How to Write a Character Backstory in 7 Simple Steps

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Do you want to create rich, believable characters for your novel, short story, or screenplay?

One of the best ways to do this is by developing interesting backstories for your characters!

When I wrote Iron Dogs, one of my main goals was to write each chapter from a different main character’s perspective. In order to pull that off, I had to really know these characters inside and out. Creating a dynamic and unique backstory for each one was the only way to go.

And boy, am I glad I did! Not only does each character feel like a real person, with a rich history full of regrets, hopes, and dreams that drive their decisions and actions throughout the narrative, but the exercise helped me to find each character’s distinct voice – and make the story even stronger.

In this guide, we will discuss how to create character backstories that will make your characters more relatable. We’ll cover everything from plot devices to motivation.

Keep reading to learn more about character backstories in writing!

Here are my best tips for coming up with interesting backstories for your characters in a novel, short story, or screenplay:

How to Build A Character Backstory

Here are my best tips for coming up with interesting backstories for your characters in a novel, short story, or screenplay:

1. Build the Foundation

Go beyond basic details like name and profession by considering how these aspects influence your character’s worldview and daily life.

For instance, someone growing up in a bustling city might have different experiences and skills compared to someone from a rural area. Questions to consider include:

2. Core Values, Goals, and Motivations

Next, identify your character’s core values, goals, and motivations. What is most important to them? What experiences have they had that have shaped who they are? What are they striving for?

When you know what drives your character, you can start to develop the events of their backstory that led them to where they are today. Think about:

3. Personal Connections

Consider your character’s connections. Who do they know and care about? What sort of relationships do they have? Friends? Family? These relationships can provide both plot hooks for your storyteller as well as help round out your character’s personality.

4. Include Conflict

Make sure your backstory is grounded in conflict. Conflict is the engine that propels the main story forward, and the same is true for backstories. Without conflict, a backstory will likely be pretty boring!

So ask yourself: what challenges has your character faced? How have they overcome adversity? How have they succeeded and how have they failed? You can use some of these events during the rising action section of your story.

5. Be Detailed

Use specific details to bring your character’s backstory to life. Vivid descriptions will help readers visualize the key events of your character’s childhood and general past, making their backstory feel real and tangible.

6. Keep Track of the Timeline

As you create your character’s backstory, you may want to try writing a timeline for their life – this can help you keep all of the details straight!

7. Use Backstory to Drive the Plot

A character’s backstory can be a powerful tool to propel your story forward. When you add elements of a character’s past into your plot, you can create tension, motivation, and emotional depth.

Here are some examples of how backstory can drive the plot:

• A traumatic past event: Perhaps your character narrowly survived a house fire as a child. Now, as an adult, they’re forced to confront their fear of flames to save someone else. Their backstory not only provides motivation but creates a high-stakes emotional arc.
• A thirst for revenge: Maybe your character’s loved one was betrayed by a close ally. This betrayal fuels their relentless quest for vengeance, creating natural conflict and pushing the story toward an inevitable showdown.
• A dark secret: Your protagonist could be hiding something devastating, like a crime they committed years ago. When someone threatens to expose the truth, the tension skyrockets.
• A personal tragedy: Imagine a hero who lost their family in a war. Their grief becomes the foundation of their mission to prevent another conflict, pushing them into dangerous but necessary choices.
• Positive experiences: Backstory doesn’t always have to be dark. A protagonist who grew up inspired by a kind mentor might now channel those teachings to rally others and achieve moments of hope and victory, even in the darkest times.

What Is a Backstory?

A backstory is the history of a character, providing information about the character’s life – who they are and why they behave the way they do.

Although backstory is not essential for every character, it can be incredibly helpful in creating well-rounded, believable characters with depth and complexity. Backstory can help to explain a character’s motivations, fears, and flaws and can provide insight into their actions and decisions.

A well-developed backstory can make a character feel more real to readers or viewers and can help them connect with the character on a deeper level. For these reasons, it is often worth taking the time to create a backstory for your main characters.

