The Story Behind The Story by Debralee Mede

Sarah is the seventh child of a clergyman of a heretical sect.  During childhood she became street wise and, though in trouble much of the time, was only caught, arrested and found guilty of trespassing while at home on the compound.  All of her siblings were jealous of her as were two neighbors because she was her mother's favorite.  Her brothers and sisters frequently falsely reported some alleged wrong-doing or other to her father, the head of the cult.  Eventually Sarah managed to run away but was later forced to live on the streets, stealing food and warm clothing to stay alive, while  running from the law.  Though Sarah was streetwise and adept at living on the streets she was eventually duped into becoming part of a white slavery group by a middle-aged man posing as a minister.  Finally she escaped after her arrest for prostitution by cutting a deal with the DA and by helping turn state's evidence against the white slave owners, the minister, and the leaders of the polygamist cult.  She eventually became Congresswoman in Idaho's First Congressional District fighting polygamy and white slavery.

Okay, no, this isn't my current work in progress and it does not represent the back story for the novel that I am working on.  I am, however, currently working on a project where I need to show how a particular character has been shaped by her past experiences and how she has been affected by them. Certain influences, known as backstory, the story behind the story, will influence how my character behaves in the present.  I really don't want to go on and on about the character's history just by telling my readers what happened and provide them with an information dump of character history but instead I need to use different techniques to show the information to my readers. In a previous blog I wrote about show vs. tell and how I need to "engage and entertain a diverse group of readers.  I need to create scenes that my readers can respond to and feel."* As I see it, there are a few basic ways that I can layer backstory into a scene effectively without dumping the information all at once in the reader's lap. I can employ the following techniques:                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Internal Dialogue: I can have the character or characters reveal their thoughts or interior dialogue so that important backstory information and the psychology of the character is adequately revealed to the reader. An example is in the short story by Tillie Olsen called "I Stand Here Ironing." Not much happens in the story as the narrator stands at her ironing board pressing dresses and occasionally exchanges words with her young daughter but all the real action is internal.  There isn't an answer that the mother arrives at in the story that would seem satisfactory but instead she mentally reviews the issue she has regarding her daughter while she irons and you get an idea about what the character is feeling and thinking while she mentally moves "back and forth with the iron?"
Dialogue: Dialogue: Another technique I can use is for two characters to reveal backstory and vital information in the course of their conversations.  In L.A. Confidential Lynn Bracken and Bud White have a discussion while lying in bed and Lynn touches a scar on Bud's shoulder:

Lynn Bracken: "Where'd this come from?"

Bud White: "When I was twelve, my old man went after my mother with a bottle.  I got in the way."

Lynn Bracken: "You Saved her?"

Bud White: "Not for long."

Lynn Bracken: "I'm sorry, Bud, it's none of my…"

Bud White: "He tied me to the radiator.  I watched him beat my mother to death with a tire iron.  Then he left us there.  Three days before a truant officer found us…They never found the old man."

Lynn Bracken:  "Was that why you became a cop?  To get even?"

Bud White:  "Maybe."

Narration is a third method that I can employ to show backstory.  My narrator can be either an omniscient, disembodied person that sees all, or they can be characters that take part in the story sometimes narrating their stories and sometimes the stories of others.  An example would be in the film The Piano when the main character, Ada (Holly Hunter) who is the narrator but is also mute says:                                                                                                                                                                                                ADA: "The voice you hear is not my speaking voice –

              but my mind's voice. I have not spoken since I was six years

              old. No one knows why. Not even me."

There are many types of narrators, more than I have included here, but that topic should be covered in blog of its own.  Essentially stories are written from one or more of the perspectives or narrative modes including: a first-person narrator who brings greater focus on feelings and opinions of the characters as in Henry David Thoreau's "Walden"; second-person narration is used in many self-help books or travel guides using the pronoun you ; third-person limited narrator ( J  Rowling's Harry Potter) doesn't need to reveal or know as much as a first-person narrator would;  a third-person omniscient narrator (Steven King's "The Stand") gives a panoramic view of the world of the story; and a writer can choose to use more than one narrator to tell the story from different points of view as well.

Props are another way that I can convey backstory.  I just has to consider the world of my characters and their past: a bookcase full of self-help books like "Women who love too much,"  "Men are from Mars and Women are From Venus" or "Date or Soul Mate?: How to Know if Someone is Worth Pursuing in Two Dates or Less."  These are real books but they could be some fictitious version on the same theme.    A photo booth strip of pictures is another way.
Flashback is yet another way that I can choose to communicate backstory to the reader.  I would need to use the character's memory to transport both the character and the reader back to a particular even or scene so that the reader can actually see what happened and hear the words that were said.  This is best used if it will help to illustrate the character's motivation and his past action as it relates to the present day action. Flashbacks can slow the scene down. An example of both the flashback and the prop is in the Harry Potter series is the Pensieve in Dumbledoer's office which is a stone basin used to store and review memories.  This device changes the flashback from just narrative backstory tool of flashback to flashback and prop that gives the characters and the readers the experience of reliving a past moment.

What I have learned about these devices so far is that when using them keep them short:  information should be given out in little bits, little teases in order to create mystery and to keep the reader reading; make sure that a character really needs the information and if he really needs it then he may have to fight for it; the information should be tied to something going on and not just appear out of nowhere; and it should be realistic as it pertains to the story; and by all means don't include backstory in the first few pages of the book.

The story idea above is a fake.  But what if you try one of these methods with a story that you don't care about so that you can show some backstory? What would you write?  What do you think Sarah would say or think?  What would one of her siblings say if they met up with her?  Feel free to come up with one if you'd like.  Here is an attempt at internal dialogue in the example above. Again it is all meant to be fun.

She picked up the bible that sat next to the open bottle of beer on her dresser.  She wondered to herself:

"Can I judge the sins of others, of those who have sinned against me?  My papa was a preacher and used the "Good Book" as his excuse.  He and all his eight wives used the words in this book as a way to keep us under control.  But who does judge our sins and what is a sin in the Lord's eyes. I've had a hard life but I've watched my own mother live under the iron fist that my father held over all of us. He had disciples that would follow anyone who left the compound and punish them.  Some of my friends have never been seen again.  Does every woman have a hard life?  Does my father know more about salvation than God Himself?   And does my father, Brother Baird know more about sin or salvation than any of us who have had to live under his rule?"

She replaced the bible closed in a drawer under some old clothes.

Now it's your turn if you dare.

Debralee Mede

*Show vs. Tell by Debralee Mede, Nights of Passion Blog, August 23, 2010

Filed under: Backstory, creative writing, editing, How To, romance, Writing