In real life I'm one of those over-earnest people who fears being misunderstood, especially by people whose opinion I value or expect to value. So it's not surprising that I made sure that in my fourth Bridie and Sean novel I felt the need to ensure that the reader knows all he needs to to 'get' who they are and (briefly) what has happened so far. The first chapter of 'Making good' wrote itself, full of impact and ending on a brilliant page turner. Chapter two was inserted partly to add variety and delay the 'reveal' signalled in chapter one, partly to provide what I felt to be required back story. Reading it was, despite my best efforts, despite changing as much as was feasible into dialogue, liking to digest an uncooked suet pudding and when I found myself skipping it when re-reading I knew I had to find a different way of doing this.
Stuart MacBride doesn't do back story.
In Len Wanner's first volume of 'The Crime Interviews'* in which best-selling authors talk about writing crime fiction, MacBride says of his first Logan McRae novel: "I didn't want it to read like the first novel of a series. I wanted it to read as if it had appeared in the middle of a series. I loathe back story in all its myriad forms."
I've just finished reading his 'Birthdays for the dead' ; a stand-alone novel which has Ash Henderson as the first person main character. Aged forty-five, he has led a helluva full and complex life, knows lots of people, at all levels. None of this, or the relationships referred to in the first chapter, are spelt out, and I have to make and remake assumptions as the story goes on, exactly as you do in real life.
Within a short time I found myself deeply envious of not only Ash but other characters - where does MacBride find them? How does he portray them so vividly? And that is what I need to do next - re-read, try not to get caught up too much in the headlong rush of the story, and try and spot how and then to transfer the skills to my writing.
*Wanner, Len (2012-02-28). The Crime Interviews Volume One: Best-selling Authors Talk About Writing Crime Fiction (Kindle Locations 879-880). Blasted Heath. Kindle Edition.
Interesting post. This is why I like short stories and flash fiction. You don't have time for back story (so I've got an excuse not to write it!).
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that a lot of my stuff starts sort of mid-story. I don't think I do it intentionally, it's just that, as a journalist for so long, I learned to get straight to the point. People don't read newspapers if they have to hunt too far for the facts.
If you imagine that you're telling one person the story - actually talking to them, rather than trying to write a book - you might find that you tell the tale, and only add as much back story as you need at each stage to make the story clear.
"They walked along the beach. It wasn't the first time, of course, that was how they met. But this time was different........." etc etc.
(I hope you get what I'm trying to say. Grandmother and suck eggs comes to mind here. I'm not trying to be patronising - but it's Monday, and my brain's not awake yet! )
This (back-story and How Best To Do It)is a realisation I've been coming to slowly (I ever was a late-developer!, i.e. a grandmother who hasn't yet learned the best way to suck eggs) but was pushed into this post by other reviews of 'Birthdays for the Dead' which complained at the lack of explanation which smacks to me of an unwillingness to engage brain (probably over-harsh, as you say, it's Monday)
DeleteA future rant might be against those who complain that people just don't DO that - but what's the point of a story that doesn't entertain with characters doing what one has not experienced for oneself?