I wouldn't be able to play a character well without a good backstory.
I'll admit it right now: I can be a Chronic Exposition Monkey OOCly. When I come up with a detailed history I'm excited about, it's difficult to resist gushing about it. My main character hardly ever speaks in depth about her past. Me? I'm a different story altogether. "You want to know about I'rila?! Well why didn't you say so? Oh hon lemme tell you all about her. *four hours later, still happily talking*"
Seriously. Do not get me started talking about any of my characters. You'll regret it.
And you know? Part of it is sheer self-indulgence. Getting a really detailed backstory down is like filling a blank sheet of paper with very intricate and tiny doodles. It gives me that sort of reptilian pleasure.
But part of it, too, is that I don't think people are ever really outside of the influence of their personal backstories. When I speak, even when I think, I notice bits and pieces of my parents and friends, little subtle behaviors, ways of saying things that I've picked up as a result of mirroring. My hang-ups, my pet peeves, my ambitions, my thoughts about myself and about the world, the things that I value in interpersonal relationships. Some of it I can't explain any further than "this is me", but a lot of it I can trace to past experiences.
Without my memories, I wouldn't really be me, at least not completely. I think the same applies to fictional characters. Someone who refuses to raise his sword against a bandit because his parents raised him to be a staunch pacifist is different from someone who refuses to raise his sword against a bandit because the last time he used it, he lost a most embarrassing duel against three little ladybugs and three lost lambs.
For me, RPing a character without a backstory is like getting into a pair of shoes without soles. I can admire the stitching and the laces, but the moment I trying to move and react, there's nothing for me to stand on. No traction.
EDIT: Another thought. I don't think having a detailed backstory is detrimental to character growth. To me, it's akin to throwing a ball. Once you release it, it has a certain trajectory. If something else comes flying from another direction and hits it in midair, that trajectory will change, although the forces that had originally acted upon it will also have an influence in where it lands.
I'll admit it right now: I can be a Chronic Exposition Monkey OOCly. When I come up with a detailed history I'm excited about, it's difficult to resist gushing about it. My main character hardly ever speaks in depth about her past. Me? I'm a different story altogether. "You want to know about I'rila?! Well why didn't you say so? Oh hon lemme tell you all about her. *four hours later, still happily talking*"
Seriously. Do not get me started talking about any of my characters. You'll regret it.
And you know? Part of it is sheer self-indulgence. Getting a really detailed backstory down is like filling a blank sheet of paper with very intricate and tiny doodles. It gives me that sort of reptilian pleasure.
But part of it, too, is that I don't think people are ever really outside of the influence of their personal backstories. When I speak, even when I think, I notice bits and pieces of my parents and friends, little subtle behaviors, ways of saying things that I've picked up as a result of mirroring. My hang-ups, my pet peeves, my ambitions, my thoughts about myself and about the world, the things that I value in interpersonal relationships. Some of it I can't explain any further than "this is me", but a lot of it I can trace to past experiences.
Without my memories, I wouldn't really be me, at least not completely. I think the same applies to fictional characters. Someone who refuses to raise his sword against a bandit because his parents raised him to be a staunch pacifist is different from someone who refuses to raise his sword against a bandit because the last time he used it, he lost a most embarrassing duel against three little ladybugs and three lost lambs.
For me, RPing a character without a backstory is like getting into a pair of shoes without soles. I can admire the stitching and the laces, but the moment I trying to move and react, there's nothing for me to stand on. No traction.
EDIT: Another thought. I don't think having a detailed backstory is detrimental to character growth. To me, it's akin to throwing a ball. Once you release it, it has a certain trajectory. If something else comes flying from another direction and hits it in midair, that trajectory will change, although the forces that had originally acted upon it will also have an influence in where it lands.
