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@germaine-han, I like what you said about developing the character in the present rather than the past. I think that’s so important to remember. Some authors do all this fantastic development in character’s backstory but do very little in the present and expect you to like the character based on his past, even though nothing is going on in the present.

@samuel you’re totally right about needing to avoid a big spiel about the character’s backstory because it’s usually done wrong. I’ve seen way too many authors–including myself–do it wrong.

@literatureforthelight you’re right about making backstories unique! That can be really difficult to do because it seems like everything has already been done.

@julianne ugh yes, I get what you’re saying about spending so much time on characters who aren’t the protagonist. They’re all just so fascinating! I’m a psych major, so yeah. XP

@daeus-lamb that’s interesting about using backstory in the plot. I’ll have to think about that. Sometimes it’s hard for me to create a backstory for my world, if you will––a history. I can create it for the characters but struggle to do so for the cultures and the world.

Backstory usually comes to me very naturally during the planning process or even the writing process. Characters reveal themselves to me. I like having a decent amount of backstory, but I try not to use it too much because you want to keep your readers in the now, not always in flashbacks and whatnot. I try to weave it in naturally, not doing info dumps if I can help it.

I should probably read Brandon Sanderson…. I have been meaning to but have never gotten around to it…. *hides in a corner*