Best thing you could do is to look for: - the skills - the motivations - the relationships with other characters you need your characters to have for the story and THEN think of a backstory that fits that criteria
@gangofheroes sure, but since characters & places in your story should be connected, I'd argue it's harder to connect 3 backstories than it is to connect 3 characters which can have whatever skill, flaw or relationship you need, which you can justify by the backstory later. At least for me, but writing is a creative thing and maybe your thought-process just works differently from mine
@gangofheroes no, it's the other way round quite often. From the narrative I am currently trying to do I had my characters well established in advance, with curses, limitations, personality and motives done well before even thinking about backstory. There's nothing wrong with starting with the backstory, but the absolute priority with a character is to have a usable character, and backstories are not a part of that
Your own backstory is why your passions became passions in the first place. Could you look into your past to see why you do what you want to do or even why you do not? One of my backstories is that I was bored during lunch, so I brought a small board game to work and asked if my coworkers wanted to play. I developed a hefty board game collection, and we played games every lunchtime after that. The job is no longer, but now I run a board game club and have friends who enjoy board games enough so that we continue to schedule whole days to play. That enjoyment drives me to continue buying new games and seeing which games my friends would love. Because my friend group is not entirely equal in personality, I'm still searching for games that would make all of them happy, and I hope I never find them.
You know what…. This is something I think I missed. Because I myself understand my characters motivations, but now I need to rework how I frame the backstories
One of the first things I've learnt in DND role-playing is to not mention my character's backstory. Show don't tell. If there's a reason to hide it, be aversive to revealing that information. If the character would share it for some benefit, then do so with purpose. The players at my table were so invested in my character (and I to theirs) due to this mystery element. They notice patterns, see that there has to be a reason behind it, make up their own reasons Some accept it, others press on and pry. It leads to so many interesting dynamics and interactions even full on character arcs by simply denying this narrator-like exposition of your backstory The surprise reveal that my character has been, all this time, a cultist of Vecna, is one we'll all remember for a while I bet. And it wasn't I who revealed it, a big political figure that acts as a paladin and inquisitor outed me And the entire table just GASPED, one yelling "I KNEW IT" and it was all so emotional
When I was making a rough draft of my own story, I had multiple main characters, and tried to give each one a backstory. I later realized that there was no good way to fit them all into the story I wanted. I decided to scrap most it, keep how they all meet, and elaborate on a few later. I didn't like it at first, because I felt like I wasted so much time, but I think my story got better because of it.
I do agree that justifying a characters existence is a waste of a backstory, if a character that would be impossible to exist in the setting of the story should have their existence justified so it’s not random. But stories can be written in anyway and bad can be good if written right.
The worst thing about backstories is they're supposed to be a specific device of telling story, but fans especially in anime/geek culture pretend it's now this necessary means of relaying character. It's insufferable
Flashbacks are awesome to write. Personally, I primarily aim to capture the story's themes in the backstory above motivations (I still care about character motivations a lot)
That’s great, now I can almost confirm I will never get a backstory for why luffy wants to be pirate king and why he wants to achieve the dream he desires because that backstory won’t matter to the final saga
@ I already know the goal to pirate king? I meant I won’t see a “backstory” about why he thought of the goal in the first place. That’s how backstories work not scenes you see in sabaody
@@anime_world6684 It's more so implied with how he views Shanks and in his backstory with Ace and Sabo. It's all about having the freedom to do what you want and protect who you care about.
.... have you all not read the manga or watched the anime? The boys developed that dream during their childhood, did they not? It's like boys that say: "I want to be a policeman!" "Or Princess or have Superpowers!". It's the same. Some dreams stick. We all know how he got the dream.
One more step, specifically for D&D characters, but also stories, is to answer why is your character here, and what compels them to interact with the plot. I have seen many D&D players be like: Here;s my character. And when asked, why would he want to join the party, their answer is like: I dunno, he hates adventuring.
