How Much Is Too Much

Many writers share the same problem when it comes to creating a reason for their characters' thoughts and actions in their books. They simply add TOO MUCH! Most likely, due to a critique partner or a beta reader, someone said "I like this character, but I need a reason for this person to act this way." That part is fine, however, when an author goes a bit overboard with this, the story ends up with too much drama. This really happens a lot in romance and women's fiction.

Let me explain what I mean by the "too much drama" element. If we have a heroine who is a bit shy about wanting to date, the author, in an attempt to "explain this" has the heroine coming out of a

family where maybe the dad was abusive and then her first marriage or fiance was cheating on her. Really? Do we have to go that far to explain things?

Here is another one. The hero is a corporate CEO. He is determined to make this company the best ever and tends to be pretty tough, rude and insensitive. That part is fine, but again, in an attempt to justify the behavior the author has him being the son of a an equally tough father. He was sent away to boarding school or a military academy because the dad thought it would teach his wimpy son to be a man. Again, too much.

There are several negative effects of this on the story and certainly also with the readers. The first is that the author now has to spend valuable word count on explaining this whole back story. If the author would just mention this, the reader would then demand to know more about this back story, and now we are detracted from the main story and plot. When I see this and pass on a project like this, I often say that the author has now lost the focus that the readers need.

The second effect deals with the author-reader connection. We want the reader to be drawn into the story. We want them to connect with the characters, to feel what they feel, and to share those same emotions. Adding all of those other layers now distances the reader because their situation is not the same. They could relate to a real character, but with someone who has this much baggage, we lose that connection.

So, how do we fix this. The solution is really easy. People in the real world have natural tendencies. Some of us are workaholics. Some of us are overly organized. Some of use cannot organize our lives at all. That is just the way we are. So leave it with that. "Michael had always been a true leader. Even in school when they had group projects, it was always Michael who took charge and demanded perfection. Now running XYZ Company it was no different."

You can also just work this in as a plot issue. Why doesn't our heroine want to date Michael? Because she just doesn't believe office romances work. Again, no back story.

You will find that keeping your story focused like this will make the stories stronger. It will also give you that word count space to add the depth to your characters making them more three-dimensional.