Backstory
The history and events in a character's past that shape who they are at the story's start.
Last updatedBackstory is everything that happened to a character before the story begins. It includes formative experiences, relationships, traumas, and achievements that shaped the character's current personality, beliefs, and motivations. Backstory is essential for creating three-dimensional characters, but how much to reveal and when to reveal it is one of fiction's most important craft decisions.
In Beloved, Sethe's backstory of slavery and the horrific act she committed to protect her children is revealed gradually, creating a mystery that drives the narrative forward. In Up, the opening montage of Carl and Ellie's life together is backstory delivered brilliantly: it establishes Carl's motivation for the entire film in just a few minutes.
The iceberg principle applies powerfully to backstory. The writer should know ten times more about a character's past than appears on the page. The common mistake is dumping all of that knowledge into the narrative at once. Backstory is most effective when revealed through behavior, dialogue, and carefully timed flashbacks rather than exposition blocks.