# Trash Your Backstory



## PrinzeCharming (May 21, 2016)

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Discussion:*

Is backstory vital to character development? 
Is backstory an unnecessary info-dump? 
What are reasons to keep a backstory? 
What are reasons to limit a backstory? 
Does a backstory take value away from suspense and discovery? 


*Discuss! You may include your own experiences.*


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## SomethingWitty (May 22, 2016)

As a writer, I struggle with backstory quite a bit. I have much to learn in this area, I freely admit.

However, as a reader, I rarely appreciate blocks of backstory. A sentence weaved inside of the tale here and there usually feels better. But when I'm smack in the middle of paragraph three about so-and-so's barely relevant history... I die a little on the inside. I've seen exceptions. But not many.

And please, take care to hook me before we take a detour down memory lane. Buy me a drink first. Let me know that this could end up somewhere fun. Or at least weird. Preferably weird.

Keep it relevant. Don't make me choke on it. Give me a reason to care about it first.


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## voltigeur (May 22, 2016)

I think it is a good idea to write a backstory  for major characters just don't put it in your story. It is a good tool for determining how a character will react in a certain situation and knowing their motivation is good for planning out how sense and chapters will work. 


For the novel though; only put in what the reader needs to know to understand what is happening. A good guide is only a paragraph. (maybe 2)  

It is a matter of proportion. Too much back story and you loose the reader's interest. No backstory and you end up with a sterile list of events with unbelievable characters. 

So my answer is write it keep it; don't share very much of it.


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## Riptide (May 22, 2016)

I love back story? It adds layers to a character and it's alwayd important. The present always follows a course defined by past experiences. It's what crafts people so why not have it craft your character too? Anyway, my backstories always seem to matter which is why I put them in. It should somehow relate to the plot.


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## TheWritingWriter (May 22, 2016)

BACK STORY, ONE OF MY GREATEST ENEMIES!

Oh my. I'm currently writing my first fantasy novel (I'm slowly dying on the inside) and I'm still struggling to find the happy medium of "woohoo, I understand the things" not "the color of the drapes in your childhood bedroom isn't important to me". There's just SOME stuff the reader needs to know. I'm doing my best to avoid paragraphs of - let's be honest, here - info dumps. I'm ripping my hair out, though. I'm probably just gonna let it flow and just delete unnecessary drabbling during the first rounds of revisions. Sigh.


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## Crowley K. Jarvis (May 22, 2016)

A person is a sum of his past experiences. To make a character without a past is the same as the 'amnesia' trope. 

It's not an info dump if you don't make it one. Even if you don't tell anyone, have it for yourself. 

Realism. If you have a character that you've never written, they will 'develop' along with your entire novel/series. By the end, how you've written them will have changed as you grew more comfortable. If you already have stories, this will be more stable. Real people don't change overnight. 

I wouldn't see a reason to limit it. Write as much as you personally want to about your character's life. You just don't have to put all of it in the book, of course. Me, I love it. 90% of my writing is stuff I'll never show anyone, useless dribble about my characters. 

And how would it even? I don't.. err....

I wouldn't listen to Stephen King, but... to each their own.


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## escorial (May 22, 2016)

to me if a MC interest me i really do want to read more and find out more..odd theory that to me....


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## Aquilo (May 22, 2016)

There's no backstory if handled well, only story: good backstory forwards plot & character.


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## PrinzeCharming (May 22, 2016)

SomethingWitty said:


> I rarely appreciate blocks of backstory. A sentence weaved inside of the tale here and there usually feels better. But when I'm smack in the middle of paragraph three about so-and-so's barely relevant history... I die a little on the inside. I've seen exceptions. But not many....Keep it relevant. Don't make me choke on it. Give me a reason to care about it first.



This is great advice. We should prevent stories from becoming our character's Twitter page. Relevance is imperative to facilitate the story in the right direction. 




voltigeur said:


> I think it is a good idea to write a backstory  for major characters just don't put it in your story. It is a good tool for determining how a character will react in a certain situation and knowing their motivation is good for planning out how sense and chapters will work. For the novel though; only put in what the reader needs to know to understand what is happening. A good guide is only a paragraph. Too much back story and you loose the reader's interest. No backstory and you end up with a sterile list of events with unbelievable characters. So my answer is write it keep it; don't share very much of it.



Great advice! Too little or too much is a concern. Be concise. I have noticed the backstory is often longer if the story is more complex, like Michael Shaara's _The Killer Angels_. It would make more sense to write more for a backstory involving a war and multiple characters. It can also be overwhelming despite the clarity. 



Riptide said:


> My backstories always seem to matter which is why I put them in. It should somehow relate to the plot.



I think that also plays an important role in crafting a backstory. If it doesn't matter to the writer, it shouldn't matter to the reader. If the writer is forcing the information into a story to create a character, the reader will lose focus. It should definitely relate to the plot. 



TheWritingWriter said:


> BACK STORY, ONE OF MY GREATEST ENEMIES! There's just SOME stuff the reader needs to know.



We often discover information about our characters through imagination. We want our characters to be well-liked or notable. Do we need to know everything about them to enjoy their presence? Not necessarily. You are right. Find the 'some' and express it well. 



