Back plot

Or back story. When is it a good time to add a characters back story, or ever? Sometimes having a characters back story, okay most times, will help us to sympathise or empathise with why they make certain choices or decide to disregard a certain set of rules. Back story is essentially a characters driven path from when they were to born to where they are now, with key parts being shown to the audience.

So when is it a good time to add the back story?

That depends. There are no set rules and by no means what I say is standard, but in my opinion, never too early. If you drop the information somewhere between chapters 1 and six, depending upon what happens in them, I believe it is too early. In these instances the reader is still getting to know your character. You do not want to burden them with a slog of text that they have to get through in order to know your character a little better.

Drop hints. Just add one line or two every now and again that make the reader ask "What is that?". Create mystery and suspense around those vital pieces of back story because then they will pay off even better.

For example, my main character, Captain Charlotte "Charlie" O'Donnell, her back story is that she's cautious about having all the facts before she goes into a situation that could put her crew in danger. She'll break the rules if it means she has more information. Why? Ferrata. In the third chapter this is the only hint I dropped to why she was breaking rules. Even now I can see the wheels turning in your heads just reading this. What is Ferrata? Why is it important? What happened?

It catches a nerve and McCallister, her First Oficer, knows what it is. He drops this single word, "Does it have anything to do with Ferrata?" That's it. That's the only hint I've given and will give for now.

And that is the idea. If I had gone into a back slog then of what Ferrata is then it would lose interest and we would already know everything there is to know about Charlie's back story. The only reason there would be to read on would be to find out everyone else's. But until then, she has lost her interest as a character.

Finding the right spots to drop in the information is not easy. You need to think about the situation your character is in. Is it dire? Is it life threatening? Could the outcome be deadly? Yes? Is the character's back story enough of a drive that they wish to overcome this deadly situation? Insert it and see what effect it has. It may make the reader want the character to succeed. And if the character fails? What effect would it have on them then? Maybe add this?

Back story is malleable. It is flexible and indispensable. Use it, but use it to an effect. Make the reader curious and make them feel sorry or angry at the character when it is revealed. Make sure it causes conflict in a situation in my opinion.

Happy Writing.