Using Back Story

Back story is a fancy way of describing a story within the story that causes a bit of an undercurrent.

For example, in a fake book we'll The Torn Ticket, Jeff refuses to go to the movies with Ben. He says he remembers what happened last time.

There's some back story now. Not only are you interested in the outcome of the story, you also want to know what happened in the past. What exactly did Ben do?

The big thing to remember in back story is to leak out the past a little at a time. If you're writing a book, you can't disclose the entire back story till at least page 50 (thus said an editor I spoke with). Let's say about twenty pages later in The Torn Ticket Jeff says, "Alright. But you can't bring any boxes."

What! Boxes? What does that have to do with anything?

It piques the reader's interest.

To use this powerful tool, remember to use the character's actions and dialogue. Dialogue is the easiest way to convey back story, but you actions can work as well. Remember, you can't let yourself get away with giving more info. than what the view-point character would.

The moment you tell all the secrets is critical to the story. What is going to drive the character to talk about his/her past or come to grips with it?

I just finished writing a book where the back story played a large part. My main character's back story played such a large part I knew the placement had to be perfect. I put him in a spot where his only hope of saving himself would be to talk about his past.

It came across as an emotional setting, I thought, but I'd moved that revealing moment at least twice before. Experiment till you get what works for you!

Does back story play a large role in any of the stories you guys have written (or plan to write)?