Throwback Thursday: "How To Bring Characters To Life" Part 1: Backstory

How do you describe yourself? What makes you who you are? How did you become the person you are today?

The foremost component of your unique self is your backstory—and, in the world of writing, it’s one of the three key parts that make characters relatable, unique, and full of life, with their own voices and vivid visualizations to go along with the mention of their name. Establishing a character’s backstory can have a huge impact on how they respond in a given situation, and how realistic they are to your readers.

There are two pitfalls that writers tend to fall in when dealing with a character’s backstory: a book can have Too Much Backstory (also known as “info-dumping”) or Too Little Backstory (which can lead to the deadly cycle of “retrograde continuity”).

Too Much Backstory is usually marked by long passages where nothing actually happens among the characters, but the narrator somehow finds the time to explain how the economic history of the region enabled the villain to acquire the means necessary to set up the perfect trap in which to ensnare the hero—who, by the way, has probably choked to death in the time it took you to read the six pages of information that you will not be tested on later and you will probably forget as soon as the hero escapes. This is an “info-dump” and if too many things in your story require too much lengthy explanation, you might want to simplify your ideas a bit! I get it, I really do. That moment when you figure out the character’s life and why they are the way they are, and you just want to put in all these funny little ideas and scenes and there’s in-jokes and surprising factoids—it’s a massive temptation to just take every single opportunity to stick things in there. The reality is, this is kind of like the person who goes around telling jokes and then explaining the punch-line immediately afterward. It gets old after a while, and it’s definitely not as funny or engaging to have all the nitty-gritty details extrapolated to you when all you wanted to do is read a story.

Now, that is not to say that you should eradicate all explanations from your story, either losing your readers in a conversation they can’t even begin to understand, or finding yourself forced to “go back” in the timeline to insert little extra bits that weren’t there before, in order to justify the existence of whatever plot point you’re trying to put into the story just now. This is a sure sign of Too Little Information, the pitfall of not doing enough pre-planning for your character, also known as “retrograde continuity.” 

Everything can have a purpose, sure—but make sure you have a clear idea of the purpose before you just throw your characters into the path of some heinous bogeyman because his great-aunt had a bone to pick with his mother when she decided she was going to run off with the milkman, and he ended up being connected to the evil sorceress who conjured the bogeyman for the great-aunt, and oh by the way he has an enchanted sword so yay hero! Not enough planning can result in the writer having to make up details and explanations on the fly, and it’s rarely pretty and most often it doesn’t make sense—so if you find yourself being forced to make something believable, it probably didn’t belong there in the first place. Getting creative and detailed about your world and its history is great and wonderful—but also realize that most of what you come up with when inventing characters and building worlds is “bonus material”—think of it as more of a field guide for you, the writer to reference as you’re developing the story, not necessarily needed in the plot.

Now—how do you know which details to keep, which are the important ones that belong in the story? As far as I can figure, a character’s backstory can be broken down into four key components, and they all happen to start with “F” because I like to alliterate whenever I get the chance! The Four F’s of Backstory are: Family, Friends, Fundamentals, and Flaws. Figure out how each area connects your character with the story, and your reader will then in turn be able to connect with the character.

What do I mean by these terms? What do they entail?

Family 

Figuring out your character’s family scenario—ancestors, home life, heritage, etc.—is important because a character’s family will affect his view of himself, and it is among his family that a person is most vulnerable. The size of one’s family, the solidarity, the dynamics—they will all serve to fashion your character in specific ways. A character with siblings will grow up differently than one raised by only his parents. Someone with supportive, patient parents will naturally mature differently than one with abusive, angry parents. A family doesn’t have to be dirt-poor or excessively posh; an average family has both enough money to get by and the struggles of trying to save, trying to remain stable. As you make choices on what your character’s family looks and behaves like, you will find that it does have quite a dramatic effect on how your character responds to situations outside of his home. The thing to remember is that a person can reasonably control his reputation among friends and strangers, but in his home, whether it’s family or longtime roommates, this is where he is closer to his true self.

Friends

Who are the characters who join up with your hero as he progresses through his journey? Who are the friends he already has before the story begins? 

A good hero is still boring as heck when he’s by himself—and a stalwart friend can redeem the most insufferable hero. A person chooses his friends based on what most energizes or refreshes him; a woman with deep-seated anxiety might have that one “brutally honest” friend, because she can trust that friend to be real and say what she means. A person might also change his habits in order to fit in with the group of people whose attention he seeks; you might portray your character as behaving a certain way, but later on, it might fit better for the character to change their behavior—why? Is it because they are no longer under the peer pressure? (This plays into Part 3 of this series, so I won’t pursue it any further just now) 

As you’re populating your story with certain friends, be aware that a person’s friends affect and sometimes reveal how that person views the world around them, and the nature of relationships. Your character will have friends that push him toward the sort of person he needs to be, whether actively or passively, with negative or positive stimuli. Deciding the variety and number your character needs will help provide extra vehicles for character development or exposition (since it’s not just the main character interacting with circumstances in the plot, but his friends as well, each with their own perspective) and help give your setting a real sense of being full of life, instead of devoid of activity beyond that of your narrow cast of characters.

