April 12, 2026: The Backstory Dilemma

         Backstories are a powerful thing.  As writers, creating detailed backstories for our characters allows us to give them a depth that can truly bring them to life. Their backstory helps to drive their actions and choices, which moves our plot along in authentic ways.  Also called world-building, this is often the foundation on which our story is built.

         Having a rich and detailed backstory is also a challenge.  We often want our readers to be aware of every little detail that has shaped our characters. This can result in what has been labeled, “backstory dumping”.  Giving lots of background information early in the story.  This slows down the plot and can even prevent our readers from becoming vested in the story quickly.

         I have many student writers who struggle with this. In fact, I struggle with “backstory dumping” myself.  My critique partners and beta readers have often used the terms “too much background information at this point”, or left me notes that say, “not sure this is essential to know at this point”.  And the beginning of the story is where we tend to want to dump this information, which absolutely slows down the pacing of our plot.

So, when I sit down with my student writers to give them feedback, I understand their desire to have the reader know what they do about the characters.  Truthfully, by the end of the book, the reader will hopefully have intimate knowledge about our characters and their world.  But we have the entire story in which to share that backstory.  So then picking and choosing what information and where to divulge it, is critical.

Helping writers become aware of how much backstory they are including can be a challenge in itself.  A handy tool I use is just going through and highlighting all of the backstory details that are being dropped into the story. If we end up with paragraphs and paragraphs that are all highlighted, or a chapter that has more text highlighted than not, that may be a problem.  Since the goal is to drop little tidbits of backstory throughout the story, the visual power of the highlighter can help us to see if we are doing it in balanced, restrained, and brief ways.

Like much of my feedback and coaching with my student writers, it also includes lots of questions.  These are the questions I tell my students that I ask myself as I work on the revisions of my own writing:

- Is this detail or information important for the reader to know?

- Does it give the reader knowledge that is essential at this point in the story?

- If this information was eliminated, would it change the essence of the story?

-  If it is essential to the story, where is the ideal place to share it?

- If the reader did not know this, would it change their understanding of the events at this point?

- If the reader never knows this, will it impact their understanding of the story?

-  Can I share this information more briefly?

            Backstories are an essential part of quality writing, but like all tools at our disposal, we have to use it properly for it to be effective.