Writing: The Importance of Backstory

I have spent most of the day singing random songs from the Anastasia soundtrack instead of remembering to write this post. So now that I've finally sat down to write, I've actually got something in mind.

Anastasia has always been one of my favourite stories, and it has absolutely gorgeous music. 😍 But more than that, it has well-crafted characters, deep themes, a fabulous plot, and so many childhood memories associated with it.

So sit back, and enjoy the journey "one step at a time," after all, "who knows where this road may go?" 😉

As I mentioned in my last post, one of my favourite parts about books are the characters. Getting to know them is just like making new friends who you can love and cry over...All without actually having to socialise, or even leave your room! (Every introvert's utopia, am I right?) And as writers, we score the chance to actually create these beautiful and unique characters for our readers to relate to. 

But what are some of the ways we can make characters worth reading? I find that one of the most helpful things when you're trying to grow your own writing, is to look at other people's stories, and what they did that made you fall in love with them...To the point that you find yourself singing about them while editing your latest short story!

So, as you can tell, this post has been inspired by Anastasia, and is focusing on how backstory creates amazing characters.

I have heard someone say that backstory is when authors make excuses for their characters and hope to win the readers over with what they went through. Hopefully, if you're writing backstories right, that's not what it is at all. Others say that it's good, but it will just turn up when it turns up, and you don't need to think about it too hard. However, backstory has an effect on every part of your characters, and your story.

Backstory is the set up of your character, and story. It is what has shaped the character into who they are, and when has set the scene for you. In a sense, it's the background of your painting. The expressionist artist, Edvard Munch, probably didn't start his painting The Scream with the person, and just filled the background in later. He needed to work on the sky, the sea, and the bridge before adding the character. And this is appropriate. The painting would just look wrong if the background was a beautiful, bright meadow, wouldn't it?

In the same way, actually having a clue about your character's backstory is important before you just go and write them.

Purpose

Characters are lovable because they have a purpose and a goal that they're striving to reach through the story. Typically, the reason behind them wanting to gain this is because they have a reason dating back to their backstory. In Anastasia, it sure is nicer to know that Dimitri is a greedy opportunist because he's an orphaned kitchen-hand who's been starving along with all of Russia for the past ten years. Despite his methods being somewhat wrong, we can understand his goal, and appreciate him for it. The backstory makes his dreams of being free and rich seem reasonable and logical...not just convenient.

When you're writing, remember that the backstory of your character is the set-up for who they are, why they are, and what they want. Without the story before the story, there is not that depth and wealth of reason behind your characters.

Wound

Which is a more interesting character: A Russian princess who has a perfectly fine life thank-you-very-much, or an orphaned, amnestic, day-dreaming long-lost Russian princess whose entire family line was murdered by an evil sorcerer? 

Not only does backstory help us understand a character, but it just makes them more interesting in general. 😉 

Most good characters have a 'wound' in their past. Something traumatic that happened to them. This makes them a lot easier to relate to, and to want to succeed. Without a wound, they can't grow from it. And with no growth, you probably have a boring character who just sits around eating licorice or something.

The Dangers

Unless you happen to be Victor Hugo while writing Les Misérables, you probably should avoid writing about thirty years of pure backstory in great detail, taking up approximately 100 pages of your novel before you reach the actual story. 

Keep the backstory more developed in your notebook than in your story. Write out every little detail you want in a notebook, but pick and choose what goes into the actual story itself. You are not Victor Hugo. (Please tell me if you are, cos that'd be awesome!)

Find appropriate times to mention backstory. You don't need to dump it all into a prologue. Throughout your story, there will be opportunities for the ball scene in Anastasia when she recalls what happened 'Once Upon a December.' Casual comments about backstory are also nice.

Don't just use a backstory as a cop-out. Reading an annoying character who has no development is going to be a pain, and giving them a tragic backstory is probably not going to make up for how much we hate reading him. So take note that the characters still need to have something likable, not just a pitiable backstory.

So there you have it. Looking at backstory through the lense of Anastasia. I hope you all are as hyped about singing fleshing out some more backstories now!

