Backstory and Info Dumps

What are backstory and info dumps? Backstory is everything that happens to set your character up to tell their story. Info dumps, on the other hand, are a writer’s attempt to tell the backstory in large chunks of print on the page.

Backstory

Before you begin to put words on the page, you have a vision of your character and their circumstances. How many brothers and sisters? Do they live in a city or the country? What are their secret desires? Their fears? What is it about their past that drives them toward their future? These are all elements that make up their backstory.

As a writer you may want your reader to know your character and understand their motives right from the very start. This is where the info dump comes in.

Info Dumps

An info dump is all that background information about a character (or situation) that has shaped them. While you may think the reader needs to know every detail to fall in love with your character, info dumps slow the pace of your story to a snail’s pace.

Slow and Steady

Think of the last time you met someone new. Did they share their hopes and fears on that first meeting, the childhood trauma that shaped the rest of their life? Of course not. That would be creepy. You probably talked about a friend you have in common, your taste in movies, or perhaps you talked about a shared profession. In other words, your new acquaintance didn’t do an info dump on you. She revealed enough to let you decide if you wanted to continue this friendship.

That’s what introducing your reader to your character should be like. Bit by bit, share information that reveals who your character is. So how do you do this in a novel without using info dumps?

Flashbacks

Sometimes backstory is told in flashback scenes. These are short scenes where your character relives or recalls events that impact their current situation. We often see this method used in series on Netflix or broadcast TV.

A new character comes to town. The viewer wonders about their past. A quick flashback scene gives just enough information to satisfy the viewer. As the program progresses, the viewer has new questions. Eventually, a flashback will explain just a bit more. And so it goes without the character having to dump a bunch of information all at once.

Avoiding Info Dumps

Other ways to avoid info dumps include slip-ups in conversations and unexpected reactions. Here is an example of a high school student just home from school.

“I visited Eileen at the hospital today.”

Mom looked at the clock. Right then, I knew I was busted.

I frantically tried to explain. “I had a free period and the hospital is so close to school . . .”

 In a few short sentences we learn that the character cut class to visit a friend in the hospital.

Mom burst into tears.

“She’s fine, Mom. She broke her arm, that’s all.”

But Mom couldn’t stop crying. That’s when I remembered her high school friend was killed their senior year.

 Her mother’s unexpected reaction reminds our character of her mother’s history with loss. As readers we don’t need to know how the friend died. Not yet anyway.

Readers are curious. Info dumps take the fun out of discovering the character through their words and actions. Give readers the minimum amount of information they need to make sense of the story. Build on that in small doses to keep them turning pages.