The backstory of a character essentially outlines who the character was before the story has even begun. The idea of a backstory is important to character development and character complexity, as well as serving as a stepping stone for the character’s arc. The backstory is more than just the origins of a character and serves as a point of definition for the character throughout your plot. Whatever type of story you happen to be writing, it’s important to have character backstories so that you as the writer can understand, so here’s how you can create an engaging backstory for your character.
Why Include a Backstory?
A character backstory is something that I would argue is very important to understand before you actually start writing your novel. Firstly, the backstory is something that actually provides a sort of contextual proof as to why a character acts in a certain way. For instance, a character that presents as the sadist villain archetype might have been abused as a child and taught certain things from a young age, thus leading to their development as a sadistic villain.
Additionally, the idea of a backstory is that it adds depth and context to a character and helps make them more interesting for readers to engage with on a page. You have the ability to branch off from a backstory with subplots and a compelling character arc as well.
The backstory also makes the character more relatable or understandable, as you are giving readers a chance to see how and why a character acts in that particular fashion.
Finally, a backstory that has had time and effort crafted into it makes for a great tool to push a conflict forward in a story and give more interesting elements to the main narrative.
A backstory is something that I would argue will take the most amount of time to figure out when you are coming up with the design for a memorable character in your story. Besides the ideas of personality and physical descriptors, understanding who your character was before the story even began is vital to helping you actually write the story itself.
How to Create an Engaging Character Backstory
The Origins
The first part of designing the character’s backstory is to come up with the origin point of that character. Firstly, you want to think about where this character is from and what ethnic background they belong to. Depending on if you’re writing a story set in the real world or in a fantasy world, this is entirely up to you and depends on what you’re going for in the story.
For instance, we have Blide Stevens from Malware, Book 1 of my series. He was born in Montreal, Quebec. That’s at least what he has conveyed to the reader. So, from this, we know that Blide is Quebecois.
Next, we want to figure out what era our character is from. If your story is set in the real world, you maybe want to think about what generation the character belongs to and how this impacts the story you’re writing. In my case, Blide was born in the late 90s, placing him at the beginning of Gen Z, and thus in the generation where technology became more accessible on a grand scale.
From there, you now want to think about the city the character was born in and what sector of the city they belong to. By this, I mean what sort of wealth did this character encounter in their childhood? For example, Blide’s family was relatively well-off and it allowed him to grow up in Montreal and go to a good school.
The Family and the Childhood
Another major part of the character’s backstory is the character’s family and how their childhood was like. You want to think about the parents of the character and if those parents had a strong influence or not on the character. For most people, the parents are the first line of influence on life and that’s true for your characters as well. How was the character shaped by their parents? Were the parents there or neglectful? Were they abusive or kind? Did they instill any values that the character carries with them?
Next, you need to also think about the idea of childhood experiences. What sort of events occurred in the life of the character that have influenced their present and future actions? This could include trauma, achievements, core memories, etc…
You also want to think about what sort of relationship the character has with others around them. For instance, did they have a good relationship with their siblings? Did having/not having siblings impact them as a person? Think about these things when designing the character backstory.
Decide the Key Events
Characters tend to have had significant life events that existed prior to the beginning of the story. This could be things like traumas and challenges that impact their view of the world and how they interact with others. It could also be things like milestones like a first job or a major achievement that they have been working hard for their entire lives. The key events can act as turning points for the character as well and cause them to interact with the world differently than they may have before.
Relationships with Others
A character’s life is defined by relationships and those relationships often extend beyond the family home. Your character may have had friends or formed enemies before the story began. They may have also had romantic relationships or flings and may have been involved in a marriage before. Additionally, your character may have had a mentor or role models that shaped their behaviors and taught them lessons.
If your character did not interact with anyone but their family, that’s important to make clear because they will be obviously lacking in some social skills if that were the case and that may impact how they interact with others throughout your story.
Skills and Abilities
You want to think next about what sort of skills and abilities your characters have. If the character is an adult, they have likely had some sort of education or training that has shaped their skillset. Maybe your character is a blacksmith or a knight and has been training in such work since childhood. Maybe your character is a professor at a university and so he has a PhD in some sort of degree.
You also want to think about the hobbies and interests of your character because those can translate to skills and abilities. If your character enjoys painting, then they probably have some sort of skills and ability in art.
Beliefs, Values, Principles
Any character has a set of core beliefs, ideals, values, principles, morals, ethics, etc… that define them as a person. Beyond just their traits and behaviors, what they believe internally affects the way they react and interact externally. Firstly, if your character comes from a certain religious background or a specific cultural background, then these things will influence the way they perceive the world around them and the way they act.
Morals and ethics are also a big deal when it comes to how a character acts and what a character lives by. Perhaps they have a very specific ideal when it comes to ethical principles or their morals are gray.
Finally, you want to think about their view of the world around them. A character who tends to be pessimistic will likely have a very negative view of the world around them while a character who is more optimistic will see things in a positive light.
Integrate the Backstory with the Plot
The last thing I want to note is the fact that you need to ensure that your character’s backstory is actually integrated into the main narrative and plot of your story. You want to throw details into the plot that show the character as a person and you want to make sure that the backstory elements themselves are actually relevant to the plot and the development of the story. You can reveal the backstory through introspection, flashbacks, dialogue, or some other creative way.
Integrating the backstory with the plot of your story allows for you to ensure that your main character is written consistently in the narrative and that you understand them as a person because of what they went through when they were younger or at least what they dealt with before the story begins.
Example of a Character Backstory
I’ll show you the process above applied to a character from my series. Book 2, Soldat, introduces a new character named Joel Vandernord, so here’s his backstory that is spoiler-free.
Character: Joel Vandernord
Origins: Joel was born in California, around San Francisco
Family and Upbringing: Joel grew up with a mother and father and was an only child
Key Life Events: When Joel was ten, his birthday party was attacked by a gunman who murdered his father, mother, and maternal grandparents. After this, he was placed in foster care.
Relationships: Joel had a fiancée and a daughter–Ashely and Andrea, respectively–but the relationship fell apart when he became a drug addict and alcoholic
Skills and Abilities: As a former mercenary in Blackridge and a former member of the U.S. Army, Joel has a lot of military-oriented skills and marksmanship skills
Beliefs and Values: Joel struggles strongly with trauma from his past and has a negative view of the world. However, he believes in continuing to fight and to try harder and harder to survive.
Integration: Joel’s backstory and his life before Soldat begins influences nearly every decision he makes as well as how he acts in a situation of war and the difficult things he’s been placed in. Although he often has glimpses of wanting to give up, he pushes himself harder because his training at Blackridge conditioned him to continue trying no matter what.
Conclusion
A character backstory is a very important part of how a character acts in the narrative of your story. A character’s backstory influences a significant portion of their behaviors and how they think, act, and feel. Furthermore, a character’s backstory is important for you as an author because you should feel like you actually know this character in real life and that they are a genuine person. This will allow you to actually write a great character because you understand them as more than just a name on your document.
Before you head on out, be sure to check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter so that you can get updates on my latest books, WIPs, posts and more!