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Photo Credit We know that back story is important. We know how to create it. Now where do we put it? Brace yourselves. You may not like this: No where. Back story isn’t part of the novel, it leads up to the novel. You’ll make references to it throughout your [...]

I’ve heard of men who buy a sports car, women who have houses or their bodies completely re-modeled. I even believe that Lizzy Borden was probably suffering some type of strange life crisis. (There MUST be some excuse).But who would have thought a soccer/karate mom would suddenly go from reader [...]

Photo CreditSo we know that back story is important, but how do we create it?That’s easy - tap in to your inner pre-schooler.Not quite sure what I mean? Head on down to your local elementary school. Ask for a guest pass to the pre-school classroom (bring some credentials so the [...]

Photo CreditThis is Rory Gilmore. She's perfect. No, really - she is. My character, Callie ... she's not quite so perfect. In fact some of my crit partners don't like her much. I'm working on creating a good balance between likability and reality.Here are some tips from My Book Therapy on [...]

Photo CreditEveryone has a past. In fiction, we call it back story. It’s not always appropriate to include it in your manuscript, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write it. Everything about our past influences our actions - the same is true about our characters. No one “just” decides to [...]