Reveal a Character's Past Without Falling Into Backstory

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Backstory is a necessary evil in many stories, but you can sneak it in so flows naturally with the scene.

A character's past is important to their character arc, but it's an area that can easily turn into messy backstory or infodump if we're not careful. We drop in information because it has to go somewhere, and getting it out of the way quickly lets us get to the story faster.

Odds are this "drop in" of information is going to make the past feel stuck in, and feel more like backstory than a natural part of the narrative. It can stop the story, kill the pacing, and read like the author held up their hand and said, "Wait, hang on a sec, let me tell you this one thing before we go on."

When done poorly, backstory brings readers to a screeching halt and we risk losing them. When done well, the information slides by without ever drawing attention to itself.

(Here's more on Baby Got Backstory: Dealing With Backstory in Your Novel)

Revealing a character's past without dumping it on the reader is one aspect of show don't tell. It's conveying critical information without explaining it outright.

Telling Your Backstory

When backstory stands out, it's usually because it's just stuck in there and isn't a part of the scene.

For example, let's say it's vital that readers know Bob used to work at a carnival as one of those barkers who gets people to play games. There are several ways to insert this information in:

Jane headed for the old carnival grounds. "Maybe we can find the parts in there."

As Bob and Jane walked along the abandoned midway, he thought back to when he used to work at a carnival just like this. He'd spent all day trying to get people to spend five dollars on a ring-toss game that only one in a thousand could win.

"I suppose it's worth a try," he said. Even if the odds were against them.

This is standard backstory insertion. The information is dropped in, but it doesn't flow with the rest of the scene and doesn't add to Bob's character at all. Almost everything is stated outright, so there's nothing for the reader to wonder about or be curious about. Two red flag words alert us that we're about to go into backstory: as and when. Those words frequently hang out with explained (told) information.

(Here's more on How Over-Explaining Will Kill Your Novel)

Showing Your Backstory

But that same information can be slipped in more naturally to the scene. With just a few tweaks in the text, we can shift this more into Bob's head and smooth the narrative flow:

Jane headed for the old carnival grounds. "Maybe we'll get lucky and find something to scavenge in there."

Bob sighed. Probably not. He used to work at a carnival just like this once. Spent all day trying to get people to blow five bucks on a ring-toss game that only one in a thousand could win. Finding replacement parts for the generator in there was probably closer to one in a million.

"I suppose it's worth a try." Even if they were risking a whole lot more than five bucks.

Shifting into Bob's head and voice makes this read more like a memory than just dumped-in information. It also relates to what's happening in the scene, and even foreshadows the challenges they're facing. They're taking a risk, and the odds of them succeeding are pretty slim.

(Here's more on Living in My Head: Crafting Natural-Sounding Internal Thoughts)

Dramatizing Your Backstory

You can also take advantage of the backstory you want to convey and make it do more than simply inform readers about an important detail of the character's past.

You might dramatize the backstory, which lets readers figure out Bob worked at a carnival without stating it outright.

Jane headed for the old carnival grounds. "Maybe we'll get lucky and find something to scavenge in there."

Bob jumped up on a rock and bowed with a flourish. "Step right up and try your luck, little lady. Just five dollars for ten rings and your chance to win a grimy old part that could save your life!"

Jane laughed. "Have you ever considered life as a professional carny?"

"Tried it once. Got fired after six months."

"Ah, how sad. A terrible waste of potential."

"At least I got to live the dream."

She grinned. "How about you and your dream scrounge us up a pair of working sparkplugs."

The same information is conveyed, but this also shows the playfulness between the characters. It sets up future carnival jokes and a reason for Bob to be familiar with the carnival ruins without banging readers over the head with "Hey, Bob used to work at a carnival."

(Here's more on Infodumps Through Dialogue: Your Words Are Dead to Me)

A character's past can be revealed without having to stop the story to explain it. You could craft a quick paragraph or a longer scene, depending on what else you want to do with the information.

• In example one, I spell it all out and there's no sense of wonder or mystery. It's just information. 
• In example two, I use it to foreshadow and remind readers of the risks in a way that feels like Bob worrying about this. 
• In example three, I use it to show how cute Bob and Jane are as a couple so readers will worry when something bad happens in a few pages.

Getting to know a character is part of the fun of reading, so think about when, where, and how you reveal that past to your reader. Let them work for it a little and they'll enjoy the rewards all the more.

How do you like to reveal a character's past?

*Originally published June 2013. Last update March 2020.

Writing exercise time! (CONTEST IS CLOSED, but feel free to do it for fun if you'd like)

In 250 words or less, show information about a character's past without resorting to backstory or infodump.

Winner gets a 1000-word critique. Contest is open to everyone.

Find out more about show, don't tell in my book, Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It).

With in-depth analysis, Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It) teaches you how to spot told prose in your writing, and discover why common advice on how to fix it doesn't always work. It also explores aspects of writing that aren’t technically telling, but are connected to told prose and can make prose feel told, such as infodumps, description, and backstory.

This book will help you:

• Understand when to tell and when to show
• Spot common red flag words often found in told prose
• Learn why one single rule doesn't apply to all books
• Determine how much telling is acceptable in your writing
• Fix stale or flat prose holding your writing back

Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It) is more than just advice on what to do and what not to do—it’s a down and dirty examination and analysis of how show, don’t tell works, so you can adapt the “rules” to whatever style or genre you’re writing. By the end of this book, you’ll have a solid understanding of show, don’t tell and the ability to use it without fear or frustration.

Available in paperback and ebook formats.

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Indie Bound