I know my MC's back story very well. Brought up in Central London he moved to the South Coast of England in 1992, moving straight out of his parent's luxury apartment after seeing great financial success almost overnight. Some of this information is dropped in (I may drop in a little more detail in, I'm not sure). His Mum is long dead (she passed on in 1996) but his Father is still very much alive and well. I have not given too much detail because it doesn't benefit the story in anyway for the reader to know his entire life story. The book is set in the present day. Towards the end of the book, my MC goes to a funeral, which the Dad would be present at. Basically, how do I cope with this? I want readers to know his father is still alive because I'd like to do a prequel set in the '80s after this is finished. Just having him go "Oh hey Dad...Bye Dad." at the funeral seems like a cop out to me. But equally, I don't want to bog my readers down with distracting info. FYI I know the Dad very well, to the extent I know all about the business he owns, what cars he's had owned (a few Jags before defecting to BMW in the mid-90s), the art he has in his flat and what clothes are in his wardrobe (he likes denim shirts and chinos these days)...So he's nothing something I've made up in a rush to fill a hole. I'm also working on my second draft right now. Basically, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp. Many thanks in advance.
It depends on his relationship with his dad. For some people, "Hey Dad...Bye Dad," is seriously all that would happen. Some people wouldn't acknowledge their fathers at all. But if he hasn't shown up in the book until near the end, I'm guessing that either the MC is a very independent and very busy man, or they're not that close. If they're not close, I imagine they'll make some small talk about how their lives are going, be interrupted by the funeral ceremony, and awkwardly scarper when it's over. But only you know your characters well enough to know for sure.
Independent and busy. Close when they actually see each other. Thanks, Seren. Maybe I'm overthinking this.
Is the dad important to the story you're telling in this book? If so, include him. If not, don't include him.
Would he say, "Oh hey Dad...Bye Dad"? Either he has a normal relationship with his father in which case he'd have contact with him now and again. Or he has 'issues' in which case it wouldn't be a casual greeting. What is his relationship with his father? That should guide your interaction. And if he has issues but you don't want to get into them, have the father miss the funeral and make some brief reference, "I see father didn't have the courtesy to come, no surprise there."
Or, "You going to the bar?" "I thought we were going to the bar." "Would you get me a red wine?" "Where will you be?" "My father's planted himself barside, playing chief mourner. So, elsewhere." "You have to talk to him someday." "I really don't. So, red?" "Fine."
You don't necessarily need to allow the reader to 'meet' the father, or have the father in any scenes prior to the funeral, if the relationship with the father is normal and ongoing. You can just have your main character mention him once in a while. Maybe he's sorry they don't get together more often, because of where they live. Or he could be hanging up the phone after talking to his dad when something else happens. Or he could receive a letter from his dad, who is still old-fashioned enough to use snail mail. Or somebody else could mention his dad, maybe ask how he's doing. In other words, drop mention of his father into several spots in the story as a normal occurrence. Then when they meet up at the funeral, it will be less of a strange event. I haven't seen my sister since 2004, but we live too far apart to visit. (I'm in Scotland, she's in Michigan.) We don't have much impact on each other's daily lives, but we speak on the phone fairly often, and we have always been close friends. Our lack of interaction is purely geographical.
Surely we've all read books in which adult characters don't mention their parents, haven't we? And we don't automatically assume that the parent is dead? I mean, if there's some reason for the dad to be mentioned, then, sure, the ways people are suggesting seem fine. But it's also fine to just not mention him.
Everyone, thank you for your help. I was definitely overthinking this. He's met him at the funeral because he will have an important role to play in my next draft.
