Good way to show backstory?

[Moon Wolf]

Hey all. I've been looking for a good idea for a novel for ages now, and it seems that I got it while watching a movie today. It's a mix of YA, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi. (I'm still trying to decide if it's totally Fantasy or a mix of the two, so I'm just going to say it's a mix.)

Anyway, I ran into a bit of trouble about how to tell the backstory without coming right out and saying it. I wanted to sum most of it up in a few sentences right off the bat (when I say right of the bat I mean in the first chapter, not RIGHT OFF, just so ya know. ^^), so that more detail could be put in later.

So far, I came up with this idea: The MC writes a short letter to her mother saying how her life is going, telling about the troubles the city is facing.

I think that could sum it up in a few sentences without going into too much detail in the beginning.

Is that a good idea, or no? Would there be any better ways to say it?

Edit: Okay, I've got a little bit more. The trouble about the city is going on around her as she writes, almost as if the letter is explaining things to the reader while giving backstory. For example (mind this is really rough):

Dear Mom,
Hi! How are you doing? Look, I'm really sorry about not writing. Life's been really busy lately. What, with looking for a job and with all that's--

The light flickered on the paper before it began to move. Sierra blinked and looked beside her. The desk lamp was floating a few inches off the table and rising, the bulb casting light in crazy patterns around the room. Sierra sighed. Grasping the top of the lamp, she shoved it back onto the table, holding it in position for a few seconds. It shuddered and she released it, turning back to the letter.

-- been going on in the city. Every day the pull of gravity seems to get weaker. Little things are bolted down, but now heavier things seem to be going off as well.

This is a few page into the story. Ugh, I still have a ton of planning to do, I don't even have the plot completely going again... but I wanted to get this cleared up before I started.

[Rob_In_MN]

why does the back story have to come first? I generally try to avoid that. The trouble with her writing a letter to explain backstory is that there is no action and no potential conflict. This tends to be a lot of telling and no showing. That's a bad thing, especially right off the bat.

In the first page or two, you need to tell your reader what is happening now and what could potentially mess it all up. That is kind of a tangent, as your question is more about how to add backstory.

I try to get my backstory in when a character would logically be reminded of something. Random info dumps are very jarring to the flow of a narative.

For instance, one of the main characters in my WIP lost his parents in a car crash long ago and his potential love interest was involved in a violent crime many years before the book starts. I have a conversation in the second chapter where my MC bumps into a police officer who welcomes him back to town after he'd been gone a long time (small town, the officer knows everyone :). The officer mentions how sorry he was to hear about his parents. Since the officer was at the scene of the crash and also investigated the violent crime against the love interest, he mentions the two worst days on the job -- these two things. Bang, backstory revealed in a "real-feeling" situation.

The somewhat-cliched saying is that you should know far more of your character's backstory than you tell in the novel. The point of this is that you should know what is motivating your character and how they'd react to situations. A lot of extensive backstory doesn't necessarily make a character or setting more interesting. Slowly revealing bits of backstory throughout the story not only feels more natural, it makes it seem to the reader as if you've told them so much more than you actually have.

Always remember, you're telling the story of what is happening, not what happened in the past. Not knowing everything that happened in the backstory can actually draw your reader in more than if you lay everything out right away.

[Nancy Fulda]

I share Rob's concern about putting the backstory first, but if you feel that the story requires it, a letter seems like an acceptable approach.

Your best bet is probably just to write the first chapter and have a couple of jaded critiquers look at it. If the letter isn't working, they'll let you know.

[Chasing the Horizon]

IMO, the excerpt the OP posted didn't read like backstory to me. With the lamp floating away as she was writing, it seemed more like introducing the world & setting (and a problem I have to assume is going to be relevant to the plot). With sci-fi and fantasy, explaining a little about the world right in the beginning is usually necessary, and I actually thought that was a good example of showing instead of telling some world-building elements.

I suppose it would be ideal to jump right into the action and be able to skip all backstory and setting explanation, but this is impossible to do in a lot of stories. In one of my books there's a paragraph of backstory right on the first page, because that event directly led to the characters current goal (which also happens to be the main plot of the book). Without this backstory explanation, there would be no motivation for any of the character's actions, which, IMO, is bad writing. Just keep the backstory short and only give what's necessary for understanding this particular scene (if more's necessary for the next scene, say it then).

[Alana Mortensen]

I think you have a good idea going for inclusion of back story or explanation of current problems or irritations. I also like the way this is done in the tv series Moonlight. The writers handle it as each clue or problem or irritating link arises and show it a dream sequence, memory or flashback of an audible character told story or history giving a hint as the current concern. I 'd try every way possible then choose what sounds right.