Tbh instead of having convoluted examples of vampires and werewolves you should've just used Quiet MGS as anexample of character whose backstory exists to justify their existence and called it a day. Because that example highlighted your point more clearly than your weird tangents. Still valid point and one I generally agree with (even if I personally don't think motives are the most important part of a character but rather their mentality and worldview). But you could've explained this better in my opinion.
Is “Goku being a Sayain” a backstory or a plot device used to give him imposter syndrome by casting doubt on all his accomplishments? Cause, if being sayian made him strong, why could he surpass Vegeta who comes from better breeding stock?
I do have a question, what are your thoughts on the notion of "kill your darlings"? If the backstory (or like in your previous video, magic systems) are detrimental to the story, themes, pacing, work-load, internal consistency or just aren't important at all, yet you still are quite attached to them, should you just toss it out and forget about it? Cannibalize the ideas for other projects? Polish them up while keeping them hidden in an author-only file? And what if, even in their irrelevancy or detrimentality, you've woven your story, characters and world around it so that now you'd fear being left with an awkwardly shaped plot hole? I guess that's what mutliple drafts are kinda for, maybe, but even then... what do you about the fear that once you write something down you'll treat it as set in stone even while knowing it isn't? And how do you kill your darlings once you have to?
Demon Slayer has the best written and most eloquently handled backstories, it's really beautiful. They will inspire many in the future and already have, great seeing progress made in this front. Shame your average twitter bro doesn't have the understanding for something like this in terms of backstories, characters, or otherwise 😮💨
What you yapping about, It's so basic For humans, they got someone they loved, the demons kill that person, they join the demon slayer corps For demons, they're a good person but society treats them like an outcast, they're almost killed but muzan Or some demon finds them
@@tinybonestudios7332 not saying the premise is bad, its the execution thats the issue. i personally dislike how they showing it during moments before their death like they are craming them in without explanation just for us to go "awwwh poor one" for me it got me confuse what emotion am i suppose to feel at that moment because they want us to dislike these demons considering their actions but then they also wanted us to sympathize with them, which is a bit too late considering we are like moment before they died not to mention it can came off as quite manipulative in a way also sidenote it felt pretty drag out on the story for me
One motivation can also be negative, or at least be driven by a false belief. This will explain why a character is, for instance, trying to reject part of himself. This is one of my characters. During the backstory, there are some important elements that show and prove why the character should think their powers are not good for him and everybody around. When he awakens them for the first time, he accidentally kills someone by brutally stabbing them with a giant cactus. He will also be pushed towards an extreme condition that is contextualized in the story as it is relevant and this will harm people around him. He also has a nemesis who thinks she's doing the right thing by stopping a reckless person. The conflict rises as he wants to fulfill the dream of protecting people and friends, but almost every time he uses the power he hurts someone. So he runs away, being chased by his nemesis and finds shelter, those who welcome him will teach him how to better control his powers and do great deeds with them. Edit: this last part where he finds shelter pours into the actual story where he will connect with the main character, who just happens to be really impulsive, and other people who would teach him or learn from him.
While what you say is true although creating a backstory for a characters is an easy and good way to help develop a character's motivation, character traits, abilities, plot even world buildings and lore (mainly for main protagonists and antagonists) also they don't have to be overly detailed.
What you describing sounds more like a character list than a backstory. For me a backstory is everything before the actual story happens. And as in writing there are at least two layers (one visible/character level and one hidden/auctorial layer) every character has a backstory (even if the backstory is that they didn’t exist e. g. Goteta from the DBZ universe didn’t exist at the beginning). For a character to be justified on an auctorial layer they need to serve the story in some way. So you need character traits that interact with motifs and themes of your story. These traits should be in line within their backstory as well as their development within the story. However the pacing of a story doesn’t allow it that a character can express every minuscule detail of their traits and backstory. So its the writers choice what to actually pull up to the character layer. I would even go a step further and would ask how the characters would end up at least for some time after the story using the time frame of the shortest lived character as a guideline for the foresight I need. E.g. If I write a heros journey with a good end with an elf as the main protagonist and a human sidekick and the story now is over, the time frame of an elf who lives around 700 years and a human who lives 100 years will be different. So I use the human as reference and determine that their goals beyond the story should be around 5 years. Then because maybe the human is an extrovert who easily gets board I would probably cut it down to a few weeks. Its basically the typical question of „where do you see yourself in 5 years from now on“ but in relation of the story. This step makes your characters believable, however unlike backstory and traits its not as necessary and definitely gives you a lot of room to make mistakes. TL:DR: Backstory is important so you know what the actual fck you do with your characters and to check if your motivations/traits are consistent, which safes you a ton of work. However having foresight what your characters might wanna do when the story is over creates characters that are alive. This is however something you can easily mess up and as such should only be done if you have experience.
