Backstory is essential, put the key to successful backstory is putting it in the right place at the right time, and in the right way.
We use backstory to add depth to our characters, to give them history, to explain why they act or react the way they do. Why did they make that decision? What they believe is based on their past experiences.
Here are five ways you can layer in backstory in your book.
- First-person narration. Maybe while the character is waiting on someone, they can be thinking, or dreading what's to come next, based on their memories of past experiences that didn't go so well, or excited based on memories that did. Here they can dig up those memories without it feeling like an info dump. Keep it brief and relatable to what's happening in the scene.
- Third-person explanation. The narrator can explain, again, briefly, why the character is hesitating, or jumping in with both feet first.
- Dialogue. The characters can discuss their plan of attack, remembering what happened last time, and how to do it better this time.
- Documents. Perhaps the character is mulling through her mother's things, and finds her Will, or an old journal, or a photo album that dredges up old memories and explains part of what is going on right now.
- My least favorite is flashbacks. Although, they're good, if done well, but it's tricky to do that. The best time to use flashbacks is if someone is experiencing PTSD from a traumatic time in their life. Perhaps a soldier after the war, a woman after an abusive relationship, or a character who survived a terrible accident, or living through a hurricane or tornado. These are the best times to use flashbacks. Reliving these creates anxiety and panic, great emotion to portray and bring the reader in.
