Ding, ding!.

Referee: “Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the first ever bout between Back Story and Character History.”

Wahhaaaaa. Cheeerrrs!

Ref: “In this corner, from the New York City, weighing a hefty five hundred and eighty-two pounds, wearing black shorts, is the champion of all novel prose, Baaaaack Storrrryyyyyy!”

Waahhhha, crowd cheering.

“And in this corner, from Miami Beach, weighing a sleek one hundred and seventy-eight pounds, wearing blue shorts, is the challenger, Chhhaaaarrracter Hhhiiiistorrrryyy.”

Wahhhhha, other half of the crowd cheering.

Ref: “All right you twos, I want a clean fight. No hitting below the belt, no tripping, spitting, holding or biting. Touch gloves, go to your mutual corners and when the bell rings, come out fighting.”

Ding! Character History leaps to the center of the ring as Back Story lumbers forward. Character History circles, dancing, jabbing. Smirking, Back Story takes a wide stance, raises his gloved fists and waits, watching. The young whipper-snapper has no power over him. Character History bobs and weaves. Back Story cuts a hard right jab. Oooo, Character History takes it on the chin. He wobbles, but oh! He’s bouncing back.

Back Story breathes heavily. His arms slip low as he watches Character History circle. He strikes an uppercut… But mercy, Back Story misses by a mile.

Here comes Character History. Jab, cross, uppercut. Ooo, Back Story is taking a beating. He’s teetering… he’s not looking good, Jim. Character History throws one final blow. A sharp cross. And Back Story falls! The whole arena quakes as he hits the canvas. It’s like watching Goliath being quelled with one of David’s stones. The ref is on his knee. He’s counting. “One, twos, three, four…. nine, ten. You’re out, Back Story. You’re out.” It’s over. In Round One. Chhhhaaarrracter Hissstory is the new prose Champion of the World. “Ladieeesssss and gentlemennnn, your knew champ’eeeeeeeen.”

***

Fun, uh? Okay, I can hear y’all now, “Rachel, what are you talking about?”

I’m talking about back story verses character history. What’s the difference? Strength, power, speed, agility and ability to sustain the long haul of a novel.

Back story is old fashioned writing. It’s large and encumbersome. Slow. Waddling. And most of the time, unnecessary.

However, Character History is hot, lean and sleek, fast and quick, in and out, not weighing down the story.

Back story, we all know, slows down the action. We’ve heard the rule: No back story for the first 30-50 pages.

But wait, what if I need the reader to know something critical about the character for the opening scenes to make sense?

That, my lovelies, is character history. For example, Billy Bob is about to go on his first police call, a robbery, since returning to the force after being shot in the gut by a bank robber. He’s nervous. He’s anxious. He draws his gun a bit too early. What’s going on? At that point, the reader needs a bit of history. Drop it in via dialog or a short line of

prose. “Since  taking a bullet in the gut, Billy Bob wondered if he could still be a cop on the beat.” Now the reader know and understand his actions. And a bit of tension has been added. What bullet in the gut? When? Who shot him? Why? All of those  question, left hanging, can be answered later in the story. Good stuff. Back story however, would read like this:

“Since  taking a bullet in the gut, Billy Bob wondered if he could still be a cop on the beat. But his dad had been a cop and his  father before him. Every Martin man wore the badge. He remembered the first time he help his father’s badge, feeling the cool metal in his palm, stroking his finger over the shiny brass. He knew then. He’d be a cop just like his father. Mother didn’t want him to be. She worried about Dad, but if a man put on blue and a gold badge, wasn’t he invincible?”

Wow! All that while checking on a robbery call? By now, the reader’s forgotten what was going on. The burglar got away while our hero mused over his past.

We don’t need that much information. Especially not in the midst of a tense scene. Save it for later. Perhaps in a conversation with his Dad when our hero, Billy Bob, is facing a reason of truth moment.

Back story is more for the author than the reader. Character History is for the reader, and the power of the story.

So, what’s Character History and how do we use it?

1. Character History applies to the current action on the stage. If your heroine cannot stand the hero, don’t let her behave irrationally. Drop in a line of history. “Ever since seventh grade when he stole her PE clothes from her locker and she got detention, Jen couldn’t stand Colby Waterspoon.”

2. Drop in history notes and get out. Leave the reader a bit curious. In writing Love Starts With Elle, I had a paragraph or so of history on Elle so the reader could understand the significance of the scene and what action was about to take place. She’d set up Operation Wedding Day for herself in the book, Sweet Caroline. She wanted to find a man. But her plan didn’t work. When she let it go, THEN she met the handsome Jeremiah Franklin. I needed that bit of Operation Wedding Day “history” to help the reader “get” Elle.

3. Character History sets up tension. Drop in a line about how your character is afraid of…. snakes or heights. Don’t you love how Indiana Jones hates snakes, then gets dumped in a pit of them? We first see his fear when he’s escaping in a prop plane after taking the artifact from the cave. We don’t get a bunch of lines about why and how he’s afraid of snakes, we just see his reaction. Then when he’s dumped in the pit, our skin tingles. It’s Indy’s worst nightmare. Most of ours too! Can you imagine how boring the scene would’ve been if Indy went on for six or seven more lines about how his big brother used to toss snakes on him when they played in his grandma’s creek? Who cares at that point? We just need to know his history with snakes. Period. He hates them.

4. Character History is part of the prose painting. It’s a nice clutch on forward action. It helps the reader take a breath and get into the heart and mind of the protagonist. But be careful. Just a bit of history is all we need. In my upcoming release, The Wedding Dress, heroine Emily is vocal about the practice of convict leasing. She’s passionate about ending the practice, but I never go into why or how she became so adverse. It’s not necessary. But, it’s great to see her character and heart toward justice.

5. Character History sheds light on the protagonist motivations. Let the history pertain to what’s happening on stage, in the current scene. If your character is dealing with, oh, say, an errant child, don’t stop and give a dissertation on the protagonist own childhood and upbringing. Not necessary. Boring. But, do tell us how her mother was so kind and patient, and it frustrates her how she is so impatient and sharp. That’s all the reader needs to get what’s going on with the protagonist motivation.

So, there you have it. The bout between Back Story and Character History. Go out writing and have a clean fight with your words.

Ding, ding!

 Rachel Hauck is an award winning, best selling author  who’s made plenty of “author mistakes” and lived to tell about it.