forum How do you come up with character backstories?

Started February 17, 2021 by @SingSongKV group

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I've been having a bit of a block when it comes to giving characters backstories. so for inspiration purposes, how do all of you make backstories for your characters?

Ok, First, What type of character are you writing. Think about that first. For Example, let's say that I'm writing a character that is proper and is a gentleman. Then I would have to explain why they act like that

I have a few steps that I go through, its helpful for D&D characters but I applied it to my story and it worked just as well!

1. What is your character doing there? How did they get into the story/Why are they (physically) there?
2. What bonds do they have? Who are they close to or are they obligated to be in the story in some way?
3. Where did their skills/personality/trauma come from?
4. Did they know any other characters or friends-of-characters that could be a connection to further the story?
5. How does it all fit together/How can I make it cohesive and what else can I add?

So for example how I used it with Rei, a character from my story "World:Light":

1. Rei is friends with the MC, she sticks around to keep the main party out of trouble
2. She has a responsibility and pressure from her family to be a powerful mage
3. She is eloquent and reserved, like nobility, but closed off. She has several refined skills such as calligraphy and fencing. Therefore her background should be from riches and nobility, which would also explain the familial pressure to do well.
4. I gave her a sister in the government of my world. It shows her family's position in the world and gives my main party a link to the government and information that could help the story progress.
5. Rei comes from a rich family with ties to the government. She was raised very properly to be charismatic and have respectable skills. Due to the nature of her family, she is more closed-off and has a fear of failure that extends to her friends, so she keeps a close eye on them to make sure they do their best. To add some conflict, I decided here to make her relationship to her family strained so Rei can have a conflict and grow in motivations and as a character later on.

From there I just refine it and imagine specific snippets of stories that could have happened in the backstory, then add them in if they stick.
I hope this helps!

I have a few steps that I go through, its helpful for D&D characters but I applied it to my story and it worked just as well!

1. What is your character doing there? How did they get into the story/Why are they (physically) there?
2. What bonds do they have? Who are they close to or are they obligated to be in the story in some way?
3. Where did their skills/personality/trauma come from?
4. Did they know any other characters or friends-of-characters that could be a connection to further the story?
5. How does it all fit together/How can I make it cohesive and what else can I add?

So for example how I used it with Rei, a character from my story "World:Light":

1. Rei is friends with the MC, she sticks around to keep the main party out of trouble
2. She has a responsibility and pressure from her family to be a powerful mage
3. She is eloquent and reserved, like nobility, but closed off. She has several refined skills such as calligraphy and fencing. Therefore her background should be from riches and nobility, which would also explain the familial pressure to do well.
4. I gave her a sister in the government of my world. It shows her family's position in the world and gives my main party a link to the government and information that could help the story progress.
5. Rei comes from a rich family with ties to the government. She was raised very properly to be charismatic and have respectable skills. Due to the nature of her family, she is more closed-off and has a fear of failure that extends to her friends, so she keeps a close eye on them to make sure they do their best. To add some conflict, I decided here to make her relationship to her family strained so Rei can have a conflict and grow in motivations and as a character later on.

From there I just refine it and imagine specific snippets of stories that could have happened in the backstory, then add them in if they stick.
I hope this helps!

Wow, That is way better than what I was going to say and D&D FRIENDS WOOOOOOO

Wow, That is way better than what I was going to say and D&D FRIENDS WOOOOOOO

Woo D&D! ^_^ When you make as many characters as I do, which is more than I have dice which is already a problem, then you tend to come up with a system for it lol

for me, Its fairly easy when I think about "giving characters backstories", think of them now and how did they get there.

I'm gonna use my girl Dawn for this example, her concepts pretty simple, a soldier sent to another planet to collect residues of an incredibly corrosive matter, so I built her current story in the bases of that, why was she a soldier, what motivates her to risk her life just for ONE residue sample, what did she do to be accepted as one of the more competent soldiers, how does she deal with her identity as a soldier being taken away from her, and how do all of these things affect her personality as a character.
but of course not every single character needs a super deep and emotionally complexing backstory, some can just be "this girl fucked up big time so now she's on dept to this eldritch abomination" or "this guy broke out of his brainwashing and is now seeking revenge". go stupid go crazy.

Good question! The way it's phrased, it sounds as though there's already a character, it's only the backstory that seems to be missing.

Usually, that would be filled in with what the stock knowledge has—outside of the story or storytelling, that is. The backstory can be inspired by a historical figure, or a real-life person even from a few degrees of separation, or even a statistic heard in passing. These unconsciously combine until something "clicks" together.

So, I think that while two characters with identical design or personality can have completely different backstories, or that the backstory can change in future versions to streamline the plot or whatever… it's not even necessarily always going to be to the author's liking or preference, but it will always follow the author's bias in terms of what's available (in the author's mind) to work with…and what "clicks" in the sense of it making sense or seeming like it has natural integrity.

