***Stare's Guide to History

[Stare]

History. It’s what shaped the world. If you think about it, every single little detail from the past is what led to today being exactly as it is. Single people - specks in the universe - shaped our entire lives. Names we’ve never heard of allow us to live the way we do. Events forgotten by many made us who we are today. The fact of the matter is that our lives are puzzles with a trillion little pieces, each of which was contributed by something that happened in the past, be it two years ago or two thousand.

In this way, character history is very similar to the history of the world. No one great event shaped everything. It’s the little things in our characters’ pasts that truly created them. Characters don’t need to have dead parents or siblings to be interesting. They don’t need to have traumatic events in their pasts to make them afraid. They don’t need some intense, obsessive trait to define them. Characters are complex, beautiful, unique things all on their own - and today, we’ll learn how to make them that way, one little puzzle piece at a time.

Let’s Start By Avoiding the Cliches

First, we should identify what’s been overdone. This isn’t to say that these things absolutely can’t be in your character’s bios, but many before have used them, and as a result they’re a bit stale. It should be noted ahead of time that these are all real issues that real people face, and they're very serious. If you're going to include them in your bio, be prepared to look for a ton of research to back yourself up with.

My character’s parent(s) died.

Yes, I’m guilty of this one. Multiple times. This is a common one because there seems to be the idea floating around that if a character has parents, they will prevent them from doing anything interesting. Banish this thought from your mind immediately! It’s not true! I’ll tell you more about the potential of parents in a character’s history later, but for now just trust me. You’re probably way better off if your character isn’t an orphan.

My character’s parent(s) physically abuse them or completely ignore them.

This one’s difficult to begin with, mostly because this type of abuse from a parent has huge psychological effects on the child that can be difficult for writers without personal experience (or even with) to understand and properly represent. Again, parents have potential. They don’t always have to be the villain in your character’s life.

My character’s sibling and/or childhood friend died.

Writers use this when they want to make a character feel a great amount of loss in their lives. It’s understandable, but has been done many times. Death is not the only way to make a character feel sad, scared, or angry. There are dozens of other ways which I’ll share with you later.

My character had a huge, traumatic experience that scarred them for life.

Yes, these things happen in the real world, and it’s extremely sad and upsetting. However, like living a life of abuse, it can be extremely difficult to understand. When you do this, you’re walking on thin ice. It’s fine to attempt something like this, but be ready for hours of thorough research and many more of careful writing. Even then, the staff will judge your character harshly. As I stated earlier, interesting characters do not have to be defined by a single moment in their lives. Oftentimes they are built up out of the many smaller things that happen to them.

My character had a rough childhood and now lives an extremely independent life.

There’s no doubt that many of the children in Panem have to step up due to their difficult living conditions. However, dependence is not a negative character trait. Think about it this way - if it’s hard for adults to survive in Panem, it’s pretty near impossible for children to do it. It simply isn’t realistic. There’s nothing wrong with an independent character, but this doesn’t mean that they have to move out of their home and live on their own. Besides that, dependence on friends and family is a huge opportunity for more rich detail in your character history, which we’ll discuss later.

The “Rough” Childhood

Let’s talk about the “rough” childhood that many of our characters had. They were orphaned. They were abused. They were shut out. They were shouted at, isolated, left in the cold, scared and lonely.

Yes, this is one form of a “rough” childhood. But, my dear writers, this is this most common, the stereotype, the popular choice.

And we want our characters to be unique.

A rough childhood could be a Career desperately trying to meet their parents’ high expectations. A rough childhood could be a young boy or girl raised in a shack on the streets, often hungry and cold. A rough childhood could be a constant argument between the child and their parents. A rough childhood could be living in the shadow of an older sibling. A rough childhood could be failing school and not understanding why. A rough childhood could be an inability to connect to the district industry. A rough childhood could be growing up with an unsupportive family. A rough childhood could be big dreams that were never achieved. A rough childhood could be surviving being bullied and ridiculed. A rough childhood could be being different. A rough childhood could be rejection.

“Rough” childhoods come in all different forms. Don’t choose the easy way out. Make your character an individual with their own personal demons.

Or, you could be even more daring - and don’t make their childhood “rough”.

The Not Rough, Not “Normal”, But Somewhere In Between Childhood

Not all characters need to have gone through a stressful childhood in order to be interesting. Let me repeat that. Not all characters need to have a rough childhood.

Maybe your character grew up fairly comfortably. They weren’t rich, but they weren’t dirt poor, either. Their parents weren’t perfect by any means, nor were they monsters. They got along with their siblings well enough. They broke something once or twice. Did well in school.

That’s all fine, you say, but it sounds boring! Overdone! Cliche!

The funny thing is, a “normal” childhood is perhaps one of the most underused tools in roleplay history.

And this, my friends, is where it gets fun.

The Little Things

It’s the little things in our lives that shape us into who we are. Phobias aren’t always born of huge, traumatic events - sometimes a deep rooted fear of bees comes from a single bad beesting in one’s childhood rather than being attacked by the entire hive. So if our characters come from “normal” childhoods, what makes them unique? What makes them interesting?

Parents: Told you they’d come in handy. What is your character’s relationship with their parents? Are their parents still together? What subjects do your character and their parents disagree on? Why? What habits did you character’s parents drill into them? Good manners? Forgetfulness? The parents are a wealth of opportunity. Parents are just as flawed as children, and they can’t be perfect. They pass the good down along with the bad. Every parent breaks their child in some way - it certainly isn’t always on purpose, but it is always inevitable, like smudging fingerprints on god glass. How did your character’s parent(s) break them?

Siblings: Does your character have siblings? If so, how many? What are the relationships like? How were they formed? What did they do with their siblings when they were younger? Did their siblings bully them? Look out for them? Love them? Abandon them? Outshine them? Does your character do any of this things to their siblings? Why or why not?

Fear: Fears are often born in our childhoods. What is your character afraid of? Why? What kinds of things happened to them when they were little that scared them? Were they locked in a closet once, so they’re afraid of small spaces? Were they yelled at if they misbehaved, so they’re afraid to act out? Do they have any phobias? Philias?

Love: What does your character love? Who does your character love? Why? Is there something or someone they’ve loved ever since they were little? Does that something/someone deserve their love, or is it harmful to them? Have they outgrown love? Have they grown into it? Have they had their hearts broken? Has someone or something they love ever disappointed them? How? Are they afraid of love, or do they embrace it? Why? How do the things and people they love affect them? Do they love themselves? Why or why not?

Shame: What horrible things has your character done? What are their deepest regrets? Have they ever let someone down? Have they ever hurt or scared someone? What mistakes have they made? When it comes to right and wrong, where is the blurred line? How do their regrets affect them? How do they deal with shame? What should your character be ashamed of? Why?

Passion: What is your character passionate about? What inspired those passions? What angers them? Why? What excites them? Why? What have their passions led them toward in the past? What do they hope for in their future? How do their passions affect their relationships?

What It All Means

Characters, like people, come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and (also like people) they are all incredibly unique and wonderful in their own way. They don’t need to have had their parents die and be living on their own in order for people to notice them. You are what makes your character incredible - your enthusiasm, your creativity, and your love for them all bring them to life.