Do you love Anastasia as much as I do? What are your thoughts on backstories?

Returning with a Review (ROMANOV Book Review)

It's been a long time since I've done one of these. In fact, I haven't been around much anywhere as of late. So, sorry to anyone who I've not gotten back to about various things. But I should be around once again now!

In the last few months, I've done a lot of things, including sitting exams, writing music, applying for jobs, seeing a real bandicoot, buying books, reading books, and writing...less books than I hoped. But that's okay! 😊

However, now that I am back, I'm starting off with something I don't do much of, but definitely should start doing.

Prepare to hear about one of my favourite books!

❖

The history books say I died.

They don’t know the half of it. 

Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them, and he’s hunted Romanov before.

Nastya’s only chances of saving herself and her family are to either release the spell and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya has only dabbled in magic, but it doesn’t frighten her half as much as her growing attraction to Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her.

That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other. 

 ❖

Nadine Brandes

Nadine Brandes once spent four days as a sea cook in the name of book research. She is the author of Fawkes, Romanov, and the award-winning Out of Time Series. Her inner fangirl perks up at the mention of soul-talk, Quidditch, bookstagram, and Oreos. When she’s not busy writing novels about bold living, she’s adventuring through Middle Earth or taste-testing a new chai. Nadine, her Auror husband, and their Halfling son are building a Tiny House on wheels. Current mission: paint the world in shalom.

(You can check out Nadine's site here, at Nadine Brandes - YA Author. I recommend it. She's cool. 😜)

I mean, just looking at the cover should be enough of an explanation on why I'm in love with this book. The Russian aesthetic, fairy-tale aesthetic, and just how pretty it is?? No way could I not want to read it.

Not to mention that it's been written by one of the most amazing authors that I know, Nadine Brandes.

If you like magic, history, plot twists, amazing characters, and sweet romance, then you should definitely read this book.

I had been waiting ever since I finished Fawkes to read Romanov. The cover is gorgeous, the blurb is fantastic, and when you actually read the book, it's even better!

The more I've been reading historical fantasy, the more I've been able to appreciate how cool it is to have my two favourite things together:

1. History
2. Magic

Nadine's blended these two things together beautifully, as always, and once again has built an amazing and unique story around the true history of the Romanov family.

One of my favourite parts of books is to get to know the characters, and there are so many brilliant, raw, and real characters in those pages. Even for characters who had relatively minor roles, we got to know them and see who they were, and I think that is probably one of the things Nadine does best. Whether it was the sister-relationships, or the beautiful friendships forming between the two sides, it was realistic, deep, and heart-wrenching. I felt that I could connect with all of the characters, especially Nastya. ❤

I cannot emphasise (or flail) enough about the plot twists! Even though I know the story of the Romanov family from studying history, hearing it told in a different way and from such an engaging style meant I didn't see basically any of the plot twists coming. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't read it fast enough to find out what would happen next.

I'd definitely recommend this book, and hope that you enjoy it as much as I have!

I love reading books so much, and I love being able to help authors out. No clue why I don't write reviews more often. I guess that's a new thing to be working on.

For now, enjoy hunting down more books!

Have you read Romanov? What did you think?

Tag: The Liebster Award

We've finished our first week of January, and I haven't quite melted from the sun. As is, my fingers still seem to be working well enough to do a blog post, even if it isn't highly imaginative. (Although, looking a bit closer, it seems to be.)

I've been tagged with the Liebster Award tag, which pretty much means that I have been given a bunch of questions to answer, then to tag other people. Many thanks to Aberdeen the Authorosaurus (and Mariposa) for tagging me with this, and I shall give it a shot! I'm pretty sure I did this a while back, but they were very different questions then opposed to now, so it shall be interesting.

The rules are as follows:

1. Thank the blog that nominated you for the award.
2. Answer the questions they gave you.
3. Give 11 fun facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 11 other bloggers for the award and give them 11 questions to answer.