However, it is important to strike a balance – too much backstory can bog down the story, while too little can leave readers feeling frustrated or confused.

Benefits of Writing Backstories

One of the benefits of writing good backstories is that it can help you to get to know your characters better!

By fleshing out their history and motivations, you can develop a deeper understanding of who they are and what drives them. This will make it much easier for you to write the rest of your story in a natural way!

Additionally, having a well-rounded backstory can make your characters, especially protagonists and antagonists, more believable and three-dimensional. It can also give you a richer source of material to draw from when creating scenes and dialogue.

So, take the time to use the tips below to come up with a detailed backstory for as many characters as you can. It will really help when it comes to writing each of your scenes.

The Importance of Consistency

When you are creating many characters for a story, make sure to be consistent in their backstories! Giving each character a unique and well-defined backstory helps to make them feel like real people and makes it easier for readers to connect with them.

Consistency also helps to create a sense of cohesion between the characters and makes the story as a whole feel more believable. More importantly, you’ll be consistent in how you present your characters throughout your story.

Of course, consistency doesn’t mean that every character has to have the same exact backstory – that would be boring! But it does mean making sure that their backstories fit together logically and that they all follow the same rules.

How to Avoid Clichés With Backstories

When writing a character backstory, avoid clichés like the plague! That doesn’t mean your characters can’t be orphaned prodigies with tragic pasts who must overcome great odds to save the day.

But, you should find unique ways to tell those past events. Here are some tips:

• Give your characters flaws that make them relatable and interesting. No one wants to read about a perfect Mary Sue who always knows what to do and never makes mistakes.

• Avoid overly familiar tropes. For example, if you’re writing about a young woman who’s just been orphaned, don’t have her immediately be taken in by a kindly old couple who just happen to live next door. Instead, think about what would really happen in that situation and use that as the basis for your character’s backstory.

• Make sure your backstory enhances your story rather than bogging it down. A lengthy backstory that doesn’t add anything to the plot is just filler and will only serve to irritate readers.

• Avoid using the cliché of the “mysterious past.” This is where a character has a dark and shrouded history that they’re not entirely forthcoming about. While this can create an air of mystery around a character, it can also make them feel untrustworthy and make it difficult for readers to connect with them. This is one of my pet peeves and something that I see way too often in the work of beginning writers! Don’t do it!

If you are feeling stuck when creating a backstory for your character, try using an AI story generator to help you out with new and inventive character ideas!

If you keep these things in mind, you’ll be well on your way to avoiding clichés when writing a character backstory!

Examples of Character Backstories

A well-written character background can make a character come alive on the page, giving them depth and history that readers can connect with. There are many ways to write a successful character backstory, but here are a few examples of well-written backstories that bring characters to life:

In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, readers are given a detailed account of Harry’s early life, including his parents’ tragic deaths and his time living with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.

This information helps readers to understand Harry’s motivations and experiences throughout the series, making him a more relatable and sympathetic character.

In Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, readers are given glimpses of Katniss’ childhood through flashbacks scattered throughout the novel.

These flashbacks give context to Katniss’ actions and decisions later in the main story, humanizing her and making her an even more sympathetic protagonist.

What these examples have in common is that they provide key information about the characters that helps readers to understand them better. A well-thought-out backstory can make all the difference when you’re writing a relatable and flawed character.

Conclusion

Backstories are an important part of character development, but they can also be a lot of fun to write. They add another layer of complexity to your characters, and they can help you get into your characters’ heads in a way that writing the main story plot cannot always do.

When creating backstories for your characters, make sure that they are well-integrated with the story and consistent with the character’s personality and point of view. And most importantly, have fun with your character creation! Happy writing!

Enjoyed this article? Check out these other fiction-writing tutorials:

World Building for Fiction Authors: How to Create a Believable World

What Is the Climax of a Story?

What is Falling Action in a Story? [Definition and Examples]

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