Background

[ghost-angel]

Re: Background

 

There are only three rules to writing well.

Unfortunately no one knows what they are.

 

The best advise I can give you as a writer is ... write a lot. The more you write the better you will get at it.

[Vanguard00]

Re: Background

 

The best advise I can give you as a writer is ... write a lot. The more you write the better you will get at it.

Excellent advice.

 

My backgrounds are usually the traditional "history-->power acquisition/discovery-->why s/he became a hero-->(optional) what's changed since then" method, but I do deviate depending on my muse and the character. Some, as has been mentioned, read almost as a journal. I did one background as an interview of a hero, like for a magazine. Sometimes it's a brief flashback during a current event. Sometimes it contains dialogue, sometimes it doesn't. Once, it contained ONLY dialogue with no narrative at all.

 

Don't be afraid to write. I used to try and limit my backgrounds to 2 or 3 paragraphs because I thought that was preferred, but I found that way too constricting in most cases. Now I write as much (or as little) as needed to convey the appropriate sense of history and/or flavor for the character. Two paragraphs or two pages, whatever it takes. It's easier to go back and summarize (for me) than it is to write briefly and then expand upon it.

 

Don't be afraid to write, and don't be afraid to write a lot.