I knew that Glenn was going to drop out of school and fall in with a clique in the criminal underground…and my first image of that sort of clique was Morpheus, Trinity, Switch, Cypher, Tank, Link, Mouse, and Dozer from the first Matrix movie. But, I already figured that Glenn got by on a superficial charisma and that he would fail to keep their loyalty—So, it isn't that there is one betrayer like Cypher nor that this clique is all Cyphers: they each have their reasons for not trusting Glenn.

I had Glenn's backstory already, but I had to figure out what this clique's deal was. While brainstorming this, I cut the number of clique members excluding Glenn down—from two and a half dozen members to three, because how am I supposed to think up of individual backstories for 30 background people, do I look like Akira Kurosawa? No I do not, because I am not Akira Kurosawa who totally did that sort of thing all the time—and anyway, there was a scene that I wanted to show how their conviction that they were doing the right thing in the best way was really a vent for their sadistic impulses and frustrations with their own lives…less Matrix crew now, more Clockwork Orange droogs except self-righteous.

I think one key was refreshing my knowledge of the fairy characters from A Midsummer's Night Dream…so then I started building on what sort of person a namesake of Puck would be, or a namesake of Cobweb, or a namesake of Peaseblossom (I didn't like the name Mote so I left that one out).

I didn't use those names, I knew I wouldn't, but the feeling of getting a random aspect thrown in there like an answer to work backwards from really helped.

Now I know, that is I decided because the names led to this "click" moment, that "Puck" and "Cobweb" are more sadistic, as in their lives were full of violence and they don't know how else to get respect or to process their pain. "Peaseblossom" is more like a bystander who still believes that they're doing what they need to survive and liberate themselves, and who trusts that "Puck" and "Cobweb" are good people—just not good to the designated acceptable targets of blame for why their lives are the way that their lives are, because something needs to change and violence is the way they know to change it.

In differentiating "Cobweb" and "Puck" because both of them were sadistic and self-righteous, I decided that "Cobweb" was the only one in contact with a core member of the Sedition—this is why the criminal resistance movement seems so small where Glenn is, because the network is scattered into these cliques so only a few mysterious leaders working together know most of their own plan, and they won't let Glenn into the inner circle until he's proven himself. (Because of Glenn's backstory with being affiliated with their enemy since he was born.)

So in a way, these three are trustworthy enough that they can get to vetting new members, but they're also expendable. "Cobweb" is partially so self-righteous because the Sedition leader chose him to be the go-between, so while Glenn nominally leads to prove himself, "Cobweb" is the one actually in charge that everybody listens to.

"Puck" has some self-righteousness from having joined the revival of a highly-structured and moralistic fantasy-setting religion.

I didn't know what "Peaseblossom"'s deal could even be until—now here's a character of mine with an actual backstory, not only a situation and an attitude—I read an article about Degas' famous ballerina paintings and sculpture, that gave context to the lives of ballerinas. I decided that "Peaseblossom" must have been a dancer, but was in danger of being taken advantage of by a patron until Glenn rescued him from that whole life. This doesn't mean that "Peaseblossom" is loyal to Glenn, but I think "Peaseblossom" in this story is dreamy, idealistic, taken in by image, and easily led…not a rebel with convictions, and I doubt I will make "Peaseblossom" into one.

I don't know what I would have done with this character if I hadn't read that article about the Degas paintings and accidentally gotten a backstory from that.

Shitpost, but:
‘How much can I make them suffer?’ 😂

I WAS LITERALLY ABOUT TO COMMENT THAT.
I basically pick something horrible to happen just based on how I'm feeling and write from there as to how they overcome their past and become themselves.

I WAS LITERALLY ABOUT TO COMMENT THAT.
I basically pick something horrible to happen just based on how I'm feeling and write from there as to how they overcome their past and become themselves.

LOL
Yeah I mean my characters, imo of course 👀, have good backstories. But basically it’s ‘I almost died and here’s how:’ or ‘I’m freaking sad, wanna know Why?’ OR ‘I HAVE ONE OR NO PARENTS :DD’ (but I have 0 living bio parents so uh- that might be me being sad lol-)

I kinda try to tie it to there them
For example, A person with an apathy theme would have a backstory involving be tore down so much they stop caring

It helps me to figure out their personality first, or even get ideas for their personality through looking up names that mean certain things. I like to put a lot of symbolism in my writing; every little detail is there for a reason even if it doesn't directly relate to the story itself. I personally love finding those Easter eggs in books, so I put it into my own writing as a result. Through doing this, it actually gets me in the mindset of 'how did they get this way' and other questions that lead to a background.