Mary Kole

What To Do With Downtime?

As we near the biggest submission blackout period of the year, you might find yourself wondering what to do with your submission/writing/manuscript energy. Here are three suggestions: Plan the future! Work on another project. After you submit, you’ll want to keep your creative wheels spinning, so plan your next move. Revise!

How to Work With Character Backstory?

One of the questions I find myself discussing all the time is the issue of character backstory.

How Much Character Backstory to Use?

The bare minimum of backstory that you should include in your novel or picture book or memoir is this: enough to get readers plugged into the character. Maybe that amounts to ZERO backstory, if you start right away with some kind of conflict or action. Aim for minimum viable product (from the business world), the leanest version of your character who can possibly fly.

When to Use Character Backstory?

Your opening chapters or scenes should be action-heavy (with some nice introductory conflict) to get agents, publishers, and readers into your story. Once you feel that is established, you can start weaving in backstory or flashback starting in the second or third chapters.

How to Fill in the Rest?

Another thing to consider when you wonder how much character backstory to use, where, and when, is that you don’t have to use absolutely everything that you’ve developed. You may have done your homework and discovered where your character went to middle school and who their first crush was and how they like to relax after a long day.