SWRT 231 | Backstory, Why Do We Need It?

December 2, 2021

person typing on MacBook Pro on brown wooden table during daytime photo

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert,& Kathryn discuss backstory. Robert has been noticing novels that aren’t doing it well. How do writers go wrong when introducing backstory? When should you introduce backstory? How much can a reader take, anyway?

Want more on this topic, I have a workshop on Writing Backstory into Your Now-Story. Check it out at www.storyworksfiction.com

VIDEO

AUDIO

SHOW NOTES

What we talked about:

Why are we talking about backstory? (0:38)

Do we need backstory? (2:48)

Has the literary culture changed backstory? (5:00)

Backstory versus narrative. (7:20)

History versus backstory. (9:35)

Background versus backstory. (12:56)

Inserting backstory in the wrong place. (18:40)

Pick your method of backstory carefully! (21:13)

Backstory and confrontation! (23:54)

Beware flipping tenses. (25:00)

Backstory should not interrupt your now story, it should contribute to the forward motion of the story. (26:00)

Beware the infodump! (28:20)

LINKS

Get Alida’s Writing Tips here.

Things we mentioned:

The Warded Man by Peter Brett
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Silence of the Lambs

Have thoughts, questions, other examples? Join the conversation at the Story Works Writers Facebook group.

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About Your Hosts

Alida Winternheimer is an award-winning author with an MFA in writing from Hamline University. She pursues her fervor for all things story as a writing coach, developmental editor, and teacher. Three times nominated for the Pushcart Prize, she is also a notable in Best American Essays and winner of the Page Turner Award. Author of The Story Works Guide to Writing Fiction Series, Alida lives and writes in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She camps, bikes, and kayaks in her free time. Unless it’s winter, in which case she drinks chai by the fire. You can find more at www.alidawinternheimer.com.

Kathryn Arnold writes fantasy and anything else that sparks her creativity from her home in Kingston, Washington. She currently earns her living as an insurance underwriting assistant, where she also creates marketing and web copy. When not writing, she plays (and teaches) piano and keyboard in a band (or two), and is working on starting a ministry team with her husband. You can find Kathryn at www.skyfirewords.com.

Robert Scanlon was born in Australia, but whisked off to England when only a baby. After many years complaining about the weather, he did the sensible thing and moved back to Australia. Despite a career in the music industry, followed by decades teaching public speaking, Robert is an introvert who adores reading. Robert grew up on a diet of sci-fi masters, eventually discovering he had read the library’s entire science fiction section. Now he has to write his own. Robert is the author of Constellation, book one of the Blood Empire space opera series. Find out more at www.RobertScanlon.com