1. What tune would you hate to get stuck in your head? (yes, you’re welcome for getting it stuck in your head now)
   
   Hmm, I constantly have music going on in my head, so I'd say the most annoying tunes to get stuck in my head are the ones that I can't identify. *nodnod* Or only know part of. Both are pretty bad.
   
   
2. If you were a dinosaur, what species would you be and why?
   
   Gosh. Um...here. Have an Australian Dinosaur. Muttaburrassaurus. Why? Because...I am Australian, and there is something like 5 that I could be, and that is the most prominent, so, I suppose that makes it a 4/10 chance?
   
   
3. What is your favourite book in a genre you don’t normally read?
   
   Hmmm, probably In 27 Days by Alison Gervais. It's a book of mixed recommendations, but I really enjoyed it, despite it being VERY different to usual. Like...Contemporary supernatural romance? Anyone else who's read it, what genre would you say it is?
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. What is the first thing you saw this morning?
   
   The ceiling. Prior to the sun being anywhere near the horizon. Sooo, something like this:
   
   
   
   
   
5. If you could make up a dinosaur species, what would it be called and what would it look like?
   
   This is a really hard question.
   
   How about I create a dinosaur that's primary function is to write? It has one claw thingo larger than the others, and it excretes something kinda inky. This creature is horrible at defending itself, but has a great imagination, and is highly coordinated. Its skin also sheds as large sheets of parchment. We'll call it, Historiascriptorerumraptor. (History's Historian Raptor)
   
   
6. If you could have a pen that looked like anything you wanted, what would you pick?
   
   Something that could morph in size, shape and appearance. xD Then I could pick up an invisible pen and write with it, or I could be plotting Russ's story with Russ's iconic pen!
   
   
7. What fictional character depicts your current mood right now?
   
   Shallan, from The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. Why? Well, she seems to swap pretty regularly, so I'm sure one of her emotion's fits mine.
   
   
8. What is the most ridiculous pen name that fits your personality?
   
   Probably something like, "Fueled by Chai."
   
   
9. What is the funniest text you’ve received/written?
   
   
   
   
   
10. If a dinosaur was roaming around your yard, what would you do?
    
    I probably wouldn't notice for the first little while, then wonder why Mum was screaming, then probably be 98% sure I was hallucinating. Although, what size is the dinosaur? That could change things a bit.
    
    
11. Would you rather only be able to write one magnificent book every ten years, or one mediocre book every year?
    
    One magnificent book every ten years? Yeouch. That would be what I'd choose if that was the final product. If you're talking pre-draft, then I'd take one a year. But... I reckon I turn out 3-4 mediocre first drafts every year, so I have no clue. *sigh*
    

Questions answered! Eleven fun facts about me? Well. This could get random.

1. I prefer to crack apples in half before eating them. Looks intimidating, plus, it makes it easier.
2. Two out of the three of my favourite first drafts that I've written result in the narrating character dying. Sorry guys.
3. I'm an INFP that school acquaintances think is an INTJ, friends think is an INTP, and close friends know is an INFP.
4. 95% of adults have been asking me what I'm currently studying in uni since I was in year 10, and I still have very little desire to go to uni.
5. I live on a cattle farm.
6. I drink copious amounts of chai tea.
7. I am known to make references to my own books, then get sad cos no-one gets them. (like leaving post-it-notes with 'GTG' when I leave a room or go on a long walk.)
8. I have had my iPod for five years, and I am yet to smash the screen. It does not have a cover or a case.
9. I do not own a phone.
10. I tend to talk with my hands.
11. I GOT TAGGED BY A DINOSAUR.

Hopefully, there are a few crazy things in there that you did not guess/already know.

Now, for anyone out there who wants to give this tag a go, here are some questions to answer.

1. Favourite hot beverage?
2. What are your top 5 prettiest book covers?
3. Do you have a favourite book/movie troupe? What is it?
4. What are your top 5 book quotes?
5. Do you dislike something that EVERYONE seems to like? (Harry Potter, chocolate, just to name a few ideas.)
6. Board games or card games?
7. What is the main virtue that you wish you had more of?
8. What is your favourite climate?
9. What smells best: Old books, new books, second-hand books, in between books?
10. Which of Aberdeen the Authorosaurus's questions do you most like?
11. Answer that question.

