Backstory Burnout

Musings from The Pipeline by wordshaper Janet Fix ~~

I often vacillate between about the importance — or unimportance — of backstory in a novel, how much detail is too much or too little. Obviously it differs between books, but in general it is a greater challenge to exclude backstory or to offer the details more creatively than an “explanation dump.”

I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this subject. Do you find backstory a challenge one way or the other, and what are some basic guidelines you use for yourself to avoid backstory burnout?

Some great insight to this subject is here: http://www.livewritethrive.com/2012/01/11/hold-back-the-back-story

In this blog, C.S. Larkin writes:

“RUE: Resist the Urge to Explain. Your readers aren’t dumb—really! They don’t need you to explain everything, and they actually enjoy a mystery and being allowed to start figuring out the puzzle you are presenting.”

Hold Back the Back Story

Backstory Burnout