McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Educating on the backstory of your Novel

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RodimusGT:
So something I noticed that's pretty common these days is authors tend to just drive right on through the doors in the first chapter without telling the location right off the bat. For example in TDF Harry tells us he's a wizard in chapter 1 but a lot of the backstory details are filled in later throughout the book.

So my question would have to be is there a reason authors do this? At the current time in my manuscript my first chapter starts off by educating the reader on what's going on in the world, and how the supernatural scene works before he sets out on his daily routine, but I'm not sure if that's something that I should try and break up and litter throughout the book or not. Any opinions are appreciated

Mickey Finn:
It engages the reader and invests him right off if you sprinkle the history lessons through the book, rather than front loading.

A great example of this is Jhereg by Brust.

Lanodantheon:

--- Quote from: Mickey Finn on May 13, 2011, 01:37:14 PM ---It engages the reader and invests him right off if you sprinkle the history lessons through the book, rather than front loading.

--- End quote ---

What he said.

One of the most common universal pieces of advice on writing I have found from multiple authorities is "Don't rev your engines." Have the narrative start right off the bat.

Which story would you prefer to read? A) a story that engages us from minute/page one and gives us just the information we need to follow along? or B) a story that spends precious time setting up a world before anything happens and we have to slog through dozens of pages of useless stuff before we even find out who our main character is and what the story is about?

Another way to look at it is that when you go to a play at the theatre, they don't let the audience watch them set up the stage and paint the flats. It's already set up when the curtain rises.

I would much rather you communicate as quickly as possible the following(in no particular order):

1.Who The Main character is(Name, occupation, why we should care about him/her is all)
2. The genre
3. What the main character is struggling against
4. The Tone of the work
5. A reason for me to keep turning pages.

RodimusGT:
You both give very good points. Lano it's funny you mention a stage set as an example, I have a BFA in Theatre lol, so I read that and was like "Oh I see!" haha! Thanks a lot guys. Looks like I have some rewrites to do!  ;D

Lanodantheon:

--- Quote from: RodimusGT on May 13, 2011, 03:48:28 PM ---You both give very good points. Lano it's funny you mention a stage set as an example, I have a BFA in Theatre lol, so I read that and was like "Oh I see!" haha! Thanks a lot guys. Looks like I have some rewrites to do!  ;D

--- End quote ---

Glad I could do my part.   ;)

A better theatre analogy would be this: Romeo & Juliet starts with that speech that sets up the play. It tells you what you need to know and sets the stage. Lasts about half a page.

Do you really want that speech to last several dozen pages?

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