I can’t believe how much time I’ve spent writing backstory, all the while thinking I was writing my novel.  Ya’ll know what backstory is: all those fascinating details about what happened to your characters before the story starts, how they got to be who they are and where they are at the time of the story’s opening.  Yes, yes, that is all very important information that you, the writer, needs to know. 

However, the reader doesn’t give a hunting dog’s left rear paw about it. The reader wants the story to start in the here and now.  Don’t tell me about the Hero’s tragic childhood, moans Reader, show me the kind of trouble he’s in right now.  Don’t bore the reader with details of the long train ride to Where It Happens; set her down right smack in the middle of T-R-O-U-B-L-E.  As you flesh out the story, subtly add information that will help the reader understand the character’s fears and motivations. 

Don’t stop writing backstory for your characters. The writer needs to know far more about the characters than the reader does. Just be aware that backstory is not story. Story is what is happening to the characters in the here and now of your novel.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 at 4:13 pm and is filed under Write A Novel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.