When and How to Use Flashbacks and Backstory Effectively

I recently asked an avid reader what one of their fiction pet peeves were. The answer? Too many flashbacks and too much backstory. 

Certain genres seem to overuse flashbacks and backstory, but it can happen in any story. It’s a common pitfall for inexperienced writers, but seasoned authors can also fall into the flashback/backstory sticky trap. Readers want background information, but they also want the story to keep moving.

Flashbacks, introspection, dialogue, all of these are ways to give information to the reader. When do you use each of these techniques? It’s up to you. But every manuscript needs balance. If the story is unnecessarily interrupted, there may be too many flashbacks or sections of back story. 

On the other hand, if the story has a great deal of action sequences, they might help to break up scenes. Balance is the key. 

If the story is interrupted too often, the reader may lose interest or give up in confusion, and using any one method to give background too often can lead to reader frustration. Even if the bits of backstory feel balanced, if they happen too often the reader may come away feeling cheated, aggravated that the author over-explained things and fed them information rather than letting them experience the story.

What if there’s more backstory than current story? If you find more on the page about a side character or an event in the past, it could be that the backstory is actually a main story eager to be told. It’s up to you as an author whether or not you want to pursue another direction. 

What About Story Set Up?

When setting up a story, there’s a fine balance between too much backstory and not enough. I find story beginnings particularly tricky. I’m not alone. I heard an editor for a large house once say they always edit the first three chapter last. If you’re working on a draft, it may be best to go ahead and get the basic story down without worrying too much about how much backstory to put at the start until the manuscript is drafted.

Is It Backstory?

Sometimes it’s not backstory, it’s story that was left out the first time around. Instead of having a character stop and reminisce about something that happened a few days previously, why not go ahead and show what happened at the time of the event? When drafting, it’s perfectly fine to summarize or backtrack. (Trust me, in first drafts, I do this all the time!) But when editing the story, showing the events as they happen is often better.

As I write, my subconscious seems to circle back around to things that would work better if they were given chronologically. I’ve noticed other writers do this kind of backtracking as well. A little in the final draft might be okay, but if it happens too often, those parts need to be edited until everything moves along smoothly.

It can be nerve wracking to discover there needs be more showing and less telling. Worry about adding to an already heavy word count can stop an author dead in her tracks, but sometimes showing takes the same amount of words or even less. Even if word count climbs, there are often other places to trim. Keeping the reader engaged is vital.

Editing Flashbacks and Backstory

Once you’ve drafted and edited, take a look at the first chapters.

Is there more back story than current story? Are details unnecessary to understanding the main character’s story taking up pages? The may be too much backstory.

Details about side characters may be interesting, but do those details add to the main character’s story? Is everything on the page relevant to the main story? What does the reader need to know to understand my protagonist and their story?

After reading the first few pages or chapters, is my reader oriented in the story world, can they relate to my character in some way, and do they have at least a hint about the main character’s journey? If not, there might not be enough backstory.

Be careful with the timing of your flashbacks. Readers need to be grounded and invested in the present story before a flashback occurs. 

How does each scene fit in the overall narrative? Flashbacks interrupt the current story, and if the flashback or sections of backstory go on too long, the reader may lose the thread, and interest. 

When Flashbacks Work

Sometimes info needs to be held back and only given when the reader needs it. Flashbacks can build tension or provide intrigue with unanswered questions. Flashbacks of these sort are more often used in stories that have an element of mystery, although they can be used in any genre if it serves the story. 

Use flashbacks and backstory wisely. Make scenes as vivid as possible and fold information into the story organically to keep the flow and, hopefully, keep the reader turning pages!

Donna Jo Stone writes YA contemporary novels about tough issues but always ends the stories with a note of hope. She blogs at donnajostone.com