Creating a Character Backstory

Make Your Characters Come Alive

Creating a Character Backstory is a companion book to How to Write an eBook in 40 days (or less ). It provides all the tools you need to create characters with an authentic personality, a consistent voice, and that are so real they will continue living in the heads of your fans long after they finish the last page. Using the 20 exercises found inside these pages, you will decide on virtually every detail of a character's life, going beyond the superficial details and exploring their motivations for every decision they make. Designed for beginners who are just starting to write fiction, this book is an organized approach to exploring the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your character. Beginning with deciding on the purpose your character will have in the story you're writing, to mapping out the problems facing that particular character, you'll then move on to exploring who they are, what they believe, their daily routines, their fears and dreams, their talents and skills, their strengths and weaknesses, and the secrets that they hide. After this, you'll delve into the relationships in their lives beginning with their first and current loves, their best friends, their enemies, and their family members. You'll also map out what life was like for them at home when they were growing up. It's all part of creating that complete picture of your character that makes them so real to you that you can make others believe they are real, too. Overcome Writer's Block

As you work to create the backstory, you'll find a wealth of information that you can call on whenever you get stuck. You'll have secrets that can be revealed, characters from the past who can show up to help out or make life more difficult, weaknesses to be exploited, strengths to be displayed, fears to overcome, and dreams to realize. By creating a character sheet for each of the eight character roles for your story, you'll have a whole host of problems to solve and potential interactions that can provide inspiration to move your story forward. The work you will do is well worth all the effort you'll be putting into it. Based on the author's own experiences

These exercises are all things that the author used to overcome her own writing challenges, providing you a short cut to writing success. They can be done one a day for 20 days as part of preparing for a 40 day novel writing session, or can be done as part of a writer's workshop in 2-3 days. It's a system that's flexible enough to allow you to operate on your own timeline while still ensuring that meaningful progress is made toward creating the story you've always dreamed of writing.