Someone already said it more or less above, but I find that backstory, while important, is eventually totally secondary to the character concept and the story you want to tell yes. I see many, many people coming up with the backstory and then deducting everything, and while I can totally understand that to each his own way of doing, I still do think that's a mistake to avoid, and a big one.
The backstory is a mere tool here only to serve your overarching concept and story. It's here to make your character stand out and colourful, not the other way around. A backstory is not gratuitous. If something happens at X or Y point, then it has to be meaningful and bring something to the whole character. Were you to go the usual trite road of "parents killed, etc", and even with such an overused concept, you can make it actually work if it serves to make a specific point in your story. Was your character exiled at some point from his family? Was your character raised by a totally common family of average farming joes? The important question is WHY? Just because you find it cool, or because it means that your character is a crass ignorant when it comes to literacy (for the latter example)? And then, what does it imply? How will he react to that in his everyday life? etc etc.
One of the most important questions to my opinion to ask yourself is, "how would I describe my character with 2 or 3 keywords?" Not more. It's easy to tell if a character stands out or not when you can or can't answer that simple question. "Oh yes, I remember about that silly character that literally craved food, of any kind, and would do pretty much anything for it!" or "Oh right, that uncouth, rude grizzled vet that will only respect you if you show mental fortitude?"Â One of the best ways to see if it works, is to ask other people what they kept in memories from your character. What immediately struck them.
Personality. Direction. Originality.
The backstory is a mere tool here only to serve your overarching concept and story. It's here to make your character stand out and colourful, not the other way around. A backstory is not gratuitous. If something happens at X or Y point, then it has to be meaningful and bring something to the whole character. Were you to go the usual trite road of "parents killed, etc", and even with such an overused concept, you can make it actually work if it serves to make a specific point in your story. Was your character exiled at some point from his family? Was your character raised by a totally common family of average farming joes? The important question is WHY? Just because you find it cool, or because it means that your character is a crass ignorant when it comes to literacy (for the latter example)? And then, what does it imply? How will he react to that in his everyday life? etc etc.
One of the most important questions to my opinion to ask yourself is, "how would I describe my character with 2 or 3 keywords?" Not more. It's easy to tell if a character stands out or not when you can or can't answer that simple question. "Oh yes, I remember about that silly character that literally craved food, of any kind, and would do pretty much anything for it!" or "Oh right, that uncouth, rude grizzled vet that will only respect you if you show mental fortitude?"Â One of the best ways to see if it works, is to ask other people what they kept in memories from your character. What immediately struck them.
Personality. Direction. Originality.
Balmung:Â Suen Shyu
