The Engine Room

Don't story-splain your character's backstory like this is the first moment they've ever thought about their life. The trick is to write it like a friend telling you some gossip. Gossip has a voice, a point of view, and is juicy. We want to know more.

"The thing about the West End Guards, they were easily bribed until that thing with Harlow went down."

You don't need to explain what happened with Harlow yet — that's the seed you've planted for later — but the reader knows the Guards can't be bribed easily anymore.

Backstory earns its place when the reader flips the page to find out what happened, not when they feel informed.

Before your protagonist faces their biggest challenges, give the reader a clear picture of what they're up against. In the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy navigates the temple by avoiding pressure plates, swinging over a crevasse, and stepping carefully across the booby-trapped floor. With each step, we see what happens if he gets it wrong. So when the temple collapses, and the boulder comes, the anxiety is real because the viewer knows what it takes to escape.

What makes the scene work so well is that it's pulling double duty. It establishes the obstacle and the character — that Indy is intelligent, capable, and brave. We didn't need to be told any of that, because we watched it.

For your opening sequence, tell the reader once what your protagonist is walking into, so when they face similar circumstances, the reader knows what they're up against. And how they handle those circumstances will reveal character, all for the better.

When a big moment hits your character, a revelation, a confrontation, a loss, resist the urge to just describe what happens. Run it through ETA.

Let the character feel the EMOTION — a gut-punch, a wave of heat, a sudden stillness. Then let them THINK about it and interpret how the situation affects them. Even a half-second of processing what just happened grounds the reader in their perspective. Finally, have them ACT.

Skipping steps makes your biggest moments feel thin. ETA won't fix every scene, but if a draft moment isn't landing, check which letter you dropped.