I've started rewriting The Long Road again. I haven't got very far, but it feels… good, just to be working on it again. I figured out how and where to start it, that introduces the characters without being all info-dumpy.
That being said, I'm thinking a lot about backstory.
Obviously, these characters have history, both of their own and with each other. I've been doing a lot of research into how to incorporate that into the story. And let me tell you, the internet is god damn useless. "Work backstory into the narrative in bits and pieces." No shit. You don't want to stop the action to explain how your characters know each other, or how they got where they are now. Some sites recommended the use of a prologue. As far as I know, prologues should really only be used when there's some crucial worldbuilding that needs to be done up front. Usually that's a sci-fi/fantasy thing, where the reader needs to know something about the world in order to not be completely lost. This is not that kind of story.
So while I was trying to figure out how to incorporate all this background information, I started thinking about the information itself. And whether any of it mattered.
My three characters are college friends, recently graduated, and now on an epic, albeit ill-fated, road trip. Andrea was from a semi-conservative Christian background, the only girl out of six children. Jesse was a military brat and protective older brother, especially after his father was killed overseas. Tony was an only child, neglected and eventually abandoned by his parents.
Does any of that matter?
I'd argue that yes, it does, but only as far as it informs who they are now. None of that information needs to be present on the pages of the book. Unless, of course, it's somehow related to the issue at hand.
I started wondering about college majors, trying to get inside their heads and figure out what each character would have studied. Then it hit me. It doesn’t matter. If this was a story about recent college graduates looking for work and trying to make it in the big city or whatever, then it would matter. This is not that kind of story.
The only reason it matters that they are just out of college is because A) that's where they met and they've got history there, and B) it puts them in an approximate age bracket. Everything beyond that is pretty much irrelevant.
If their college major provides them with some skill or information that would help them in their current predicament, well then, it matters. But Andrea was probably an English major (she seems the type). I can pretty much guarantee that that won't come up. I don't even know what-all English majors learn. If my casual and unfocused writing style wasn't enough of an indication, I didn't major in English. I did minor in Writing (fun fact), but that's a whole other kettle of onions.
Anyway. I get caught up in all the things I don't know about my characters and every detail of their lives and I don't always stop to think that maybe I don't need all of that. Maybe I've just been using it as an excuse to not write. "Oh, I couldn't possibly start this story, I can't fill out a 1,000 question profile for each character yet."
Now, the fact that I don't know the whole plot, that might be a reasonable excuse for stalling. But I know the first part, so I can at least get started on that.
If you'll excuse me, I need to go murder people. Repeatedly.
I'll see you Wednesday.
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