All writers seem to be tempted at one time or another to include in their stories the history of their main characters. In writer jargon this is known as backstory.
DON’T!
Start on the day that is different, in the middle of a tense conflict if at all possible. This advice goes as far back as Aristotle who said a story should start “in the midst of things.”
Should you, the author, know backstory for your characters? Absolutely. Just don’t tell the reader. You see, that backstory could easily be a pivotal point in your tale, the secret that shocks the heck out of us.
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January 24th, 2008 at 9:20 am
It is tempting to throw all the backstory right up front, but it works better as a slow drip IV - little bits and pieces sprinkled in as needed.
January 25th, 2008 at 10:28 am
I agree though there is a time and aplace for it if the story warrants it. I know my book I just sent out for consideration had to have the backstroy in it as it gives the conflict between the two main characters. It made it more emotional and heart wrenching.
Raine Delight
January 25th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Like Dara mentioned, backstory is only good in drips and dribbles. I imagine writing the backstory on a large piece of plate glass and then shattering the glass, slipping tiny shards between the pages. Nine times out of ten, it is a killer in a prolgue.
An information dump revealing the character’s full history is boring. Knowing backstory and using bits and pieces of it isn’t bad, it is when the reader gets it in a big lump, usually all up front. Backstory events can be pivotal changes that occur in a character’s life because a secret is revealed. Think of the original Star Wars movies (4,5,6). What is THE BIGGEST secret to be revealed…“Luke, I’m your father.”
Wow. Backstory, but used in a hugely significant way, a tiny shard that had the audience gasp in shock.
Recently, I noticed this in 3:10 to Yuma. Dan Evans (Christian Bale) spends a lot of the time in the movie trying to be a moral hero by doing the right thing according to his world view. It’s not until the VERY END that we find out why…he’s been trying to make his son see him as a hero, when Dan himself does not. At the very end we find out the reason he is a cripple, and the reason is not very heroic and has helped shape Dan into the man he is. The impact would have been totally lost if we knew in the beginning, if we knew Dan’s history.