For example, you may want the backstory to reveal a character’s haunted past and help to explain why a character is so damaged in the present. Or you may want the backstory to show the character’s complicated relationship with their father, who has just passed away in the present.
If you are writing about a character who is a teenager, you may only have childhood and adolescence sections on the timeline. If you are writing from a child’s perspective, you may only have a childhood section, broken into smaller parts.
Examples of a backstory in writing include Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, “Tiny Smiling Daddy” by Mary Gaitskill, and Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Go through your favorite stories and identify where a backstory is placed in the narrative. Notice how long the backstory is in the narrative and how it is woven into current events in the story. Often you can identify the backstory in your favorite stories by a shift from the present tense to the past tense. There may also be an indicative clause at the beginning of the backstory like “When I was a child…” or “As a young girl…”.
For example, if your character is struggling with their relationship with their father in the present of the main story, you may write a backstory that includes childhood memories with the character’s father. The backstory may show how damaging the character’s childhood was because of their father.
For example, if you have a main character who is depressed and anxious with their partner, you may write a backstory about a recent miscarriage they experienced. Or you may write a backstory about a bad fight the character had last week with their mother.
For example, rather than write a backstory like, “I hated my father. He was absent most of the time and I never got over it,” make it more detailed and complex. You may write instead, “When I was a boy, my father worked fifteen hours a day. Then, he came home and went straight into his study, where he drank until morning. I said maybe ten words to him throughout my childhood. ”
This is especially important if you are writing a short story, as the form usually does not call for a long backstory. If you are writing a longer piece like a novel, you may have more room to include more of a backstory.
For example, if you are writing a story about a character dealing with a break up, do not include a backstory about her childhood pet. Instead, you may include a backstory about her relationship with her former partner to deepen the emotions she is feeling in the present.
Revise the backstory so it fits with the main story’s tone and style. You do not want the backstory to sound like it was written separate of the main story, as this can disrupt the reader’s experience of the story.
For example, you may remove a backstory about the character’s childhood if the character is an adult in the present and the childhood memories do not relate to the present action of the story.
Make sure the backstory does not take over the main story when you place it in the narrative. The main story arc should be more immediate and important than the backstory.