That is all for that tag, and thank you once again, Aberdeen the Authorosaurus for tagging me. Not every day that you get tagged by a dinosaur. Also, I'm gonna say a kinda thank you to Eliza Leblanc for 'tagging' me in this too! (You left it open, so I'll take it as a tag.)

Anyone who wants to do this tag, go on ahead and let me know! Or, you could just answer some questions below. That works too. ;D (But honestly, what dinosaur species would you create? Have you had any crazy texts?)

2019: A New Beginning

There have been a lot of posts about new starts and resolutions floating about in my inbox lately, and now I'm doing one myself.

I'm not a huge person for making vows to try and keep, because if I even slightly fail at some point, I tend to give up completely. Not such a great way of acting, and it's definitely something I'm going to be working on.

2018 was a great year for ideas and taking new steps. I alpha read two amazing books, did my first official lot of edits on one of my own works, completed 'the worst year at school,' and started doing a lot more about the place as a writer.

I also struggled a lot, and have been constantly having to be reminded to keep on leaning on God. It's something I've always known in theory, but when life is really getting painful, it's very easy to either push God from your mind, or to start heaping the blame on Him. But these last few months have definitely been a journey to keep my eyes focused upward, and to trust continually.

And now, a new year has begun, and it is time for us to move on with it!

I'm not certain as to what this year will hold; I know that it will involve finally finishing off at school, and doing some more writing and editing, but that's as far as I can guess. However, that doesn't make it any less interesting to think about what things I plan to do. Besides, that means I can look back at the end of the year and laugh at how differently things went.

Top Three Books to be Written:

1. Broken Chains

This is a contemporary/action story about a police officer’s son who joined forces with his best friend in order to stop a weapon dealing circle, only to realise he’d been tricked and ended up with a lot of evidence—and a gun—pointing at him.

The idea has been floating around for a while, and has some characters who I absolutely adore. So, I really hope to give it a shot in the first few months of the year. (aka, I have already started! Eeeep!)

2. Autumn Artist

Who doesn't like contemporary fantasy mystery novels?

The general concept is that the main character is a professionally trained con-artist, and has been hired to infiltrate a wealthy family's home, down in a fantasy version of modern day Australia, except there is one problem...she has been signed up as an artist with two weeks warning and not an artwork to her name.

I'm not certain where this story is going, but I love the aesthetic, and the ideas I have thus far sound like fun to play about with.

3. A World of Ice

When Aaron Ward woke up, he found that he had been in a coma for around five years, and no one knew who he was...not even himself. The world had faced a huge disaster some years back, caused by a scientist who had released a gas into the air that slowly thickened the ozone layer—origninally purposed to stop global warming, but rapidly causing global freezing. Ice now covers the entire world, and no one knows where the scientist who caused this apocalyptic event has vanished to.

As Aaron journies to find an answer, he soon begins to feel that something isn't quite right, and he's not so sure that he even wants to know who he was, or what he had done.

I really love this story idea, and I can't wait to write it! It'll be quite interesting, as it doesn't have a villain so much as just a crazy time limit, but I still think it would be a really cool thing to write.



I love all of these so much, and can't wait to give them a shot! But who knows, I may well come up with some totally different ideas. Plus, I have another short story that I'll be working on throughout the year for school, so that'll be good.

Editing:

For any who don't know, I have been editing Flightless lately, and I can't wait to see where this will be going. I've gotten a lot of great feedback from some stellar friends who volunteered to read over it and tell me what they thought of the story, and I love those guys so much! (Thanks heaps guys!)

I'm really hoping to have this next lot of edits well and truly done by the end of April this year, and have that draft out to a few alphas by May. *hides at the craziness* I'm not expecting to be looking into all of the publishing things until the end of this year/early next year, but even so, that seems to be coming up scarily fast.

