Jan 25, 2021
What’s your best technique for working around backstory dumps??
The long-winded story of how two clans became mortal enemies. The intricate description of the landscape for miles and miles. The tale of the little girl and her imaginary best friend. Most writers know the pain of trying to figure out where the story really starts.
I’m guilty. I recently chopped off about 600 words from the beginning of The Ranger’s Dog Tags. They weren’t really backstory, but because I referred to the same info later in the chapter, I decided I didn’t need to tell the reader about it twice. It also allowed me to start the story at a more exciting point.
The squad car screamed down the street, its red and blue lights tearing through the darkness. I feathered the gas pedal and waited for a second set of headlights that followed.
Because this is the sixth (and last) book in the Harmony Duprie series, I had to pay close attention to backstory. I never explained why Eli has a house in both Oak Grove, north of Pittsburgh, and in Florida, since it wasn’t important to the plot. (Eli is the main male character in the series.)
But what do I do when I have backstory to work in? I try to attach it to dialogue. Maybe not as part of the dialogue itself, but in conjunction with it.
“Your Chief Sorenson asked me to pass on a message,” Horace said. “Stephen Sallis is out of prison, on compassionate release. He has an untreatable cancer. Sorenson said to be careful.”
I caught my breath. Sallis was the minor crime figure with delusions of grandeur who’d been responsible for the disaster that played out after Jake gave me a replica of a stolen necklace. I’d had a minor part in his capture. Would he show up seeking revenge? “You think I’m in danger?”
Short and sweet. Then I moved on to advance the story.
It’s not always that easy. Sometimes I have to write several paragraphs of backstory. Stories from Eli’s time in the Army Rangers play a prominent part of the book. But rather than tell the tale all at once, I feed it to the reader in little bits and pieces.
On the other hand, I’m toying with Jake’s origin story. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it, but it’s been fun to delve into his history. In a way, the whole darn thing is backstory. (Jake is the anti-hero on the series. The book revolves around his relationship with Harmony Duprie before the events in The Marquesa’s Necklace.)
Anyway, that’s my trick. Try to intersperse dribs and drabs of the backstory throughout the story. Enough to give the reader a sense of the history without overwhelming them. Now, I’m going to follow the links below and see what everyone else does to slip in backstory.
P.S. I haven’t set a release date for The Ranger’s Dog Tags yet, but I’m getting closer. Stay tuned!
Until next time, please stay safe.
Jan 25, 2021
What’s your best technique for working around backstory dumps??
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Yes, add it in dribs and drabs or via a conversation. That’s the way I do it too.
Totally agree, let the characters tell it. It sounds better coming from them.
You could have caught your breath and let your character do it OUTSIDE of her head. Ninety percent of what precedes her dialog is understood except for identifying who the dude is.”I played a minor role in sending Sallis away. Sorenson thinks that puts me in danger?”
If you want to keep the OMG factor
(Expletive). I helped put Sallis away. Sorenson thinks I need to watch my back?”
This is like the litanies you drop ‘splainin’ the story. Like who all the boyfriends not present are, or head time reactions followed by dialogue reactions. Short and sweet is Hammett or Chandler. Try this – Put the Sallis connection in the other mouth with the warning. “You remember Sallis? You helped put him away in ’28? Your pal chief Sorenson says Sallis is out on compassionate for terminal cancer so watch your back.”
Guess what? End of scene.
Dumps also involve thinking for the readers.
If you need word count put the “I played a minor role in sending him up in ’28. So?”
“So Sorenson says watch your back.”
Jeez…Just what I need. A revenge bound lunatic with nothing to lose.
All in your own voice but don’t kid yourself about short and sweet till there’s nothing left but essence. To the bone and rebuild.
I keep sayin’ this but you guys are all about one or two edits shy of being rich if you’d get out of your own way. And I promised I wouldn’t let up on you specifically until you turned your hand to self editing with a sharp knife.
Thanks for the suggestion, Phil. I’m still in editing phase of the book, so still change things. 🙂
All I want you to do is stop ‘splainin’. If you don;t need it, right now, whack it. If you need it later, use it. Dufresne has a great bit in his book where he says that a lot of time we write backsory or drop background shit that we needed to write to help us with a character, but nobody else needs to read, they need to read what’s happening and keep it going. If you need to drop flashbacks and sets, start sooner in the action where that stuff HAPPENS, but is not authored.
Adding it in dribs and drabs in conversation works if there isn’t to much. Historical novels probably need more backstory than other genres so I also use flashbacks and a diary in my recent book.