In a recent post, Gail Carson Levine discusses how to get background material into a story without the use of a flashback scene,
along with tips for when you do use a flashback.

Weaving in Backstory

Poem. She points out that in her story, The Two Princesses of Bamarre, she uses an epic poem: everyone knows the poem, quotes from it at times, or even perform parts of it.

Newspaper clippings. Levine also points to The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, which uses newspaper clippings to introduce backstory.

Dialogue in a counseling session. Of course, a character could spill the beans during a session with a counselor.

Sometimes, I’ve heard the opinion, though, that these “techniques” are cheats of sorts, ways to work in material that doesn’t really belong. A story should start in one place and pretty much progress linearly. Using backstory is like this picture of tattoos on a woman’s back: for her, there’s no easy way to SEE these tattoos (mirrors, photo, description), it’s unnatural for her to visualize them.

A bold opinion, that backstory is a cheat — there are certainly shades of this.

Do you think backstory techniques like this are effective, or do they feel like cheats? When are they effective? Do you like prologues as a way to introduce backstory? What’s your favorite way to deal with backstory?

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4 Stages of Character Development

When you write a first draft, there are really two novels at that point. There’s the one on the paper and there’s the one in your head and they are not the same.

I know this. But I’m experiencing it again as I’m working through this revision. In order to put on paper what is in my head, I’ve had to pay attention to feedback.

Blurry Characters
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hugovk/217155496/

Confusing Characters. The second round of feedback told me the same thing: my readers were confused. Here’s the problem: I thought that readers would understand relationships from implications in the text. But that was making them work too hard; they lost confidence in my storytelling. I realized that I had to lay it all out there, in other words, put it on the page.

Now, this does NOT mean that I put in the whole kitchen sink. No. I didn’t want to overwhelm readers with backstory. But naming a relationship was OK: “she’s my almost-adoptive-mother.” The reader still doesn’t know all of what that “almost” means but at least there’s now a frame of reference.

For the secondary character, I added a tiny bit of flashback, only 3-4 lines. It’s active, unusual, with good segues in and out of it. I almost want to take it out, because I don’t like backstory in the first chapter. But I think it’s crucial for the reader to understand the nature of what this character faces.

Deeper Characters. Finally, this third time around, my reader says my characters are deeper, motivations are clear and I’ve created great sympathy for the characters’ plight. Now, I’m just inconsistent.

Inconsistent Characters. My job on the next pass was to make sure the characters’ voices stayed consistent, the characters didn’t do or say anything that was out of character for their age or situation, and that the story itself remained consistent in tone and voice.

Exactly What I Envisioned. Well, almost, anyway. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I’m pretty pleased with how these characters are behaving right now. Pleased enough to move on and not bother my readers with this section again, but wait until there’s a whole revised novel to read.

Do your characters progress through similar stages? Blurry, confusing, deeper, inconsistent, exactly what I envisioned. Notice what was needed at each point: feedback. I only knew how well I was doing by checking in with a reader. Sometimes, especially in the early chapters, I need several rounds of feedback with my readers to make sure I’m making the needed changes. Now, with these chapters as my benchmark, I’m hoping to progress without so much feedback.

How would you describe your character’s progression through drafts? What feeds your revision cycle?

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“She stopped and remembered her home town and how it felt to be ten years old when she moved. . .”

I checked out two books-on-tape yesterday and tried to listen to them. The first one started at a certain point, then immediately went into a flashback, within the first page. Ditto for the second.

Yes, these are published books; they are books-on-tape. But I didn’t make it through the first chapter of either.

Fatal Backstory and Flashbacks

The best explanation of why this type opening is fatal comes from David Morrell in his book, Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing. The chapter entitled, “The Tactics of Structure” . A normal story timeline should be Event A, Event B, Event C.

The structure of these openings, however was B – A – C. In fact, one of the stories does this endlessly through the first chapter. The story opens with a young man on a journey, with an appropriate set up of his environment, mode of travel, eventual destination, etc. Then, he closes his eyes and remembers the sights and sounds of his home town. Back to the present with a grouchy traveling companion and a few bits of dialogue. Then, back to his father’s life, his father’s rise and fall in his profession, his father’s hopes that his son would follow in his footsteps, and finally, his father’s death, leading to this journey. Back to the present with the grouchy companion.

We have B1 – A1 – B2 – A2 – B3 – A3 and never even get to C.

How did this pass through editing, I wonder? Nothing has happened. I’m bored with all the flashbacks and back story. If all that was important to know at the beginning of the story, then the author started at the wrong place in the story. It should have been A- B- C. Start the story with a scene showing the successful father at work, then his death, then the character’s decision to travel, a scene saying goodbye to Mom, etc.

