Backgrounds

I was working on my tax forms, trying to figure out how non W-2 income should be properly reported. A few attempts at humor ensued when I noted that there was a cents column on the form when the instructions say round to nearest dollar. Using some tax forms for previous years, I ruled that I had the incorrect form and would need to pick a few up at the library tomorrow. I then moved on the the State Taxes, but to promote their new on-line system, they didn't both mailing me a normal PA-40, I'd have to pick up one of those as well. Putting the paperwork aside, I played the piano for a bit, loosing interest as Fur Elise reached the A-section's end. It would be a terrible waste to spend a whole week on vacation and not build up any buffer in my writing, so I pulled up my ideas list and an empty file...but there's no reason for you to know all that.

There's no reason to throw masses of background material at readers, Yet there are authors out there who would explain the characters and setting to the nth detail before starting. I'm not arguing against planning ahead, that's a very useful and beneficial activity, you just don't need to share your notes. It constrains future options for character and story development. If some feature of the setting or characters doesn't impact a story line, don't mention it. That characteristic is then free to be decided later.

Long descriptive segments are also boring. People flip through the tedious pages of books, we summarize the relevant information in documents, get an idea of the news from the headlines alone. You can't rely on someone reading through a large body of text that doesn't hold the interest (which is why I'm free to make as many grammatical mistakes in here as I like, no one will see them). Giving the information inside the story (such as in a classroom setting) DOES NOT HELP. It's still excess information with no immediate application.

And what background do you really need? A lot can be deduced from a person's appearance, actions and behaviors. Revealing information in the context of the story as it becomes necessary is less disruptive and more memorable than a single block of text. It's more similar to how we learn about others normally: personal observations and second-hand anecdotes.