I felt like I hadn’t known my characters to this degree since I’d written Dig Down. There were backstories to many of the characters that didn’t end up making it into the novella because of the impact I felt it would have on the pace, instead using the histories I had come up for them in the serials I had posted when I first started this blog.
As a side note: I have compiled them and included them as a free book to people who signed up for my book club. I do plan on one day releasing it on Amazon, as an ebook only.
Reaching the same depth for character bios and backstories that I’d given to Dig Down got me thinking. When I was plotting out Dig Down, I had actually coursed out the backstory of Rob’s downfall multiple times: from Rob’s perspective, from Preston’s perspective, and the events that actually happened that they based their opinions and future actions on.
I hadn’t done it for Lock the Doors, because there wasn’t a shared backstory that the characters shared, and the interaction that Bobby had with Sheriff Knotts was condensed into the memories that appeared in the novella. It also wasn’t something I did for I’m Not My Father because Cal didn’t discover the crucial detail about himself until the story was well underway, and so his history was one flawed by missing vital information. Also, what most characters were reacting to in the story was the initial disappearance of Sadie, and then the new evidence that came to light at the start of the story.
Developing character perspectives of the backstory didn’t provide much in my second two books as it did with Dig Down. But with this new story, I could feel the same vibe I’d had for Dig Down. So much of what had happened prior to the story kicking off played a role into how these characters fit into the story. From these posts alone, I’d developed a revenge subplot against one of the main characters, one of desperation trying to shed a disastrous reputation, and one trying to pull themselves out of a dead end lifestyle.
And these had all been secondary and tertiary characters.
With the six essential questions answered, which had given me the roadmap of where they’d come from, and where they were going individually, I now started outlining the plot again and again, each time from a different character’s perspective, always noting the goals they had at each stage of the story, as well as noting how they were impacted and how they would impact the other characters with each action.
The more I wrote, the more I saw how each character’s actions not only impacted the others, but complimented the other story arcs, as opposing goals fed naturally into organic conflict and setbacks for each other.
This was feeling really good.