How Do You Give Your Characters a History?

I read a question today from a new writer, asking if they should give detailed backgrounds about their characters. It’s a tricky question!

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer but I follow the advice given to screenwriters—if a detail doesn’t advance plot or characterization, I cut it out in favour of detail that will.

You might argue that a novel (to take storytelling to its most expansive form) need not be as tight as a screenplay but I don’t agree. There’s no faster way to lose a reader than to give them the sense you are just indulging yourself and spinning your wheels.

There’s also the issue of how to introduce all the background you decide is necessary. Do you stop the action of your story for a blob of exposition? Well, the way I put that question should signal my answer, which is ‘no.’ I advocate integrating your character’s background at a number of relevant points through the story so the reader is always intrigued to learn more and assembles their picture of the character over the course of time.

I also advocate NOT dropping details in without connecting them to action. For example, the care a character takes to repair a broken chair allows space for a memory about apprenticing to a master carpenter.