Fundamentals 

Now we get into the nitty-gritty stuff! As far as the context of this article is concerned, by “fundamentals” I mean the basic beliefs that fuel the character’s emotional balance and logical processes. You don’t necessarily need to get overly religious or philosophical, but just think about your character in terms of a guiding principle, and you’ll be able to set up conversations and scenarios that play into that guiding principle. Securely realizing your character’s fundamental beliefs and theories will have an effect on how the character views the world around him, and how he interprets his purpose as he moves through the plot of the story. Conversely, if you have a story you’ve already written and you’re trying to use some of these ideas to “beef up” the character, look at what you wrote for your character’s observations of the world, the beliefs he holds about his function and the parameters—this will give you your character’s fundamentals. If you can’t find it, and you have been wondering why your character seems as dull as a mannequin… this is probably why: your character needs fundamentals. Once you have them, even the character’s personality will begin to take shape, and you’ll be able to recognize how the character will react in a whole host of different situations.

Flaws 

This is the last area, and by no means the least important. By “flaws” I don’t mean “she’s ugly” or “he’s got skinny arms/glasses” or making your character slovenly, undesirable, or handicapped in some cliché* way just for the sake of “giving them a flaw.” But also don’t err on the side of giving them no flaws at all. 

Everybody’s just a little bit quirky; it could be the way he has to constantly brush his hair out of his eyes, or the way she has to check her phone every fourteen seconds; flaws can also be positive things, harmless things, like the way she likes to group things by color, or the way he can’t stop making nerdy pop culture references. A good flaw will present an extra level of challenge that the hero needs to overcome as the novel progresses, and the closer the character gets to the final goal of the story, the more he will be challenged, and either bolstered or hindered by that Flaw. If your character is not at all flawed, or if they are “too” flawed, tone it down by choosing one or two that play into the nexus of your story, whether you have it all planned out already and just need a good quirk that will play into the sort of person your character will become at the end; or perhaps you have no idea where this story is going, but maybe choosing the right flaw will give your character more of a sense of heading toward something, so that the story does not stagnate before anything really happens.

*NOTE: I understand the school of thought that says that “most physical or mental flaws don’t have a purpose in real life” which often feels all too true—but what I’m talking about is the kind of handicap or flaw that seems just thrust into the story by a writer who didn’t bother to research for accuracy or valid consideration. There is a difference, and very often the author doesn’t notice it, but the readers definitely will, so just make sure you’re not following any tropes and you do have a non-cliché reason for choosing the particular flaw—Do your research!

Once you’ve decided on your characters Family, Friends, Fundamentals, and Flaws, it’s time to decide how you’re going to incorporate it into the story, how to package it to present to the reader.

Information in a story is doled out in two primary ways: narrative backstory and expositional dialogue.

In Narrative Backstory, the narrator (a character or a third party) has some things to explain, typically a finished event from the past, and there isn’t a lot of dialogue from the characters. The thing about using the narrative method is it essentially puts the plot on hold while it sets the scene. Narrative Backstory works well in the beginning, but the further along you get into the plot, just ask yourself: If this was a phone call, how long would you want to be on hold? As short a time as possible, right? The same goes for reading; if you must use Narrative Backstory, keep it as brief as possible, and use it sparingly.

If the flow of the story won’t allow for any more narrative backstory, but you still have information you need to impart to your readers, then perhaps you could consider expositional dialogue. In real life, you and I don’t have the luxury of third-person narrators explaining the ins and outs of everyday life, so the way we can find out about events and thoughts of different people is through conversation. Now, I’ll be talking more about dialogue in another post, so I won’t go too in-depth here, but strictly as it relates to backstory, the expositional dialogue can either be the character delivering his story in monologue, or when something important happens in the plot that requires a conversation which in turn brings out the details of the character’s backstory. Expositional Dialogue will necessarily have more of an emotional effect than Narrative Backstory, so if you really want your readers to connect to a specific piece of your character’s backstory on an emotional level, use expositional dialogue to really bring on “the feels”!

A Few Final Reminders

-The past should lay the foundation for the way your character will behave and interact with the world and the plot—don’t make it too complicated!

-All of the past is relevant to the character; not all of the past needs to be exposed to the reader.

-The past is a fixed point in time. No fair backtracking and loading up the backstory with new ideas; “ret-conning” should be left to the professionals.

-Very often, it’s the characters who make or break the story; get the character right, and everything else—plot, pacing, dialogue, climax, conflict—will fall into place.

And finally, I’m going to leave you all with a quote that has had a profound impact on my writing. It comes from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and it is thus: “Good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones [ravage] her and leave her for the flies.” It’s some powerful imagery for a great point: Be a good writer. Touch life often. The reason so many stories fall apart is that the author gets too caught up in either “playing god” and trying to force an agenda on the story; just as terrible is when an author tries to take a “laissez-faire” approach, and “let the characters control the story”, without taking personal responsibility for it, so the story just wanders and falls into complications for seemingly no reason—the very essence of a “quick hand.” (I had a lot to say about this type of writer in another blog post entitled “How to Book, Part 2”)

Conversely, the stories that stick with the reader the most, the ones that have the greatest impact, are the ones that contain those “touches of life,” where the author has taken care to involve real-world aspects to their characters and their plot, giving the imagination something concrete from which to grow the abstract concept. Do this, and you’ll be giving yourself the best chance to create literature that lasts a lifetime.

COMING UP NEXT: 

“How To Bring Characters To Life, Part 2: Dialogue”