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willowtree
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I constantly struggle with background info in a story. I either don't give enough because I get caught up in the forward momentum of the story or I stop everything to drop it in like a cement block. I read this in this month's Writer's Digest. It's by author Gunnison Steele. He says, "We writers are apt to forget that, as the gunsmoke fogs and the hero rides wildly to the rescue, although the background of this furious action is fixed indelibly in our own minds, it is NOT fixed in the mind of the reader. He won’t see or feel it unless you make him—bearing always in mind that you can’t stop the gunfight or the racing horse to do the job." Would love to know some of the techniques other writers use to get in the necessary background info so a story makes sense to the reader without stopping the gunfight or the racing horse.
Sigmund Freud: "The Irish are one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no benefit whatsoever."
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Jeffrey Jones
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It is a matter of pacing.
Introduce background info at appropriate moments - such as when the main character is having a contemplative moment after a climactic action scene.
It's instinctive, really: when we are busy, we don't have time think. The thinking comes after, as we appraise what has happened.
Narrative works in the same way. It ebbs and flows with the action.
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rosefitzrobert
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Quote: Jeffrey Jones, Sunday, 18 Dec 2011 15:07It is a matter of pacing. Introduce background info at appropriate moments - such as when the main character is having a contemplative moment after a climactic action scene. It's instinctive, really: when we are busy, we don't have time think. The thinking comes after, as we appraise what has happened. Narrative works in the same way. It ebbs and flows with the action. Nice!
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willowtree
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Thanks, Jeffrey. That was helpful. Other devices I've seen used are: dialogue, letters, looking for one thing, finding another that sets off a remembrance. I realize for some writers it might be instinctive but I've reviewed a number of pieces here where back story has been a real problem, including my own novel openings to Angel Feet: A Love Story and The Willow Tree of Tullamaine, both of which I'm presently reworking thanks to the invaluable feedback I got here. At least I know there's a problem, whereas before I didn't. Now, it's learning to look at backstory in a completely new way, not released in a lump of extended narrative, but leaked out in bits and pieces. Very good! (Appropo of nothing, my maiden name was Jeffrey, spelled that way!) 
Sigmund Freud: "The Irish are one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no benefit whatsoever."
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Jeffrey Jones
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Another option is to not think of it is 'back story', just story. It shouldn't be a chore for the reader to wade through: setting the context of the tale is as much a part of a writer's required skill set as describing as-it-happens interaction.
The opening section of Jonathan Franzen's Freedom, for example, was a tour-de-force of pithy back-storytelling (by far the best part of the novel, in my opinion). And Jane Austen, of course, was a genius at this.
One problem is that YWO's system of judging a book is through reading only the first 7000 words. Excerpts here seem expected to be pacey and incident-packed and full of rich character depiction; but many published books take at least 7000 words setting the scene for the story to follow.
Personally, I never like to read too much except back-story in an opening excerpt here, or anywhere else. If I can tell from 7000 words what the rest of the novel has in store, why would I want to read on?
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PERRY
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Like a painting, willowtree - do the sketch first, leave tags where certain colour should go and return when the composition has been finalised to give it body.
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willowtree
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Thanks, guys! You've given me a lot to think about, which was my purpose in beginning this thread. Great place to learn with people like you willing to share your thoughts on writing. Writing a novel is hard! I never realized how hard! Help like this is golden!
Sigmund Freud: "The Irish are one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no benefit whatsoever."
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browser1
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Quote: Jeffrey Jones, Sunday, 18 Dec 2011 21:32One problem is that YWO's system of judging a book is through reading only the first 7000 words. Excerpts here seem expected to be pacey and incident-packed and full of rich character depiction; but many published books take at least 7000 words setting the scene for the story to follow. Personally, I never like to read too much except back-story in an opening excerpt here, or anywhere else. If I can tell from 7000 words what the rest of the novel has in store, why would I want to read on? I agree. Quite a few of my reviewers have taken me to task about the lack of any real momentum after the initial action scene in 'Suffer'. A lot of that excerpt is taken up with nothing but backstory. Backstory which I think is necessary because of the nature of the piece and its themes. It is an instinctual thing. Some writers handle back-story one way and others handle it another way. If everyone did the exact same thing in the exact same way, then it would make for some pretty boring reading.
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How to get in that pesky background info!
18 Dec 2011, 13:37
