Background

Originally I was going to actually write a fiction piece for this today, but it required more research than I had time for. But it's still in my head, so I want to talk about it, and I'll probably end up writing the fiction tomorrow.

I've never particularly put a lot of thought into the background of my characters - at least not until I've been with them for a while. Trying to decide where a character came from and how they got where they are isn't something that I really try to figure out before the story starts. Occasionally I'll delve into the background of a character and really flesh out how they got to where they are, but it honestly isn't something that I do a lot. The story takes place in itself, and they prove who they are through their actions - more often than not, their past is irrelevant to the present.

Which is pretty counter-intuitive to the way a lot of people think. I imagine this isn't the way people expect a writer to work, and I would be surprised if there were a ton of other writers who designed their characters this way. But it's just kind of how my brain works. The past is written to bolster or explain the present, rather than to be an actual starting point. Trying to do it the other way is very strange for me, because I'm trying to make a basis for a character who doesn't exist yet.

But I want to try and challenge myself to do that. To know more about my characters before I actually start writing the story. To have a place to base their actions and behaviors on, so that they can consistently be a certain way. And when so much of what I love about a character is their growth, it only makes sense to give them a place to grow from.

It doesn't help that I'm not particularly good at coming up with names. A character doesn't really have solidity in my mind until they're named. They're more of just ideas floating around in the same general area - the name is the glue that holds them together. And in my mind, the background starts with their name. "Such and such was..." or "Such and such did..." And maybe that's not a good way of going about it, but it's what comes naturally in my brain. And you can't get better without starting somewhere.