What moments from your character’s past shaped who they are today? That’s their backstory. It explains their present traits, motivation, and behavior.
I created this backstory builder based on the Character Builder, Positive Trait Thesaurus, and Negative Trait Thesaurus from One Stop For Writers. You can also use it to develop your character’s interests, hobbies, and quirks.
5 Steps to Build Your Character’s Backstory
1. List your character’s core traits.
These can be personality traits, physical characteristics, or ways your character identifies. List about 5-10.
Don’t forget flaws! Every character should have them. How many they have depends on their role in the story.
Hero
Typically, a hero has more positive traits than flaws. If you list five traits, one or two should be flaws. Will your hero have a character arc? Then include the fatal flaw they’re going to overcome.
If you list 8-10 traits, about three or four should be flaws. Again, don’t forget your character’s fatal flaw.
Villain
Villains normally have more flaws than positive traits, so if you list five traits, make sure at least one is a positive trait. It doesn’t have to be something redeeming; it just needs to be objectively good. My favorite villains are cold-hearted and sadistic, yet polite.
If you list 8-10 traits, about three of them should be positive traits.
2. For each core trait, answer the questions below.
If you need ideas, look the trait up in the Positive or Negative Trait thesauruses, or browse the Emotional Wound Thesaurus.
Who did your character get this trait from?
Did your character develop this trait through interacting with someone? Did someone give it to them by birth or through magic? Write who it was. Their parents? A sibling? A friend? An enemy? A significant other? A teacher or mentor?
What caused them to develop this trait?
What conditions or experiences triggered or created this trait? Genetics? Upbringing? Training? A death in the family?
Where did they develop this trait?
At home? At school? At a church? In a cemetery? On the battlefield? In another country?
When did they develop this trait?
This could be a period in their life (childhood, teenage years, etc.), or it could be a specific moment or day (May 9, Christmas, their first date, their birthday, the Day of Black Sun, etc.).
Why do they still have this trait?
Why is your character still like this? How have their actions, beliefs, and/or circumstances reinforced this trait? This question forces you to connect their past to their present.
How do they act because of this trait?
What does your character say or do because they have this trait?
3. Use the answers in #2 to build your character’s backstory.
Combine your answers in a few paragraphs. Boom! You have a basic backstory for your character! After you repeat these steps for their other traits, you can weave the information together or create a timeline of your character’s life so far.
4. Fill in missing or vague details.
Are there any important details in your character’s backstory that you haven’t explained? Expand on them.
5. Consider how your character’s traits interact with and relate to each other.
Look at your character’s other traits. Do they connect to or reinforce this trait? If so, you may not need to write a separate page for them. Instead, you can include them in the backstory you wrote for this trait.
Do any of their other traits contradict this one? That’s not necessarily a problem. Contradictions make your character more interesting and more realistic. Think about why they have conflicting traits and write it into their story!
Backstory Builder Example: Aisha in Winx Club Season 2
1. List your character’s core traits.
We’ll pick “rebellious” for this example. In Winx Club, Aisha doesn’t like to follow her parents’ rules or adhere to certain traditions of her planet, Andros.
2. For each core trait, answer the questions below.
Who did she get this trait from?
Her parents and, to a lesser degree, her servants.
What caused her to develop this trait?
Her parents didn’t let her run around and play like a normal girl. They stifled her self-expression, decided everything in her life for her, and forced her to act traditionally feminine: quiet and excessively polite. She wasn’t allowed to leave home, either.
Where did she develop this trait?
At home on Andros.
When did they develop this trait?
During her childhood.
Why does she still have this trait?
Her parents still don’t trust her to make her own decisions. She also wants to make up for lost time and do things they didn’t let her do.
How does she act because of this trait?
- She argues with her parents over their decisions.
- She used to sneak out to learn magic from farmers.
- She wears a piercing stud and less feminine clothing (sometimes) when she’s not at home.
- She left home at the beginning of Winx Club season 2 because she couldn’t take it anymore.
3. Use the answers in #2 to build your character’s backstory.
When Aisha was a child, her parents didn’t let her run around and play like a normal girl. She wasn’t even allowed to leave home. They stifled her self-expression, decided everything in her life for her, and forced her to act traditionally feminine: quiet and excessively polite.
As a result, she became rebellious. She argued with her parents about their decisions, she snuck out to learn magic from farmers, and she wore a piercing stud and less feminine clothing (sometimes) when she wasn’t at home.
Not much has changed now that she’s older. Her parents still don’t trust her to make her own decisions, so she still argues with them. At the beginning of Winx Club season 2, she left home because she couldn’t stand being there anymore. Now, she wants to make up for lost time and do the things she didn’t get to do when she was young.
4. Fill in missing or vague details.
Did I mention she’s the princess of Andros? Maybe the screenshot made that obvious.
5. Consider how your character’s traits interact with and relate to each other.
Aisha is also impulsive. According to the Negative Trait Thesaurus, impulsiveness can stem from “growing up in a home with rigid rules and expectations”. Bingo! Sounds exactly like how she became rebellious, so being impulsive also makes sense for her character.