Wasn’t Scotty’s post last week terrific?
Anyway, this post is going to be really short and to the point. :)
1.
Characters
Have History.
Just like in reality, characters have a
background, a history. The year they were born, major events that have happened
to them over time. Good days, bad days. Creating a backstory isn’t necessary,
per se, but if you want to give your story that 3 dimensional effect every
story should have, you should at
least know what your character’s history is, even if you don’t include it in
your story.
A) Keep
a notebook handy with information related to your character’s history. For
example, birthday, major events (the day s/he found out s/he had cancer, the
day his/her father/mother/brother/sister died, etc…), and so on.
B) Memorize
this information. You should know every little detail about your characters.
This will help your writing to remain consistent. For example, if you say your
MC was born in July at the beginning of the book, but then you forget and say
he was born in December. In this type of event, it’s good to know your
character by heart.
2.
Characters
Have Relationships.
Every character has a relationship with
someone. Even if the relationship is a bad one. Characters have parents,
siblings, boy/girlfriends, enemies, etc… This is an important aspect to reveal
in a story. Your story’s antagonist should have some sort of relationship with
the MC. Not necessarily a blood relationship or a friendship. Your antagonist
could only be mildly associated with your MC and would still qualify as a
relationship.
Unless
your character is meant to be a figurative “hermit” build relationships between
him/her and other supporting characters.
So, there you have it! Just some tips on
how to give the backstory needed to your character. :) Be sure to leave a
comment with questions, or anything really. I love hearing from you!
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