How much of a character's past/background should I let on?
I've been starting something really interesting lately, which is writing each of my main character's back story before writing the main book (If anyone is having the dreaded block or is looking for a way to know their character's better I really recommend it). Which got me thinking, how much of it should I include in the main book?
Flashbacks not included, a character's back story is a very important puzzle price in the whole book.
I have always found it hard to not put everything I know about my character's in the book but it's crucial that I don't convey everything.
So the question is how much should one know about a character's past??
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Only put in what is necessary for the plot.
You develop the character so that the actions s/he takes make sense for the plot. If the character reveals something about his/her past, there should be a plot-related reason for it. (That reason might be another character's reaction, or how it furthers a relationship, but there has to be a reason.)
Otherwise, keep it in your slush file and read it to yourself if it makes you happy. But don't clutter up your manuscript if it's not relevant.
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You can (and probably should) tell your characters' background stories, but you should also ask yourself a question - "would it make my book better?"
There are a few rules that I think are important:
- A backstory should be interesting by itself;
- A backstory should be relevant to the main plot, or at least provide some important answers to the questions the reader would have about the characters;
- Backstories should not hijack the main storyline.
If done right, background stories would provide much help with character development.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/28513. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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