WEAVING IN BACK STORY

The trick with back story is to make it fit seamlessly into the present narrative without distracting or jarring the reader. How you do this depends on the type of story you’re telling.

When telling two stories — one past, and one present.

1. Give each story equal time and attention. Never let the present story get lost in the past story.

2. Make the characters in both stories strong and compelling so the reader does not skip one to get to the other.

3. Make sure the past story is relevant to the present and impacts it in some way.

4. Be clear about when you are shifting stories. Use dates or places to identify the switch so the reader follows easily.

5. Examples of this kind of story:
Any Known Blood by Lawrence Hill — tells the tale of 5 generations of Langston Canes. The present story (the narrator, Langston Cane the fifth) binds the others together as the youngest Cane literally starts on a journey to find a way to identify with his over-achieving ancestors.
Eden Close by Anita Shreve — the past impacts the present with secrets and lies. The past is revealed bit by bit through flashbacks as the main character remembers the time, the place and the girl he knew then. The flashbacks are tight, tense and lead naturally back to the present action.
Mask of Time by Maurius Gabriel — weaves together the story of a man during WWII and a woman in the present, giving us sympathy for both so that when the two collide in the end, the reader cannot dismiss the old man as a monster because we know what shaped the man he is, and we empathize with him.

When the present action is the main story, and the past simply filters in to add depth.

1. Be sure there is an appropriate “trigger” in the present to bring the past into focus.

2. Make sure the memory or flashback is clear and concise — a precise moment when something changed or was different. Not a vague memory of all the wonderful Christmas mornings we spent, but a specific Christmas that stands out in the mind of the main character, and was pivotal in some way

3. Get in and get out. Don’t belabour a flashback or go off on long tangents. The reader will become distracted and forget what the heck brought it on in first place.

4. Don’t give too much too soon. Remember the cocktail party guest who tells you the story of his life on the first meeting. Use your backstory to tease the reader , to make him wonder about the main character, and keep turning the pages.

Examples:
The Headhunter, Timothy Findlay — read to see how the backstory is fed into the story without interrupting the flow of the present action.

Larry’s Party, Carol Shields — chronicles twenty years in the life of Larry Weller from 1977 to 1997. Flashbacks woven into the present action give glimpses of Larry’s past to show what has shaped him and how it effects his decisions in the present