Tag: blog post

My Relationship with Backstory

Many of the stories I make have a long-ass backstory. At first I thought it was the main character that needed an indepth backstory, but that’s not true at all. He should have some baggage, sure, but the history shouldn’t necessarily be explored. All characters deserves a past, so we as writers know what we are writing about, so the characters words and actions speaks true. However, some plot important characters need a more indepth look.

For instance, the MC comes to an island (for one reason or another). There’s a woman there alone. We must know what she’s doing there. This is easy if there’s just one life to explore, thus just one story, but in fantasy, it often spawns generations. She’s a witch, she has been on the island for hundreds of years, and before her, there was another witch, which had also lived there for untold generations. Suddenly I have another book, or at least another short story to explore.

If one should show this backstory is another matter entirely, but how detailed should such stories be? I know I work in waves, like, every iteration becomes more and more complex and I try my hardest not to write anything that hasn’t anything to do with the plot before the plot is finished. It’s after that I start adding descriptions, scenes and dialogue. Needless to say, it becomes pretty meaty even with my best attempts, and then there is no problem making it into a proper story.

The reader shouldn’t have a problem understanding the Main story without the backstory and should only serve to bring life to it. But what if one presented the backstory afterwards, kinda like an annex? It seems to me it would be such a shame to hide the backstory I’ve worked so hard on.

Thank you for reading.

If you would like to read some of my stories you can find my latest one HERE!

by Stamphers

50 Flash Fictions… Now What?

For four years I have been working towards becoming an author. They say that it takes 5 years before you become one, before you settle into your craft; well, at least somebody said so, I don’t remember who… In one year I’ll have reached that milestone. Whether everything will fall into place or not, only time will tell. Nevertheless, it will be something to celebrate. If nothing else, it means there’s dedication and anyone that is successful today have worked hard, but not everyone that work hard is successful. It’s the sad truth but still comforting in a way. It means there’s just one thing expected of you and everything else is up to luck, or God, if you believe that sort of thing.

When I started, my ambition was even greater than my naivety, which resulted in my first work being a fantasy trilogy. I ended up with a 400 page draft but I knew even then the amount of work that needed to be done. I could not finish such a project while trying to learn the craft. This is where Flash Fiction came in. It was a prefect format to experiment and polish your craft, and most of all, it allows you to finish something.

50 stories I have written. It took a lot longer than I expected but it was a goal of mine and I have reached it. The plan was to publish them in a collection but the quality vary so much I think I’ll not… You cannot find all 50 of my stories on my site as I removed a few particularly embarrassing ones, but that doesn’t matter. There are 50 made and it will be my last – unless the urge itches me again. The format has served its purpose and it is time to do more. From Flash Fiction to Short Stories; a format that’s a bit longer but not as daunting as a novel.

I’m hoping the longer format will force me to think more about plot, to plan ahead where I otherwise would’ve just written from my gut. If I could, it would streamline my work, just a bit, to make sure I can finish as many of my ideas as possible before I die.

Here you can find what I’ve written so far: Flash Fiction

© Christopher Stamfors

by Stamphers

Learn how to write Novels

My last Blog Update was terrible and I’m rectifying it now...

This has been a particularly long Hiatus and I think I should explain what I have been up to for the last 8 months: Flash Fiction is a hobby of mine, it gives me pleasure to handle such a small text and it gives me an opportunity to improve my writing and to be truly creative. Flash Fiction works very well for experimentation on style; explore scenes and characters and I will probably never stop writing them. But, as I found, writing snippets of stories doesn’t make you any good writing novels.

A year ago, I dove into a story (aiming for a novel) without a plan, hoping I’ll be led along this broken tale with no direction – the same strategy I’ve been going for with my Flash Fictions. Though this is a good thing when drafting, this is not advisable when trying to polish a story. Write the draft down, then write it again and again, never commit to a scene until you have worked out as much as you are able! That is what I’ve learned. You’ll undoubtedly make changes along the way, either way, that’s unavoidable, but hopefully, you’ve created a solid foundation to build on at that point.

I knew this on a surface level long ago, but it takes practice, and many mistakes, to fully understand the craft. I’m not saying I know how to write novels now but I am confident that I know enough to put some time into my short fictions again.

I will not make any promises, however, because I know I am not a creature of habits. I might post two stories one week or none at all in another. At least you can be certain that I’m working on them and hopefully you’ll stick around to read them.

Knowing that at least somebody reads my stories gives me enormous satisfaction.

Thank you for existing.

by Stamphers

I Abandoned a Story and I Couldn’t be Happier.

 There’s this story that I’ve worked on for about 2 years, and during this time, there’s been a lot of changes to the plot, which is not a good thing…

A short story should be simple, with a clear plot and it should be easy to grasp and explain to anyone who ask about it. But to achieve this, there must be a clear backstory and beginning, much like a gardener planting his seed:

(…) The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what the seed is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or a mystery seed or whatever. But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don’t know how many branches it’s going to have, they find out as it grows (…)

 -George R. R. Martin  Full Quote

The backstory is the seed, in my mind.

But as you learn to write, you’ll apply what you’ve learned as you learn them, which will result in an entangled mess of subplots and character motivation until it doesn’t make sense anymore – if it ever made sense to begin with.

I tried my darndest to fix the plot, and to give you an idea: the story was 24 pages at on one point; I ended up with 120.

It was then that I finally realised there was no way… It hurt at first, a lot even. I didn’t want to think about how much time I’ve sunk into the story, but as I came to terms with it, I only felt relief.

But my time wasn’t totally wasted for what I’ve begun was the bones of a novel. I abandoned the plot almost completely and salvaged what I could. I used the worldbuilding I’ve already done and expanded upon it.

I’ve now learned not to be lazy and that everything rides on the beginning/backstory, otherwise, the rest won’t make sense. Hence, I spent a week working on the first chapter alone. There’s  not going to be any loose end this time around.

We’ll see how it all turns out, in worst case, it’s another learning experience…

by Stamphers

Niume Blog – Fictional Post

Most of you probably don’t know this, but I have a blog on Niume where I experiment with different kinds of blog post that I don’t want on this site. Book of Legacy should be all about stories and poetry, so that’s how its going to stay.

That said, I posted a new blog post recently which is a fictional post of my thoughts about the future. I would be much obliged if you checked it out and told me what you thought of it.

Thanks!

Progress or Regress: Humanity at a Crossroad

 

by Stamphers