@@encouraginglyauthentic43 like it's cool and all if you wanna add more stuff to your story but don't bore out the reader with shit pacing with stuff that doesn't really matter for the story
Best thing you could do is to look for:
- the skills
- the motivations
- the relationships with other characters
you need your characters to have for the story and THEN think of a backstory that fits that criteria
You can argue those things tend to be born from the backstory.
@gangofheroes sure, but since characters & places in your story should be connected, I'd argue it's harder to connect 3 backstories than it is to connect 3 characters which can have whatever skill, flaw or relationship you need, which you can justify by the backstory later. At least for me, but writing is a creative thing and maybe your thought-process just works differently from mine
@gangofheroes no, it's the other way round quite often. From the narrative I am currently trying to do I had my characters well established in advance, with curses, limitations, personality and motives done well before even thinking about backstory. There's nothing wrong with starting with the backstory, but the absolute priority with a character is to have a usable character, and backstories are not a part of that
Backstories are so cool, wish they were real 😔😔😔
Still waiting for the Frontstories patch 😔
Your own backstory is why your passions became passions in the first place. Could you look into your past to see why you do what you want to do or even why you do not?
One of my backstories is that I was bored during lunch, so I brought a small board game to work and asked if my coworkers wanted to play. I developed a hefty board game collection, and we played games every lunchtime after that. The job is no longer, but now I run a board game club and have friends who enjoy board games enough so that we continue to schedule whole days to play. That enjoyment drives me to continue buying new games and seeing which games my friends would love. Because my friend group is not entirely equal in personality, I'm still searching for games that would make all of them happy, and I hope I never find them.
You know what…. This is something I think I missed. Because I myself understand my characters motivations, but now I need to rework how I frame the backstories
One of the first things I've learnt in DND role-playing is to not mention my character's backstory. Show don't tell. If there's a reason to hide it, be aversive to revealing that information. If the character would share it for some benefit, then do so with purpose.
The players at my table were so invested in my character (and I to theirs) due to this mystery element. They notice patterns, see that there has to be a reason behind it, make up their own reasons
Some accept it, others press on and pry. It leads to so many interesting dynamics and interactions even full on character arcs by simply denying this narrator-like exposition of your backstory
The surprise reveal that my character has been, all this time, a cultist of Vecna, is one we'll all remember for a while I bet. And it wasn't I who revealed it, a big political figure that acts as a paladin and inquisitor outed me
And the entire table just GASPED, one yelling "I KNEW IT" and it was all so emotional
When I was making a rough draft of my own story, I had multiple main characters, and tried to give each one a backstory. I later realized that there was no good way to fit them all into the story I wanted. I decided to scrap most it, keep how they all meet, and elaborate on a few later. I didn't like it at first, because I felt like I wasted so much time, but I think my story got better because of it.
I do agree that justifying a characters existence is a waste of a backstory, if a character that would be impossible to exist in the setting of the story should have their existence justified so it’s not random. But stories can be written in anyway and bad can be good if written right.
The worst thing about backstories is they're supposed to be a specific device of telling story, but fans especially in anime/geek culture pretend it's now this necessary means of relaying character. It's insufferable
Flashbacks are awesome to write. Personally, I primarily aim to capture the story's themes in the backstory above motivations (I still care about character motivations a lot)
That’s great, now I can almost confirm I will never get a backstory for why luffy wants to be pirate king and why he wants to achieve the dream he desires because that backstory won’t matter to the final saga
Bro what? did you not read post war arc? The reason he wants to be king of the pirates is because he thinks that it equals freedom.
