Backstory In a Series

JustJas · Feb 19, 2012

I know it's generally frowned upon to include too much backstory in a novel, but I was wondering if this is true of novels in a series?

I'm working on the 2nd book in a series now and I'm finding I can't really go forward without recounting what happened in the previous book because it won't make sense.

I have put a couple of paragraphs in the first few pages summarizing the previous book. I can't really include it through dialogue because the mc has a secret she hasn't shared with anyone. I was wondering how other people handle this when they are writing books in a series? Is it okay to do it this way or is there a better way?

Mary K. Norris · Feb 19, 2012

I think when you're writing a series that providing backstory is necessary. I'm in the same boat. I'm on the second book in a series and the best advice I can give is to try to slowly feed it into the story and not unload it all in the beginning. Little bits at a time I think work best so that it doesn't slow the story down. And if a major event happened in the first book that you have to mention then try and write it out in as few words as possible, like a mini, mini synopsis. That's my opinion. Hope it helped!

job · Feb 20, 2012

If you have a story arc that stretches over several books, you have a lot of fill-in to do. But if you have a whole story inside this manuscript you can pretend Book One was never written.

How much of that what-has-gone-before story do you need to tell? Do we need to know Forsythe is not merely a mercenary, but the long-lost daughter of the High King?

We need to know this
if we're in her POV,
or if another character who is the POV person would naturally think about this,
or if it must come up in conversation,
or if it becomes important to the story.

But the reader doesn't need to be told Forsythe's secret in Book Two just because it was revealed in Book One.

JustJas · Feb 20, 2012

Mary K. Norris said:
I think when you're writing a series that providing backstory is necessary. I'm in the same boat. I'm on the second book in a series and the best advice I can give is to try to slowly feed it into the story and not unload it all in the beginning. Little bits at a time I think work best so that it doesn't slow the story down. And if a major event happened in the first book that you have to mention then try and write it out in as few words as possible, like a mini, mini synopsis. That's my opinion. Hope it helped!

Thanks, I agree. I've tried to cut back on describing past events as much as possible and I think it really helps the first chapter to flow better.

JustJas · Feb 20, 2012

job said:
If you have a story arc that stretches over several books, you have a lot of fill-in to do. But if you have a whole story inside this manuscript you can pretend Book One was never written.

How much of that what-has-gone-before story do you need to tell? Do we need to know Forsythe is not merely a mercenary, but the long-lost daughter of the High King?

We need to know this
if we're in her POV,
or if another character who is the POV person would naturally think about this,
or if it must come up in conversation,
or if it becomes important to the story.

But the reader doesn't need to be told Forsythe's secret in Book Two just because it was revealed in Book One.

The previous story is integral to the second book so I can't really not explain things, but I see your point. I was getting stuck on details that really don't need to be included. Thanks for your input.

Filigree · Feb 20, 2012

In her 'Terre d'Ange' books, Jacqueline Carey usually opens sequels with the protagonist doing a one-page or slightly longer recap of the last book's events. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

Are there genre-specific ways to incorporate backstory? In sf&f, it seems like the information can be threaded more subtly into the main plot. I've noticed some paranormal romances that relied more heavily on larger segments of backstory, not quite infodumping, but easier to follow than single throwaway lines embedded in the story.

JustJas · Feb 23, 2012

Filigree said:
In her 'Terre d'Ange' books, Jacqueline Carey usually opens sequels with the protagonist doing a one-page or slightly longer recap of the last book's events. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

Are there genre-specific ways to incorporate backstory? In sf&f, it seems like the information can be threaded more subtly into the main plot. I've noticed some paranormal romances that relied more heavily on larger segments of backstory, not quite infodumping, but easier to follow than single throwaway lines embedded in the story.

I didn't even consider writing a brief prologue / recap just to catch readers up on the previous books events. Duh! That makes things so much easier. Thanks!

ULTRAGOTHA · Feb 23, 2012

You could look at how Lois McMaster Bujold handles this.

The events in Mirror Dance are integral to what happens in Memory. But she doesn't give a synopses, she just mentions what needs to be mentioned from the previous book when it's needed.

Ditto with Komarr and A Civil Campaign. It helps to have read those four books in order, but if you read them out of order you still understand what's going on.

(Disclosure that A Civil Campaign is a Romance. The rest of them are not.)

Backstory In a Series

JustJas

Mary K. Norris

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job

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Filigree

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ULTRAGOTHA

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