Reserve Backstory in Fiction
Writers Can Learn from Good Television Scripts and Complex Novels
Reveal characters and situations through backstory, a little at a time, instead of telling it all at once. Beloved, One True Thing and CBS's Jericho provide examples.
Many of the best stories leave something in reserve, backstory that can be parceled out a bit at a time, keeping the reader hooked. Instead of piling a lot of explanation at the beginning of the story, use television’s Jericho as an example.
Characters in TV's Jericho
Viewers came into Jericho’s premiere with the story already going at full speed. Nuclear bombs provided excitement, and there were the normal questions of how characters would react to the situation and to each other, but the backstory wasn’t included.
Where had Jake been for 5 years? What made him return as the prodigal son? Who was Hawkins, why did he come to Jericho, and what was he hiding? We got glimpses of people and their situations, but the answers to these often unspoken questions were only revealed bit by bit as the television season progressed.
Backstory Develops Characters
Fiction writers can use the same technique to draw readers into a complex story. Begin with just enough information to bring your characters into focus. Then let your reader wonder how they got where they are. Feed them bits of information and background little by little, fleshing out the characters and deepening readers’ understanding of and commitment to them.
One True Thing
Anna Quindlen did a exquisite job of this in One True Thing (Random House, 1994). The prologue opens with Ellen in jail, and we learn about the town, friends, the police, and Ellen herself, but not why she’s there. When we discover she’s been arrested for killing her mother, we also find out she’s not afraid – she’s sleeping with a smile on her face! The answer to one question leads to bigger questions: Why is she not scared? How and why did she kill her mother? Or did she?
Characters and relationships, both current and past, are introduced through Quindlen’s masterful storytelling, but we don’t find out Ellen’s mother had cancer until we’re already hooked. Between the characters themselves, the disturbing fact that the mother dies of murder, not cancer, and not knowing who actually killed her, we can’t put the book down. And as the story switches between Ellen’s childhood, the months before and after her mother’s death, and the present, we come to understand the characters, relationships, and poignant truth.
Beloved
Beloved (Penguin, 1987), by Toni Morrison, is another excellent example of a novel that provides backstory a piece at a time. The story starts with the trouble being caused by the baby haunting the house, introduces the characters, when and how they left the house, and a character, Paul D., who is new to the house.
We can tell Paul has a history with the family, but we don’t know what it is. Then, when we’re fascinated by the characters and the haunting, Morrison offers glimpses of their old life on the Sweet Home place.
The story builds with more about Sweet Home, their escape, the children and the baby, all interwoven with current happenings, all of it coming out bit by bit until we understand Sethe’s increasing desperation and how she could do what she did.
Weave Backstory Throughout Novel
Good stories, stories built on deep characterization and complex motives, can’t be understood in a chapter or two. Letting the story reveal itself through the entire book can be the only way for a reader to truly understand the characters and the resolution.