I like your letter idea being broken into by physical occurances in the here and now. It gives the reader a sense of the current situation and possibly a good source of back story... Run with it! You could always change it later.

Alana

[Hummingbird]

I think that's a good idea! How you have the letter, and the physical stuff going on, it really helps you feel like you are in the story and helps you to know what is going on. It doesn't feel like backstory to me, just life at that moment.

It sounds good, keep going! XD

[Moon Wolf]

Thanks for all the advice, you guys. I just didn't know if that was a way to go about it or not!

[Moon Wolf]

Okay... now I'm stuck again. The MC is living above the place she works at because the owner gave it to her in exchange for work. How can I subtly say that AND explain why she needs another job? (to have some extra money and to pay what's left over of her rent)

Should I have a scene where the owner's giving out the paychecks and have them discuss it there? Or is there another way?

Also:The MC babysits two kids that turn out to help with 2 crucial plotpoints in the story. The eldest is very interested in the magic, and because of their talkings together the second plotpoint gets found and eventally fixed.

Though, the MC has to explain a lot of things about the magic to him and how she learned it. Is this a bad way to show backstory?

[Rob_In_MN]

I'm glad you posted a snipet of your scene. It was much better than what I had "seen" in my mind when you first described it. I think the lamp starting to float away is a good way of adding some immediacy to the scene.

As far as bringing up the point of needing a different job. Try putting it in the same scene. Perhaps something about the place she's living in yanks her attention away from the letter she's writing and causes her to mutter something to herself. Maybe some secret worry she's not even willing to tell her mother in a letter.

Having a 'mentor' type of character explain exactly how the magic/advanced technology works to a younger person (and the reader at the same time) seems to be a tried and true way of expaining your world to the reader. Try to make sure your character needs to have this explained to them, not just the reader. I'm kind of turned off when everyone in the story seems to know how something works but the author explains it clearly for my benefit and not that of the characters.

It sounds like you have an interesting idea here. Good luck with it!

[Hummingbird]

I think that putting it in the same scene with the letter is a good idea, but I think that if you wanted to introduce it a little later then bringing it up with the paychecks would also be good.
Maybe even a friend could come up and ask how her job searching is going.
I'd write it out a couple different ways on scratch paper or something and see which one feels better. ^_^

[Mumut]

I think it's a great idea. I like putting enough in at first so I can talk about something later and don't have to do the explaining then.

[KikiteNeko]

My best advice to give you would be to make an outline. When I was writing for fun, I made my plots all willy nilly and just kinda made it up as I went along. But when I sat down to write an actual controlled plot, I found that writing down events/ideas/turning points was the best way to keep track of it. That way, you can dispense information GRADUALLY throughout the novel. Also, new ideas will pop out at you, and possibly existing ideas will change. ^_^

Hey all. I've been looking for a good idea for a novel for ages now, and it seems that I got it while watching a movie today. It's a mix of YA, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi. (I'm still trying to decide if it's totally Fantasy or a mix of the two, so I'm just going to say it's a mix.)

Anyway, I ran into a bit of trouble about how to tell the backstory without coming right out and saying it. I wanted to sum most of it up in a few sentences right off the bat (when I say right of the bat I mean in the first chapter, not RIGHT OFF, just so ya know. ^^), so that more detail could be put in later.

So far, I came up with this idea: The MC writes a short letter to her mother saying how her life is going, telling about the troubles the city is facing.

I think that could sum it up in a few sentences without going into too much detail in the beginning.

Is that a good idea, or no? Would there be any better ways to say it?

Edit: Okay, I've got a little bit more. The trouble about the city is going on around her as she writes, almost as if the letter is explaining things to the reader while giving backstory. For example (mind this is really rough):



This is a few page into the story. Ugh, I still have a ton of planning to do, I don't even have the plot completely going again... but I wanted to get this cleared up before I started.

[She Raven]

Hi
One word caution. It might slow the reader down if you hit them with it all at one time. better solution is to let the back story unfold slowly throughtout the noval. A mix of short notes from mom, thoughts, character quicks developed from past events. Just a thought. Have fun. . . good luck.

[WistfulWriter7]

I actually like what you put together here. From a reader's standpoint, I'm already intrigued. I want to know more about the city. Why is this thing happening with gravity? So, good work. I've never really seen anything wrong with back story, again from a reader's view, as long as it's quick and creative. Hope this helps.