Time and Place for Backstory

There is a time and place for backstory and the beginning of your novel is not it. Beginning with backstory is a good way to get automatically rejected by many agents and editors. However, backstory is not the same as a prologue. Backstory is talking about something that has already happened where a prologue is something that is happening~even if it's in the past. The difference is action. Most agents and editors want the story to start right away. Readers want a sense that something is happening, there is something at stake, and there is a way to save what is at stake.

The inciting incident should be as close to the beginning of your novel as you can get it. This doesn't mean it has to be in the first chapter so long as what comes first is pertinent to the story and is exciting, suspenseful, or interesting enough to start the novel with. Not sure what the inciting incident is? It is the event which occurs and sets the entire novel in motion. Example: In Harry Potter it was the arrival of the letter from Hogwarts.

Backstory can be sprinkled in later, after the reader is invested in the character and is hooked enough to keep turning pages. Only then will they tolerate or enjoy the lull of backstory. Five to ten pages in before doing it is a good rule to follow. Wait as long as you can and use that hidden info to build suspense, tension, and curiosity in the reader. And when you do bring it in, don't do paragraph upon paragraph of info dump for no reason. Have the backstory triggered by something currently going on so it flows naturally. Think of it like flavoring your food. If you overdo it, no one will eat it. If it is sprinkled in at the right time and just the right amount, it will enrich the story~not detract from it.

Show Don't Tell

Today I'm going to give you a huge tip on how to get through agents and editors slush piles. This is a pet peeve of most in the industry as it is a sign of lazy writing.

One of the biggest pitfalls of writing, and one of the top 10 reasons I reject a manuscript, is telling instead of showing. Telling is passive writing. Or to put it another way; it is the telling of something that has already happened and is in the past. Not to be confused with past tense, that's entirely different. Past tense, present tense, those are styles you choose to write in (I'm actually a huge fan of past tense. I prefer it). Telling is more akin to information dump where you go into backstory of some kind or another that the character is recalling (not to be confused with a flashback. That doesn't mean you can do it as a flashback and get away with it with me. I dislike flashbacks immensely).

Showing is active writing of something that is currently happening. There is a time and a place to tell instead of show, but it needs to be done sparingly and appropriately. In the beginning of your novel is not the place to do it. A good rule of thumb is to do your best to not tell, info dump, or give back story for at least the first ten pages.

Until the reader cares about your characters and is vested in them you don't want to go into backstory. Your first chapter needs to hook the reader, entice and interest them with questions and mystery. Only then will they keep reading and tolerate things like backstory. When you do add it in later remember not to do an information dump where you just 'tell' the reader the backstory. Try to 'show' it and work it in naturally where it fits with things that prompt it.