Return to Writing: Everyone Has a Back-Story!

I just returned from a vacation to the East Coast, where I delighted in exploring not only some fascinating nooks and crannies of both New York City and Boston, but also in observing the interesting people who define those urban cultures. My everyday quiet lifestyle of work, creativity, gardening, and family does not usually afford me an opportunity to people-watch or meet new folks.

My observations and interactions didn't hesitate to remind me that all people have stories that have brought them to where they are today. I visited a dear friend who, though having suffered a tragic loss in her life a few years back, has somehow found her way to a bright new purpose and a meaningful new love. I talked to a Pakistani cab driver who attributes his series of heart ailments to sixteen stressful years of driving in NYC. I met one of our coffee customers who told us tales of his wild introduction to the U.S. upon his arrival as a naive youth from Italy. And I reminisced with a former elementary school classmate about our eclectic life journeys, which somehow led us to reconnect for breakfast in NYC.

I spent my last morning in Boston sitting on a shady park bench in the Boston Common, observing people: an elderly Asian man who was struggling with the operation of his cell phone; a young woman who was so pregnant that she waddled along the path - yet she was out enjoying the day; a middle-aged man who was sitting alone on a bench doing nothing but smoking one cigarette after another for the longest time. I wondered what their back-stories were and how they came to be in that time and place.

My observations reminded me that every character in a fictional story needs a history. So if I wish to write effectively, I must create a back-story of each of my characters. I don't have to include all of their information in the story, but I must understand the characters' unique histories so their relevance to the story is clear, not only to me but also to the reader. Before I dive back into writing Book 2 of Heaven's Wait! Tales from Vowella, I think I'll go back and review the back-stories of the characters I've already written into Innocents.