a new document, and close your eyes. Allow the scene to materialize, and watch each person respond. This will deepen the scene and broaden it. For more on this technique, see the post "Stephen King to the Rescue: Using Imagery to Bring a Story to Life." And see the August issue of The Writer, the magazine archive piece by Stephen King called, "Use Imagery to Bring Your Story to Life."
    

Writing and Preparing Your Work for Anthologies

With "After the Sunflowers"

Writing for an anthology is like soup in a can — concentrated. I recently had an essay published in the new anthology about women writers, Press Pause Moments: Essays About Life Transitions by Women Writers. I found the writing wanted listing in Poets & Writers Classifieds — a great resource, as is the literary magazine database in the Tools for Writers section (and the directory listing for writers under Connect With Others). Here's a step-by-step approach to how I addressed the call for writing, particularly for an anthology.

I knew I had a shot at inclusion in the Press Pause project because the topic — transitions in the lives of women writers — resonated. So I wasn't trying to force myself into a writing slot that didn't fit. I had also recently written several newspaper articles that could fit the topic. So there was a degree of solid footing from the get-go.

Another positive factor was time. Editor and project coordinator Anne Witkavitch had given several months of lead time for the submission deadline. So I had a chance to carefully (and I mean carefully) consider the topic and craft a piece I could put aside and tinker with. Since my submission was on the 10-plus years it took to become an Italian citizen, I couldn't cover such a long transition in the allotted space and time. So, I opted for one aspect of the process that would typify the entire experience — a nerve-shredding series of visits to the Italian consulate in New York, one of which involved an armed carabiniere.

I wrote the first draft in one sitting, then put it aside. Over the next weeks, I revised, rewrote and reconstructed the draft to consolidate the story and excise extraneous information. I then put it aside again, leaving it in my pending folder where I could be annoyed by it on a regular basis (I hate stuff hanging around in to-do limbo).

After another week I repeated the process, ever mindful of the project guidelines and continually asking myself what I brought to the compilation that would be different from other writers. The result was "After the Sunflowers," whose title is even more bittersweet now (more about that later).

Now that there are more calls for anthologies, consider these tips as you prepare and submit your work:

• Use a trusted resource, and do the due diligence in researching the anthology. Not all that glitters …
• Look for a topic and anthology that resonate with you, preferably on a subject you've written about before, or one you've always wanted to write about.
• Look for a call with a long enough lead time, and set up a timeline for when you'll write, edit and revise.
• Consider whether photos, voice or video would enhance the submission, or are required for it.
• If you're addressing a topic that took awhile, consider selecting one typifying event or occurrence to reflect the whole.
• Frame your piece from the perspective of the unique characteristics you bring to the story and compilation.
• Write the first draft in one sitting, then put it aside.
  
• Don't skimp on revision, even if it means a rewrite and reordering the story (but keep the first draft as a separate file).
• Repeat the revision process until you find yourself changing the same words back and forth.
• Extra tip: Make sure your beginning is captivating and that your ending is satisfying. The ending of my piece took longest to write.

For a firsthand look at "After the Sunflowers" and a compelling glimpse into the turning points in the lives of women writers, see Press Pause Moments: Essays About Life Transitions by Women Writers.

Time

The Marche region of Italy, a great place to take time

Time — there's no substitute for it. Especially for good writing. The kicker, though, is that you don't necessarily need copious amounts of it, but you do need the right type. For writing, especially the editing phase:

• Slow down to read and ponder each word — is this really what you want to say? If not, what's the best word to describe it?
• Take time away from a piece before returning to edit it.
• Take time in a different setting to read your work.
• Don't be afraid to let your mind wander to imagine the possibilities for your story. This frees up the imagination to embrace new paths.
• Great meals take a bit longer to prepare, but that just makes them more satisfying to savor.

Now, did that take too much time?

Have a great weekend!

Stephen King to the Rescue: Using Imagery to Bring a Story to Life

I just read an article that has literally changed my writing life. I was stuck on a plot problem and couldn't figure out how to resolve it. The problem? I couldn't imagine what happened. Since I like to inhabit my work, it's more accurate to say I couldn’t see what had happened. Not what should happen, but what had happened, and I couldn’t see it. Why? I hadn't taken the time to imagine it.

As providence would have it, I was in Starbucks waiting for a friend and catching up on reading when I came across an article in the August issue of The Writer. It was a magazine archive piece by Stephen King called, "Use Imagery to Bring Your Story to Life." And life is what every writer wants, and what every story and the people who populate it need.

Here are snippets from the piece and observations to accompany them:

• "… the most important thing that film and fiction share is an interest in the image…" — without image there is no story, at least none that's memorable
• "…story springs from image: that vividness of place and time and texture…" — without imagery, there is no texture
• The difference between ideas and images? "Ideas have no emotional temperature gradient; they are neutral."
• "Imagery is not achieved by over-description …" In fact, less usually is more.
• "Imagery does not occur on the writer's page; it occurs in the reader's mind."
• "Good description produces imagery …"
• As to the oft-asked question what to leave in? "Leave in the details that impress you the most … the details you see the most clearly; leave out everything else."
• How does this "imagining" occur: "… we must see with a kind of third eye—the eye of the imagination and memory."
• Why do this? "… to write is to re-experience, and as you write, that image will grow brighter and brighter, becoming something that is very nearly beautiful in its clarity."
• Why is this crucial to good writing? "…image leads to story, and story leads to everything else."
• It also benefits you, the writer: "… remember that a writer's greatest pleasure is in seeing, and seeing well."

To borrow another maxim, "when the eye is good the body is full of light," and so is the writing. The point is to see, and to inhabit the scene. To experience it. And experience is the best foundation for writing.

To hone this skill, slow down. And imagine. Make King's writing prompt your own:
Close your eyes and see. Imagine the scene you want to convey. Per King, "You opened your eyes too soon." Close them and try again—give yourself 30 seconds, maybe even a minute. OK. Go ahead."

I recommend The Writer magazine and the article; I certainly recommend the technique.