Backstory - is it necessary? When? Why? And How Much?

[storyfan]

A couple of us have such lovely conversations on twitter and we're getting quite adept at having in-depth discussions using 140 characters or fewer. But when we really have to dive into a topic, we YIM. And here is a recent topic - backstory!

Comments

[princesshannah4]

Oh goodness, backstory. I've flexed my muscles in this field so VERY much in the past year, thanks to LARPs I've been writing that involve about 70-80 people

[storyfan]

This is what went wrong with a story I just finished that is unlikely to ever see the light of day. And that's a good thing. I had Bertie acting in a way he wouldn't in canon and shouldn't in fanon without telling why. And dumping the backstory in now would just gum up the works. It was a short to medium-sized fic, about 6,000 words, so you'd have thought I had plenty of space and time to do the backstory. But I didn't and the omission is glaring. Well, live and learn. And thank heavens for betas.

If a writer wants Jeeves to be a murderer, then something in his background had to have made him that way. If the writer doesn't bother to mention this something (and in some detail, not just a sentence or two) then it makes the fic hard to read without going "what the hell?"

[feanix]

I think for one-shots, drabbles, ficlets and fluff (oh my!) backstory isn't entirely necessary. In fact, sometimes it can be too much.

But if you're going in a different direction with the characters, then if you can pop in some backstory it's cool. Dashed helpful, in some cases. Essentially, you're right, if the characters are OoC and you don't let people know what's going on, then they may as well be in a world disconnected from the fandom.

[storyfan]

You said everything I said, but more succinctly. Thanks for that.

There's nothing quite like reading a fic where the characters are so out of character they end up unrecognizable. They turn into strangers who just happen to be named Jeeves and Bertie and Harry or whatever. Ick. Call them Stan and Larry and Howie, because they're not Jeeves and Bertie and Harry anymore.

[feanix]

Exactly.

[hephaistia]

It's like this. If I find a story that's very nice and interesting, I don't mind the characters being a little OOC. I mean, it's not like canon Jeeves ever behaves in a soppy lovestruck way. But we have him mooning over Bertie very soppily in fanfics, and most of those fanfics are really very lovely.

On the other hand, there's a limit to my suspension of disbelief. Nothing's ever gonna convince me Jeeves is a serial killer, or that he wants to hurt Bertie and so on. And I won't ever believe that Bertie will kick Jeeves out and break off their relationship because he wants to marry some girl he got an infatuation on, and have a respectable life. Jeeves isn't criminal or insane, and Bertie is not a selfish jerk.

So yes, backstory is necessary on certain occasions. I like having things explained, why he did it and all that. But barring extreme situations like mentioned above, I'm more than happy to read any Jooster I get. It's so sad that we won't get to read your new one.

[storyfan]

I agree that it's good to give writers (and artists) a bit of leeway and temper our reviews of their work accordingly. After all, we're not making money and we're spending a lot of our free time on this stuff. For example, just because Jeeves doesn't cry in canon there's no reason why he can't in fandom (for the right reasons, of course).

I don't let a little OOC bother me too much, but when they're really OOC I usually stop reading the fic. I'm with you - there's a limit to my suspension of disbelief.

Not so sad about the weird fic, really. I should stop bringing it up, but you can probably tell I'm still annoyed with myself. Chaoschick13 says I need to put it behind me for now, and I really should take that advice.

On the upshot, chaos is going over a little flist fic and that should be ready soon.

How are your classes going?

[hephaistia]

Very true. I must confess I rather like emotionally compromised and vulnerable Jeeves. Gives a depth to his character. And yes, the writers are doing a hard job commendably, with hardly any benefit other than nice feedback.

I suppose if you think it doesn't make the cut, the fic wasn't worth it. But still.... *sigh* VERY glad to hear about the flist fic. Your flist is a wonderful place to be!

Classes? It's fun, actually. If I knew uni was this fun, I wouldn't have felt so apprehensive at the beginning. English lesson bored the hell out of me, though. They are even teaching us to count! From the basics! But I suppose they must consider the students from rural areas, and that's why we have to do those.

We got to even play table tennis, carrom and football. The seniors later took us on a tour of the grounds, and introduced us to 'campus slang'. (Yeah, we have a special language at the campuses, which is almost unintelligible to outsiders. LOL!) It's the lack of females that makes the place kinda odd.

[storyfan]

I agree with your character-depth comment. If he didn't get a little emotional sometimes he'd be a cardboard character. And who wants that?

I'm glad you're having fun at university. How many young women are on campus?