One of my books has a lot of character background. When is it too much? What are some ways you guys incorporate background? I am afraid that I am making it too much. Typically, the character has suffering in order to experience joy, but when is it too much?
I don’t know if there is a limit. A lot of my characters have detailed backstories, often tragic. I try not to just dump every detail about the character’s life in one chapter, though. More and more details get revealed as time goes by, especially if we spend time in that character’s head a lot.
Also, I try to hint at a character’s background without explicitly saying what happened to them. Usually, my character has experienced some form of trauma, we will see clues before it’s actually said, if it’s ever said. For example, my [name_m]Kestrel[/name_m] is seen early on to be hesitant to cross a bridge and to get extremely tense if someone gets too close to him. We learn several chapters later that his father shoved him off that bridge with no warning when he was five years old. [name_f]My[/name_f] [name_f]Zuleika[/name_f] has a slight limp, but we only learn later that the injury that caused it was inflicted by her own parents. [name_f]My[/name_f] [name_m]Dez[/name_m] has lived a life of sorrow and woe and has a very long backstory. It’s hinted at and revealed in chunks.
Anyway, that’s how I handle character backgrounds. I hope this comes in handy🙂!
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I have other characters ask about them and there past.