Got some good advice from a friend last night regarding Big Tim Dawson, and I recognized it immediately as the path I should have taken yesterday in my thousand-word romp with him.
We can start out with a great opening, hit the ground running, as they say, but that necessarily brings up the want for backstory to bring in the needed information to the understanding of the story to that point (if applicable) so the reader has some idea of what’s going on before he can look forward to what will happen.
Well in working with Big Tim, somewhere along the way I got into research and reporting mode and started rambling with all those unnecessary bits of story that don’t add to the current story at all. It just seemed as if I sat there and glowed with a mother’s pride to relate all Tim did since kindergarten. I knew it was wrong, but having it pointed out was great because I won’t be tempted to keep going off in that direction.
So a large chunk of Tim’s life will be condensed or cut; but it will enable me to take a more interesting road with Tim now that I know him better.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology