Backstory

Backstory is what happens before the contents of your novel start. In Harry Potter, a very simplified version of the backstory is that his parents were murdered by a dark wizard during a major war. The importance of a backstory will vary depending on the novel. In the case of the Potter books, his parents' deaths are largely what drives him to fight in the oncoming war.

The majority of the characters in the Potter novels have backstories that affect their personalities and their actions in the present. It makes them more developed, more realistic, more alive.

Backstory is what happened before your story took place. Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

"In narratology, a back-story (also back story or backstory) is the history behind the situation extant at the start of the main story. This literary device is often employed to lend the main story depth or verisimilitude. A back-story may include the history of characters, objects, countries, or other elements of the main story. Back-stories are usually revealed, sketchily or in full, chronologically or otherwise, as the main
narrative unfolds. However, a story creator may also create portions of a back-story or even an entire back-story that is solely for his or her own use in writing the main story and is never revealed in the main story." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-story

Almost all fiction uses backstory to some extent, but the degree to which, and the manner in which, a writer puts backstory on the page varies a lot. In today's fiction, backstory is usually inserted in a smooth, unobtrusive way. In a 19th Century novel an author might take three pages to tell readers about a character's past, but today most fiction writers add backstory in subtle bits and pieces, in dialogue or in some other way that doesn't interrupt the narrative.

DwayneA said:

How do I reveal it through the story?

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That question doesn't have a simple answer. Like most writing, it's going to depend on your story.

The best short answer I can give is that backstory can't be forced, otherwise it's going to make your writing seem stiff. It has to come out at the right time and place and be natural, and only you're going to know when that right moment is. Backstory can be revealed through dialogue, flashbacks, character's thoughts or in the narrative, or many other ways. Check out some of your favorite books and analyze how you learn about what happened to the characters before the book started.

The backstory is what you, as the writer, may need to know in order to write the story. It's what makes your characters tick and act/react the way they do - and it may or may not be necessary for me, as the reader, to know any of it at all.

Clear as mud, but whether or not any backstory belongs on the page and to what extent is a decision only you, as the writer, can make.

Will your adding backstory really add anything to the reader's ability to follow and understand the unfolding story? Or will it simply amount to wordy self-indulgence on your part?

I don't think it's wordy self-indulgence, Bufty. Backstory is a necessary part of the fiction process--without it, it's harder (if not impossible) to establish the basic conflict of the story. What it boils down to in the end is having the foundation upon which you can build the plot. In katiemac's example of Harry Potter--without Harry's basic response to how his parents died, he would never have arrived at the conclusion that Voldemort was evil, was his enemy, needed to be eliminated. His thirst for revenge wouldn't exist, and with it much of his drive and internal conflict would vanish as well.

Backstory can be revealed in numerous ways--through dialogue, when two characters are discussing it; through narrative, when the consequences of a past event influences the present of a story; and through the internal dialogue of the main character. The real trick of backstory is not to throw it out there all at once--the proverbial infodump.

My take on backstory is that I, as the writer, need to know the answers to every question that might come up with one of my characters. I know the answers--but that doesn't mean they have to end up in the actual story. It's just a tool I use to analyze the character and stay as true to it as possible. Just as childhood shapes the adult, so backstory shapes the character.

I am not making a blanket statement, M.

I'm suggesting that the insertion of backstory should be carefully considered the same as other aspects. With you, or any other experienced writer, the necessary backstory will slip in smoothly, I'm sure.

But in many other cases it often ends up as self-indulgent waffle that adds nothing to the unfolding story. Simply because it's known doesn't mean it belongs on the page.

When I attended a "Breakout Novel Workshop" with Donald Maass, I found his take on backstory rather interesting.

He asked the group (about 40 of us) how many of us had backstory in our novels. Many hands went up.

"How many with backstory in the first 50 pages?" Most hands stayed up.

"This is what I want you to do," he said. "I want you to take all that backstory OUT of the first 50 pages and put it in after Chapter 15, or page 200, which ever comes last."

"But what will I do with the hole in my book?"

"Find a more active way of filling it in than backstory. And then, when you get to that backstory in your rewrite, see if if it's really needed. I'll lay you odds that it's not. And your book will be better for cutting it out."

I transcribed that bit in my notes, FWIW, so that's pretty much verbatim what was said.

He went on to say that backstory is inherently passive and not dramatic simply because the majority of the conflicts are already settled, decisions made because the characters are in the present of the story.

Always thought it was an interesting take on the subject.

DeleyanLee said:

When I attended a "Breakout Novel Workshop" with Donald Maass, I found his take on backstory rather interesting.

He asked the group (about 40 of us) how many of us had backstory in our novels. Many hands went up.

"How many with backstory in the first 50 pages?" Most hands stayed up.

