Balancing Backstory and Front Story
A Delicate Art
Welcome to the Apple Hair CANON!
Here, I’ll explore creating a fictional universe, and I’m hoping you’ll follow along with your own world. I’m by no means an expert, so let’s discuss how to create a believable, magical, and captivating world. Let’s be storycatchers together!
Want to read Apple Hair, the boy band fantasy novel, from the very beginning? You can start here! Apple Hair is a fictional, Asian American boy band from Hawaiʻi.
Welcome to the newsletter, and I’m excited to lay down the foundations of our storyworlds together, one word at a time.
Hi, storycatchers! In the last edition of the CANON, I talked about how delicious food is included in storyworlds. This time, we’re going to be exploring balancing backstory and front story. First, we need to define the two! Backstory is everything that happened to the character(s) before the story officially begins. Front story is everything that we see happening—what’s unfolding on the page of a novel in real time, for example. In Apple Hair, I tried to strike a delicate balance between the two. What are your favorite books or shows that artfully balance the front story and backstory?
I call this a delicate balance because it’s actually a harder task than it seems! Authors who are just beginning might lean completely into the front story. The quest that they want to unfold for the reader. And it isn’t till more than halfway through the story that we find out some key info about the main character. Sometimes, things are withheld on purpose, but other times it’s clear that the backstory was not thought out.
Other times, authors lean into the backstory. There are scenes of dreams, flashbacks, and internal monologues about the character’s past. This creates a rich sense of who the character is, but it leaves out the front story—what we actually get to see unfold. This can create a huge stall in the reader’s experience!
I am not a complete wiz at front story and backstory, but I did my best in Apple Hair to give some depth to each of the five main characters. For instance, we find out that the leader, Van, was a shy kid in school who only had a few friends. Corrin had his own rescue operation going on for stray animals. Kaden spent a lot of time taking care of his little sister. Seiya was a popular kid, and David was a part-time poet on social media.
At the same time, there are things I left hidden. As I continue the Apple Hair series, there are many more things you’ll find out about the boy band members!
The front story plays out as the boy band members face the ghost of the entertainment company, going through the rigorous training system to debut as singers. But the backstory very much influences their decisions—and it’s the reason they decide to stick together, finding out that they’re pretty much the same in terms of what kind of artists they want to be. Artists who give hope and create a safe space for their fans.
A novel that I read recently that balances front story and backstory seamlessly has to be Assistant to the Villain.
This novel features two perspectives: Evie the assistant and The Villain, otherwise known as Trystan. Evie has her own reasons for being willing to become an assistant. Turns out, her being wronged in the past spurs her on to look at The Villain as someone she wouldn’t mind getting involved with. At the same time, The Villain was not born evil, but rather has a personal vendetta against the king.
As the scenes unfold for Assistant to the Villain, we can understand Evie and The Villain more. The backstory creates empathy for them. At the same time, the front story unfolds at a quick pace—so we get all the excitement of scheming and action. This book was such a treat to read! I hope you can also enjoy it if you haven’t already.
Although, that’s not to say that all stories need the same ratio of front story to backstory. Some books are naturally more quiet and introspective. These types of stories showcase more backstory to really get into the headspace of the character.
Other stories are naturally more action-focused. The front story unfolds at a rapid pace—think action movies and adventure novels. These are often more immediate, and the front story takes up a vast majority of scenes.
But that doesn’t mean the adventure hero popped out of nowhere! The hero has a story from before, no matter how young they are in the front story.
So, did you learn something new about front story and backstory? What kind of story do you prefer—a more introspective one, or a fast-paced one?
Thank you very much for joining the CANON this week. What would you like me to discuss in the next post? Comment below. Or jump into my Chat or on one of my Notes, and I’ll be happy to hear your input. Let’s look out for the balance of front story and backstory in the stories we read, watch, and listen to this week!