The Character House, Pt. 2: The Backstory Basement

The Character House constructs characters from the ground up, starting with the backstory and building up to fears, goals, actions, and personality traits. Today, we’ll be discussing the most foundational part of this model: the Backstory Basement.

The Backstory Basement includes the following components:

The basement floor represents the backstory as a whole—the events that have shaped the character’s current personality.
The storage room represents the backstory wound, the painful past event that forms the basis of the character arc.
The basement walls represent the beliefs, both true and false, that stem from the backstory. One of these beliefs is the Lie, the false belief that the character must overcome in the story.
The boxes represent the character’s emotional baggage—the secrets, insecurities, habits, and struggles that result from the backstory.

Basement Floor and Storage Room: Backstory and Wound

The storage room represents the backstory wound—the defining negative event that the character must overcome in the story. This backstory wound may be a single event (such as a betrayal) or an ongoing situation (such as being bullied).

Just as the door to the storage room is usually closed, the character keeps the backstory wound hidden at all costs. The events of the story force the character to open the door and face the past.

1. Start with what you know.

If you know that your character is energetic and enthusiastic, you can work backward by considering why these traits exist. Are they a cover for loneliness or sadness? If so, what past experiences caused the character to feel lonely or sad? If you know that your character loves fishing, you can brainstorm backstory events to explain these interests—such as an uncle who loved fishing.

2. Make sure the backstory events fit together.

A character’s backstory shouldn’t contain a haphazard collection of random events. Instead, all the backstory events in the novel should reflect the same theme.

In The Geography of Lost Things by Jessica Brody, Ali’s backstory includes an absent father and a painful breakup with her boyfriend. All the flashbacks in the novel focus on these two elements, highlighting Ali’s fear of abandonment.

3. Be specific.

Specific details can make common backstory events more powerful. For instance, suppose your character lost his mother at a young age. What caused the death? How does it affect the character today? What memories of his mother stand out to him?

4. Don’t always go for the drama.

Many authors strive to create the most traumatic backstories possible. But piling on death and trauma doesn’t automatically make a good backstory.

In In My Own Way by Kathy Buchanan (a YA contemporary), Amelia’s backstory wound occurred when a boy at summer camp played a humiliating prank on her. This experience isn’t as traumatic as watching one’s parents die, but it makes an emotional impact in the context of the story.

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi’s Emotional Wound Thesaurus contains a comprehensive list of backstory wounds. The wide range of wounds in this book demonstrates that even less “traumatic” wounds can still significantly influence a character’s present-day life.

Walls and Boxes: Beliefs and Baggage

Just as the basement floor supports the walls, the backstory events (both good and bad) result in true and false beliefs. Past experiences also result in emotional baggage (secrets, insecurities, habits, etc.), represented by the boxes and luggage in the basement.

1. Consider cause and effect.

When characters experience painful events, they often adopt false beliefs. Suppose a character was babysitting her two-year-old brother, and he fell into the pool and drowned. Even if she couldn’t have changed the outcome, the character might believe, “The accident is my fault.”

The same event may prompt opposing reactions. Suppose Jane and Robert were both abandoned by a parent. Jane might become loyal to a fault (emotional baggage) to prevent people from leaving her. By contrast, Robert might become grumpy and reclusive (emotional baggage) to keep people from getting close to him.

2. One of the false beliefs is the Lie that the character must overcome in the story.

In a positive character arc, the backstory wound causes the character to believe a Lie. The story pushes the character to overcome this Lie and accept the Truth (the story’s theme). (Negative character arcs involve the character rejecting the Truth and embracing the Lie, but that’s a subject for a different post.)

In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Scrooge’s uncaring father sent him to a neglectful boarding school (backstory wound). Decades later, Scrooge believes this Lie: “Money will bring me peace and security.” The story shows him the negative consequences of greed and the positive results of generosity. By the end of the story, Scrooge accepts the Truth (theme): “Love and generosity are more important than money.”

3. Not all beliefs should be false, and not all emotional baggage should be negative.

Backstories don’t only create Lies; they can also create helpful beliefs. In the movie The Greatest Showman, P. T. Barnum’s impoverished upbringing developed his Lie: “I’m not valuable unless I succeed.” However, his childhood also formed a true belief: “Hard work is crucial to achieving my goals.”

Although bad habits provide opportunities for character growth, beneficial habits can deepen the backstory, showing that you’re not needlessly making your character’s life miserable.

4. Emotional baggage can hint to backstory events without info-dumping.

When you visit someone’s house, you probably don’t enter the basement immediately. In the same way, backstories should be revealed gradually throughout the story, not within the first few pages.

You can use emotional baggage to drop hints about backstory. A character might display strange habits, surprising emotional reactions, mysterious dialogue, or odd interactions with the setting.

Getting to the Bottom of Backstories

As the foundation of the Character House, the Backstory Basement comprises the basement floor (backstory), the storage room (backstory wound), the basement walls (true and false beliefs), and the boxes (emotional baggage).

To create backstories, start with what you know. Choose events carefully, use cause and effect, and add nuance with positive and negative results. Use dialogue, setting, descriptions, and interactions to drop hints about your characters’ experiences.

With these tips in mind, you’ll be able to build a Backstory Basement that keeps your Character House standing strong.

What is your main character’s defining backstory event?