Fiction Tip: Write Your Characters' Backstories
Recently, I shared some info on why it’s important to give your characters contradictions, along with some tips on how to create that necessary tension in your story.
Today we’re talking about backstories. Well, “we” aren’t. I am. Okay, I’m not actually talking, I’m writing. And you’re reading. (Oy vey. I really can’t help myself some days…) 🤪🤦🏻♀️
It’s essential to have a well-crafted backstory for your characters, even if most of it never makes it into the story you actually write. Your readers might never see it, but you need to know it well. The more you know about your characters’ backstories, the more you’ll understand their motivations. They’re the foundation for how your characters think, feel and act.
And yes, it’s even relevant for a short story. You don’t need as much detail as you would if writing something much longer, like a novel, but you still have to have enough of a backstory to understand each character, what his/her issues are, what the conflicts are, and the whole point of the story.
Here’s how you can use backstories to create compelling characters:
1. Create a Mini-Biography
Make a list of key moments in your character’s life. What are the events that shaped his life? Think about childhood experiences, significant relationships, successes, failures, losses, emotional wounds. Did he grow up in a loving home? Was it a time of hardships? Biggest joys? Greatest heartbreak? These kinds of details will help you understand the character’s emotional world.
2. Defining Moments
Decide on a few pivotal moments that had a profound influence on your character’s personality and motivations. For example, was there a betrayal that makes it hard for her to trust others? Did a significant loss drive him to protect what he has, no matter what the cost?
3. Link Backstory to Current Conflict
How does your character’s past impact her present? If she was raised in poverty, does she hoard resources? Is she a workaholic, desperate to achieve financial stability — even if she’s already in a solid position? Maybe he lost a loved one and shows strong reactions to danger or avoids close connections. These kinds of links create believable and compelling reactions to the conflicts they’ll face in your story.
4. Use Backstory as a General Guide
Remember, your readers don’t need to know every detail of your character’s backstory. Rather than “info dump” into your story (please do NOT do that!), let it be the reason for his actions, dialogue and decisions. Show the effects of his past through his behaviour and his words, rather than delivering it in a lot of unnecessary (and boring) explanation.
5. Give Flashbacks a Try
The sparing and judicious use of flashbacks can be an excellent tool to drip-feed information to your readers without explicitly info-dumping or doing a lot of boring narrating. Ew. Ew. Ew. If a particular moment from your character’s past is essential to the story and will help move it forward, consider trying a flashback, whether the character has a moment of reflection or there’s a revealing hint in the dialogue.
But be careful with flashbacks. They should always serve the plot and move the story forward, or help the reader understand the character’s behaviour. Don’t just randomly throw them into your story, or use them because you can’t think of another way to drip-feed the information to your readers.
Summed up:
If you don’t fully understand your characters’ backgrounds, it’ll show in your story. It’ll be full of giant holes, things that don’t add up or make sense, and readers will notice. The only way readers will understand and connect with your characters is if you understand them yourself, and you do this by creating a proper backstory for them before you ever write a word.
The more deeply you understand their pasts, the more “real”, believable and relatable they’ll be in your readers’ minds. Without that, they won’t care what happens to your characters.
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