@ I already know the goal to pirate king? I meant I won’t see a “backstory” about why he thought of the goal in the first place. That’s how backstories work not scenes you see in sabaody
@@anime_world6684 It's more so implied with how he views Shanks and in his backstory with Ace and Sabo. It's all about having the freedom to do what you want and protect who you care about.
.... have you all not read the manga or watched the anime? The boys developed that dream during their childhood, did they not? It's like boys that say: "I want to be a policeman!" "Or Princess or have Superpowers!". It's the same. Some dreams stick. We all know how he got the dream.
@ how did he get the dream, because he wanted to be pirate king and archive some dream before he met even shanks
One more step, specifically for D&D characters, but also stories, is to answer why is your character here, and what compels them to interact with the plot. I have seen many D&D players be like: Here;s my character. And when asked, why would he want to join the party, their answer is like: I dunno, he hates adventuring.
1:40 editor had his priorities straight.
Damn you must be reading my mind because this was a topic I’ve been thinking about a lot
I love DnD and can say that your vid was super helpful, thank you!
Tbh instead of having convoluted examples of vampires and werewolves you should've just used Quiet MGS as anexample of character whose backstory exists to justify their existence and called it a day. Because that example highlighted your point more clearly than your weird tangents.
Still valid point and one I generally agree with (even if I personally don't think motives are the most important part of a character but rather their mentality and worldview). But you could've explained this better in my opinion.
Ironic how you talk about tagents, as if motivations aren't apart of mentality, not to mention worldview is also apart of mentality.
You know its gonna be a good day when scrit Uploads
I appreciate the dnd content
Pls Mr. Scrit, you gotta put the media used in the description. Some of the images and videos looked mad fascinating.
Comman Scrit W
people always asked why is the vampire werewolf and never how is the vampire werewolf
9 MINUTES EARRRRLLYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is “Goku being a Sayain” a backstory or a plot device used to give him imposter syndrome by casting doubt on all his accomplishments?
Cause, if being sayian made him strong, why could he surpass Vegeta who comes from better breeding stock?
I do have a question, what are your thoughts on the notion of "kill your darlings"?
If the backstory (or like in your previous video, magic systems) are detrimental to the story, themes, pacing, work-load, internal consistency or just aren't important at all, yet you still are quite attached to them, should you just toss it out and forget about it? Cannibalize the ideas for other projects? Polish them up while keeping them hidden in an author-only file? And what if, even in their irrelevancy or detrimentality, you've woven your story, characters and world around it so that now you'd fear being left with an awkwardly shaped plot hole?
I guess that's what mutliple drafts are kinda for, maybe, but even then... what do you about the fear that once you write something down you'll treat it as set in stone even while knowing it isn't? And how do you kill your darlings once you have to?
What if the backstory was something like, why they are the way they are rather than a direct motivation
Great video ❤
So, backstory needs to displace motivation? Got it.
Out of my way, Dynamite Anton is on the mission
Demon Slayer has the best written and most eloquently handled backstories, it's really beautiful. They will inspire many in the future and already have, great seeing progress made in this front. Shame your average twitter bro doesn't have the understanding for something like this in terms of backstories, characters, or otherwise 😮💨
Demon slayer is a poor use of backstory, it uses them as cheap sympathy before a demon dies.
What you yapping about, It's so basic
For humans, they got someone they loved, the demons kill that person, they join the demon slayer corps
For demons, they're a good person but society treats them like an outcast, they're almost killed but muzan Or some demon finds them
@@tinybonestudios7332 not saying the premise is bad, its the execution thats the issue. i personally dislike how they showing it during moments before their death like they are craming them in without explanation just for us to go "awwwh poor one" for me it got me confuse what emotion am i suppose to feel at that moment because they want us to dislike these demons considering their actions but then they also wanted us to sympathize with them, which is a bit too late considering we are like moment before they died not to mention it can came off as quite manipulative in a way also sidenote it felt pretty drag out on the story for me
holy shit is that ridge racer r4 music? ur so real for that
based unleashed mention
02:00 does anyone know the music/OST playing at the background?
please talk about hunger games, i love your videos
One motivation can also be negative, or at least be driven by a false belief. This will explain why a character is, for instance, trying to reject part of himself.
