What is backstory in a story?
Backstory describes any set of events that establishes a character's past or leads up to the main story. These prior moments exist before the current battle or plot begins and prevent present action from feeling hollow.
Questions about Backstory
Short answers, pulled from the story.
When did Aristotle write Poetics about dramatic revelation?
Aristotle wrote Poetics while walking through the Lyceum in Athens in 335 BCE. He observed that audiences respond more strongly when they discover hidden truths about characters during the performance.
How do writers use flashbacks and dialogue for backstory?
Writers use techniques including flashbacks, dialogue, direct narration, summary, recollection, and exposition to reveal secrets about characters. Authors choose different methods depending on how much detail they want to share with the audience.
Why does Orson Scott Card warn against implausible memories in stories?
Orson Scott Card wrote in 1988 that a character remembering something just before making a decision feels like an implausible coincidence. He argued that if a memory prompts a present choice it must have been triggered by a recent event.
What is retroactive continuity or retconning in comic books?
Retroactive continuity is informally known as retconning and allows later authors to adjust earlier stories created by multiple writers over decades. This process manages conflicting backstories so the shared universe remains possible to follow.