On Backstory: Part 1

Here’s how I see it: It is important for the reader to understand your main character enough that they are able to identify and empathize (which is stronger than just sympathizing) with the character. They need to at least understand enough about where that character is coming from in order to want to read about them. This is what leads us to use (and abuse) backstory and telling.

Like a real person, characters need layers and history. But like real people, we don’t want to see all of those layers and history the first instant we meet them. However, there are times when we pause, look at our new friend, and realize we need a piece of information to understand where they are coming from or what they are talking about. So, we ask them a question about themselves. They reply, we have that knowledge gap filled, and we continue on.

When we are writing, it is good to do the same thing. If we give our readers too much information and backstory about a character, we are likely to bore them, overload their circuits, and basically kill the flow of our story. When we are determining how much backstory to give our reader, we get to ask ourselves a million (and one) questions as we write and edit our scenes. Some of those questions might look like this:

–Is it essential for the reader to know this right now? If so, why? And how much does the reader need right now? Will they be able to understand this scene and the character’s motivations if I leave it out?–The beauty of this question is that sometimes you reach the end of your story and find that you never needed to put it in! (More on this in tomorrow’s post.) If the reader doesn’t need it, leave it out–even if you think it is beautiful.

Remember: when it comes to backstory, be hard on yourself. Ask those tough questions and don’t rest until you are able to give yourself a specific answer. (This is where a critique partner or blind reader can really help you out–ask them these questions as they read, or leave out the backstory and see if they come back scratching their head.)

–Does it move the story forward? How?

–Has this tidbit been already been touched upon/alluded to in the story? If yes, it can probably be taken out.

For example: The story opens with a girl volunteering at the Humane Society, going out of her way to help people when they come in to look at animals. She takes extra care with any injured animals and as she leaves, she empties her change into the donation jar. She gets home and a girl guide/scout comes to the door selling cookies. She buys ten boxes and gives them to people at work the next day.

In the example above, I have shown that this character is a generous and caring person. I don’t need to stop the story and its events to ‘tell’ the reader about it. So, I probably don’t need a flashback to show why she is so generous. I probably don’t need a lot of backstory to explain her generosity. And I probably don’t need to show her generosity from another character’s POV (unless it is to show that they all think she is a saintly pain in the ass). I’ve got it covered. Give your reader the credit they deserve to put two and two together. If you’ve shown it, 99.8% of the time you don’t need to tell it too.

However, if there is something about her generosity that I want to show and I can’t… then I might need to pull out that backstory arsenal and give the reader more on this saint. For example, maybe I need to show that she was once really poor and it was only the generosity of others that helped her through. But, before I do that, I need to ask: Why MUST the reader know this NOW? Is this to deepen her as a character or is it so they will understand why she panics when she loses her job and her apartment all in one day? In both cases, I might be able to parlay this information/backstory to the reader in one sentence or by dropping references or hints here and there for them to add up.

When it comes to backstory, if you can’t answer the ‘MUST my reader know this NOW’ with a simple YES!, it means it isn’t needed. It’s that simple.

More on character backstory tomorrow!