This is one of my characters. During the backstory, there are some important elements that show and prove why the character should think their powers are not good for him and everybody around. When he awakens them for the first time, he accidentally kills someone by brutally stabbing them with a giant cactus. He will also be pushed towards an extreme condition that is contextualized in the story as it is relevant and this will harm people around him.
He also has a nemesis who thinks she's doing the right thing by stopping a reckless person. The conflict rises as he wants to fulfill the dream of protecting people and friends, but almost every time he uses the power he hurts someone.
So he runs away, being chased by his nemesis and finds shelter, those who welcome him will teach him how to better control his powers and do great deeds with them.
Edit: this last part where he finds shelter pours into the actual story where he will connect with the main character, who just happens to be really impulsive, and other people who would teach him or learn from him.
Motivations is a neutral word, it being negative or not is irrelevant, and is up to the individual.
@encouraginglyauthentic43 but it influences other characters depending on what it is. And you're not denying what I'm saying
@@gabrieleriva_bboykappside It's not about denial, it's about focusing on what matters.
While what you say is true although creating a backstory for a characters is an easy and good way to help develop a character's motivation, character traits, abilities, plot even world buildings and lore (mainly for main protagonists and antagonists) also they don't have to be overly detailed.
what is the show called at 3:01
What you describing sounds more like a character list than a backstory.
For me a backstory is everything before the actual story happens.
And as in writing there are at least two layers (one visible/character level and one hidden/auctorial layer) every character has a backstory (even if the backstory is that they didn’t exist e. g. Goteta from the DBZ universe didn’t exist at the beginning).
For a character to be justified on an auctorial layer they need to serve the story in some way. So you need character traits that interact with motifs and themes of your story.
These traits should be in line within their backstory as well as their development within the story.
However the pacing of a story doesn’t allow it that a character can express every minuscule detail of their traits and backstory.
So its the writers choice what to actually pull up to the character layer.
I would even go a step further and would ask how the characters would end up at least for some time after the story using the time frame of the shortest lived character as a guideline for the foresight I need. E.g. If I write a heros journey with a good end with an elf as the main protagonist and a human sidekick and the story now is over, the time frame of an elf who lives around 700 years and a human who lives 100 years will be different. So I use the human as reference and determine that their goals beyond the story should be around 5 years. Then because maybe the human is an extrovert who easily gets board I would probably cut it down to a few weeks. Its basically the typical question of „where do you see yourself in 5 years from now on“ but in relation of the story.
This step makes your characters believable, however unlike backstory and traits its not as necessary and definitely gives you a lot of room to make mistakes.
TL:DR: Backstory is important so you know what the actual fck you do with your characters and to check if your motivations/traits are consistent, which safes you a ton of work.
However having foresight what your characters might wanna do when the story is over creates characters that are alive. This is however something you can easily mess up and as such should only be done if you have experience.
So what you are saying is that my character’s motivation & backstory has to be linked to each other?
What he is saying is that, motivations matter, and you need to truly understand if the characters backstory is even necessary to follow the plot.
Sounds like a loooooooot of assumptions being made that being a vampire, werewolf, or hybrid of both in ‘hypothetical world X’ is a *bad* thing… 👀
Another scrit w
in general if the things in your story don't really serve the story itself it's not really a good idea to put it in there
Right, explaining unnecessary details removes intrigue, and in this era of the internet, fan theories keep Fandoms alive.
@@encouraginglyauthentic43 yeah but at some point it just makes the story convoluted
@@encouraginglyauthentic43 like it's cool and all if you wanna add more stuff to your story but don't bore out the reader with shit pacing with stuff that doesn't really matter for the story
@@encouraginglyauthentic43 like just make sure that there's a reason why the reader should care for the extra stuff
🎒📖
Hello!
howdy
Man, Sonic is so cool I wish he was real
last