Question: Storyline conundrum

[wes_radman]

Hello all

I am looking to possibly get advice on a direction that I have taken in my story.

Early in my story, a character is introduced and I want to be as detailed as possible to show how she became the character we meet when the main storyline begins.

Originally I wanted to resolve this as a portion of the prologue, but I don’t see it being the best way to introduce the main character.

Then I tried an “introduction section” after the prologue. These are basically small stories from her past that I hope will shed light on our character’s past without it being a formal chapter in the main story. I personally like the idea, but I still have doubts. Maybe I can add other characters stories and make it an anthology of short stories that weave throughout the main story?

The other idea is to introduce her in a chapter that speaks to her childhood, but the time jumping through the storyline may be hard to follow or may really destroy the pacing of the story.

Any suggestions or personal revelations you may want to share will be greatly appreciated.

 

[JohnBertel]

I suggest you forget about telling her backstory up front.
Introduce her and make the reader invested in her through something she does, says, the situation she's in, or maybe a little hint of her backstory, or something else, or all the above. Then, as the story develops put in snippets of her backstory where it feels natural. Lastly, go back and see if you, really, really, really feel that you need to tell more of her backstory upfront. If yes, is it because it would improve the story or because you feel compelled to tell it?

 

[Hannah F]

The red flag to me is where you say "where the main storyline begins". It sounds to me as if you should start your story where the main storyline begins. (Many of us, in first drafts especially, write our way into a story.) I'm assuming your main character is in the scene where your main storyline begins. A brief vignette beforehand is OK, but your reader won't care about her backstory until they're invested in her and in the main story.

 

[Bloo]

Agree with Hannah - especially about the vignette as a way to introduce the MC. I'll go one further and recommend you drop the prologue and give us a short first chapter, instead. It could be pretty powerful in FPPOV.

If you're worried about confusing the reader with the time jump, drop some temporal anchors. The Chapter 1 prologue should start with a year or other time reference. It could end with a hint at the future from the MC. Chapter 2 could start with so-and-so getting into an uber and talking about inflation.

MC can fill in more backstory herself later on.

 

[Vagabond Heart]

Hi Wes,

You say ‘I want to be as detailed as possible to show how she became the character we meet’.
Can I ask why we need to know?
If your MC is blindingly interesting, will your reader care how she got that way?
If I think of great characters in my favourite books, it isn’t their backstory that makes them special - it how they act in the story they are leading me through now.
I know sometimes characters can become so embedded in our psyche that a prequel book is often written. But it is rarely as impactful as the one we first met the character in.
So, are you sure it is necessary to be so detailed yet?

 

[wes_radman]

Agree with Hannah - especially about the vignette as a way to introduce the MC. I'll go one further and recommend you drop the prologue and give us a short first chapter, instead. It could be pretty powerful in FPPOV.

If you're worried about confusing the reader with the time jump, drop some temporal anchors. The Chapter 1 prologue should start with a year or other time reference. It could end with a hint at the future from the MC. Chapter 2 could start with so-and-so getting into an uber and talking about inflation.

MC can fill in more backstory herself later on.

Thank you

 

[Vagabond Heart]

Another point that is worth considering….
The best way to introduce a main character is to let them walk on stage and do their thing.

 

[wes_radman]

Another point that is worth considering….
The best way to introduce a main character is to let them walk on stage and do their thing.

I definitely have her doing her thing, this was more to reinforce the character early on, while trying to do something different. I personally like when a story is presented in a different format. The biggest issue I have is how to present it organically without it confusing or losing the reader.

That being said. I can set it up in a traditional form and adjust it later if I feel it can work.

 

[Roz Morris]

I agree with everyone so far! You've got a lot you want to tell us about this character, and it's in danger of bogging down the forwards action.
Here's a question. At the moment you're thinking of this as back story. Or prologue material. Does it have to be in the past? Could it be the actual story, not the back story? i did that in one of my novels. I thought I had nothing for the main character to do, but an awful lot of background to explain. I suddenly realised I had the focus all wrong.
Also, at the moment you're writing your way in. You don't have to decide, yet, what final form the story will take. It's come to you fully formed in some ways, sketchy in others. Try writing onwards without pressuring yourself to find suitable places for the material you've already devised. See what comes up. See if it starts to tie up naturally with the back story material, or if you're better moving some of it to the front story, or if it could be developed into something else. Things can change a lot as you play with the characters and let them take life.

 

[Jake E]

I find backstory to be irrelevent most of the time.
90% of the backstory I write for a character doesn't make it into the story. It's there for me as the writer to help me understand how and why a character behaves and to get me 'in their shoes'.
Readers rarely care for that.

 

[RK Wallis]

Fabulous advice from everyone This is your first novel, right? I'm with @Roz Morris. See what comes out naturally. A book is like a piece of clay. It doesn't come out perfect. It needs constant shaping, and until you have it all out, and know your beginning and end, you don't know what you need. Then you shape it again and again (well, I do). Get the story out first, then shape

 

[Claire G]

I agree with others. As a reader, I prefer hints of backstory spread through the story - clues about the character's past which pique my interest. I quite enjoy flashbacks too if done well and in the right place.

Good luck!

 

[Pamela Jo]

Another point that is worth considering….
The best way to introduce a main character is to let them walk on stage and do their thing.

Like Sean Connery's James Bond. You know that dude has a back story that brought him to this exact point in time-but what he's going to do next is FAR more important.