Explanation of character background

[thaddeus6th]

Pretty clunky title.

Anyway, I was wondering what people's views are on explaining a character's background or leaving it mostly blank.

Specifically, there's a scene in my draft where he's confronted by a hallucinatory fire and the screams of a baby. At the time I haven't explained what relevence that has to him personally (the only family mentioned previously is his recently deceased father).

Do unexplained things like this irritate people, or intrigue them?

Obviously there are certain conclusions you can draw from the above (he was the baby's father, or started the fire, etc).

Generally I've tried to keep much of the main character's background opaque. A mini-bio would be that he was exiled four years ago for knocking boots with his betrothed's servant. When they meet by chance (no, don't roll your eyes) he's accompanied by a khirator (big furry animal) but won't explain what he's been doing or how he met the khirator.

My thought is to gradually reveal more and more of his past instead of having him as an open book.

[power to the J]

I'd say only include what is vital for us to know, and no more. Also, tell us at the beginning somehow (through dialog or thoughts or whatever) rather than just inserting backstory when it seems appropriate. Also, if the baby is his son, couldn't he just say "My son" or something? That would work fine. Just be cautious. For your early drafts, you can add a whole lotta info, but when your done just cut what isn't necessary.

[thaddeus6th]

He meets the lady he betrayed very early on, and when they talk there's a bit of backstory revealed there.

[the_faery_queen]

i think introduce it when neccessary, gradually, but do introduce it at some point. otherwise it seems like a forced sitatuon
my heros boyfriend, he has issues with being bi because of a bad experience when he was younger, and the way his family/friends reacted. he doesn't tell anyone abotu it, he doesn't say that that's why he left home, but it influences him with my hero, and eventually it will come out,. i think it's better to keep somethings a secret, just because you don't really go through life dumping everything that's happened to you on everyone you meet straight away and your characters shouldn't either

[pyan]

Originally Posted by thaddeus6th

My thought is to gradually reveal more and more of his past instead of having him as an open book.

That's fine, Thaddeus - as an avid reader, (but definitely not a writer,) I much prefer to find things out about characters as I get to know them, rather than all in one info-dump.
After all, when you meet someone in RL, you don't expect to find out all about them in the first ten minutes, do you?

[thaddeus6th]

"After all, when you meet someone in RL, you don't expect to find out all about them in the first ten minutes, do you?"

Funny you should mention that. At university there were a few mature students, one of which was a bloke who introduced himself usually as being a former drug addict and jailbird. His other standard introduction was his bisexuality.

Sounded more than a little weird.

[MG1962]

Yeah easing the reader into the reader into the character gives a better a flow.

Example

He got the long scar on his forearm from a knife fight in London in 1986

Or

Curled up on the lounge half interested in the football game, she found herself absently running a finger along the fading scar on his forearm.

"Godzilla" he looked at her

"Really?" She tried to sound convinced.

"No, a little trouble in a pub in London, back in 86"

[power to the J]

I agree w/ what MG said. Just put in what you want to put in, and make sure you cut what doesn't directly relate to the story. That's how I do it, at least.

[Dragonlady]

I establish my character's job and place in the world etc at the beginning, then her past comes out gradually- i mention snippets when they affect how she sees the world, or her current relationships- 'they were both noblemen's bastards', 'when she was an apprentice...' then when she meets people from her childhood her past comes out in dialogue as much as in description, so it's not too heavy. You don't really want to leave the reader clueless, but there are better ways to do it than infodumps/surplus comments.

Mystery can be god- as long as the hallucination gets some form of explanation at some point, however brief, avoid unnecessary detail.

[The Pelagic Argosy]

I think what you're describing is called abeyance -- when a detail is introduced and isn't explained right away. Whether it's annoying or intriguing depends on how it's executed. IMHO, based on reading a lot of stories in Critiques, there are two ways to do it annoyingly. First is to throw a lot of unexplained details at us. The second would be to explain via info dump, which not only has the disadvantage of being boring, it's also redundant. To take your example -- you wouldn't even have to show the dream of the fire and baby, if you're just going to proceed to explain it. Rather, you could just say, "John was still waking in a cold sweat every morning. The guilt over accidentally setting a fire that killed a baby was eating him alive," or whatever. (Or you could commit these two sins simultaneously. An example would be a story filled with strange sci-fi techno-babble that the narrator is constantly interrupting to translate.)

The way to do it intriguingly is to simply write well, demonstrating that you give interesting details at appropriate times, and the reader will trust you to give her the information she needs to enjoy your story.

[thaddeus6th]

Well... the fire+screams episode isn't explained specifically by the end of the book (or won't be, not quite got to the ending yet) but I will be making it clear that the main character's got some children and that his wife died prematurely.

Probably not got a problem with info dumps, though there are a few unexplained things (most notably why/how the main character and his companion met and what the specifics of their relationship are). That's intentional though.

Also, thanks to everybody who has replied so far, and to anyone else who does later on. Very helpful

[ctg]

I see that the problem is that you create flat characters, if you don't give out bits from the background info. However, it isn't a problem in short stories, but rather a problem in the novels, where you just cannot keep pushing forward in the never-ending action sequence. You have to give something to the readers to associate with the character. Therefore, you write a better story that reflect readers own imagination, and explains the logic in some of the actions that your characters take during the course of the adventure.

[Lord_Rahl]

You could make his past an active part of the story- something he's trying to escape from. Rather than info dumping, why not use his past affiliations to reveal his true character, or maybe just reveal how others percieved it.

For example, the fire wasn't his fault. It was a setup. no one else from the village/town believes him (hence why he's being chased). You could lead people to believe he's a bit of a crook, only to prove them wrong much later when he encounters/confronts whoever was really responsible.

Soo many twists, soo little time.