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Debate: detailed character backstory vs leaving it mysterious in short stories
Honestly, I had a writing professor in my sophomore year at City College who insisted every character needs a full sheet of backstory notes. Then last month at an open mic in Brooklyn, a guy read a story where the main character was just called "the man in gray" with zero explanation, and it was the most powerful thing I heard all night. So which side works better for a flash fiction piece under 1,000 words? Anyone else find that too much backstory kills the pacing?
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sullivan.riley1d ago
That backstory sheet trick works for novels where you need to know what drives someone over 300 pages. For flash fiction under 1k words, every sentence has to pull weight. Too much explaining just bogs down the action. Let the reader fill in the blanks, that mystery is what makes short pieces hit hard.
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wendy97822h ago
Does my character sheet count if I just use it to name my cats instead?
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