Backstory: Fiction's Foundation

There are not many stories that actually start at the very beginning. Instead, they tend to start by launching the reader into a series of events after things have already become interesting. It is basically impossible for a writer to tell one character's entire life story and so, the backstory is an essential part of any novel; an entire fictional world of events that has taken place before the story's first page.

Backstory is the event, or events, that happened prior to the main time of the novel. A backstory is not limited to a prologue or one character; they can be for every character in the novel, every object they've been given and every place they go. It can be the history behind the story, the past behind the settings, characters and even the events that a writer brings to life on a page. A lot of the time the events that make up the backstory are mentioned in the background of the story and might never actually be mentioned by the characters. In fact, it is usually the author who mentions these things to the reader, whether through a simple sentence or two, a hint or an image, through a prologue or a flash back or even a recap of a character's memories. A backstory means that before Mary's necklace exploded to protect her in a forcefield, that necklace had to have been given to her. That necklace has a story too.

Backstories can be explored in depth through a story or simply implied. A solid backstory will help make the story both more believable and incorporates significant consequences. Foreshadowing can become more prominent and helpful when a person or object has a backstory attached to it.

Backstories Make Your Story Better

1. Character Motivation: An example of this is found in Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. The novel centres around Newland Archer who is engaged to a woman named May Welland, however, he finds himself attracted to May's cousin, Countess Olenska, who is married but separated from her husband. Earlier in the novel, it is briefly mentioned that Newland had previously been attracted to a married woman. This is something easily overlooked by readers as it is seemingly unimportant, but it foreshadows the depth to Newland as a character and explains his desire to be with the forbidden Countess.
   
2. Plot Twists: Oliver Twist is about an orphaned boy in Victorian London, but Oliver had to become an orphan somehow, right? There is a backstory about his parents which eventually leads to his parentage being revealed.
   
3. Foreshadowing: It is told in the Harry Potter novels that Voldemort killed Harry's parents and Harry obtained a scar on his forehead from the event. This backstory sets up the seven novel series for Harry to continuously have an enemy to battle and to eventually avenge his parents' deaths. Since this backstory planted the seed early on, the Harry/Voldemort battle never loses focus.
   
4. Possibilities: A backstory can give a reason to anything a character or object does or inflicts upon the story. Let's take a moment to think back to The Wizard of Oz series. Those of us who have seen the movie—and perhaps have only seen the movie—know that Dorothy goes to visit the Wizard who is both scary and exiciting at the same time, and came to Oz in a balloon. However, it is only the readers of the books that have “seen” what has happened to Oz before the Wizard arrived: a young boy is discovered to be the enchanted rightful prince of Oz in the second book The Marvelous Land of Oz, and in other novels it explains how Oz came to be, how the witches gained power etc.

Possible Ways to Communicate Backstory

There are three primary ways to communicate a backstory in fiction:

1. Narration: Information can be given through narration when you are writing a scene; for example, a flashback. Flashbacks give direct events from a backstory and come complete with actions and dialogue. Narration can also be used when simply explaining a character or their thoughts: “Mary hadn't always been shy. It was only after the accident that she started guarding herself.”
2. Description: Information given through description is a bit more subtle when communicating a backstory. This can be done through characters' physical characteristics (like scars or bruises), objects in a setting (a bunch of canvases, paint and paintbrushes in a room would indicate a character is a painter), etc.
3. Dialouge: You can give information through dialogue by letting your characters reveal the past through their own speech in the story. For example, Darth Vader reveals backstory when he tells Luke Skywalker, “Luke, I am your father.”

Dialogue is most commonly used in plays and films to express a backstory, however, description is frequently used through setting or a character's costume, as well as narration used with flashbacks. As a writer, you should practice all three.

How Much is Enough/When is it Too Much?

When you think about it, there is a backstory behind every setting, character, object and event in your story, and you can reveal it using narration, description and dialogue. That is a lot of backstory! So how do you know when you've written enough or too much? That is up to you as the author. If you think something needs to be explained more, add in more explanation. If you think you've been babbling on and on about Mary's stupid force-field necklace, then take some of it out. It is all up to you! You are the brains of this operation. Do not let the backstory hold back the story you are trying to tell; you need to keep your momentum or readers may become uninterested and put your book down to never return to it. That is not good. Even worse, you might become bored and never complete the tale, leaving your characters hanging in a perpetual state of motionlessness.

So, keep moving forward. Too many flashbacks can mean a disaster for plot momentum; they need to be used with caution and wisely. Choosing more subtle ways of conveying backstory, were possible, may even be better. You'll reveal a secret to your readers that was right under their noses! Even better, if you have thought about your backstory enough, that knowledge will seep its way into your writing without you even having to consciously think about ways to fit it in.

So think about it, read how other people convey backstory and write. Have fun with it! Maybe Mary's necklace really just exploded and the forcefield was her dying mind trying to save itself.

Just A Few Ideas

1. Secrets: What excites readers more than secrets? And what's more scandalous than family secrets? Secrets make amazing backstories. What is the secret? Who knows it? Who figures it out? How did they figure it out? How does the secret's revelation change the character's perspective, goals, or decisions to act? If you want to introduce secrets into a novel, you can try: lost diaries; forgotten manuscripts; courthouse, birth and marriage records; old family heirlooms; or someone on their deathbed wanting to unburden themselves.
2. Someone From the Past: You are not the same person you were ten years ago, how can you expect your characters to be? So, when an old flame shows up from the past, or the best friend from high school shows up, it is suddenly like your protagonist's past has caught up with him or her.
3. Forgotten Memories: You do not remember everything; it all gets lost in your head as you sleep. In fact, I do not even remember what was for dinner last night. However, sometimes more important things are forgotten like being molested as a child, finally seeing the face of a rapist in your mind, or maybe even your entire life (hey, your character might have amnesia). These things suddenly shown to your readers will spark interest. It is what your entire novel was leading up to anyways.
4. A Tragic Event: In a surprisingly large number of stories, the protagonist's parents have usually died. This is because we feel as if parents hold us back. How are we supposed to go on that adventure when we have to get home by 6 o'clock dinner? However, the death of a character's loved one—or enemy—can weigh on their conscience; holding them back and affecting how they act in the present.
5. Conspiracies: Conspiracies are so interesting. We all know the government is hiding things from us. Maybe it is something small like how they actually control the weather, or it could be something big, like Aliens are invading and all they want is to eat our pickles (hey, pickles are delicious). Conspiracies, even conspiracy theorists, can make a story that much more exciting.