This Blog:

I actually think I'll be able to post once a week again! Yay! That's mostly because I now actually can type up my blog posts on a computer instead of doing them from an iPod, plus, I think I've worked out how to manage my time a bit better. :P

What exactly should you be expecting? I'm not sure. Expect nothing so that you can be surprised by everything!



Yep, a new year has started, and I'm looking forward to seeing what things God brings with it, and what lessons I'll be learning. He's got great things planned, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time. That's something that He has proven over and over again, so we can always remember to trust in Him.

I pray that you guys can all remember this year to keep looking up to God and trusting Him to guide your ways. He is good and knows what he is doing with your life...even if you have absolutely no clue.

Good luck to this new year!

Plans and Prompts

Time limits are always interesting. I’ve been noticing this lately with all of these crazy deadlines that are appearing everywhere for me to meet and yikes it makes things insane.

And yet, somehow, they help me get stuff done.

But I'm not here to talk about deadlines, as much as I feel tempted to. I plan to give an update, and then a prompt, so, here we go!

Quick Update on Writing Life:

At the start of October, I told a few mostly non-writer friends who would be reading Flightless and giving some feedback for me, that I would have the first lot of major rewrites done and the book would to them by November the first. Well. It happened. But not without a heck of a lot of work. :D

They’ve been reading through it, and I’m getting so much helpful feedback! I’ll most likely be going through and editing it over the course of December, and it looks like I’m rewriting half of it, and adding in a whole heap of things. :P Oh well. It’ll be fun, and definitely will improve it.

Storm Wielder is coming along nicely, and…well…is basically…done? I’ve written the whole first draft, and I’m going through it again to add in some scenes I’ve thought about now, so, that’s fun. I think I’m going to just keep working on other things for the rest of NaNo and see how it goes.


But now, it is time for me to help all of you poor people who went into NaNo without a plan and are now getting past that stage where you’re writing like crazy cos it is awesome, but not up to the point where you’re sprinting toward a deadline. (Aka, it is prompt time!)

DISCLAIMER: Those high heels are not mine. I am not that co-ordinated. :P

Well then. Does this fit for any stories? Any ideas sparking?

Can't wait to here how everyone else's projects are coming along! November is such an awesome month!

How’s NaNo going for you? Having much happening with writing plans?



 

Crafting Villains

I love reading, and can comfortably say that I read fairly widely. I don't love everything I've read, but I can tick off a lot of genres. Even so, in lots of books that I've read lately, some characters fall flat in their role. So I figured that for the next few months, I'd occasionally do a post on crafting characters. I've been reading a bit into it, and experimenting with these ideas myself, so hopefully what I have to say is half decent. ;)

Let's kickstart this off with one of the biggest let-downs: villains. 

Villains written well should be terrifying. A lot of the time, people seem to think that making a tall man, dressed in black, who keeps to himself and takes pleasure in causing harm is how you generate this fear. Now, while I'd be creeped out if I ran into this person down the street, it isn't that character that leaves us shaken up and on edge. So how do you make the villain your story needs?

There are a few major things to keep in mind when crafting your villains:

1. Your villain has a human motivation. This character genuinely believes that what they are doing is right. They think that anything they've done can be justified. 

Maybe your villain is wanting to protect people, so they will force them into captivity, taking away their freedom as well as anything dangerous. Suddenly, they seem to have good reason, gone way wrong. 

2. Your villain also needs a personality. Developing your characters does not stop with your protagonist. The best villains are the ones that you get a personality for. 

Personalities just make characters that much more real. Perhaps your villain loves drama, and tries to go for the full, stereotypical-evil atmosphere. Maybe they're very chill and laid back. Both of these personalities will change our view of them, but still keep us on edge. 

3. Your villain should be relatable. One of the most petrifying things about a well written villain, is when you can see that if one detail in your life had been changed, you could be where your villain is. Had one choice been made differently, had one word not been spoken, had one day been changed, you would be an evil mastermind. 

Perhaps you were going to lose something very precious to you that could be saved if you did something evil. Suddenly, things seem murky. That one choice to go with the evil option is all it takes to turn a hero into a villain. 

