So one thing I've noticed a lot people have trouble with over the years in the many places I've RPed is making character histories. So I'd like to share my technique to hopefully help some people out.
Determine the age of the character Even if the character doesn't physically age, this is still an important step. Age doesn't just determine if a character is young, in their prime, or elderly. Age also determines how much time they have had to accumulate experience. In the timeframe of 1 year, a character can gain at most 1 year's worth of experience, regardless of their final lifespan.
Add Events to the timeline Nothing fancy. Just when stuff happens. You don't need every event, just big things. You can of course add anything you want.
- Timeline
0 Born 1 2 Learned To Walk 3 Sister born. 4 5 Started Kindergarden 6 7 Moved to a new state 8 First blizzard, grandparents died 9 Took part in school play 10 First fight in school 11 Started private schooling 12 13 Moved to a new state. Meet Francine 14 15 16 17 Started job at ManaMarket, starts dating Francine 18 Graduated public school. Starts College 19 20 Friend dies in auto accident 21 22 Graduates College, Promotion at work 23 Married Francine 24 Company goes under, starts new job at warehouse 25 Son born, Migranted to Infinitas
As you can see not every year is filled, and some years have multiple events.
Turn the timeline into paragraphs Now that we have a rough idea when things happened we can expand on them. There are two general ways to organize a backstory so it flows.
Chronological Order - Group events as they happen in their life. From earliest to latest.
- Example
Jake was born in 1981. He had one older sister and his younger sister was born in when he was three years old.
Jake started kindergarten when he was five. There he met and met several friends, and was introduced to the miracle wonder that is a library. He would read as many books as he could.
Sadly upcoming years were not as favorable to Jake. When he was seven his father got new work out of state, forcing the family to move. Jake lost contact with his friends when he moved. The next year he experienced the struggles of his first blizzard. The final blow of difficulty came the year after when his grandparents died. Having been close to them this devastated Jake greatly.
To try and escape his grief Jake took part in a school play the next year. He didn't have a role in the play itself, instead working as a stage hand. He was familiar with the book the play was based on thanks to all the reading he liked to do.
The next year, when he was ten he got into his first fight in school. He was stressed with tests, and he and another boy just crossed paths the wrong way in gym class. This lead to his eventual removal from public school to be privately schooled. Still his unwanted reputation as a fighter followed him until he moved again when he was thirteen.
Moving proved better this time around, as he met many new friends. As a thirteen year old he wasn't quite looking into girls yet, but it was this time he met Francine. It wasn't until he was seventeen that he started actually dating her, around the same time he got his first job at the ManaMarket grocery store.
Jake graduated from high school when he was eighteen and immediately started college that fall. He made several new friends in college, though sadly one of them passed away in an auto-accident in the next.
Life after that was on the up and up for Jake. He graduated from college when he was twenty-two with a business major and was promoted at work. But the best thing of all was in the year after that, he and Francine got married.
ManaMarket closed down a few years later and Jake had to pick up a new job at a warehouse. It was this time he and Francine started expecting a child.
At age twenty-five Jake became a father. It was short lived, as two month later a migrant found and whisked him away to infinitas.
Category - Group events by similarity. Like all education. Moving. Deaths. Work.
- Example
Jake was born in 1981. He had one older sister and his younger sister was born in when he was three years old.
Jake over the course of his life was no stranger to making and loosing friends. Twice he had to move, his father finding new work. Each time this cause Jake to leave his friends behind but he was quick to make new ones in the new places.
Jake had an overall average education. He started in kindergarten and went straight through college with a business major. Though his schooling life wasn't completely smooth. After a fight in school he was moved to a private school until the family made their second move.
Jake was no stranger to hardships. He experienced his first blizzard shortly after his family's first move, burying him in the house for four days straight. Shortly after the grandparents he had been close to passed away. The other major death was one of his college buddies ran afoul of a car when he was twenty.
Jake got his first job at age seventeen, working as a cashier at the ManaMarket grocery store. It wasn't exciting work, but it was work. He was promoted to management in the store soon after he graduated college, but this didn't last long as the company was liquidized. Forcing Jake to seek new employment at a warehouse.
Jake met Francine after his second move. Originally they didn't talk much but the teens were interested in each other. He officially started dating Francine when he was seventeen. This reached its peak with him marrying her at age twenty-three, and a few years later his son was born.
It was a short lived fatherhood, as two month later a migrant found and whisked him away to infinitas.
The timeline is merely an organizational aide. Not all events have to be used, and you can rearrange events as you see fit. There is no rule on what you can or can't do with it, it is merely there to aid you.
