Writing.Com General Discussion

opinion is expressed below, if you put it in your gas tank it might bork things

Dumping small chunks of backstory into narrative is a no-no. Anything that looks, smells or walks like an info-dump should be avoided. The only exception is where that information is relevant to the whole story, but even then, don't make it look like an info-dump.

Revealing tid-bits through dialogue is an excellent idea, but remember the conversation should always remain relevant and not diverge just so you can throw in your micro-info dump.

My favourite method is to do entire scenes of backstory, but that means the entire scene should be relevant - and important - to the whole story. Multiple backstory scenes scattered throughout the manuscript should tell a story in their own right, but reveal information that dramatically influences how the reader understands the major story line.

Backstory is generally only useful to the writer. If it is necessary for the reader to know these details - because it is relevant to their understanding of the major story-line - only then does it become important enough to make it into the manuscript.

The major point here is to avoid an info dump. The first thing then, is to identify whether it is an info dump. If one character tells another that one of their team is terrified of the dark, that's not an info dump, and yet has the power to alter their actions. On the other hand, if the character had said that Bob was kidnapped along with his whole family and held hostage in a dark cellar, and forced to watch them being tortured and murdered over a ten day period - that's an info dump. Worse, the information isn't relevant to the story you are trying to tell.

While you are telling the (major) story line, you need to know how Bob will react to the dark and why. Perhaps he's not afraid of the dark, it just brings back painful and debilitating memories. You need to know his backstory in order to portray Bob consistently throughout the story. The reader doesn't.