Let's Talk About Background

again ...

In a previous newsletter The Undisclosed Lives of Fictional Characters, I touched briefly on how much to tell about characters in a story and how I like to “keep things open” at the end. I planned to say more about background but the post veered in a different direction and I never got to it. So, allow me to pick up the thread.

Some readers love background. I’ve had people ask: who are these characters, where do they come from, what happened to them to bring them to the starting point of the story.

They’re usually the same readers that want to know more at the end or ask me to bring characters back for an encore. The necessary compression of a short story leaves them wanting. If that story is part of a collection, it’s even worse. Each narrative morsel raises expectations and creates engagement (hopefully!), then the next story starts and there we go again. It can be exhausting, and one of the reasons why some people can’t stand short stories.

So, what’s a writer to do?

Well … Avoid leaving the reader hanging. Or rather, don’t leave the reader hanging too much where it matters the most, i.e. on the emotional level. To give an example: The girl who shoots the man who beat up her mother might get in trouble sometime in the future, but, for now, there’s a degree of closure for her and the reader. Good.

And … Provide anchor points. The basic Where and When. Town, country, night, day, now, then. The scene setting should be implied, inferred from the characters’ behavior and voice, sketched in a couple of words. When it comes to anything descriptive, economy is the key. Because most of the limited space in the story will be taken by Who and Why—and How, like in How the hell did it go so bad so fast.

To illustrate, I’ll point you to JD Clapp’s story published this week in Bristol Noir: Tangled Lines. The Fargo fans among you will get a massive kick out of it (the story is free to read).

Not only does JD anchor us solidly in time and space, he also nails the payoff at the end, and demonstrates how background should be done. Smoothly, in action.

There’s a lot of information delivered in Tangled Lines. About the brothers, the family, the past, ice fishing. We learn it all through the way the young men interact, physically, with each other, in the truck and on the ice. The casual dialog drops hints with a light touch about kids and girlfriends, and other, darker events. The story flows effortlessly.

The secret of effective background is right there: you do it without doing it. On the sly.

In the limited space of a short story, text is a multitasker and action is everywhere. There can’t be idle chat or static exposition, and everything is plot, every line serves the narrative. Taking all that into account, the best short stories don’t feel hurried. That’s when the reader goes: I can’t believe it’s only 4 pages.

I’ve seen writing advice that advocates the same approach when writing a book. I disagree, somewhat. Not on injecting tension in dialog—nobody needs empty chatter, unless it’s intended to distract the knife-wielding crazy who’s about the slit the protagonist’s throat. I don’t disagree on filler fluff and repetitive blah either, but keeping the compact approach of short fiction over three hundred pages strikes me as a bad idea. As a reader, I need to be able to relax into a book. Novels need a rhythm. A slow start leading to escalating tension in a thriller. Ups and downs in a procedural. The setbacks that make us root for the characters. The slow burn. The silent pauses in the music.

A book is working with the tide. A short story is catching a promising wave.

But yes, I believe writing shorts helps with the long work. It sure helps me figure out what to cut, and feel when the pace slacks or the plot meanders.

Talking about meandering … I still have not really tackled what’s in the back of my mind when I think about character background. I must have some sort of mental block.

It’s about my PI character, Declan Shaw. The book, Love You Till Tuesday, comes out this summer and I can hear the questions already: Who’s this guy? Where does he come from? What’s he done before? The usual grilling …

I know who Declan is, of course. I know what happened during the first eleven years of his life (the little he remembers), and during the next eleven (the good stuff and the searing bad), and how he became a private investigator in Houston (the struggles and the lucky breaks). I know how his mind works, for the most part, and what drives him up the wall.

But how much do I share?

How much do the readers need to know?

The short story writing discipline helps: Reveal only what the story calls for. Give small hints. Keep the rest under wraps.

Readers will want more and that’s okay. Let’s say that I will only reveal what Declan himself would let slip. With time, he may be more forthcoming.

Odds and Ends

No story published so far in June. May was a three-pub-blast so all’s well, folks! I’ve been busy with the Punk Noir Magazine editing job. We’ll be publishing the selected stories all through June 30. Great talent out there, go take a peek.

I’ve been writing blurbs for books that will soon be released and there’s exciting work coming that I’ll talk about later.

I’ve also been reading books and collections published by writer friends and posting reviews. These things really help get the word out. If you haven’t left a review on the Family and Other Ailments collection, now’s the time! All that was during and after an amazing Texas road trip, hiking and exploring. One cool picture below from Caprock Canyons State Park.

Last Minute

I just learned that Family and Other Ailments will be available as part of a promotion on Smashwords for the month of July during their Annual Summer/Winter Sale. This is a chance to get the collection, along with books from many other authors, at a cool discount. You will find the promo here starting on July 1, so save the link and share it with friends and family:
https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos/