BackStory<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBack story is everything that happened before your story starts. For a character who\u2019s 30 years old, the character\u2019s entire life history can theoretically all be back story (as well as the life histories of every other character).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like pace, you can have too little or too much back story. Too little and your character\u2019s situation and motivations are unclear. Too much and you bore the reader. That’s why learning how to write a good character backstory is important, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stick to the backstory that is relevant to your story. <\/strong>Everyone has a life history; most of it is not interesting. Leave out all the boring parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- In a draft for Bag of Bones<\/em>, the character Mike had 3 pages about his community service work the year after his wife died. King thought the back story illustrated how Mike had writer\u2019s block and what he did with his time. Tabitha said, \u201cwho cares?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
You can weave in back story in a more graceful way than straight narration. To show that a character is divorced, don\u2019t have him say, \u201cHi there, ex-wife.\u201d Talk about the fading tan line on his ring finger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
King personally dislikes in medias res<\/em>, the starting of a story in the middle of the action with no back story. This requires flashbacks, which he finds clumsy. King prefers going in relatively straight chronology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n