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Backstory Creation


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In this topic, I gave a basic introduction to Mary Sue and how to avoid becoming her. This topic, however, deals with the thorny subject of backstories.

Basic Guide.

Now, in order for a DM to be able to assess your character and decide whether or not they fit the RP or not, a character needs to have a backstory of sorts. It also serves as a means to introduce your character to other roleplayers, and show what kind of a character they are. While you don't need to write a huge essay if you don't want to, you do need to answer these questions:

 

Past.
Where was your character born? Do they still live there or did they move someplace else?
Who were their family? Do they have any siblings?
What was your character's childhood and education like?
Were there any major events that shaped your character?
Did your character encounter anyone who affected your character?

Present:
Who are your character's friends? How did they meet?
Does your character have a significant other? If not, then why not? If so, then what is the relationship like?
What is your character's job?
What are your character's likes and dislikes?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of your character?
Does your character have any hobbies and if so, what are they?
What are the positive and negative personality traits your character has?

Future:
What are your character’s short term goals?
What are your character’s long term goals?
What motivates or drives your character?
How social is your character and how do they interact with others?

 

While you don't have to include every single one of these, you should have a past, present and future to your character. You can also add questions that aren't listed; this is by no means a rigid list that must be adhered to, merely a basic guideline. Some questions might not apply to your character, some may only need to be partly answered as the rest of the question's answer will be explored in the RP.

Do's And Don'ts.

DO make your backstory sound casual and chatty, rather than simply a bunch of bullet points. This will make your character seem more like a real person, as well as giving a DM an idea of how you RP.

DO make your character well rounded. Everyone has faults; make sure you balance positive character traits with negative ones, or else you will fall into the trap of making your character into a Mary Sue.

DO flesh out the personality. This will show everyone what your character is like on a day to day basis.

DO add flavour to the backstory. Don't be afraid of adding tragedy, just make sure you write it correctly and don't make the character's life an entire mess of tragedy, cuz it will make them seem emo and boring. For example, dead parents as a tragic backstory are overused and cliched; an absent or neglectful parent is better, especially when you detail how this affected and still does affect your character.

DO the research if you plan to add illness, either mental or physical, to your character's backstory. Nothing looks worse than someone's character who has been put down as suffering from an illness, but with the wrong symptoms and treatment. Especially with mental illness. If you really can't manage to portray an illness accurately, then take it out.

 

DON'T make your character closely related to or best friends with a canon. A distant connection is fine, but should still be worked on so that it doesn't seem cliched. For example, your character going to the same school as a canon and being in the same class is fine, your character being bestest friends forever with the canon and/or their long lost sibling is not.

DON'T introduce serious events/disorders unless you really know what you're doing. The following advice is contained in a spoiler, to avoid triggering.

Rape, sexual and/or child abuse as a backstory is very difficult to write well without offending or upsetting people, especially if you yourself have never experienced it. The same goes for self harm, clinical depression, suicidal tendencies, drug/alcohol addiction, psychological disorders. It is very insulting to be a sufferer of any of these and to read someone's clumsy rendering of it which is only shoehorned in cuz the roleplayer thinks it will make their character more interesting. Don't do it unless you really know what you're talking about, or have experienced it yourself,

DON'T make your character overly special, such as writing a character who just happens to be a princess in a school roleplay featuring ordinary high school kids, or a vampire character in a roleplay that is supposed to be all human. A DM will write a plot for their roleplay in the context that they want, so you should abide by it if you want to join. Adding in a character who doesn't fit and/or is super special is extremely rude and will ruin the roleplay for everyone else.

DON'T be a canon copycat. That means, don't copy huge chunks of a canon's backstory, or make theirs virtually identical to your own. Yes, you can have similarities but for goodness sake, please write it so that it's personal for your character rather than looking as tho it was copy pasted from the canon's wiki entry.

DON'T make the backstory completely unconnected to the character's personality. If something or someone made an impact in your character's past, then it's logical to expect that it would have an effect on them. For example, being ridiculed in public once might make them shy and withdrawn. It helps with characterisation, especially during an RP. Conversely, having something happen to your character in the past that would affect most people and your character completely shrugs it off is unrealistic and really irritating.

 

Well, that'll do for a basic rendering. If anyone has any questions, post them and I will do my best to answer them. ;)

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