• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sandhenge Publications

Jim Potter, Author

  • About the Author
  • Author Blog
    • Sign Up for Jim’s Posts
  • Blog Podcasts
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact the Author
  • Read the Behind the Books Blog
    • Listen to the Audio Blog
  • Check Book Reviews
  • Sign Up to Receive Blog Posts
  • All Books

Back Story

October 11, 2017 by Jim Potter Leave a Comment

Share this blog post

Email
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin
https://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Back-Story.m4a

·  Going Backward in Order to Go Forward  ·

“422 to 409.”

“409, go ahead.”

“If you want to stop by, you can take some more photographs for us.”

“No thanks, I’ve got other plans. Do you have enough help without me?”

“10-4.”

I should have been thankful for the offer, instead it only reinforced my unwillingness to be a part of one more grisly scene of death.

My shift was over. I had paid my dues. I just didn’t have it in me to look at one more dead body.

As I pulled into my driveway, only a mile from the fatal train-car wreck, I hadn’t yet learned the identity of the deceased. Later, from the radio, I heard that the victim was the daughter of our school superintendent.

Even had I known the senior high school student, I might have still turned down the offer to help. My mind was elsewhere.

I was remembering a previous case where investigators continued to search a home for a suicide note. The challenge was in determining if a fifteen-year-old boy, reportedly intoxicated, had died due to a self-inflicted .22 bullet to the head, and if so, attempt to determine if it was accidental or suicidal.

I knew from experience that despite a thorough investigation, we were sometimes never absolutely sure of the intentions of the deceased.

Meanwhile, declining the invitation to examine the wreckage at the railroad crossing did not free me from the stress of police work.

My memory began to automatically replay other cases I had helped investigate in my previous seven years working patrol.

The above introduction, using back story, begins my police memoir, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told.

As a writer, you or your characters can look back briefly to the past. Then you can share the incident in a short story, or you can go on (and on) for chapters in a novel. It’s your choice.

Done well, back story can give your work a textured, layered, richness of color and detail. Done poorly, the technique can be confusing.

I’ve watched movies where it’s not clear to me if the events are flashbacks or not. Now, that may be the intent of the writer or producer; it’s a legitimate way of getting the audience to pay extra-close attention to a sequence.

For me though, I prefer to surprise the reader after planting clues in broad daylight.

Until next time, happy writing and reading!

Share this blog post

Email
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin

Related

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: back story, creative writing, fiction, flashbacks, literary fiction, writing

Sign Up for the Blog

You will never have to check this site for the latest blog post, and you’ll get the latest and the greatest first! You will receive a confirmation email that you must respond to in order to be officially subscribed.

IMPORTANT! Check your Junk and Spam folders as needed!

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Jim Potter, Author

author

Recent Blog Posts

  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Draft Status February 2, 2023
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Choosing a Title January 26, 2023
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Multitasking January 19, 2023
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Networking January 12, 2023
  • Publishing My Children’s Book in Six Months: Introduction January 5, 2023

If you prefer to listen . . .

If you prefer to listen to my blog posts, you can do so … List of podcasts about Podcasts

Post Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017

What People Are Saying

Footer

Follow Jim on Facebook

Follow Jim on Facebook

Interviews with Jim Potter

Video interview with James Lowe outside Bookends Bookstore July 21, 2022

Print interview with author Bill Bush September 1, 2022

Print interview with author Cheryl Unruh February 28, 2019

Hutchinson Magazine Article

Copyright © 2023 Sandhenge Publications · Website by Rosemary Miller