Backstory Architecture by Martha Reed

A reviewer once told me that I don’t write stories – he said that I construct story architecture. Since I learned to write organically, I had never given much thought on how I actually built my stories. They just seemed to magically happen. But since he made that remark I’ve been studying the craft tools I do use when I draft, and his insight seems valid.

Now whenever I start a new novel or short story I notice that I immediately use these writerly tools:

1.     With my first draft I construct an initial framework or outline of dates, times, and events. Not that I keep all of these details in my finished story, but I start out labeling each chapter or section heading with this information. This knowledge gives me a base for who is in the chapter or the scene, and more importantly why they need to be there. If they don’t need to be in the scene, I heartlessly delete them. Dates, times, and events also keep the plot points tight, logical, and on track which creates a solid and satisfying story flow.

2.     Characters have real lives, other interests, and jobs. In addition to fleshing out my characters and making them more interesting people, I spend time developing their backstories. Characters are human - they have scheduling conflicts. Some are chronically tardy. Different beliefs and motivations can offer additional conflicts. A character may miss out on hearing a key clue under discussion because they’re not immediately on hand to hear it. This is a very useful writerly tool because when the reader knows an important something that a character has missed hearing, it heightens the tension.

3.     Rules to live by. It’s a given that each character believes themselves to be the hero/heroine of their own story and their journey. A great crafty tool to help me stay true to this axiom is to create each character’s individual Rules of Survival. These personal rules will guide their decision-making, direct their actions, and help me construct the plot.

For instance, in my Crescent City NOLA Mysteries, my ex-detective and new P.I. Jane Byrne lives by these seven rules:

JANE BYRNE’S SEVEN RULES OF SURVIVAL

1. Protect yourself, protect your family, protect your friends.
2. Follow up and follow through.
3. Adapt or perish.
4. Ask for help.
5. Ignore them when they say there’s something you can’t do.
6. Ignore the drama – don’t engage.
7. Keep it real.

So as I’m drafting when I come to a plot point fork in the road for Jane, I pause and review her Seven Rules of Survival. In each instance one of her rules will stand out more than the others because of the current circumstances. Following this rule then directs my writerly imagination in the direction of the story’s logical next step.

Here’s an example from my current WIP:

“Nothing.” Quickly rising from the decrepit wicker chair, Jane barely avoided trampling the startled poodle dozing at her feet. “All we earned from that time suck were tours of six more crumbling cemeteries. Alright. Enough already with the ‘Where.’” Jane sourly recalled ‘Keep It Real,’ her seventh survival rule as she started pacing. “What we need to do is to keep the investigation grounded in fact. We need to ID all of the ‘Who’ persons of interest like that unknown major people keep mentioning, and ‘What’ else was happening in NOLA in 1977.”

What tricks do you use to keep your story on track?