A backstory, background story, background, or legend is a set of events invented for a plot, preceding and leading up to that plot. In acting, it is the history of the character before the drama begins, and is created during the actor's preparation. These terms are also used in espionage.
Usage
As a literary device, backstory is often employed to lend depth or believability to the main story. The usefulness of having a dramatic revelation was recognized by Aristotle, in Poetics.
Backstories are usually revealed, partially or in full, chronologically or otherwise, as the main narrative unfolds. However, a story creator may also create portions of a backstory or even an entire backstory that is solely for their own use.
Backstory may be revealed by various means, including flashbacks, dialogue, direct narration, summary, recollection, and exposition.
Recollection
Recollection is the fiction-writing mode whereby a character calls something to mind, or remembers it. A character's memory plays a role for conveying backstory, as it allows a fiction-writer to bring forth information from earlier in the story or from before the beginning of the story. Although recollection is not widely recognized as a distinct fiction-writing mode, recollection is commonly used by authors of fiction.
Orson Scott Card observed that "If it's a memory the character could have called to mind at any point, having her think about it just in time to make a key decision may seem like an implausible coincidence . . . " Furthermore, "If the memory is going to prompt a present decision, then the memory in turn must have been prompted by a recent event."
Shared universe
In a shared universe more than one author may shape the same backstory. The later creation of a backstory that conflicts with a previously written main story may require the adjustment device known as retroactive continuity, informally known as "retcon".
Acting
Actors may create their own backstories for characters, going beyond the sometimes meager information in a script. Filling in details helps an actor interpret the script and create fully imagined characters.
See also
References
- Backstory at Merriam Webster online
- Backstory at Dictionary.com
- Backstory: The Importance of What Isn't Told
- Card, Orson Scott (1988), "Character & Viewpoint", p. 113. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books. ISBN 0-89879-307-6.
- Homan, Sidney; Rhinehart, Brian (2018). "3". Comedy Acting for Theatre: The Art and Craft of Performing in Comedies. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781350012783. Retrieved 26 November 2018.