Backstory. You know, the stuff that went down before you read about the stuff that's going down right now.

In the part of the story that's not now, it's before. Do authors create comprehensive unseen tomes,

fleshing out every character, tracking their needs, desires, and motivations? Do authors build

detailed worlds in a mind-boggling effort of pre-work

so it all feels real when the story plays out? Or, you know, do authors just pull that stuff out of

their derrier as they go? We will talk about all of that. How Scott does that, how other

novelists do that, right after this quick break.

Welcome to Deep Cuts, the bonus episode of the Scott Cigler Slices Fiction Podcast, where a sci-fi

author and an audiobook narrator discuss things and stuff in the world of fiction and pop culture.

I am Scott Sigler, sci-fi, or author known far and wide as the future Dark Overlord.

And I am A.B. Sigler, audiobook narrator and publisher at Empty Set Entertainment.

And tonight, we're talking about how novelists

develop backstory. A reminder, this is a bonus episode in the Scott Sigler-Slices feed. It is not

part of any particular story. You don't have to listen to this one to keep up on my current tale,

but we hope you'll dig this peek behind the storyteller curtain. Let's rock and roll.

All righty. So there are a handful of ways that we as readers understand backstory. We all know,

readers, viewers, we jump into a story where the story drops us in.

We already do that.

And sometimes we know a ton about the characters

that we are engaging with in the next few hours,

say, oh, we need the poo-tail. We sort of know who those players are.

But sometimes it's a book like the crypt, where we meet every player as they walk in the door, so to speak.

...