I went to see the new Smurf movie with my daughter and her two friends yesterday. :)
When I go to kids’ movies, I try to be a good sport. I channel my inner child, I suspend my disbelief, I try to get into a sillier mood.
I’m aware that sometimes I might be a pain to go to the movies with, so I have a rule that I keep my mouth shut if I feel the need to be critical.
So when Gargamel dumped a huge load of Smurfy backstory on Azrael the cat, I just made a mental note of the transgression and didn’t make a peep.
It was a pretty obvious dump—he explained how Papa Smurf had 99 boy Smurfs and then ended up with one girl—Smurfette. It was information that, to me, was distracting. I’d always just assumed, as a casual observer (I was a little old for the Smurfs when they debuted on US TV…my little sister watched them) that Papa Smurf was some kind of tribal leader. Did I need to know that the Smurfs were related (except, as more backstory reveals later, Smurfette)? Not really.
These are some questions I ask myself when dealing with backstory:
Is it necessary? Can I edit it out and not lose anything?
Can it be used suspensefully, if I need to include it? Can I reveal it later in the story and use the information to make readers turn pages to discover more?
Can I reveal the backstory to a newly introduced character in a more natural way?
Can I include a small amount in dialogue (without making it sound like Gargamel’s conversation with Azrael?)
Can a small amount be included with my character’s thoughts or in her memory?
Can I matter of factly slip in concise information as a tag? Mark’s sister, Tina, or Mark’s sister Tina was a nurse at the regional hospital.
And, by the way? If you’re nine, you’ll probably love the Smurfs. :)
How do you work in backstory?
Backstory is always an interesting subject in a mystery… because very often it IS the main story.
I try to remember that when I’m writing non-mystery, or at least non-investigative scenes — that information can be fascinating if it’s the actual MacGuffin — the subject of the arc of the story.
If it doesn’t work as the MacGuffin, though, it’s often better left out.
I have to admit, the idea of seeing the Smurfs movie makes me cringe. I was not a fan of the cartoon as a kid. I love that you took something so positive from it though! This list is excellent, I’m bookmarking it. :)
I want to see this movie! and I’m much older than nine, heehee. I don’t remember it on TV, but we had some of the dolls and we had a smurf kiddie table and big wheels.
Awesome list. I’m keeping it in my files!
Elizabeth – I have to say, I’m glad my daughter’s beyond the “I want to see the Smurfs movie!” age and my grand-daughter hasn’t gotten there yet…..
But on to your question, backstory is a really important part of a novel because without it, the characters are too flat and uninteresting. And as Camille says, in mysteries, backstory is often the key. So when I write, I include little relevant bits as the story goes on. For instance, a character goes to a restaurant and reflects that the last time she was there, it was with her daughter who’s away at college. OK, we know the character has a college-age daughter. That gives the character a personality without dumping the backstory.
Heather–It wasn’t something I was *planning* on doing yesterday. :) But my daughter and her friends were so pitiful–the friend’s mom was supposed to take them, but her plans changed–and they were dying to see the Smurfs! The marketing has apparently been impressive for the movie.
The Daring Novelist–Very good point, Camille! Backstory in mysteries is pretty vital–who *was* the murder victim? How did she interact with the suspects in the past? In the Smurfs, the info was just shoved out there onto the audience. But I have the feeling I might have been the only person in the theater who cared, or even noticed! Maybe readers wouldn’t be as keenly aware of it as writers are? Probably depends on the size of the backstory dump.
Laura–It had some cute moments. I think I must not have been in the Smurfiest mood yesterday! Gargamel wandering around the streets of NY made me smile.
My series has a lot of backstory. That said, I can use my past-life memory scenes to show a lot of it, but it’s the moments when a character is learning something vey new that I do find tricky.
I think backstory should be kept relevant at all times, either to the character in question, or to the current scene.
Backstory; it’s the pepper of writing. It’s necessary (especially in mysteries) but too much is WAY too much! We have to learn how to slip it in subtly and these are excellent questions to ask, Elizabeth. Thanks as always.