4. The villain should directly shape the protagonist's journey. If your villain isn't a major part of the arc, then they probably don't need to be there. Your villain should turn up for more than just the climax. 

Hypothetically, if you only had the villain vaguely mentioned through the book, then have them stumble onto the stage last minute to monologue and battle the hero, then that's pretty boring. But if you can see them active through the whole story, they become way more real. Plus, that will be a major aspect of shaping the main character. They will have to deal with the villain, and avoid become like them. 

5. The villain's goal should raise the stakes. If the villain's goal isn't too high, then no one cares. We need those goal to be high, and to really cause fear. The main character should be terrified that the villain will reach their goal, and will want to fight with tooth and nail to stop them. 

Was you villain nearly undefeatable before? Make them hunt for something to give them more power. If you've built up the suspense over what the villain is up to, and shown how bad the situation is, make it clear what the villain's goal is. Then, you can watch as they get closer and closer. The stakes will rise, and the readers will be on the edge of their seats. 

There you are! Five tips on making villains worth writing, and reading. Hope something there is helpful! 

And remember: to make the readers relate to a protagonist is good; to make them relate to the antagonist as well, is powerful. 

What about you? What things do you think make a good villain?

Storm Wielder for NaNo | A Project Update

Well. NaNoWriMo is nearly here. This time last year, I was getting ready to write my fantasy novel, Chosen by Fire. Since then, my writing style has changed (and improved) drastically. But now, a year has gone by, and I must plan for the next novel. And a while back, I mentioned that I had a novel planned, and even a playlist written.

Ironically, seeing that I spent pre-October plotting for NaNo, I have actually spent most of this month editing Flightless, which I’m sure I’ll talk more about in the upcoming months.

As it is, today’s post is about my new idea, Storm Wielder, and I really hope you guys like it as much as I do!

The book is a dystopian fantasy (new genre for me) and his going to be focusing on the major themes of family and sacrifice. These tie in nicely with my oversized cast of seven characters. (Two of which are ‘bad guys.’)

I did a mini post on Storm Wielder earlier, which you can check out right here.

Without any further ado, I shall let you meet the Storm Wielders.


Ty

Ty is my main character. He’s a twenty five year old man who has one sibling and whose parents died along with millions of others in the War of Storms. He’s fairly capable of looking after himself, and becomes very protective over anyone who he gets particularly attached to. He’s determined to save everyone, and this can sometimes be a bit of an issue.


Heather

Heather is a nineteen year old nature lover, and the one who invited Ty along to join the Storm Wielders. Her goal in the entire mess? To find a way to restore the world to how she’s been told it once was. Her version of rebellion against the censored world is to wear a flower crown, and to graffiti the streets with anything floral-based. She wants to be able to give younger people the opportunities she never had as a child.


Felix

Felix is the youngest Storm Wielder, and the most powerful. He was recruited when he was ten, and now four years have passed and his determination to be able to fix the world has made him by far the most dangerous of the lot. He spends his time either trying crazy new missions to bring the Storms back for good, or fooling about trying to make Kaman laugh…or at least smile. He lost both of his parents at a fairly young age, but tries to look at the positives of his life since.


Kaman

A man of an uncertain age who hides behind a painted mask is the leader of the Storm Wielders. When  someone first meets him, they’d probably be terrified by his outwardly rough nature, but really he spends most of his time trying to find others who have been hurt by the people who keep the world in drought. He doesn’t care what it takes, he will get his people—the Storm Wielders—the world he knew when he was a child.


Opia

A well-read twenty six year old hacker could be the most well grounded of the team. Opia enjoys reading, and trying to create beauty in the rather disgusting world she lives in. She encourages Heather in her pursuits by telling her stories that she has read of how the world used to look, and what people used to be like. She keeps the Storm Wielders out of a lot of danger with her hacking skills, and is desperate for the world to be back at peace again.



Well! There’s my characters. If you hadn’t guessed, I’m seriously looking forward to getting to write this and meet them for real!

What are your thoughts? Anyone else doing NaNoWriMo this year?