By: Staci Stallings
Many, many moons ago on a writing loop I was on at the time, there was a massive discussion about backstory. For those who don’t know, “backstory” refers to a character’s story that happened before the current story starts. Basically, where did this person come from and how did they get here? What are the secrets of their life?
In the discussion, there had been a writing book published that said an author should not give any backstory until at least page 50. Over the years, I have thought often about this discussion as I’m writing. Not one to ever follow “rules” just because someone said to, I’ve alternately discarded it and noticed it show up in my writing (not strictly page 50, but well into the story).
What I’ve learned is this: Every character like every person is different. Some characters don’t have a problem sharing who they are and why. Some characters hold all their backstory cards close to the vest and are really unwilling to show them to anyone.
So, I guess, for me, backstory has become kind of a touchstone lesson. If I have a character who is not willing to share their backstory, it tells me something important about that character. Often, their backstory is traumatic and difficult. “Flawed” characters often simply have a difficult backstory. Reticent characters that are “closed” also very often are holding their backstory close to their heart, afraid that anyone will ever find out “what really happened.”
I imagine that’s why I’ve gotten so good at reading real people’s backstories. I was just talking with someone the other day who said I was “safe” because they could tell me what really happened and get it out. That’s interesting because that’s roughly the same thing I do with my characters.
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For example, right now in the series that I’m working on, there are multiple backstory pieces that although we’ve been with these characters for 7 books now, backstory pieces are starting to come out that explain why the characters have been acting the way they have. And it’s so strange to me because I know even more backstory that hasn’t come out yet. So when my readers get upset or don’t know why a character is how he or she is, I actually do know because I know where the story is going.
I wonder sometimes if this is a little like being God—you know what is happening now, but you also know what happened back then, and you know what will happen in the following “chapters.”
It’s just an interesting perspective to see life from. Kind of like in my newest book, Hopelessly Devoted to You¸ it’s written from the perspective of multiple characters rather than just one or two. I often wonder if that’s the way God see us and why He understands what we don’t. He’s not seeing things linearly nor from only one perspective. He sees and knows everyone’s story simultaneously—their current story, their backstory, and their future story.
Honestly, sometimes writing is kind of cool in what it can teach you about life!
How about you? As a reader, would you prefer to know a character’s full story upfront or learn about it as you go?
A stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from. Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci’s stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure! That’s what keeps Staci writing and you reading. Although she lives in Amarillo, Texas and her main career right now is her family, Staci touches the lives of people across the globe with her various Internet and writing endeavors.
Hi Staci, I definitely prefer to learn a character’s backstory over time- to me that seems more natural. I cannot imagine meeting someone and just spilling everything out at once- awkward!
Blessings:)
Upfront can be very useful, but that can be too much of an information dump.
I think I prefer to wait to learn the backstory. I do think that occasionally, learning the backstory in the very beginning of a story is appropriate and even add to the drama of the story. I’d never thought about this before this post and I enjoyed reading it!
HI Staci! Interesting thought provoking question. I think I prefer to wait with the backstory. Not sure if page 50 is appropriate. I like to know the dilemma (conflict) early on and then have the author slowly in the first half or so of the book reveal WHY with the backstory. As Wemble stated, revealing the backstory gradually seems more realistic, especially in a romance. Best wishes. Enjoy the fall weather.
I know I’ve set down or deleted books I’ve been reading if the main character gets too lost in thought about how she came to be HERE in this moment. (I’m talking pages, not a brief mention!) That’s super hard to pull off. If that is so vital and interesting, maybe the story should have started “back then” and acted out rather than been told.
So as a reader, I prefer to wonder a little and have the reasons meted out in drips and drabs. As a writer, I try hard to do that, which sometimes means writing it in and then editing too much history out of the early scenes in my first drafts. Unlike you, though, I often don’t know what the history is until my fingers are in the midst of typing it out. It may not be the most efficient method, but it seems to work…
I like it sprinkled in as I read. Info dumps, wether backstory, description or otherwise make me skip over them–I have no patience for that stuff, but when it’s sprinkled in I actually read it.
