Intro to Backstories

 

This week we are discussing backstorys. Backstorys are the root of your character, think about it...who are you without your past? A character's past can build up their personality and their outlook on the world. If you're like me, I tend to make all of my characters have dramatic backstorys because I find them the most fun. But, being dramatic is not the only way to go about your character baskstory. You can do whatever you want as long as you follow the rules!

I decided to talk to the amazing Andrew Ashworth, this is what he had to say:

So i like to implement three questions when helping others with backstories:

IS IT INTERESTING? -- We want to make sure every user is satisfied with their vision of their character. Sometimes, you have to spice it up a bit! A boring backstory tends to create a boring character, and we want every user to have fun and love the character they're writing about! Make the personality shine through their backstory -- how could it influence it? Is there an interesting event that happens?

IS IT REALISTIC? -- As much as we want the backstory to be interesting, we need to make sure the backstory follows the rules and guidelines of WoMo. Even if they want their backstory to be a royal heir who's family bloodline provides magical powers, it's not realistic at all! The backstory should connect to the character, and make sense for the character's personality within reason -- a bubbly character could have a gruesome backstory, as long as there's reasoning why they're so bubbly!

IS IT BUILDABLE? -- A satisfying character leaves room for improvement. The adventure can't just reside in their backstory! A good way to think about the backstory is to picture it as the foundation: the user will be building off this backstory, and if everything is contained, how is their character going to improve/grow? They should have a motive of sorts that pushes them, even if it's a general "I want to attend the Academy!"

I hope you found what he said interesting, I sure did!