Read Online Advanced Brilliant Writing: Make Your Plots Wider and Your Characters Deeper (Go! Write Something Brilliant) by Susan May Warren - Free Book Online
Authors: Susan May Warren
Tags: General Fiction, Reference, Writing, Writing; Research & Publishing Guides, Writing Skills, Publishing & Books
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fingers through the cotton knit of her daughter’s sweater as she watched the newest passenger to their compartment find his seat. Lanky, with olive skin and dark eyes framed in wire-rimmed glasses, it had to be Syrian assassin Ishmael Shavik, who sat down, fidgeted with his leather jacket, then impaled her with a dark glance.
In this opening scene, my heroine knows the man is he’s after her, but doesn’t tell us why. We also know she’s protecting a briefcase, but we don’t know why. And, we know that her past is bad, but again, we don’t know why. All these problems are hinted at, but not solved. My goal is to lure the reader in with just enough Breadcrumbs to make them hungry.
Book Therapist Question: What is the essential information the reader needs to know to give sufficient motivation for the character? What story questions can you drop that will keep the reader interested?
Backstory Breadcrumbs are soft, tasty, small morsels to lure your reader into the story.
Using these two keys: Character Layering and Backstory Breadcrumbs, you’ll find the right balance in deepening the connection your reader has with your character.
Don’t look back! Or . . .
The appropriate use of Flashbacks
One of my favorite parts of getting together with my family is reliving the Great Lund Canoe trip of 1981. My parents, always on the hunt for a great vacation spot for our family of five, decided that going on a canoe trip into the wilds of Quetico Park in northern Minnesota with three unseasoned canoeists, one teenager who thought she knew more than she did, and the head of the household who had enough adventure in him for the entire family. We got lost, dumped all our purification tablets into a lake, nearly ran into a bear, accidentally trespassed onto private (Native American) land, and made it through by sheer grace from the fleet of angels who guarded us. The park ranger who gave us our permits said, when he picked us up ten days later, “Frankly, I never thought I’d see you again.” We had similar thoughts (most of them voiced by my mother) during our harrowing adventure.
However, harrowing adventures make for great tales around the Christmas dinner table, and our family loves to talk about the day we got lost on a portage and ended up bushwhacking through a swamp. Or the fresh blueberry pancakes (and narrow miss from the bear). Or the night we found the campsite in the pitch dark, at midnight (one of those providential moments). We laugh until we’re crying, unable to speak.
And then we look up, at our guests and extended family members. They’re staring at us like we might have just landed from the planet Zorgan, and are speaking Zorgonian. Clearly, you have to have been there.
This is when a Flashback, rather than Backstory, would come in handy.
What is a Flashback in a Novel?
A Flashback is a section of novel that cuts back into time, and is told as if the character is actually back in that scene, experiencing events with the character. We see Flashbacks in movies like The Fugitive , when Dr. Kimble is remembering what happened the night of his wife’s murder. Or in The Notebook (which is actually one giant flashback!) Or even television shows like Cold Case or CSI . In the flashback, the viewer sees the event that happened, without the interpretation (but often through the eyes) of the POV character.
A Flashback is an essential part of Backstory that the author wants the reader to experience, in order to help them understand the real time plot or emotional journey of the character.
For example, in my book Nothing But Trouble , my character, PJ Sugar, has a pivotal black moment in her past with her former love Boone Buckam. Because that moment is so essential to PJ’s Backstory and her emotional journey, it is key that the reader experience it.
Take a look:
She knew it was a dream, knew that she couldn’t change a thing. Still, she tried—tried to change the wine-red dress she’d had tailor made,
In this opening scene, my heroine knows the man is he’s after her, but doesn’t tell us why. We also know she’s protecting a briefcase, but we don’t know why. And, we know that her past is bad, but again, we don’t know why. All these problems are hinted at, but not solved. My goal is to lure the reader in with just enough Breadcrumbs to make them hungry.
Book Therapist Question: What is the essential information the reader needs to know to give sufficient motivation for the character? What story questions can you drop that will keep the reader interested?
Backstory Breadcrumbs are soft, tasty, small morsels to lure your reader into the story.
Using these two keys: Character Layering and Backstory Breadcrumbs, you’ll find the right balance in deepening the connection your reader has with your character.
Don’t look back! Or . . .
The appropriate use of Flashbacks
One of my favorite parts of getting together with my family is reliving the Great Lund Canoe trip of 1981. My parents, always on the hunt for a great vacation spot for our family of five, decided that going on a canoe trip into the wilds of Quetico Park in northern Minnesota with three unseasoned canoeists, one teenager who thought she knew more than she did, and the head of the household who had enough adventure in him for the entire family. We got lost, dumped all our purification tablets into a lake, nearly ran into a bear, accidentally trespassed onto private (Native American) land, and made it through by sheer grace from the fleet of angels who guarded us. The park ranger who gave us our permits said, when he picked us up ten days later, “Frankly, I never thought I’d see you again.” We had similar thoughts (most of them voiced by my mother) during our harrowing adventure.
However, harrowing adventures make for great tales around the Christmas dinner table, and our family loves to talk about the day we got lost on a portage and ended up bushwhacking through a swamp. Or the fresh blueberry pancakes (and narrow miss from the bear). Or the night we found the campsite in the pitch dark, at midnight (one of those providential moments). We laugh until we’re crying, unable to speak.
And then we look up, at our guests and extended family members. They’re staring at us like we might have just landed from the planet Zorgan, and are speaking Zorgonian. Clearly, you have to have been there.
This is when a Flashback, rather than Backstory, would come in handy.
What is a Flashback in a Novel?
A Flashback is a section of novel that cuts back into time, and is told as if the character is actually back in that scene, experiencing events with the character. We see Flashbacks in movies like The Fugitive , when Dr. Kimble is remembering what happened the night of his wife’s murder. Or in The Notebook (which is actually one giant flashback!) Or even television shows like Cold Case or CSI . In the flashback, the viewer sees the event that happened, without the interpretation (but often through the eyes) of the POV character.
A Flashback is an essential part of Backstory that the author wants the reader to experience, in order to help them understand the real time plot or emotional journey of the character.
For example, in my book Nothing But Trouble , my character, PJ Sugar, has a pivotal black moment in her past with her former love Boone Buckam. Because that moment is so essential to PJ’s Backstory and her emotional journey, it is key that the reader experience it.
Take a look:
She knew it was a dream, knew that she couldn’t change a thing. Still, she tried—tried to change the wine-red dress she’d had tailor made,
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