Weaving in Backstory

[Garren Jacobsen]

So, I came to the realization that I need to add in some backstory. Not just little snippets here and there, but I think have entire scenes or chapters going backward.

As of right now. The meat of my story deals with a father chasing after a bunch of bad guys who had kidnapped his son. Through the course of the story, the dad starts unlocking his power and discovering that he is not just dad or some power mortal devotee of Death and the Afterlife. But rather is the second in command to death who, for both a punishment and a reward, was granted the opportunity to live a mortal life. In my world, a celestial being that condescends to mortality is granted an opportunity at achieving even greater power and to become as powerful as one of the top tier gods.

His punishment is to forget his godlike state. But, his boon is to be able to access this power and knowledge in times of great need. Throughout the course of his life he has uncovered bits and pieces of what he was. In his naivete he once believed that he should live the life of a killing machine in the military, being a servant of Death, after all. then he meets a girl they fall in love and boom they have a kid boom she dies a mysterious death.

This is all hinted at but it feels incomplete. I wonder if I should really dig deep into their relationship to explain who my MC is now and to also explain the tempering effect it had on his more divine aspects.

Thoughts?

 

[Writer]

Backstories give empathy or understanding to the reason a character makes a certain choice or take an action so they are very important and should not be overlooked.

 

[FifthView]

I'm usually very against flashbacks. Personally, I hate them—most of the time, but not always.

What if you had chapter headers a la Dune from a knowledgeable source that focuses on this guy's past life? I think there could be great emotional and cognitive irony if those headers are describing someone who seems entirely unlike your MC but the readers know it is the MC.

 

[Writer]

You can get it out of the way at the start rather than using flashbacks.

 

[FifthView]

Addendum:

This is all hinted at but it feels incomplete. I wonder if I should really dig deep into their relationship to explain who my MC is now and to also explain the tempering effect it had on his more divine aspects.

I do think you'll need to include something, but I don't think you necessarily need extended scenes or flashbacks showing the two interacting.

Think, The Unforgiven.

 

[Darkfantasy]

It's personal preference. I'm not a fan of flashbacks, dreams or random chapters that give background information or even prologues to do the same thing. I think it's must more interesting to just drop things throughout the book. To begin with just drop subtle hints that make the reader stop and go 'what does that mean'? That's what will hook the readers and make your character compelling - then as the story develops you start to add to those hooks and we start to get a better sense of motivation behind the character. We don't know everything about a person when we first met them and I like my characters to be the same (but that's personal opinion)

A story really consists of three things: Plot, character and setting and what ties them all together is conflict. So try to look for as many points of conflict as possible.

 

[Chessie2]

Weaving in backstory is pretty fun to do but it takes a little intuition. Two things:

-use backstory to add depth to your character
-use backstory to advance the plot

Examples of how/when to add in backstory:
-when the character needs to make a choice
-when character is growing close to/ or avoiding relationship with another character
-during scenes of reflection
-when he is bested by the antagonist and is emotionally triggered
-during the opening scenes
-when there is a major emotional shift in the character
-when there is an advancement of plot

I hope this helps.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

One of the ways I use to do this and add world build as well, is with the use of a prologue. Simply go back in time to a seminal event that takes place before the story begins and write it. I often do this at the end of the writing of the book, just before it makes first draft, and then after go through the rest of the book fishing out the pieces that are no longer needed making it a quicker read.

In your case the event might be a battle or something where he has to save his child's life and draws on his power, then finds himself wondering how he could have done that.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[skip.knox]

How did you come to that realization? Have you finished the story and have had people tell you it's confusing or feels incomplete?

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

How did you come to that realization? Have you finished the story and have had people tell you it's confusing or feels incomplete?

Reviewing my character his actions his motivations. It feels incomplete (and I am entering into Act III and it hit me like a ton of bricks.)

 

[skip.knox]

OK. I'm a believer in the dictum that the story must please the author first. This is more true the more books an author has finished; for the first novel, it's very nearly untrue. Anyway, the real question here is how to get yourself to the point where you feel you've done justice to your characters and to the plot.

One approach: keep writing the story as it is. Get it completed. Either as a side project, for those times when you just can't face the story that day, or as something you do after THE END, go write that background stuff. Either way, write it outside the story for now. Once you have all the background you believe you need, take a look at the story and see how much of that the story needs (the two quantities are rarely identical). Add those things in; I recommend making it a separate version of the story, in case you make a hash of the narrative in trying to fix it. I've been known to do that.

Anyways, I offer that more as an option than a recommendation. Offered, as the man used to say, for your consideration.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Ironically, my sister raised this entire issue of back story again for me recently, though over a tv show "Beyond" which she likes and I don't. For me it's the back story that's the very problem. Or rather the desperate attempts of the writers to hide the back story by using the most ridiculously contrived scenes I've ever seen. By this I mean that time and again our hero in this show, refuses to ask the most basic question whenever the opportunity to do so shows itself. I mean he continually refuses to ask - "what the shit is going on?" It's just so unrealistic!

So I'll add this to my last post. If you add back story - or take it away - you have to do it in a way that makes sense within the plot of the book. So your father has had a kid by a woman who mysteriously died. That's fine. But from that point in the story your character has to continue the plot with that knowledge in mind. It's a big deal. He can't just act as if it never happened when something comes up that connects to it.

Cheers, Greg.