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Feb 19, 2024 · There are several different techniques you can use to convey backstory. Last year, I did a three-part series about backstory techniques. 1. Sharing Backstory With the Backstory Drip. The main one is the one you’re going to want to use in pretty much any story, even if you do choose to use some of the other techniques.
- Too much, Too Soon
- Timing Is Everything
- The Right Balance
- When in Doubt
One of the most common mistakes I note when I’m called upon to offer comments on aspiring 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. Other times, the nove...
Managing backstory in a novel is a matter of control. A good storyteller has no trouble thinking up rich histories for his characters. But a good novelist holds these details back, revealing them only at the time that best serves the story. “Rushing the backstory is a terrible waste,” says Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of The Art o...
How can you discern which instances of backstory are crucial to the story and which are not? Folio Literary Management’s Jeff Kleinman offers a simple answer: “Backstory is the stuff the author figures the reader should know—not stuff the character desperately wants to tell the reader. If it’s critical to the character, it’s critical to the reader,...
For authors struggling with backstory, Kleinman has this advice: “In almost all cases, if it’s backstory, it needs to be cut.” This might seem drastic. If you’re not yet convinced, I offer this challenge: Comb through your opening chapters looking for backstory. Remove every instance, and see if your story doesn’t read better. I speak from experien...
Apr 24, 2023 · However, a linear approach to backstory can be used when the author recognizes the story’s proposed backstory is, in fact, important and interesting enough to become the front story. In this instance, the story opens with what would otherwise have been a historical event in the character’s past, which allows readers to experience the unfolding of events in “real time,” right alongside ...
Apr 6, 2017 · Helping writers become bestselling authors. The Efficient Writer: Using Timelines to Organize Story Details. April 6, 2017 by ANGELA ACKERMAN. FACT: when we sit down to write a novel, most of us already have almost a book’s worth of notes tucked away in computer files, stored in writing apps, scribbled on notepads, or stuffed into the coffee ...
Nov 12, 2023 · Integrating backstory can elevate your narrative without derailing the pace. I have 8 strategies on how to intertwine backstory deftly into your story. 1. Strategic Timing: Introduce backstory at strategic moments, aligning its revelation with the plot’s progression. For instance, if your character’s struggle with trust is integral to the ...
May 14, 2022 · 8. Do consider using a flashback for a longer backstory incident which relates to the forward narrative. Some writers avoid flashbacks, others use them to great effect. 9. Don’t create details which do not affect the narrative or aren’t needed to understand the story or your protagonist’s motivation and beliefs.
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Sep 14, 2018 · Employing time as a literary device is tricky because we can lose readers very easily. Many editors loathe ‘flashbacks’ with the power of a thousand suns, but here is a post regarding WHY. Frequently, if a writer is going backwards and forwards in time, it is more a symptom of major story problems than an indicator of genius.
