Crafting a character’s backstory is where many genres of entertainment often fall short. The backstory, even if it will not be shown or told directly to the audience, plays an incredibly important role in informing how a character acts, reacts, their motivations, their personality, and possibly even their appearance. In other words, it is extremely important.
That is not to say that every character in your text adventure needs a five-page biography. On the contrary, most backstories can be as short as a few sentences or cover a few paragraphs; anything more than that is unnecessary. The main idea is to figure out a character’s history and have it set in stone so it is an easy referral when crafting the other components of the character.
An easy guide to follow when crafting a backstory is:
- How did they grow up? What was their family like? What did they do in their spare time?
- How did their views of the world shape as they grew older? Did any experiences change them?
- Did they decide to leave their old life, or are they still in it? Are they happy?
Not all of these questions have to be answered. Some can be ignored altogether, and others can be added. But, if you’re stuck, this is a good starting point to get to know your character.