Knowing how much backstory is enough, and how much is “too much” is a tightrope walk, especially when dealing with a series of books. Including too much filler to bring a new reader up to speed can be very annoying to a long-time series reader who just wants to know, “What’s NEXT?” (Janet Evanovich handles this issue extremely well in her Stephanie Plum books.)
I admit – I watched the smurfs growing up. :)
I end up not including enough backstory! My CPs let me know when I need more. I’m learning to include more. I guess I’ve read too much about info dumps.
This is a very helpful set of questions. Backstory and historical context is something I struggle to incorporate as seamlessly as possible.
And at least you got a blog post out of watching the Smurfs movie!
I’m asking the same questions as I finish my second book of a trilogy. I want enough to fill in new readers, but not too much. Its a tricky thing to manage. I keep it short as possible, and use it while characters are also plotting what to do in the near future. Keep it short, fast moving, throw some suspense in, and some twists and turns so the back story is not out there sitting all alone and boring the readers.
Obvious dumps of info are never good, even in movies. Sprinkling at the right times is always best.
In the manuscript I’m working on now, I work in a lot of backstory, but it’s in the form of memories by the protagonist.
Backstory is weird. It gets pushed when it’s needed. F’rinstance, in Unthinkable, we need to know that the detective and the victim’s widower (who is also a suspect) were former co-workers, and that their work relationship Ended Badly. So I put it in the form of the detective reminiscing about how it ended.
There’s a lot more to the backstory of both of them, but not everything got revealed because it wasn’t required.
Backstory is probably the biggest problem for writers to learn to handle well. I just got my WIP back from my beta reader–it’s #2 in a series, but it needs to stand alone. She wants a whole lot more backstory! So back to dribble it in–a bit of dialogue here, a random thought there. The thing is, it must seem effortless.
I try to remember some excellent writing advice. Backstory should be handled like an IV drip. Or the cocktail party analogy. How much about yourself do you reveal in that first meeting of a stranger at a cocktail party.
I always ask myself: Does the reader need to know this? And, Does the reader need to know this NOW?
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
I think it is so important that the author know the back-story of characters, but most of that does not need to be on the page. It is enough to slip in a little detail here and there via narrative or dialogue and keep the story going.
I have the opposite problem, I tend to leave out most backstory all together until my reader are confused enough to want some. I need to work on the opposite problem. I need to put more in.
Paul–It’s really got to be important. Otherwise, as a reader or filmgoer, I keep waiting for the backstory to make an impact. Like with the Smurfs–there was no genetic theme in this movie that made that backstory dump needed…it didn’t matter that the Smurfs were all related.
Margot–I think that’s an effective way of including it. Then we can let the reader make their own inferences. They might infer that he misses her, etc. Different ways we can give them different impressions of the info we’re trickling out.
Laura–I watched some too, because my sister monopolized the TV when it was on. :)
Elspeth–We’ve got to have it, but it’s the sticking it in that’s so tricky!
Bluestocking–I got a blog post and some happy 9 year old faces. :) That’s about it…ha!
Stephen–It’s hard. You don’t want to bore your loyal readers, don’t want to confuse the new ones!
Critique Sisters–A dash of backstory!
Susan–I need to read some more Stephanie Plums. I’m curious to see how she handled it.
Helen–I sort of like memories. They’re tricky to write, but can be useful.
Jim–I think that’s a good way to handle it. Or you could even hint at the tension between the two for a little while…he acts stiff in dialogue, avoids the victim’s wife, etc. Reader will wonder why!
Anne–I think making our writing look effortless is the most time-consuming part!
Clarissa–Honestly, I think that’s probably better than the alternative! But I know what you mean–we don’t want the readers to get confused or frustrated.
Terry–Oooh…I like that. Yes, we don’t want to bore our new acquaintances. For sure!
With my second book, I had to include enough from the first so new readers wouldn’t feel lost and not too much so my fans would be bored. I tried to work it in using dialogue and in very tiny chunks throughout the story.
Great advice. Backstory can definitely lose the reader quickly.