#145. How To Develop Your Character's Backstory
Digest
This episode of the Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast delves into the crucial aspect of character backstory, emphasizing its influence on plot events, character motivations, and thematic subtext. The episode highlights three essential ingredients for developing a compelling backstory: a wound, an inner obstacle, and the character's current behavior and motivations. A wound refers to a traumatic event in the character's past that caused psychological or emotional pain, leading to a specific fear. The inner obstacle is a false belief or outdated worldview that the character adopts to rationalize the painful experience, often resulting in disempowering beliefs. The character's current behavior and motivations are shaped by these two elements, influencing their actions and choices in the present day. The episode provides a case study of Simon Bassett from the first Bridgerton book, illustrating how these three ingredients can be applied to develop a character's backstory. The episode also recommends writing a scene of the traumatic event that created the wound as a way to gain deeper insight into the character's past. The episode concludes with a recap of the key points, emphasizing the importance of understanding a character's backstory to create stronger, more three-dimensional characters.
Outlines
Introduction
This Chapter introduces the topic of developing character backstory and its importance in creating authentic and believable characters. It also mentions a previous episode on handling character backstory in a novel.
Three Key Ingredients of Character Backstory
This Chapter outlines the three key ingredients for developing a character's backstory: a wound, an inner obstacle, and the character's current behavior and motivations. It explains each ingredient in detail, providing examples and resources for further exploration.
Case Study: Simon Bassett from Bridgerton
This Chapter uses Simon Bassett from the first Bridgerton book as a case study to demonstrate how the three key ingredients can be applied to develop a character's backstory. It analyzes Simon's traumatic event, his inner obstacle, and how these elements influence his present-day actions and behaviors.
Recap and Conclusion
This Chapter summarizes the key points discussed in the episode, emphasizing the importance of understanding a character's backstory and the three key ingredients for developing it. It also recommends writing a scene of the traumatic event as an exercise to gain deeper insight into the character's past.
Keywords
Character Backstory
Character backstory refers to the events, experiences, and relationships that have shaped a character's life before the story begins. It provides context and depth to a character, influencing their motivations, actions, and overall development throughout the narrative.
Wound
A wound in character backstory is a traumatic event that has caused psychological or emotional pain, leading to a specific fear. It can be a betrayal, a loss, a hardship, or any event that has left a lasting impact on the character's psyche.
Inner Obstacle
An inner obstacle is a false belief or outdated worldview that a character adopts to rationalize a painful experience. It often stems from the wound and can manifest as disempowering beliefs about oneself or the world, hindering the character's growth and progress.
Current Behavior and Motivations
A character's current behavior and motivations are shaped by their wound and inner obstacle. These elements influence how they interact with others, make choices, and pursue their goals in the present day. Understanding these aspects helps create a more realistic and relatable character.
Simon Bassett
Simon Bassett is the male protagonist of the first Bridgerton book, "The Duke and I." He is a complex character with a troubled past, shaped by his mother's death in childbirth and his father's rejection. His backstory plays a significant role in his romantic relationship with Daphne Bridgerton and his overall character arc.
Bridgerton
Bridgerton is a popular series of romance novels by Julia Quinn, set in Regency-era England. The series follows the lives of the eight Bridgerton siblings as they navigate love, marriage, and societal expectations. The books have been adapted into a successful Netflix series.
Emotional Wound
An emotional wound is a deep-seated psychological or emotional injury that can result from a traumatic event. It can manifest as fear, anxiety, depression, or other emotional difficulties. In character development, understanding the emotional wound can help create more realistic and relatable characters.
False Belief
A false belief is an inaccurate or irrational belief that a person holds despite evidence to the contrary. In character development, false beliefs can serve as inner obstacles, hindering the character's growth and progress. Overcoming these false beliefs is often a key element of the character's arc.
Thematic Subtext
Thematic subtext refers to the underlying themes and messages that are conveyed through the story's plot, characters, and events. Character backstory can play a significant role in shaping the thematic subtext, providing deeper meaning and resonance to the narrative.
Q&A
What are the three key ingredients for developing a character's backstory?
The three key ingredients are a wound, an inner obstacle, and the character's current behavior and motivations.
What is a wound in character backstory?
A wound is a traumatic event that has caused psychological or emotional pain, leading to a specific fear. It can be a betrayal, a loss, a hardship, or any event that has left a lasting impact on the character's psyche.
What is an inner obstacle in character backstory?
An inner obstacle is a false belief or outdated worldview that a character adopts to rationalize a painful experience. It often stems from the wound and can manifest as disempowering beliefs about oneself or the world, hindering the character's growth and progress.
How do a character's current behavior and motivations relate to their backstory?
A character's current behavior and motivations are shaped by their wound and inner obstacle. These elements influence how they interact with others, make choices, and pursue their goals in the present day.
What is the recommended exercise for developing a character's backstory?
The recommended exercise is to write a scene of the traumatic event that created the wound. This helps gain deeper insight into the character's past and understand how it shapes their present.
How can understanding a character's backstory help with writing a novel?
Understanding a character's backstory provides context and depth, influencing their motivations, actions, and overall development throughout the narrative. It also helps create more realistic and relatable characters and can contribute to the thematic subtext of the story.
Show Notes
Crafting compelling backstories for your fictional characters is critical to developing a cohesive story, but it’s sometimes easier said than done.
There are endless options when it comes to which details you can include in your character’s backstory, and what you do include will influence everything that happens in your story—from the plot events to your character’s motivations to your own ability to manage the thematic subtext of your story on a scene-by-scene-basis.
In this episode, I’m going to walk you through how to develop your character’s backstory in three steps, including things like:
- [04:12 ] How to uncover your character’s wounding event that gives rise to a specific fear (or inner obstacle) that haunts them in the present-day
- [06:57 ] A framework to help you crystalize your character’s inner obstacle—and why doing this work helps you establish where their character arc starts
- [09:31 ] How your character’s backstory can help inform your plot (and help you create meaningful conflict to help them grow and change)
- [12:55 ] An exploration of Simon Basset’s backstory and character arc (from the first Bridgerton book, The Duke & I)
- [17:42 ] Episode recap and final thoughts
Developing your character’s backstory before you start writing can help you develop your theme, craft your plot, build your story world, and so much more. That being said, there’s no “right” or “wrong” time to flesh out your character’s backstory. Do whatever works best for you and your process!
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🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:
- Ep. 14 - How to Handle Character Backstory in Your Novel
- The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Psychological Trauma by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
👉 Looking for a transcript? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, scroll down below the episode player until you see the transcript.
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