Four Backstory Techniques That Were Not So Simple

The only time you should ever consider an alternating timeline is when the backstory is just as momentous as the main story. Every scene in the backstory section must inform the main story timeline. If readers like one timeline or the other significantly better, then they may grow impatient with the other one. To the degree irony arises between the two contrasting timelines, the more subtext and interest you will create. And a final consideration should be the fact that alternating timelines can obviously double your story's word count.