October Novel Prep Challenge

I agree with Brandiwyn🎶 . (Imagine that!)

I've always heard "backstory belongs in the back" (of the story). Which means you might start in there with Joe's been working late for months, and later Sally learns he's been laid off from his job and he's been moonlighting as something else. As Sally finds out it's a dangerous job and not an extramartial affair, the reader is flying through pages to understand and see what she'll do.

I think one recent example that does this well is Gone Girl. We get backstory in pieces, with very little 'as you know, bob' type things. We are dumped into the husband's life, and at the time the husband says "that was the fifth lie I told the police" I wanted to scream at him - YOU DON'T LIE TO THE POLICE! (Especially not when they're investigating you for killing your wife.)

But as that story progressed, we learned the lies. We learned the backstory. And we learned that some of that setup was a red herring or five to make the reader believe something that would later not be true. It was done beautifully and without an info dump anywhere.

That's what I strive for, though I don't know that I'll ever manage.