How to WRITE A BACKSTORY

                                    

                                          
How to WRITE A BACKSTORY 
                          
The moment when your character reveals their past, is the moment that their true nature is known. You learn all the dark and horrible secrets. Did they kill someone? Did they run away from home? Are they an orphan? We're they raped? The possibilities are endless. I don't know about you, but I enjoy torturing my characters very much, and the most effed up things are what I usually teasure most. 
                          
V. C Andrews books really ****ed me up.
                          
The horror of reliving the past is what gets me. Seeing the torture etched on the faces, watching the fear crawl up their backs. 
                          
Here is five ways to start a BACKSTORY:
                          
#1: Start at childhood 
                          
Think about where your character was born and raised. This may not affect your story much, but it's important to know as much as possible about your characters- the more dimensions you add, the more relatable they become. Where was your character born? Who were their parents? What was their relationship? Things like that can really shape your character, and be great plot devices later on.

                          
#2: Compare what you've come up with to your character's personality
                          
Does it match up? If so, congratulations- you're half done. If not, you might want to create an event that changed your character's personality to what it is today. This often some kind of tragedy, that causes mental trauma to the character. This isn't compulsory, but most authors use this to gain the reader's sympathy, and identify with the character.

                          
#3: Write the plot for the story 
                          
 If you already have, continue to the next step. If not, you should start now, as you might need the character to respond to situations in an individualistic manner. Is your character particularly sensitive to a certain event, like divorce? This may be due to something that happened in his/her childhood. Knowing about things like this will help you write the backstory, and make minor edits, if any, to suit the story.

                          
#4: Reread the backstory, and compare it with the plot you have 
                          
Are there any loose ends that you wish to tie up? Any errors, or scope for confusion? This is the final phase, where you sort out all the kinks in your backstory. Make sure everything is perfect; leave as little scope for improvement as you can.

                          
#5: Now that you've made the backstory you can either: 
                          
Show it to a third party for help, if you're not happy with what you've got, or use what you've go. If you're not happy, you can take someone's advice and work it into the backstory, or completely redo the whole process from step 1, with the tip in mind. But once you're satisfied with what you've got, congratulations- you're good to go.
                          
•     •     •     •
                          
Tips to remember: 
                          
• Try to imagine the character as a real person. If a real person came up to you and told you that what you wrote about happened to him, would you feel the same way as you want your readers to feel reading your book? 
                          
Of course, if you want it to be abnormal for a reason, you can. You'll have to rely on your imagination.
                          
• Don't worry if the whole thing takes a little time- JK Rowling, author of the famous Harry Potter series, spent the first five years of writing the series, simply deciding the things the characters could and could not do.
                          
• Remember, try to make it as dramatic as possible, and make sure details match up to the plot. If a guy is raped by his uncle as a child, he would probably be very afraid of guys, or men who like men. 
                          
• Different characters have different reactions to different things. If one character sobs to the story, another character might have a vicious meltdown and break everything in sight.
                          
• Make sure to slow down and NOT put anything about their past in the first chapter or two. 
                          
•     |     •     |     •     |     •     |     •     |     •  
                          
I hope you enjoyed this chapter of How to WRITE A BACKSTORY. I'm sorry if it sucks, I'm kinda tired and had nothing better to do in life, so I decided to update this little butt face of a book which currently has 22 reads. Yay. NOHT. 
                          
~ Absolutely_Positive ♥