How to Write The 100 Fanfiction ✓

44 | character backstories

so, you wanna give your character a backstory, but you may be wondering: how the heck do i integrate it into the story?

there are multiple ways to do it, but i'm going to tell you what NOT to do: DO NOT SPELL ALL OF THE INFORMATION OUT LIKE THIS

hi, my name is hydrogen walker and i'm 17 years old. i have tanned skin from my latina heritage and long, black hair that goes down to my hips in waves. i was raised in agro station so i really like plants and animals. ever since my father died when i was young, i've felt the need to carry on his legacy by working on the crops on the ark, but that was all before i was arrested for stealing supplies when i was fifteen....

no no no no no no NO NO NO.

there is no "best way" to incorporate a backstory into your narrative. authors do it in different ways all the time; it depends on what your specific backstory is, how much attention you want to draw to it, your character's personality, and your own unique writing style. here are various ways you can do this!

1. START OFF YOUR STORY WITH A FLASHBACK. this can be done in the prologue or first chapter. it's where, instead of throwing your audience into the present day, you take a step back and focus on an important point in your main character's life. i did this in Conflate, Fireheart, Havoc/Aftermath, and Mostly Ghostly. each of those stories contain a prologue with a significant event in my characters' lives that sets the tone for the story!

one thing you have to be careful of is making it clear at some point that it is a flashback. in a prologue, this is usually easy because the character is much younger, and then in the first real chapter, they're older, but it can be messy if you decide to start your first chapter off with a flashback. make it clear when a flashback ends and the present-day narrative begins. there are multiple ways to do this: italicizing the flashback, stating something like "Even now, the memory makes him shudder," or other things of the sort. 

another way to start your book off with a flashback is to incorporate it into the present-day narrative. for example:

"Dante, take your sister and run!" 

The dark-skinned boy can still hear his father's voice clear as day. 

"Did you hear me? I said get out of here!"

Smoke stinging his nostrils and making his eyes water. Beside him, his younger sister is crying, tiny hand clasping his like a lifeline. She's old enough to know that something is terribly wrong. 

Dante's entire body recoils at the invasive memory, going tense in all the wrong places and causing an ache to blossom in his brain. Sometimes he tries to change the memory. It never works. Every time, he watches the world around them crash and burn. Every time, he watches his father die. 

He opens his eyes. 

-and scene-

remember that, even if you do make a flashback in the prologue, try not to explain everything there. stick to one or two key events and include the rest later on. don't start from birth and tell their entire life story up to the point where your book takes place. then there's no element of mystery or suspense since your audience already knows everything about them! your readers should be learning something new about your character with every chapter– whether it's an opinion, a relationship, a bit of their past, a habit, a personality trait, etc.

2. PROVIDE A FLASHBACK IN THE CHAPTER LATER ON. consider your character's personality. if they're closed off, they're less likely to spill their deepest, darkest secrets right away. it may take them a while to open up to the audience. one example of this is the backstory of kaz brekker from leigh bardugo's novel Six of Crows. he has a leg injury, cane, always wears gloves, and loathes physical contact. despite these factors being a core aspect of kaz's personality, the reason isn't stated until later on in the book, and even then, it's only in his internal monologue. the other characters don't know. the flashback is very detailed and lengthy, so there's really no wrong length as long as you don't add unnecessary details and make the flashback drag on. 

3. MENTION THINGS WHEN IT MAKES SENSE TO DO SO. your character isn't going to bring a fast-paced action scene to a screeching halt to discuss their childhood in extensive detail. make sure you're bringing things up when it makes sense. for example, maybe seeing another character's interaction with their parents triggers a memory about your character's family life. or doing a certain activity with difficulty leads to a story about a past injury that never healed correctly and makes doing said task harder than it should be. bits and pieces here and there are like little gold mines for your audience!

for example, ares from Fireheart despises the color red because it reminds him of blood, which he's traumatized from after being framed for murder. this is a huge part of his character, but it's not revealed until chapter 3, and even then, it's not outright explained that's why he hates red. rather, the audience infers it. he isn't sitting in the dropship like "by the way, i hate the color red because it reminds me of the time i woke up covered in someone else's blood!" instead, the sight of blood on his hands after a fight with murphy makes his vision swirl and his stomach lurch. the description focuses heavily on the word "red" affecting him. 

4. REMEMBER THAT YOUR READERS DON'T NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING. although you might know that your character's favorite ice cream is rocky road because it was the first thing they bought with their own money when they were seven, if it isn't fundamental to the storyline or a particular chapter, it doesn't need to be included. 

even some major events can be left out as long as you explain them later on. going back to kaz as an example, he's a criminal mastermind, and even when you're reading from his point of view, you don't always know all of his plans. you think things are going terribly wrong, but it's all part of his plan, which is revealed after the fact. make sure you explain things later on so your audience isn't totally confused.

5. CONNECT BACKSTORIES WITH CERTAIN CHARACTERS OR MANNERISMS. does your character jump around loud noises because they've come to associate them with pain or fear? explain why. is your character lifelong enemies with another person? explain why. remember that this doesn't have to be done right away, but be smart with how you do this. it's best to explain how two people became best friends right off the bat, but you can hold off on why people are enemies as long as you hint at it throughout the story. 

remember that your character is a product of their past– their experiences made them who they are. things should make sense. if something terrible happened to them during childhood but they seem happy and go-lucky, there should be a reason. if your character displays a certain habit such as acting skittish around crowds, there should be a reason. 

it's also completely fine if you need to go back and change or add something! don't assume that just because you said something once, it's set in stone. if something isn't working, you can absolutely switch things around as long as you change any other linked scenes as well. you don't want to delete a character's former pet's death from chapter one and then forget that you mentioned it in chapter eight, leaving your audience confused as to where this random mention of a dead hamster came from.