[…] you focus on the single most interesting physical attribute of your character, you can form a memorable character – and you’ll be able to avoid the “physical description laundry […]
It took me seventeen rewrites (and one editor) before this dawned on me:
The MAIN reason my readers didn't care about my story - was because my main character had a weak backstory.
Now, I could tell you everything about him...
But without a backstory, this character was dragging down the entire story. Let me show you how to fix this problem:
Darth Vader and Harry Potter.
What do they have in common? Excellent backstories.
Harry Potter’s backstory is the driving force behind most of his actions. Without Voldemort, Harry Potter is nothing more than “just another wizard whose life is perfectly normal.”
On the other side of the Force…
Darth Vader’s backstory evolves him from a stereotypical “Shadow/Dark Lord” archetype… into a much more complicated, compelling character.
A powerful backstory is critical for two reasons:
Many writers (myself included) suffer from “Born on Page One” Syndrome.
That is - when you write a character who feels like they did not exist before page one.
Characters with backstory feel like real people who existed before the story. They had rich, full lives - or maybe desperate, empty ones.
They have loved, lost, lusted, needed, found, gained, and lost again... many times over.
With a backstory, you can turn any two-dimensional cutout into a full, well-rounded, memorable person your readers will empathize with.
Speaking of empathy...
Backstory is a tool to control the reader’s perception of your characters.
For example: if you want to create empathy for your Hero, you can use backstory to show how they once struggled and lost their only son, despite fighting tooth and claw for to save his life.
Or, if you want to make your readers hate a character: do the opposite.
Take Joffrey Baratheon, from A Song of Ice and Fire. We hate him for many reasons, but we are completely robbed of empathy for him because:
So, how do you write the perfect backstory for your character and your story?
Hey! I made this free template for you to use in the next section. Just right click and save to download it:
This template includes 14 critical questions and plenty of space for you to craft your own character backstory. Enjoy!
“How much backstory should I write? Are we talking … from birth up until the story starts?”
You don’t need a 3,000-page biography of your character. Instead, before you write your backstory, ask yourself these three questions:
A defining moment is a unique, emotional event that made a huge impact on your character. It probably made them who they are.
The first ten minutes of any Spiderman movie is usually all about his defining moments:
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
Your character’s defining events don’t have to be so obvious. You don’t even have to explicitly show a defining moment in your story (we’ll get to that in Question #3).
For now, I suggest looking back at your main character.
Depending on the length of your story, your character may have one (short story), or a string of defining moments (novel) that made them who they are.
Generally speaking, you don’t want to introduce backstory unless it does one of these things:
In Episodes 4, 5, and 6, we don’t need to know that Darth Vader harbors a secret, undying hate for Gonk droids.
Why? Because it’s irrelevant (and also I made it up).
This backstory detail would distract us from Vader’s main motives - to get the Death Star plans, to convert his Son to the Darkside, and to further solidify his control over the galaxy.
So, when you are writing your character’s backstory, try to think what you want your story to be about.
Your goal here is to look for black chunks of coal that you can use later to fuel conflict in your story.
Keyword: later. This is the final secret to great backstory...
Recently I’ve been reading (and writing about) one of my new favorite authors, Ernest Hemingway.
Actually, I just wrote a post on Hemingway a few weeks ago, if you’re interested in how to steal Hemingway's 7 dialogue tricks.
He has a “Theory of Omission.” It’s also called the Iceberg Theory.
It works like this:
Only reveal the tip of the iceberg. Your readers will only see what is above water. The knowledge that you have about your character should act as the bulk of the iceberg, unseen and hidden below the water.
By showing only the important elements, by showing just the tip of the Iceberg, you accomplish two things:
Let your readers to wonder. Let them create their own stories about your character.
How many times have you wondered (before the prequels stole his mystique): what are some dark, evil moments in Darth Vader’s past that we never hear about? Why do all the other commanders seem to fear him, yet show such disdain for his “religion?”
By sharing just the tip of the Iceberg, you get to highlight what makes your character truly interesting and unique… without diluting the character with too many details.
Most professional writers create immense amounts of backstory for their characters (even if they never write it out). But they also know to hold most of it back.
In all writing, immersion is key.
With these backstory tips, you will be able to create more empathetic characters that feel real and alive.
You will be able to pull more readers into your stories, and - with the Iceberg Theory - you will keep them immersed without giving too much away.
Start crafting unforgettable characters today:
Fantastic Characters and How to Write Them
Now available as an ebook, paperback, and workbook!
[…] you focus on the single most interesting physical attribute of your character, you can form a memorable character – and you’ll be able to avoid the “physical description laundry […]
[…] with it’s vast amount of character backstories and relationships, we have known since the start that there is an inevitable convergence […]
[…] What was their defining moment? […]
[…] the easiest, fastest way to make us feel for a character. A sympathetic backstory, when revealed in an interesting way, does two […]
Great use of Joffrey to illustrate backstory. Thank you for mentioning our article on backstory too, P.S. Will share.