# Storytelling solutions for novel writers: character backstory vs character past **URL:** \ **Category:** Dramatica Theory\ **Created:** [January 3, 2019, 9:23am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/storytelling-solutions-for-novel-writers-character-backstory-vs-character-past/2248 "2019-01-03T09:23:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 4
**Author:** ![jhull](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/jhull/32/3_2.png) [@jhull](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/jhull)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2019, 3:25am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/storytelling-solutions-for-novel-writers-character-backstory-vs-character-past/2248/4 "2019-01-06T03:25:35Z")
> [@Khodu](#): > > Backstory is birthed the instant the inequity is introduced into the characters life. From then on justifications pile up as they navigate their way away from the troubled landscape toward the beginning of your story. For change characters, they have their justifications torn down. For steadfast characters, they have them reinforced. When thinking of story in terms of Dramatica, it can be helpful to remember that characters are not real people—they’re aspects of a single human mind processing a single problem. With this in mind, Backstory is an analogy for the justification process. In other words, Backstory explains why a Main Character Problem is a Problem. I find it helpful to think of the justification process of Backstory as the “opposite” to the Main Character Resolve for the narrative in question. For instance, if this is a Changed Character then the Backstory would explore the Steadfast narrative that led to the justification now seen as a Problem. Same with Steadfast Characters—Backstory is seen as the “Changed” story before. In truth, narratives are a constant wave of Changed to Steadfast to Changed to Steadfast and so on for all eternity—for a SINGLE MIND. A narrative—or story—is simply an arbitrary moment in time when the Author sets out to determine beginning and end for that one mind’s consideration. --- _[View the full topic](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/storytelling-solutions-for-novel-writers-character-backstory-vs-character-past/2248)._