Books of the outside world. AgathaChristie.com: Read Christie 2026 FAQ. It occurs to me that I have read shockingly little of Christie. This seems as good a way as any to chose which ones to read.
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“A thing I never know, when I’m starting out to tell a story about a chap I’ve told a story about before, is how much explanation to bung in at the onset.”
Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
How much backstory should I include?
On my 13 Dec post, I lamented that I was not at a horse show. I didn’t explain why. When I realized this, I decided that I had been going on enough about my wrist injury, so I didn’t add an explanation. Decided it was tangent to point of the post. Then I posted a link to the blog on the writing challenge site. Anyone come over from there would, mostly likely, have no clue what I was going on about. So I added a link for context. [Extended November Writing Challenge Part 2, Fiction Fragments]
This brought up the idea of backstory.
I see three categories of readers, each with different backstory requirements.
One. Regular readers. No backstory needed. Repetition would be boring.
I find that if I know a person IRL, I have an easier time remembering what they have done, where they have done it, names of cats, and so on. I assume this is true of others? Those of you who were at our wedding (waves hi!) will know that if I say Other Barn Minion, I’m talking about my husband.
Or perhaps we know each other digitally (waves hi!) and you have a good memory for details.
I do not wish to bore either of these groups.
Two. New or occasional readers. Need backstory.
Yes, there is an About page and years of blog posts to provide info, but how much work is a new reader willing to do before getting bored and wandering off? Plus the About page is general. It does not include recent events, i.e. my wrist injury and why I am not at a horse show.
I do not wish to confuse nor lose this group.
Three. Regular readers who may not recall details. Backstory requirements unclear.
It me. I am a regular reader of blogs about people & horses I have never met. In the last few years, there are a bunch of bloggers – at least four? – who have bought foals. I want to hear how they grow up, but I get confused as to which youngster has done what on which blog. Ditto new farms,
Cob Jockey: Farm Owners, October 2025
May as Well Event: How We Ended Up With a Farm, December 2025
This is one reason I sprinkle links throughout my posts. Go here for more info, as needed. Credit for that concept goes to a blog that is no longer active and whose names escapes me. As soon as I saw them doing this I immediately glommed onto the idea.
So how to provide service to different groups of readers? The changes may not be either/or.
At one point I was pondering how to include horse details. “The members of my writing group are intelligent but horse ignorant. I thought I would have to balance explaining horse terms with boring the intended horse magazine audience. Not so. First, I was usually able to eliminate the jargon by adding or changing only a few words. Second & even more surprising, the changes made the text better for the horse audience as well. Wasn’t expecting that.” [Literary Midwives]
Now I need to find the backstory equivalent. Here’s an example. Author is excited about heading to a show with Tiger & Suzanne. Who is whom? “My horse and best friend were competing … ” Okay, got it. 7 words, The Green Horseman: Ammies at AECs…Part 1 2024.
Backstory is different for each reader, so I will continue to aim for a balance and continue to add explanatory links.
State of the Blog [Archives]
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 