At the beginning, we simply need to meet the character on his/her journey and understand the present situation.

Where to put Back Story?

Literary agent Donald Maass recommends putting it much later in the story, after page 100, at least. You only put the information in when it affects the current story and deepens the current emotions. Otherwise, weave in tiny bits and pieces (that’s OK) but leave out scenes and these boring, “he closed his eyes and pictured his home town.”

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by Darcy Pattison

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When you write or revise a novel, you must pay careful attention to the first chapter.

Opening Chapters of Novels MUST Accomplish These Goals

• Grab your readers attention. Something must grab the reader’s attention immediately. This can be an unusual use of language, a unique voice, a startling action, a bit of dialogue, an active description of setting (be careful on this one to keep it active!), or a mood that is set up. Get attention fast. You may only have three or four seconds before the reader closes your book and reaches for the next one.
• Ground the reader in the setting. The reader needs to know immediately WHEN and WHERE the story is taking place. Please use specifics here: Is this 1825 or 1977? Are we in Manitoba, Canada, or one of the Florida Keys? Specific sensory details should cue the reader to the exact location, even if you don’t specifically say where we are in the first couple paragraphs.
• Intrigue the reader with a character. Here’s a quick test of character. Read the first five pages of your manuscript, then stop. Turn over page five and on the back, write everything you know about your character, JUST FROM THOSE FIVE PAGES! Don’t cheat and throw in things you know as the author. It must be ON those five pages to count. If you can only list one or two things, revise. If you can list 8-10 things, you’re doing great! In between? Consider carefully if you might do even more to characterize better.
• Give the reader a puzzle to solve. The plot, the events of the novel, should give the reader an immediate puzzle to solve, something to worry about, something to read on to find out what happens next. It must start on page one! Not page 3 and certainly not page 25.

Other Best Practices for a Novel’s Opening Chapter

• Start with a scene. Unless you are definitely writing a character novel, you should start with a scene. There’s a beginning: A character goes into a situation with a goal. There’s a middle: the character encounters conflict and doesn’t get what s/he wants. There’s an end: Most scenes will end in a disaster and the character must find a new goal to send him/her into a new scene. If the character achieves his/her goal — then the story is over. No more conflict, no more story.
• Hold off on backstory. Please, no backstory in the first scene, first chapter. Some people suggest chapter two is the backstory; however, Donald Maass, in Writing the Breakout Novel, suggests waiting until page 100 for a flashback, or significant backstory. Keep the story grounded in the present time and in the present scene. When you do add backstory before page 100 keep it brief and keep it DIRECTLY tied to the immediate scene.

Strong first chapters are essential to great novels. Revise and rethink and re-envision the starting point of your story until you find the best place to begin.

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by Darcy Pattison

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When we invent characters, we need to know all about them, including where they grew up, childhood fears & dreams and more. Where does this information go? Where do you put all this backstory?

Backstory’s Emotional Weight

Two friends, writing vastly different stories, are struggling with backstory. One is adding backstory to enrich the story and the emotional lives of his characters. The other is writing a sequel and the whole previous novel is backstory to the new novel; she can’t be sure the reader has read the previous book, though, so she must work in some of that story into this one.

I’ve written before about backstory, flashbacks and how to keep backstory out of openings.

But one question keeps coming up.

Where do you put backstory?
Backstory is there for it’s emotional weight. The story’s current situation is emotional, but for some reason you want to up the stakes. By adding backstory, you can strengthen the motivations of the character and make events mean more. Backstory should add irony, poignancy, regret, hope, or other strong emotions.

That means you put backstory at the point where it most directly impacts the emotions of the characters and/or the reader.

Where EXACTLY do you put backstory?

For example, can you interrupt a scene with backstory? Yes. But you’d better have a really strong emotional reason to do that. Again, you put the backstory at the point where it impacts the emotional weight of the story. Exactly there.

Some ways backstory can impact the story’s emotional weight.

• Interpret actions/dialogue/events. Some scenes, such as action scene, are better left intact with any flashbacks coming later as the character reflects on the events. Then, the flashback helps the character interpret the scene’s importance or outcome.
• Help make a decision. Sometimes, though, a scene leads up to a character making a decision. Flashbacks provide needed information to help the character make the best (or worst) decision.
• Change relationships. If the backstory comes in dialogue, instead of as a flashback, it can change relationships.
• Story twist. If your plot is too straightline, a good bit of backstory can add an interesting twist on events.

How else do you use backstory?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win