Motivation and inspiration for writing a backstory

[ApexisNexion]

Title is fairly self explanatory. How do you guys all go about doing it? I've been trying to get into the mood to write for a character and I just sort of... can't get into it, I guess. I've listened to various songs and even browsed through some other characters to see if something would spark up in me, but it hasn't. So, I was curious on how some of you go about doing it.

 

[Hanarei]

The best way I found to do backstory is to really read into the background of the world you are getting involved with. Not only does it help you come up with an idea if you are playing off a good solid background, it tends to be a lot easier to come up with something. If the GM allows, you can even come into contact with them in private to help possibly give suggestions within their world or to try fleshing out your own idea that can be put into the mix.


You can also go from the standpoint of creating a general personality of the character, then figuring it out from there. Having a personality filled with both good traits as well as flaws can help you devise general what you could see their background as being. For example, I might come up with the concept of playing some thief who tends to be quite laid back although charitable, particularly to children. From that I can devise she likely was raised an orphan, making her way on the streets (partially contributing to her desire to help children out). Having become quite good at it, she has made her life rather carefree, comfortable with engaging in thievery taking her talent to be laid back not needing to do hard work to make a living. It's barebones but it can always be expanded upon.


Another good way is to look at a character you like and 'mimic' it, changing it to fit a certain setting you need it to mash in. You can take characters from places that aren't even remotely related to the setting and just try and adapt them as you see fit (such as taking a fantasy character and throwing them into some space oprah) This is what I use more so for spontaneous games (aka 'one shot Pathfinder games') where I don't have a solid understanding of things and need to throw a character together quickly.

 

[Demon]

Normally, I do my characters in a sort of backwards process. When I join a group roleplay, I tend to summarize the plot and setting of it down so I can understand what my character should really fit as. For example, let's say it's a school RP based on fighting for the dominant role of 'school president'. Off the bat, my character from what I assume is going to be someone capable of high strength or fighting ability. The next thing up is graphics of a character or how I expect them to look in my mind. I either do this generally by searching for some form of category and adding on anime/digital art behind it. For example: Gangster digital art


Once I do this, I go scrolling until I can find a character that my mind is registering to connect with the description I have in my head. From there on, I tend to mold my character from its appearance until I have a sufficient sheet to use. If your character is for a solo or general use, you can skip the first step and look for an image to build your character off of. At least this is what I do.


If you have any ideas, I'd love to help you build your character. Get back in touch.

 

[shyguy the RP addict]

well... although i haven't come across this problem, when creating a character i first get a visual of what he looks like. whats his appearance? i think of all the little details of his physical profile and from those details i start to formulate why he looks like he does. what sort of things did he go through? that seems to be effective for me.