Not everyone favors “backstory.” I don’t know why.
Backstory is a literary device that writers often use to
illuminate storylines that occurred prior to the main narrative timeframe. I am
an unabashed fan of backstory – both as a writer and a reader. Many of my favorites
novels are wholly dependent on backstory in some fashion.
I once got into a testy online debate with another writer
who declared in her forum that backstory was de passé. She argued if something was necessary to the telling, then
get on with it, and tell it directly.
I replied that I thought she was premature in declaring backstory a literary
relic. What about Snow Falling on Cedars,
by David Guterson; or People of the
Book, by Geraldine Brooks; or Angle
of Repose, by Wallace Stegner – the last two both having won the Pulitzer
Prize. Stegner said of his book “it is as much about time as anything.”
Two of my top five favorite novels seamlessly weave
backstory into the narrative. The two favorites are In the Fall, by Jeffry Lent; and Dalva, by Jim Harrison. A third favorite is The Illusion of Separateness, by Simon Van Booy, who dispenses with
chronology almost entirely in his book.
Almost every novel that I’ve written employs backstory. When
I write – as with when I read, I want to plumb the depths of the characters’
psyches. I’m a great believer that all present action – in fiction as well as
in life – has deep roots in experiences of the past. I am drawn to explore the
context – the origins – from which behavior arises. I want to know why? Plot is critical, for it is what
moves the action forward. But backstory provides a means to reveal the cut of
the rudder that steers the course.
This is my first blog post. I titled my blog “backstory”
because it is something that I’m fascinated with in the writing – and reading –
of fiction. I intend to explore “the story behind stories” – whether it is
within a book, a writer’s life, in the arts, or something out of the general news.
Backstory enriches all stories, and aids in our understanding of the
complexities in the world. Backstory is the deep topography of the terrain, and
understanding it helps illuminate the way forward.
