Writing Character Backstory with Author Liz Alterman

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3 BIG TAKEAWAYS

EPISODE INFO:
The dreaded backstory. 

How much to use? How much to cut out? Are you building character or are you boring readers? 

My guest today is going to help us!

Liz Alterman is an absolute master at developing characters. She is the author of a domestic suspense novel, The Perfect Neighborhood, a young adult thriller, He’ll Be Waiting, and a memoir, Sad Sacked. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, McSweeney’s, and other outlets.

I learned so much about writing by reading her novel The Perfect Neighborhood and by picking her brain about building characters. 

Liz shares how she started writing, why she writes thrillers, and-most importantly-how she writes them. 

We talk about strategic backstory and using it enough to build a character, but not so much as to bore a reader. 

There’s a sweet spot you have to hit. Let’s find out what that sweet spot is!

BIO:
Liz Alterman is the author of a domestic suspense novel, The Perfect Neighborhood, a young adult thriller, He’ll Be Waiting, and a memoir, Sad Sacked. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, McSweeney’s, and other outlets. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, three sons, and two cats, and spends most days microwaving the same cup of coffee and looking up synonyms. When she isn’t writing, she’s reading.

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