Into The Backstory

In my most recent story, I haven’t really gone into backstory. I’m trying to focus on making it seem a bit deeper in the character’s psyche so I haven’t really gone into a lot of this.

I did mention a little bit of her story with others. She reflected on the start of her relationship with a close friend after lying to her, and she’s also mentioned her fertility struggles, divorce, and meeting her now ex-fiancé.

However, I haven’t really touched on her choice in career path. She had wanted to be a nurse, but decided she couldn’t do it when she finished her bachelor’s degree, and decided on teaching after figuring out that she liked coaching sports.

Is there any way for me to bring this up without making it weird (like, because normal people don’t randomly reflect on their life story)?

maybe she walks around her house in a daze and looks at pictures, and brings back memories, like she looks at a wedding picture of her and her husband and remembers.

Could you kind of put it in slowly, and naturally? Like, instead of a paragraph or two saying ‘This is [name_f]Aimee[/name_f]’s career, and how she got to it’, put in little things throughout the story where they fit in. Like ‘As [name_f]Aimee[/name_f] passed the playground fence, she heard the shrill noise of a coach’s whistle disciplining the young and unruly lacrosse players. She let the sound carry her, fondly, back to her own coaching days. It was through those that she discovered her affinity for teaching blah blah blah…’ and then later, something like ‘This particular show was difficult for her to watch, not because of the blood and injuries, but because of how unrealistic the medical team was reacting. [name_f]Aimee[/name_f] had wanted to be a nurse, and though she didn’t pursue it beyond her bachelor’s degree, she had learned enough to know that wasn’t how to tie a tourniquet.’
I don’t think the backstory needs to be told all together, or even in sequence. Since you said you’re going deeper into your character’s psyche (who I just assumed was [name_f]Aimee[/name_f], sorry about that), you may want to try just following her thoughts, and letting it flow through there.
Disclaimer, I am not in any way a writer.

2 Likes

You should be a writer. That was excellent setting and character building!

1 Like

Thank you so much! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: I would like to try my hand at it (starting to, a little bit), but for now, pretty much everything just stays in my head :woman_shrugging:t2:

1 Like

I feel that. But honesty, you definitely have a knack for it!

1 Like

Yeah, it is [name_f]Aimee[/name_f]! Thanks.

1 Like