People With Wonderful Stories

I met a couple last night - a really wonderful couple in their mid-thirties, I think.  They were such a joy to talk to; I felt like I had found long lost friends despite our age difference.  She is a chiropractor and if I understood her correctly, she works with animals as well as humans.  He is in Global Sales in the oil industry.  They went to high school together and just foufnd each other again last year.  They absolutely - and this word sounds so *violin playing in the background* romantic - twinkled at each other.  It's been ages since I've seen two people so crazy for each other (with the exception of my daughter and her wonderful boyfriend).  We exchanged e-mails and phone numbers and I will see them again tomorrow night.  Oh crap!  No, I won't be able to meet them after all - I have my niece's Christmas party to attend.  Whew!  I'm glad I remembered that.  I'll have to call them and reschedule for another time.

So, what does a couple in love have to do with my blog?  You will recall, dear reader, that in yesterday's entry, I wrote of how each person has a story to tell.  As a writer, I don't just listen to others' stories; I learn from them as well.  Last night I heard drips and drabs (another of my grandmother's sayings) of their love story.  Listening to them, and seeing them interact, made me realize what was wrong with my novel. 

My main male and female characters don't have a strong 'back story.'  A character's story just won't ring true if the reader doesn't know where they are coming from.  Here's an example:

Mary is a happily married woman; she has a thoughtful, caring husband and two super kids.  Life is good for Mary.  She's cleaning her house in the middle of a sunny summer day.  She is upstairs putting fresh sheets on the bed when suddenly she hears the third stair from the bottom squeak.  She knows it's that stair because it squeaks every time it's stepped on.  It's noon, no one should be in the house.  The kids are at school, her husband is at work...Mary's heart starts racing and she looks for a place to hide.  She frantically whips her head around, considers diving under the bed, considers hiding in the closet, perhaps behind the open door.  She's moaning no, no, please - no.   She sits on the edge of the bed and drops her head in defeat.  Mary watches the trembling in her hands, the tears roll down her face and her stomach roils in fear and loathing.

Most women, upon hearing a footstep on the stair in the middle of the day, would do one of a couple of things:  1) think it's their husband and call out to him, 2) just go check it out or 3) hide under the bed and call 911.  That's a normal reaction, right?  So Mary's reaction doesn't make sense unless you know her back story.  Let's say that she was abused throughout her childhood and every time she was upstairs and heard the stair squeak, it meant he was coming for her.  The knowledge of Mary's backstory adds that little something extra to the imaginary scene above.  It's that strong backstory that's missing from my novel.

I thank each person who feeds my writing appetite with their wonderful stories.  Without you, we writers would be passionless people.

************************
Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it. ~Hannah Arendt
************************
Only two days left, Sis!!!!