Origin stories, not just for superheroes.

Lesson #4: Outlining, Part I — Origins Matter

Let’s start outlining!

I’ll spread the process over three lessons, covering three essential aspects of character outlines. The first is character backgrounds. Where your character has been will dictate where they are going. Past experiences define who we are as people: our opinions, how we react to certain situations, our fears, etc.

Mapping out your major characters’ childhoods and the landmark events in their lives before the opening of your story is a necessary exercise. Not all of that background will figure into your story, but every character should have an inciting incident and formative events that have led them to the “present” of your book, and those should be shown (or at least suggested) in the novel so that your readers understand who your characters are.

Outlining methods

Common outlining methods include the bubble brainstorming method, the Q&A method, and the stream of consciousness method.

The Bubble Method

You might write your character’s name in a bubble and then draw some branches to other bubbles that contain that character’s family members with a brief description of how your character feels about each one. You then create other branches to bubbles containing memories your character shares with each person.

The Q&A Method

You could start by writing a question about your character on one line and answering it below. This is great for writers who like to keep things super organized.

Stream of Consciousness

Keep vital questions in mind, but you jot down anything about the character’s past, even full scenes, as they come to you in an unbroken stream of paragraphs.

No matter which method you use, having some questions to ask yourself to spark imagination is essential.

Questions to ask to develop a character’s origins

Here are a few questions to help you get started:

What is their family dynamic? (How many members, how do they interact, etc.)
Was their childhood happy or troubled?
Where did they grow up?
Were they rich, poor, middle class?
Who are their friends and how did they meet?
Were there any traumas in their lives?
What are some of their happiest memories? Worst memories?
Why did they choose their career?
How many romantic relationships have they had? Were they good or bad? Why did they end?
What is one thing they would wish to change about the past?

Not every answer will make it into the book, but they will help you better understand your characters. For instance, if a character’s older brother died due to gang violence but was venerated by his gang, that character might wish to follow in his sibling’s footsteps. But if the character was impacted by the effect the death had on their mother, he might become a cop who tries to save youths from gangs.

Crafting character origins is all about connecting dots and threading together past and present to create characters with thick, healthy roots to support their growth throughout the story.

I'll see you tomorrow for Part Two of our outlining module,

Hannah

Recommended Resources

How to Create a Character Profile (blog)
What are the Seven Types of Conflict in Literature? (blog)

Brought to you by Hannah Sandoval

Hannah Sandoval is a freelance ghostwriter and copy editor who has worked on over two dozen manuscripts, and a published author herself. Her guilty pleasures are Rocky Road ice cream and crime TV shows. If you would like to connect with her to discuss assistance with your manuscript or character outlines, check out her Reedsy profile.

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