I think I'm going the wrong way

I've been writing about 13,000 words so far and the more I write, the more I find that I'm actually writing the backstory! Is this a waste of time?

Nothing that helps you to get your story organised in your own head is a waste of time.

Just write and stop worrying!

Sometimes, when backstory creeps to the forefront, it's because the author didn't start the story from the right place/point in time. There are other reasons, but not starting the tale at the "right" place seems rather common.

Just a thought.

When you get all the way to "The End" and you arrange everything you've written in order, you may find that you've been writing from the middle out.

Don't lose sleep over it -- just write. You'll learn more about the process of writing by writing than any other way I can think of.

Yup just write. Even if it turns out to be backstories, it still helps you flesh out the real story. And who knows, during rewrite you may find them useful and find a way to include bits and pieces of them throughout the book.

Keep writing until you type "THE END." Then the fun begins!

Yeah, the problem is the narrator is someone who meets the main character. I've been writing the backstory, inadvertantly, on this narrator and I cannot let him be the main character.

But, I guess I've learned more about this narrator that I never thought of. I'll just let it flow and by the time he really gets to meet the main character I'll just cut off these first 20,000 words and start from there.

You're writing from the narrator's perspective. Think about: If you're telling a story about your friend, you still know more about yourself than you do about your friend. So when the narrator meets the main character, it's okay to have the narrator's thoughts and backstory, but when you edit you can go back and control just how much of the narrator you want to show versus how much of the main character. It's another balancing act in the writing game.

It's good to know things about your characters, even if it never makes it into the pages of your book.

- Off the top of my head, I'm thinking about _Great Gatsby_ where Nick is the narrator, but Gatsby's still the main character. It works, because Nick is still a character - emotionally and physically attached to the other characters and the outcome of the story.