A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a

literary device A narrative technique (known for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want —in other words, a stra ...

of a

narrative history Narrative history is the practice of writing history in a story-based form. It tends to entail history-writing based on reconstructing series of short-term events, and ever since the influential work of Leopold von Ranke on professionalising histo ...

all chronologically earlier than the narrative of primary interest. In

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

, it is the history of the

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

before the drama begins, and is created during the actor's preparation. It is the history of characters and other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start. Even a purely historical work selectively reveals backstory to the audience.

Usage

As a

, backstory is often employed to lend depth or believability to the main story. The usefulness of having a dramatic revelation was recognized by

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

, in ''Poetics''. Backstories are usually revealed, partially or in full, chronologically or otherwise, as the main narrative unfolds. However, a

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

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 Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

, direct narration,

summary may refer to: * Abstract (summary), shortening a passage or a write-up without changing its meaning but by using different words and sentences * Epitome, a summary or miniature form * Abridgement, the act of reducing a written work into a sho ...

, recollection, and

exposition Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to: *Universal exposition or World's Fair * Expository writing ** Exposition (narrative) * Exposition (music) *Trade fair A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade e ...

. The original '' Star Wars'' film and its first two

sequels A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

are examples of a work with a preconceived backstory, which was later released as the "

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

" second set of three films.

Recollection

Recollection is the

fiction-writing mode A fiction-writing mode is a manner of writing with its own set of conventions regarding how, when, and where it should be used. Fiction is a form of narrative, one of the four rhetorical modes of discourse. Fiction-writing also has distinct forms ...

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. For example,

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...

observes 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 A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...

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 Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subs ...

, informally known as "

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subs ...

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.

References

{{Narrative modes Continuity (fiction) Narrative techniques Plot (narrative) Acting

Usage

Recollection

Shared universe

Acting

See also

References