

THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST OF BACKSTORY by Lauren Kerstein
Backstory is a tricky creature. While we need to know the backstory of our characters in order to write a resonant, enticing story, we don’t always need to include all of the details we’ve created. Balancing backstory and the incorporation of meaningful details provided an interesting challenge for me when I wrote HOME FOR A WHILE (Magination Press/Illo: Natalia Moore/February 2, 2021). I thought I’d briefly take you through my process and offer some tips around tackling back