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Baby Got Backstory! I’m working on the backstory of my next novel. And I recently read Mia Sosa’s The Worst Best Man and thought she did it brilliantly. As you know, one way to improve at writing craft is to read books in your genre and learn from other authors.

Backstory fuels internal conflict.

“Story is about internal struggle, not an external one. It’s about what the protagonist has to learn, to overcome, to deal with internally in order to solve the problem that the external plot poses.”
Story Genius by Lisa Cron

Romance Backstory- Why is this absolutely the WRONG guy/gal for your protagonist?

For a romance backstory, why is this absolutely the wrong guy/gal for your protagonist? That will complicate the plot. That will force the protagonist to deal with his backstory in order to move on and fall for romance interest.

The Worst Best Man is a great example to read to see how to do backstory and conflict brilliantly. His brother dumped her on her wedding day, he’s the one who told her, and apparently he said something the night before that made his brother call off the wedding. Ouch. He’s the last person she wants to date.

And he’s in the same boat. He’s always competed with his brother. Here’s Max’s best friend’s advice:

“Disregard all of it and move on.”
…[numerous, numerous reasons].
“Four, you’re trying to escape your brother’s shadow. Pursuing his old girlfriend is exactly the opposite of that.”
The Worst Best Man at location 1486.

I also LOVE the relationship between these two best friends.

Or take another example of backstory leading to conflict well done. In When Adam Met Evie, Evie hates liars and what is Adam doing?

He’s lying to Evie. (He has good reasons). But author Giulia Skye sets up that conflict and tension so that you keep reading because you want to know: how is this going to get resolved?

The Backstory Tease

Think of Backstory as a tease. Hint at it initially, but don’t tell all. As Marcy Kennedy states in her post on 10 Writing Mistakes that Kill Your First Chapter,

“Backstory can be hinted at, but it’s normally something you should withhold until later when the reader really wants to know it and it’s pertinent to what’s happening in the present. Why? Backstory, by definition, is over. The reader wants to see your character getting themselves into trouble in the present.”
10 Writing Mistakes that Kill Your First Chapter by Marcy Kennedy

Donald Maass writes:

“Backstory delivered early on crashes down on a story’s momentum like a sumo wrestler falling on his opponent.”
Donald Maass.

Mia Sosa also shows how to do backstory. As the story progresses, the reader learns why her heroine is emotionally reserved. Initially, we just learn her belief:

“We must never let our emotions get the better of us; doing so is either a sign of weakness, one that diminishes our well-earned respect, or a mark of combativeness, which will cause people to say we’re irrational. And as women–women of color, more specifically–we simply can’t afford to be perceived in those terms.”
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa, at Location 468.

But then there are specific backstory events that created this belief. I’ll let you read the book to see how she does it. Note that she teases with the belief initially and only gives you the full backstory later on. She doesn’t reveal the first backstory scene that cemented this belief until Chapter 15.

I recommend following the advice in Story Genius to take the time to develop those backstory scenes. Write the “Origin Scene” – the scene in which your protagonist’s misbelief originated– and three Turning Point scenes “where her misbelief was the deciding factor in a decision she made” and which confirms that misbelief as “right.” Story Genius by Lisa Cron at p. 114.

Also, show how the backstory affects her actions NOW.

Let’s Talk: Baby Got Backstory!

Have you read The Worst Best Man? Do you have any advice to share on backstory? Or on creating conflict between your romantic leads?

Also, my writing teacher Linnea Sinclair has another online writing class for $15 from July 6-30. It’s called “Hook ‘Em Dano: Writing the Grabber Opening Scene.” If you are a writer, I HIGHLY recommend taking her class. She is a fabulous teacher.

Alex (Hugh Grant) and Sophie (Drew Barrymore) in the movie MUSIC AND LYRICS are both walking wounded and show how backstory can create wounds or “ghosts” that then haunt the protagonists. SPOILER Alert. Go watch it if you haven’t already. (I love 80’s pop). It has so many funny lines. For more examples of backstory, check out my earlier post Baby Got Backstory. Backstory is what drives the internal conflict preventing two people from getting together.

In MUSIC AND LYRICS, Alex is a has-been popstar from the 1980’s who has the chance to write a song for the top rock star currently, Cora. Only he can’t write lyrics. He writes melodies. Enter Sophie, who spouts lyrics while watering his plants.

Sophie’s Wound

Sophie reveals her “wound” when she thinks she sees her ex-professor and hides. She then sees his book prominently displayed in a bookstore. The protagonist in his book is based on her. And she’s “haunted” by the words he wrote about her: “she was a brilliant mimic . . . but stripped of someone else’s literary clothes, she was a vacant, empty imitation of a writer.”

Later, Cora agrees to do their song and they are at a restaurant celebrating when Sophie’s ex walks in. Sophie flees. Alex joins her in the bathroom and says, “People wait their whole lives to see an ex when things are going really well. It never happens. You could make relationship history.”

Sophie confronts her ex-professor.

And she can’t speak.

As Alex says, “the few syllables you got out were absolutely devastating.”

Alex says that the guy is a complete jerk, and she shouldn’t allow him to have this hold on her.

Alex’s Wound

What’s Alex’s wound? His childhood friend left their band and chose business over their friendship. And Alex has been stuck in the past ever since.

When Cora commercializes their song, Sophie argues that they should tell her that it undermines the whole meaning of the song. Alex says, “it’s just business. And I wish everything was that clear.”

Sophie, hurt that their relationship doesn’t mean more, turns away.

The Black Moment: The Walking Wounded Emerge

Their black moment is when they both throw harsh truths at each other. Sophie tells him he’s not willing to fight for what he believes in. He tells her that she is like the woman in the book, she can’t work when she’s not inspired, but life is not a fairytale, and sometimes you just have to slog through. Sophie walks out.

The Grand Gesture

She submits the lyrics (“I need inspiration, not just another negotiation.”) He sings a solo he wrote for her, saying he’s sorry and asking her to give him another chance. And he persuades Cora to sing the song he and Sophie write, without the orgasmic sex scene introduction.

How do they Conquer their Wounds?

Sophie manages to write her hit single lyrics even when upset, and Alex writes a new song for her and stands up for the right approach for their song.

Let’s Talk

I hope you are doing well. Have you seen MUSIC & LYRICS? What are your favorite lines? What romcoms do you recommend watching?

My favorite lines are:

“Love lost, love found, love lost again.”

“This is starting to sound a little bit like luggage, but good.”

“My god, I’ve suffered for my art.”

And of course their exchange about music and lyrics, ending with:

“But then, as you get to know the person, that’s the lyrics. Their story. Who they are underneath. It’s the combination of the two that makes it magical.”