Crowley K. Jarvis said:


> A person is a sum of his past experiences. To make a character without a past is the same as the 'amnesia' trope. It's not an info dump if you don't make it one. Realism. If you have a character that you've never written, they will 'develop' along with your entire novel/series. By the end, how you've written them will have changed as you grew more comfortable. If you already have stories, this will be more stable. Real people don't change overnight. Write as much as you personally want to about your character's life. You just don't have to put all of it in the book, of course.



Great insight! When we develop our story, our characters naturally develop together. The bond between the writer and the character will always be greater than how the reader perceives the relationship.  




escorial said:


> to me if a MC interest me i really do want to read more and find out more..odd theory that to me....



Great point as a reader's POV. I am always intrigued about the Epilogue. However, that's not before or during the journey. It all boils down to how writers develop this relationship with their readers. 




Aquilo said:


> Good backstory forwards plot & character.



Great concept.  


Thanks everyone! Great discussion.


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## Patrick (May 22, 2016)

My characters have memories, and they are very important to my characters and their motivations. Backstory is a bit of a dirty word, because people immediately think of info dumps and boring lists. There's nothing inherently boring about your character's past; writer's have to focus on the relevant past. That can be thematically, symbolically, etc.

And the backstory of your fictional world, particularly if it's fantasy, is just as important, even if much of it never makes it into the finished novel. Rather than being useless, the 90% of backstory you don't use is the iceberg under the water, and the story's plot, read in outline, is the tip of it. And you can absolutely tell when a writer has created a vast backstory, much of which was omitted, and when a writer hasn't delved into the backstory of his fictional world and is just trying to give the appearance of it.

It's all interesting, especially to the author; it's just about filtering out what's irrelevant to your plot.


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## msjhord (May 22, 2016)

I love backstory, but it needs to be concise and relevant and forward the action of the story.  A few short paragraphs, tops.  Not pages and pages ad nauseum.

That said, I am working on how to properly weave bits of backstory into my own work.  Otherwise, like a poster said, the story just becomes a series of sterile events.  Knowing a character is motivated to feel something or do something because of an event in their backstory, I find, helps me relate to and respect the character a lot more than I would ordinarily.


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## Jay Greenstein (May 22, 2016)

Backstory is necessary, but info-dumps are story killers because they still the scene-clock and kill momentum. 

So before typing a history lesson I always ask myself if it's necessary to the protagonist in their moment of "now,", or just authorial gossip.


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## msjhord (May 22, 2016)

I've been guilty of dwelling on backstory too much, to the point of infodumpage.  As at least a handful of friends here at WF have been so kind as to point out.  But I'm learning when/where/how to inject droplets of backstory so that it adds juice to the narrative without killing it entirely.


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## Annoying kid (May 22, 2016)

Having it be an infodump is just a problem in delivery. It should be more like a well placed flashback, not a sequence of events. Every bit as dramatically presented and interesting as the foreground story. Especially effective if attachment to the characters is already firmly established.


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## PrinzeCharming (May 22, 2016)

Patrick said:


> My characters have memories, and they are very important to my characters and their motivations. Backstory is a bit of a dirty word, because people immediately think of info dumps and boring lists. There's nothing inherently boring about your character's past; writer's have to focus on the relevant past. That can be thematically, symbolically, etc.



Great points here. The backstory is where writers express these memories. Think of an obituary as a backstory to a person's recent passing. You are right. Backstory is a dirty word. A backstory is like a back alley. It is the place (or event) to exchange the information, products, or services involved to another person before anything else happens. A poorly written backstory will be expressed as info dumps or lists. They might not be boring, but they're still a heavy part of your story. You're exactly right. A past is a past. The relevant past will connect well with the plot. 



Patrick said:


> And the backstory of your fictional world, particularly if it's fantasy, is just as important, even if much of it never makes it into the finished novel. Rather than being useless, the 90% of backstory you don't use is the iceberg under the water, and the story's plot, read in outline, is the tip of it. And you can absolutely tell when a writer has created a vast backstory, much of which was omitted, and when a writer hasn't delved into the backstory of his fictional world and is just trying to give the appearance of it. It's all interesting, especially to the author; it's just about filtering out what's irrelevant to your plot.



Now, we're going into world development. Great. I am surprised nobody brought this up yet. The backstory to our characters is what lures our readers closer to the story. One incentive is to explore the world writers create. A world backstory is imperative to the setting. The reader will connect with the story as soon as the writer invites them inside. I like the iceberg concept. Icebergs are common diagrams to express 'hidden' or 'surfacing' ideas. Great contribution to this discussion. Thanks.



msjhord said:


> I love backstory, but it needs to be concise and relevant and forward the action of the story.  A few short paragraphs, tops.  Not pages and pages ad nauseum. Otherwise, like a poster said, the story just becomes a series of sterile events.  Knowing a character is motivated to feel something or do something because of an event in their backstory, I find, helps me relate to and respect the character a lot more than I would ordinarily.



