Have you ever watched a play, tv show, or movie where background characters did nothing but stand around and watch? It gets old and boring quick. The same is true for background characters in your writing.

How your characters react in everyday situations is as important to how they respond in the “big scenes”. Without secondary responses, the pages of a book take on the same droll sense that watching someone on stage just standing there has. Boring.

We would like your thoughts and advice on how to up the background, yet still keep it in the back. Because even though it’s necessary, it still must not over power the importance of the scene it is in.

Okay, Anica had such a great comment, that I decided to add it to this post.

I think a lot of it is about knowing how your point of view character would look at the background characters and their activities. That’s the level of detail they should get.

Sometimes scenes seem to stop while the protagonist describes everything that other characters are doing – as you say, the background overpowers the scene. Mostly, I think the issue is that showing activities (e.g. what some character in the background is doing) implies (a) the passage of time, and, (b) that your protagonist spends the aforementioned time being aware of these activities, which means s/he’s paying enough attention to describe them at the level at which they’re described.

This can be especially problematic in big fight scenes. Often the author has introduced a bunch of characters over the course of a book or even a series, and s/he then wants to show the reader what all of them are up to during the big fight, but reading paragraphs on what other people are doing during an action sequence makes me think, “What about our protagonist? Is she just standing there watching?” (If so, there had better be a good reason, because that isn’t a very active or interesting course for her to take.)

Background details can be included; they just have to make sense in the context of what the POV character is doing at the time. In the fight scene example, maybe she could be fighting her way across the room, trying to ask each of her friends an important question, which would mean she would see what each of them is doing.

Thanks, Anica for your thoughts on this subject, I agree completely!

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Sarah is writer looking for an agent. She is currently working on novel # 4, editing novels 2 and 3, and querying novel # 1. For more insight to her work, visit: http://legendoftheprotectors.wordpress.com/ or http://legendoftheprotectors.blogspot.com/

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I have four children, and they all love books. My youngest, 5, asks almost daily to go to the library and generally picks out books on reptiles. I’m learning a lot about them and realized that some of this information will come in handy in one of the books I’m writing.

We all know it’s never too early to help a child develop interest in books and learning.

So, what are you reading? Which books draw in your children?

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Sarah is writer looking for an agent. She is currently working on novel # 4, editing novels 2 and 3, and querying novel # 1. For more insight to her work, visit: http://legendoftheprotectors.wordpress.com/ or http://legendoftheprotectors.blogspot.com/

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It’s a new year and we’d love to hear your writing goals. Share your successes from 2010 and what you’d like to accomplish for 2011.

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This is a time for everyone to reflect on what they have in their lives to be thankful for. Often, in our writing, we struggle through the conflicts with our characters. Since this is the holiday season, I wondered, what do your characters have to be thankful for. And anyone who wants to share good news here as well, may feel free.

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Sarah is writer looking for an agent. She is currently working on novel # 4, editing novels 2 and 3, and querying novel # 1. For more insight to her work, visit: http://legendoftheprotectors.wordpress.com/ or http://legendoftheprotectors.blogspot.com/

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Most writers love to read. I’ve noticed through reading, that many characters love to read as well. It must be the book lover in authors.

So my questions to you are: What books do your characters read? Who are their favorite authors? What genre is their favs? What kind of characters do they relate to?

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Sarah is writer looking for an agent. She is currently working on novel # 4, editing novels 2 and 3, and querying novel # 1. For more insight to her work, visit: http://legendoftheprotectors.wordpress.com/ or http://legendoftheprotectors.blogspot.com/

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www.EveryonesReading.com is a new website, offering 12 free eBooks – so book-lovers can enjoy their favourite books in a free, convenient and easy format.

EveryonesReading.com has just launched this week, so I hope you’ll be interested in featuring it. There’s no catch, just 12 free eBooks for everyone to enjoy! There’s also the chance to win a new Sony Reader!

Alexander Martin
Midas Public Relations

Midas House, 10 Old Court Place, London W8 4PL
T: 020 7361 7860 | Direct: 020 7361 7877
E: alexander.martin@midaspr.co.uk
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