For me, it totally depends on the book. I like wondering if I’m right about what’s going on, or if there’s more that I don’t realize yet. Sometimes, it makes more sense to know up front, other times, sprinkled liberally throughout, or closer to the end, makes more sense in the story. I think it depends on the genre, too, and what you as the author want us to focus on more.
I think it depends on the story. I definitely don’t like an info dump in the first chapter. Like others have said, I think it works best when the reader learns a little at a time.
I like the backstory to unfold gradually. Kind of like getting to know someone.
I think it really depends on the story or character. To me, it’s more important HOW than WHEN. I hate when all of the backstory is dumped into dialogue.
I am late coming. I like to know some of the story if its important but not all at once. Reading at the beginning of the story all the reasons the story is about to start can be so annoying. I remember reading a book which spent the first third explaining parts of the why things were like they were and reasons for certain things and I was so lost. If not for the fact I was reading it for an award I would have quite then after a third another character explained things in about 2 sentences and I was thinking why didn’t I just start here.
Wemble,
Definitely… AWKWARD!
Have a blessed day!
I usually like to know SOMETHING about them although I have had a few characters who were super “closed.” It really was deep into the book before I learned much of anything about them.
I agree that both are viable, Ellie. These are some of the questions that keep your favorite authors awake at night…. so they can keep you awake at night reading what they’ve written! :D
Have a blessed day!
Renate,
I always think it’s funny when authors get into absolutes like the “50 page” rule. To me, I tell the story I’m given rather than following some arbitrary rule. I totally agree that the backstory is WHY they are doing whatever they are doing. We are a product of the things that we’ve experienced and how we’ve determined what they mean to us. Getting to know someone is getting to know THOSE things.
God bless!
Valerie,
Oh, I don’t ALWAYS know. It’s just on this series, I know because I know where the next 3 books are going already and many of the things that have happened to this one particular character that we don’t know about yet. One of the cool things about a series like this is that I have a character we’ve now known for YEARS and only NOW do we start seeing WHY she is like that.
That’s me too. If I get into pages of backstory or description, I lose interest quick! As a writer, sprinkling can be a real challenge–especially if a character has a LOT of backstory. But I think that is more natural to the way we learn about people too.
Trudy,
I think that’s part of this story, there are still about five big things that readers don’t know yet. Those reveals are going to be HUGE ah-HA moments!
I have seen books where the prologue is the backstory and by the time I got to the story, I wasn’t even sure of the point of reading it. I think I’m a backstory kind of gal!
Paula,
That is EXACTLY how I think about it! It’s like getting to know someone. In fact, I think all the experiences in a book ARE about getting to know someone, not just telling a good story. I think that MAKES a good story!
Dianna,
I agree! I hate when there’s this huge sit down about “okay, this is what happened.” Maybe at the end when you’ve gotten pieces of it all the way through. But I was just watching The Flash yesterday, and they had one of these, “Okay, here’s what really happened” discussions with the villain–whom they hadn’t captured yet, and he was explaining the backstory (that we had already watched) and how that all happened. Now, I know from having watched it, that one part of that is important going forward, but most of it, “Blah, blah, blah.” And this guy was the crazy, scary bad guy. Makes me raise my eyebrows at that just thinking about it.
That’s so funny! “Why didn’t I just start here.” I think one of the things in my books that people DON’T like is that I do have you get to know the characters with things that aren’t action-action-action FIRST. I get a lot of “it really picked up a third of the way in” type comments. I’m not doing backstory, but I don’t rely only on action and motion to push a book forward. If readers are used to that or expecting that, that’s not what I write.
God bless!
I like it to come naturally like in real life.
But if you are in book 7 of series does that mean I would need to go back to the 1st book to understand the other books? Or are they stand alone?
Nancy,
With this series, I would definitely start at Book 1 because it’s about a group of friends and how they grow into their gifts and talents. Starting in the middle might leave you wondering what’s going on. :D
God bless!