Ecclesiastes 7:1 "A
good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day
of one's birth."
Chances are the
protagonist’s back-story is about why he no longer has a good name. It will be
about the reason why he is in this predicament and the story is how he gets his
good name back.
It’s tempting to start the
story with the back-story to give the reader the hero’s background and gain
sympathy. But no matter how interesting the back-story is, dumping all the
information at once is unlikely to keep your reader engaged for long.
It’s better to parcel out
the details a little at a time to keep readers intrigued and unable to put the
story down until all their curiosity has been satisfied—somewhere towards the
end. Back-story also includes other things like your character’s background and
history—details that may not necessarily need to be shared to serve the story.
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