Fiction Writing Mistakes Series:Backstory and Hooks
by Tambra Nicole Kendall
Daughters of Avalon Publishing, LLC
This is a six part series that will focus on common fiction writing mistakes.
BACKSTORY
A portion of this is taken from my characterization and plot workshop.
Remember to begin you story at the point where the character’s life has or very quickly experiences a big problem that has stopped their everyday lives. That’s not to say you’re not supposed to know the backstory, you do.
The trick is to trickle it in throughout the story and in places where it makes sense so it will have the most impact.
Backstory immediately kills the forward pace of the story, which is why you need to ask yourself does it really need to be in there. If the answer is yes, then make sure your transitions are clear. Do this as quickly as you can. Like a flashback, too much of this stops the action in the story.
Backstory is not something you need to be heavy-handed with. If background must be given, do it later (not at the beginning) but after you’ve pulled the reader in with the action of the story.
Don’t forget stories begin in media res, in the middle of things. Long passages describing the town, the location or pages of internalization jerks the story to a stop.
Your opening needs to catch the attention of the reader or editor, you have a few sentences. If the person is generous, a paragraphs at most.
Long detailed descriptions of the hero/heroine’s childhood, pets, home etc. won’t get you past the first reader at a publishing house. Always ask yourself, does this piece of information really need to be here? Does it move the story forward or reveal something important about the character?
INNER BACKSTORY
Inner backstory (how it defines character)
The character’s reaction to a circumstance can be defining either positively or negatively.
Many writers use childhood influences to help create their main characters to get started.
One of the first issues a child confronts is trust. Babies need to feel secure and safe, to trust their parents to love and care for them. If trust is lacking, the child will carry this throughout their life.
Using characterization: when the character’s life changes in stability the trust issue can re-emerge such as in romance, romantic suspense or any genre where a there is a relationship.
If there isn’t love, trust and security, children experience a lack of support which causes a lack of belief in themselves. Criticism replaces love. Their low self-esteem and self-confidence affects the issue of identity where it is especially strong during the high school years.
Archetypes and what type of character such as: thinking, intuition, sensation and feeling will assist in character creation. Learning how the inner person of the character you’re creating will be stronger and more understandable to the reader.
Here are two questions you can as yourself:
Are there any traumatic incidents that affects the character’s behavior?
What internal and external forces drive my character? How does it affect his/her GMC?
A traumatic incident colors a character's perception, their point of view. In our lives and the lives of our family and friends this is also true. This is where the building of the character arc begins.
A character is internal as well as external.
The character's inner backstory is important to their continued development throughout the story. The attitude they have comes out in dialogue, action and how they relate to the other characters in the book.
HOOKS
Knowing your character before you begin writing can help in creating a hook sentence. Dialogue and action are two ways to hook the readers attention. Hook sentences are clear and straightforward. You only have a few sentences so grab the reader and don't let go.
Here is the opening paragraphs from my Christmas romance, Alpin MacKibble's Christmas Wish. I've used dialogue as my hook and trickled in a bit of backstory (the dog hating assistant manager.)
“Behave, Alpin. Stay inside until we reach the pet food aisle.” Melody Barton whispered as she stroked the silky head of her West Highland white terrier. Grabbing a grocery cart, she placed her fuzzy bundle of energy onto the red plastic seat and prayed her baby would stay hidden from the dog hating assistant manager.
The cold wind gusted pushing hard at her back. Melody pulled the sides of the leather tote bag higher to protect Alpin and hurried inside the Big Tex grocery store.
This is the beginning of A Taste of the Forbidden:
“This is all your fault.” Jason Devon stood on the back porch and glared at Fetch, his vampire golden retriever puppy. “You just couldn’t leave that cat alone. Now I’ve got meet the feline’s owner to discuss damages to her property.” His fingers bent the note from the woman releasing an intoxicating scent in the air.
Jason stood still. Stunned.
The past four years he’d searched for the woman who enveloped him in her unique essence, the one who touched him body and soul. He’d never forget this heady fragrance. Exotic. Sensual. Floral. His cock stirred in response. A deep-seated hunger so fierce and raw clawed its way from his chest radiating out in painful pulses.
My examples are two different kinds of romances but both (I hope) show you how hook sentences and a trickle of backstory work together to keep the reader turning the pages.
Throughout my years of teaching, I've seen beginning writers focus so much on getting the hook sentence right, they neglected the writing of the story itself.
Everything hinges on something else in writing. Not knowing your characters affects plot and dialogue which affects pacing which...you get the picture.
Chapter Ending Hooks serve a similar purpose as a beginning hook sentence, they end at a point where the reader has to turn the page so they can find out what happened. A cliffhanger of danger or peril, or a place where the character is a place of cross roads in a decision. These are examples of chapter ending hooks.
I hope you find this post on backstory and hooks helpful.
I look forward to hearing from readers and writers about this topic.
All my best,
Tambra Kendall