Great points. Excess is overkill. It's almost like a tour guide showing someone every little detail of the tour. Is it necessary to guide a tour leaving 'no stone unturned'? We all have limited time. Get to the point, end the tour and sell the souvenir. In this case, a good story. 



Jay Greenstein said:


> Backstory is necessary, but info-dumps are story killers because they still the scene-clock and kill momentum. So before typing a history lesson I always ask myself if it's necessary to the protagonist in their moment of "now,", or just authorial gossip.



You illustrate interesting concepts._ 'Scene-clock', 'authorial gossip'._ Do scenes have time limits? Is there a standard procedure to follow when creating a scene with a tipped hourglass? Why assume there was any momentum to kill? What happens when the story is already dull? Good point. The present moment is imperative to the reader. 



msjhord said:


> I'm learning when/where/how to inject droplets of backstory so that it adds juice to the narrative without killing it entirely.



Yes, add the juice without self-absorption and dilution. A backstory should compliment your story. It shouldn't _be _your story. I am glad you're practicing at your own pace to improve. 



Annoying kid said:


> Having it be an infodump is just a problem in delivery. It should be more like a well placed flashback, not a sequence of events. Every bit as dramatically presented and interesting as the foreground story. Especially effective if attachment to the characters is already firmly established.



Yes, you're precisely right. _Infodumping _is an action. It's the delivery of information. A writer must filter through their story with necessary ideas to guide the reader throughout the story. Great points. Thanks.


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## Schrody (May 22, 2016)

I love backstories. I like my characters well characterized, I like to get into the psychology of things. It's mostly a few paragraphs, a page at most. It's more if it explains why's someone bad, or what are their motives...


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## voltigeur (May 22, 2016)

> Great advice! Too little or too much is a concern. Be concise. I have noticed the backstory is often longer if the story is more complex, like Michael Shaara's _The Killer Angels_. It would make more sense to write more for a backstory involving a war and multiple characters. It can also be overwhelming despite the clarity.



Part of the answer here has to do with genre. Killer Angels is historical fiction, the reader of historical fiction wants the history. Where the reader for a detective novel doesn't care so much. A reader of epic fantasy may want to read about the fantasy universe and how it works vs. and urban fantasy reader who just needs the 3 sentence version of how the hero got his powers and move on. 

If you are writing in first person and the protagonist has no way knowing the back story of the antagonist then you can't tell the reader. etc.

Target audience has to be considered in knowing how much is too much or how much is not enough.


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## PrinzeCharming (May 22, 2016)

voltigeur said:


> Target audience has to be considered in knowing how much is too much or how much is not enough.




*There it is! The truth behind backstory writing. 
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*Now, going back to character development.... 
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*As previously mentioned, as long as you enjoy writing about your character ... enjoy it. Write that backstory. Focus on what matters to you and filter it throughout your story. *


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## Jigawatt (May 22, 2016)

As a pantser, I tend to start stories with action, such as a gunshot man running from the cops down a dark alley, or a teenage boy bewildered at his computer because a pretty girl speaking a strange language keeps appearing and disappearing on the monitor. Who are these people? What's happening to them? I haven't the foggiest idea. I create a mystery and write to solve it. The backstory is for the folks who write the book reviews.


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## PrinzeCharming (May 22, 2016)

Jigawatt said:


> The backstory is for the folks who write the book reviews.



That's an interesting point. As long as the writer writes the story, the rest is all up for review.


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## Jay Greenstein (May 22, 2016)

> You illustrate interesting concepts._ 'Scene-clock', 'authorial gossip'._  Do scenes have time limits? Is there a standard procedure to follow  when creating a scene with a tipped hourglass? Why assume there was any  momentum to kill?


By scene clock, I mean the feeling that we are living the scene in the moment the protagonist calls now, with each motivation/response pair a tick of the clock. Assuming the writer understands that, and the clock has been ticking, an info-dump of anything not directly related to the protagonist's perception, cognition and action is external to the scene in progress, and a POV break, which stops the scene clock and kills any sense of realism. 

In other words, the narrator, someone not in the story or on the scene, interrupted the showing to begin telling.


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## Bard_Daniel (May 22, 2016)

I've been writing so that the backstories are limited and only integral to advance or support the momentum of the story forward. As a springboard if you will.

Very interested in this discussion. Great to hear what people think! : D


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## Kyle R (May 23, 2016)

Backstory? Love it—as long as it doesn't interrupt (or outright _halt_) the flow of the story.

As a reader, I like it best when it's peppered in here and there, in tiny bits and fragments. It can add a lot depth and poignancy to a story, as long as it's not so heavy-handed that it becomes tedious to read.

So, you have to be subtle with it. Conniving, even. Like sneaking bits of vegetables into a kid's macaroni and cheese. :encouragement:


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## Gamer_2k4 (May 25, 2016)

If backstory doesn't help your story, it shouldn't be there.  If it does, it'll happen naturally.

I don't recall if someone specific said this or if it's just a rule of thumb, but I've heard that 90% (or more) of your planning and notes shouldn't make it into your story.  It's there so characters are believable and consistent, but there's no need to tell the audience every word that went through your head as you were drawing up your story.


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