Striking a Balance

It’s Thursday and time for a look at the mail…

This question is from blog reader Chris C:

How do you know the right amount of ‘story’ to create? i find many books way too long for the story being told, while others leave you begging for more either in backstory or depth of interactions.

This is a good question, Chris, and one I’m going to *try* to answer the best I can.

When you sit down with an idea for a novel, you have to know the story you’re going to tell. This doesn’t mean you know every nuance yet (some of us don’t…until we start writing), but you know the basic idea of what’s going to happen and why.

The key, then, is figuring out what needs to be said in order to convey that to the reader. Good writers don’t heap backstory in because it can take a reader out of the story they’re trying to tell. Good writers weave backstory (but only that which is important for the story being told–whether in plot or character development related to the plot) as they go along.

If you’ve ever watched the TV show, Lost, the way they do backstory (at least in the first two seasons) was awesome. You could see why the characters made the choices they made because of experiences in their life. The whole episode wasn’t non-stop backstory, rather it was woven in at parts that made sense.

The same should hold true for books.

When I’m writing–or reading my own work–I try to pay attention to how I feel. If I become bored with what I’m writing (or have written), it’s a pretty safe bet it’s not necessary.

It might be fun to give a character a funny quirk, but if it doesn’t play into the story or explain something about the character pivotal to the plot…it’s a waste of time. For the writer and the reader.

When I first started writing fiction, I wrote very lean. Too lean, in many ways. I suspect some of that was because of my journalism background–get to the facts, that’s all that matters. But as I continued to write, I found that I was able to strike a better balance and I hope that’s showing in my  newer work.

My rule of thumb is this. If it matters to the plot, use it. If it doesn’t, don’t.

Here’s an example from an earlier book of mine, Forecast of Evil (written under the name, Laura Bradford). I did a lot of research on what Mackinac Island is like in the winter. How’s it’s accessed, and when/ how they handle storms, etc. During the course of my research, I discovered that old Christmas trees are used on the lake to guide snow mobilers home during a white-out (blizzard). I thought that was a very cool piece of information. One I would have loved to have used…only it didn’t work with my plot. My characters needed to be stranded. Which meant the lake couldn’t have been frozen yet. Therefore the trees were a non-issue.

Does that answer your question, Chris? Anyone else have anything to add? Another question about this topic we can discuss today? Or a new question to add to the line-up for future Writing Thursdays?

Ask away.

~Elizabeth

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