"This is what I want you to do," he said. "I want you to take all that backstory OUT of the first 50 pages and put it in after Chapter 15, or page 200, which ever comes last."

"But what will I do with the hole in my book?"

"Find a more active way of filling it in than backstory. And then, when you get to that backstory in your rewrite, see if if it's really needed. I'll lay you odds that it's not. And your book will be better for cutting it out."

I transcribed that bit in my notes, FWIW, so that's pretty much verbatim what was said.

He went on to say that backstory is inherently passive and not dramatic simply because the majority of the conflicts are already settled, decisions made because the characters are in the present of the story.

Always thought it was an interesting take on the subject.

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Interesting, yes. But I can't agree with it. I read mainly literary and many of the books I read rely on dramatized backstory scenes to reveal details that affect current characters and circumstances. It's a device that can work extremely well, when done right. In many, many literary novels, backstory IS the story.

One more tip about backstory:

Dialogue is a useful way of introducing backstory, but beware of the amateurish mistake of having characters tell each other things they already know.

Example: "Hey, Al, it's good to see you after fifteen years, because I'll never forget how much fun we used to have when we were roommates back at Grimsby College in the early nineties."

Obviously, nobody talks that way.

A better solution might be something like this:

"Al--my God, is it you?"
"Damn right it's me. But I'm not sure it's you, Dave. I didn't expect my old roomie to have--um--so little fur on top."
"Watch it! Anyway, what do you expect after fifteen years?"
"Not fifteen. Fourteen. I guess you were partying too much at Grimsby to learn how to count."
That's not great writing, but it should give you the general idea.

Simple answer...backstory is everything that's ever happened to your character before they set foot into the story. Some of that history will be needed to understand the story at hand, but most of it won't. A lot of the needed stuff can be inserted later, and doesn't need to be explained in the first chapter or two.

Beginning writers (and even some not so beginning) have a tendancy to want to tell the reader everything about a character right off the bat. Most times all that info isn't necessary, and often lessens the tension and interst of the story because there's no mystery about a character anymore. Tossing out an interesting tidbit and making the reader wait for it is a good way to keep them reading.

Backstory is tricky because sometimes its bad, and sometimes it's interesting. There are no rules to know which is which however. You just develop a gut instinct for it.

I have found that backstory that stops the story or goes off on a tanget to what's going on is often bad and can be cut. If it sounds like an explaination, reconsider putting it there.

Backstory that deepens knowledge of what's going on, or sheds light on the events so the reader sees more to it then they did before, often works.

Backstory dumped on a reader that sounds like the author saying, "oh by the way, you need to know this" is usually bad.

Backstory inserted using the character's voice and readers learn as much from how the POV tells the backstory as the info itself, is often good.

Backstory added because your beta readers asked for it, is usually good That seems to be the best test I've found on what to keep and what to toss. I try to keep backstory to a minimum, and when readers ask for more, I know what they find interesting and elaborate more in those areas.

DeleyanLee -- I thought the same thing when I read this thread! I was at the BONI in Westminster and I Don Maass knows his stuff. He gets right to the heart of it. I definitely had my hand up on the backstory topic. But I took it out and yes, the work is much stronger for it.

Like he says, just TRY it and see if it works. If it does, then great and if not, at least you tried something new, a new way of looking at things.

DwayneA said:

How do I reveal it through the story?

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Narrative summaries, actual flashbacks (scenes), dialogue, hints (or "breadcrumbs")....

My current WIP is a historical play. The main character, however, is completely made up. I am creating a huge backstory for the character because I need to know his motivations and what skills he brings to the table. Each bit of backstory I create makes this character come to life. I get to know him as a person. It helps me to decide what he would say, how he would say it, and how he would react in different situation. Much of what I create will never be used in print, but it helps me understand who I am writing about. The backstory that does make its way into the play will be in bits and pieces to build suspense. The audience will know the character is hiding something which will slowly be revealed. I've also thrown in a scene to missdirect the audience as to the character's intentions.

As for flashbacks, there are different ways to use them. In my current play, as my main character interviews Sitting Bull about his life the stage lights will dim and come up on a flashback. The narrative before the flashback leads us in and out of it.

Please remember this when writing backstory is good but too much backstory can really turn a reader off. I've set several books down on purpose to never pick up again and I'm really forgiving when reading a book I'll force myself through half of the book before I give up normally. the rule for backstory is - it happened, it's not happening now. please dont forget that. yes flashbacks can help and yes harry potter very driven by his parents death however this is not mentioned every page or even every chapter i think that his parents death my be referenced in passing 3-5 times per book and even then its him thinking about it. its not going over the backstory. if your writing a series plan on doing so by the time you finish your WIP and make sure every book is standalone and doesnt over use backstory