A question of backstory

[John Dean]

I recently led my first ‘in-person’ writing workshop for a group in Dumfries and Galloway, where I live. It was the first such session I had taken for two-and-half years due to the restrictions which came about due to the covid pandemic and I took as my theme one of my favourites, backstory. I thought that the notes I sent round to group members afterwards might interest the writers among you:

 

Good writers have a deep knowledge of their characters and the way they interact with each other. And that means that they know all about their history.

The thought process is crucial but it comes with a cautionary note  - you do not necessarily need every detail to go onto the page. Why not? Because backstory has become an increasingly hot topic for many publishers. The argument goes that the modern reader wants things to keep moving.

A quick definition; backstory refers to the characters’ history and other story elements that underlie the situation at the start of the book. Backstory is crucial, it helps to establish the setting and makes the reader care about what happens to the characters.

Important as backstory is, as authors we need to be careful: every instance of backstory stops our novel’s forward momentum.

One of the most common mistakes I note when I’m called upon to offer comments on inexperienced authors’ manuscripts is that the author has included too much backstory in the opening pages. Sometimes, the novel plods along page after page as the author diligently works to set up the story, and I have to force myself to keep reading. At other times, the novel gets off to a terrific start, but just as the author has carried me through that first tension-filled chapter and I start thinking, This author can really write, the second chapter packs in too much background, slowing the pace.

Including backstory in the opening pages is the same as saying to the reader, ‘Before I tell you the story, first there’s something about these characters and this situation that you need to know.’

Sometimes, the reader will not wait. How do I know this? Because I have learned the hard way through editors’ comments and reader reviews to cut down on back story to keep the pace going.

In actuality, there’s very little readers need to know about our characters’ history and motivations that they won’t learn over the course of the book with the information dropped in as the story unfolds.

Bestselling novelist Jamie Ford summed it up, saying: ‘Writing backstory feels like storytelling, but it isn’t. It’s regurgitating facts, or dolling up aspects of world-building—basically plugging in what that author already knows, hoping it will entertain and enlighten the reader. Instead it has the opposite effect. Less is more. Backstory is like creating a ‘connect-the-dots’ picture—you just need the dots. The reader will draw the lines.’