reflections on backstory

[marycatelli]

Slithering two pieces of info into the story with sufficient subtlety -- or trying to, at any rate.

One of which is a Need To Know.  If they don't know what the heroine is packing for her journey, she's not going to be able to pull it from the pack.  Especially because it's magic.

One of which is something I've hinted at and which I finally concluded has to go in now:  why and how she came to be declared her father's heir. and why there was doubt about it in the first place.  (It revolves about her father being tricked into marrying her mother, and repudiating her when he learned the truth.)  The heroine knows it, there is no big reveal that's convenient in the future, and just teasing the readers with it is foolish when it's not going to be a big reveal.

The problem is, these are both things the heroine has known since she first remembers things.  Always interesting, trying to slither such information into a tight POV.

Comments

[jennygordon.livejournal.com]

Backstory, and the uses thereof, are very much on my mind at the moment too. There's an interesting article about it on The Writer Unboxed, if you're interested.

http://writerunboxed.com/2013/12/04/the-red-roadmaster/

[marycatelli]

Interesting. though concentrating almost exclusively on the psychological impact of it.

Backstory can also explain (or justify) allies, enemies, assets, liabilities, knowledge, etc. Even if it leads to no psychological complexities

[jennygordon.livejournal.com]

Definitely.

It was also interesting to read how Maass has moderated and changed his view of the place and importance of backstory over the years.

[marycatelli]

Well, the importance depends on the story, so it's easy to shift. Sometimes you ought to.