Back story

Back story in a book can be a problem. Many times a reader wants to know everything about every character. Others get bogged down by back story and may put the book aside and never finish it.

So what is the best way to handle back story? What is too much? What is too little?

I like to think of back story as being grains in a salt shaker. You wouldn't dump the whole shaker onto a choice cut of meat. You would add enough to bring out the flavor. The same with your characters. It can be brought out in dialogue, reflection or through a secondary character or main character asking questions.

I had one reader who wanted to know more in depth information about my heroine. The back story was there but not in consecutive pages. We only needed to know how her past reflected on her present. To give the character's entire back story would have been a fictional biography.

The conundrum is how much to reveal. Keep in mind even though back story isn't hitting you between the eyes it is there. It is often revealed by motivation and behavior. So when you read be careful not to skip over parts because you may miss a vital clue as to why a character behaves in a particular way.