The semester is over and I'm now free to turn my attention back to writing! Yay! And other things, too-- my running needs some new life, I need a job, and I have that summer internship at
Bike Texas to look forward to (and I am, too-- I'll be spending 2x as much time there over the summer as I do now).
But, today is the day I write about writing. I never have much to add on this front, sadly enough: there are so many fab writing bloggers out there that I hardly feel like my paltry experience is worth blogging about. However, I'm never one to stop talking just because I run out of things to say, so here goes:
 |
Bet you'd like to know the backstory
to this. Truth is, so would we. |
Backstory! There are lots of things to say about backstory and world-building and so on, and I always read that stuff with great eagerness. You see, the backstory is one of my favourite parts (since I don't write fantasy, I don't really have a need for much world-building). Chad is the same way, even though he doesn't do a lot of writing: he'll spend as much time coming up with a character sheet for a role-playing game as he does the actual playing. We are just people who love to know what's behind our character's actions.
But sooner or later I have to stop with the backstory and start with the story. And that's when things really get interesting. Here goes.
Do you like coming up with a backstory? Or do you prefer to start writing and then figure out what's wrong with your characters? And if you aren't a writer... um... how far should I run today?
6 comments:
I almost have to have a backstory, only because it can be "polished" as well....I find that the character that I begin with becomes alive by attracting in others..(Now if that didn't make sense)..Sorta' a picture without a lot of words...
Plunging into a "write" is not my best quality...Good luck on your run~!!
I actually have a problem with the concept of backstory in every day life. I'm such an avid word nut and story teller that I have to give 10 minutes of backstory before I can tell something that happened. It's a good thing, sometimes, but most of the time not. My husband is helping me learn how to shorten it, though, and get on with the actual story! :)
I suggest developing the characters and then developing the dialogue.
For running, distance is not primarily important. Run at moderate speed,then speed up a couple minutes. Then slow down a couple minutes, then run even faster a couple minutes, then slow down. In other words, intensity is what counts in a running program.
I find creating back stories for characters to be fun. The hard part comes into integrating the info into the story.
As for running, go at your own pace. Run for as long as you feel comfortable whether it's 20 minutes or 40 minutes without worrying about distance- and you can think about your backstory as you run.
I love to do the back story. Part I hate is not sharing it all.
God luck with the running. My daughter is doing the Cleveland Marathon tomorrow. Sadly my running days are over.
@Anthony: Thanks!
@runner: I agree about the integration part. And my hubby wanted to come along, so I think we only ended up running a mile.
@Giggles: Too true! And the running should be all better soon. :)
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