Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The experiences of a character or the circumstances of an event that occur before the action or narrative of a literary, cinematic, or dramatic work.
- noun The set of background conditions and events leading to a real-life situation.
- noun A prequel.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The previous
life andexperiences of acharacter in adramatic work . - noun A
prequel .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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And while the backstory is appreciated and adds much more dimension to the characters than anything a film adaptation could provide, there were moments where it felt like it droned on a bit much.
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It's what they call "backstory" in Hollywood pitches.
Jamie Stiehm: The Vietnam War Ghost: Does It Still Live in Obama's White House? Jamie Stiehm 2011
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In fiction, a backstory is the history behind the situation at the start of the main story.
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It's what they call "backstory" in Hollywood pitches.
Jamie Stiehm: The Vietnam War Ghost: Does It Still Live in Obama's White House? Jamie Stiehm 2011
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No idea what the backstory is here, or why the filename is my last name.
Boing Boing: February 26, 2006 - March 4, 2006 Archives 2006
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If it feels like the backstory is hard to follow, readers are probably going to put the book down.
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » 2009 » July » 09 2009
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No Jin backstory, and no trying to kill Chagum himself to spare the Mikado the grief of having to kill his own son (as seen in episode 3).
Extra: [book 1] Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit « Undercover 2009
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A "restless spirit" backstory is gradually revealed, leading to a somewhat haunting, but mostly annoying finale.
Nick Carr: The Complete New York City Horror Movie Marathon! Nick Carr 2010
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The backstory is usually less important and almost always less interesting.
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If it feels like the backstory is hard to follow, readers are probably going to put the book down.
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » 2009 » July 2009
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