Character Questionnaire: Backstory

By David Griffin Brown

Backstory Brings Your Protagonist to Life

A well-crafted backstory is the key to creating characters that feel fully alive. Understanding a character's history—their experiences, defining moments, and emotional wounds—allows you, the writer, to know them inside and out. While only fragments of this backstory will make it into the final draft, knowing your main character(s) inside and out will infuse them with authenticity, and readers will be able to feel it.

Character backstory is more than just a list of childhood experiences or milestones; it's the emotional and psychological foundation for who they are today. Their fears, desires, and unresolved wounds are all tied to their past, creating inner conflicts that can help you build a powerful narrative. By exploring a character's formative events, you can develop deeper motivations, more nuanced relationships, and more complex obstacles for your protagonist. And remember, it's often the details that never make it onto the page that give a character the kind of depth that draws readers in.

Character Backstory Questions

1. Where was your character born, and what kind of place was it?
• Was it a bustling city, a quiet village, or something in between?
• How does their hometown shape the way they see the world?
• Did they grow up in poverty? In a rich family? How did economics affect their childhood?
2. Who raised your character, and what was their relationship like?
• Were they raised by parents, grandparents, siblings, or someone else entirely?
• Was their upbringing nurturing, neglectful, or something in between?
• Are they likely to marry someone just like their parents or find someone opposite?
3. What is your character’s earliest happy memory?
• Why does this memory stand out to them?
• How does it influence what they value in life?
4. What is your character's earliest painful memory?
• How has this experience shaped their fears or insecurities?
• Do they still carry unresolved pain from this event? If so, how do they cope with it?
5. What major events defined their childhood?
• Did they move frequently, experience a significant loss, or have a unique opportunity?
• How did these events shape their personality and worldview?
• Were they part of a minority group? If so, how did this affect their experience and privilege?
6. Did your character have any close friends growing up?
• Who were they, and what happened to the friendship?
• How do these friendships (or lack thereof) affect their ability to trust others now?
• Have they kept in touch with childhood friends over the years?
7. What did your character want to be when they grew up?
• How did these ambitions change over time, and why?
• Do they still hold any remnants of these dreams?
• If they didn’t become what they wanted, how do they feel about that?
8. What was their relationship like with authority figures (parents, teachers, etc.)?
• Did they rebel or seek approval?
• How does this affect the way they interact with authority now?
9. What kind of student were they in school?
• Did they excel, struggle, or find themselves disinterested?
• How did their school experiences shape their confidence or insecurities?
• How did they learn (or fail to learn) to overcome challenges?
10. What was the biggest mistake your character made in their youth?
• How did it affect them then, and how does it affect them now?
• Do they carry any guilt or shame from this mistake?
11. Who was their first love, and what happened?
• Was it a happy experience or did it end painfully?
• How does this first love influence their current relationships?
12. What was the most traumatic event in their past?
• How has it shaped their current fears, coping mechanisms, or behaviors?
• Is this trauma something they actively try to overcome, or do they avoid dealing with it?
13. What role did siblings (if any) play in their life?
• Were they close, competitive, or estranged?
• How does their relationship with their siblings affect how they relate to others?
• What was their birth order, and how did this influence their role in the family?
• How did their birth order shape their personality and development?
14. What incorrect beliefs or misbeliefs does your character hold about themselves or the world?
• How did they come to believe these things (e.g., trauma, misguided education, influence of others)?
• How do these misbeliefs affect their current behavior or decisions?
15. What’s one thing from their past they wish they could change?
• Is this a regret that still weighs on them?
• How might this desire for change shape their decisions in the present?
16. Who was the most influential person in their life growing up?
• How did this person impact who they are today?
• Is this influence still present in their life, or have they moved away from it?
17. What secrets does your character keep about their past?
• Why do they keep these secrets?
• How do these secrets create tension in their current life?
• If they have confided these secrets, who have they told and why?
18. How did your character’s family handle conflict?
• Was there open communication, or was conflict avoided?
• How does this influence how they deal with conflict now?
19. What’s a skill your character learned as a child that they still use today?
• Is it something practical like cooking, or something less tangible like persuasion?
• How does this skill help them in the story?
20. What’s the biggest misconception people have about your character based on their past?
• Is this misconception something they try to correct, or do they use it to their advantage?
• What misconceptions did people have about them growing up, and how do these misconceptions persist in the present?
21. How did your character’s upbringing shape their core beliefs?
• Are these beliefs something they still hold onto, or have they shifted over time?
22. What are your character's happiest moments, proudest moments, and pinnacles of success?
• How do they hold onto these memories during tough times?
• How do these moments influence their sense of self-worth?
• What accomplishment from their past do they value the most, and why?
23. Does your character have any unresolved relationships from their past?
• Is there someone they wish they could reconnect with or apologize to?
• How might this play into their motivations in the story?
24. What traditions or rituals did your character grow up with?
• Were there family traditions, cultural rituals, or personal habits that were important to them?
• How do these traditions influence their behavior and values today?
25. How has your character’s past prepared them (or not) for the challenges they face in your story?
• Are they relying on past lessons, or do they find themselves unprepared?
• How do past experiences shape the way they handle these challenges?

Bringing It All Together

Backstory is crucial for creating well-rounded, believable characters. Just remember, you don’t want to dump a ton of backstory in your reader’s lap. Don’t let it take over the show. In general, you want to make your reader crave backstory before you give it to them. Check out this blog post for more on that balance.

Here are some more character questionnaires that may help you develop other facets of your characters:

• Character Psychology and Motivations Questionnaire
• Character Relationships Questionnaire
• Character Strengths and Flaws Questionnaire
• Character Voice and Expression Questionnaire
• Minor Character Questionnaire

David Griffin Brown is an award-winning short fiction writer and co-author of Immersion and Emotion: The Two Pillars of Storytelling. He holds a BA in anthropology from UVic and an MFA in creative writing from UBC, and his writing has been published in literary magazines such as the Malahat Review and Grain. In 2022, he was the recipient of a New Artist grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. David founded Darling Axe Editing in 2018, and as part of his Book Broker interview series, he has compiled querying advice from over 100 literary agents. He lives in Victoria, Canada, on the traditional territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.