Back stories

So tonight I just finished writing out a bit of a back story (http://www.comicssherpa.com/site/feature-extra?uc_comic=csfeb) for the main characters of my comic strip. It took a little while to type out, since it covers quite a bit of history. And it's by no means comprehensive, either--I plan on writing more as the strip progresses.

It got me thinking, that's a good question for this forum: How much back history of your comic have you written? And is it important? I know that there are some comics out there that begin their stories in the present-day (or future), then go into a continual flash back. And others who just kind of wing it, with nothing in the past playing a part in the present action.

Personally, I love the idea of writing my characters' story in both directions. Seeing what lies ahead is just as intriguing as discovering things about a character's past, don't you think?

I'm always going back and rethinking and retooling character pasts and the overall story canon. I don't ever commit anything to paper until I'm absolutely sure that it's what I want the audience to know. Heaven knows I've changed countless details a hundred times before it goes on the site.
Even a character that debuted recently got a name change, literally as I was typing in the word bubbles. I was like, "No. I like 'Garrett' better than 'Grant'."
There are some things that I leave vague just so I can go back and add in details with updated character bios or as the story fleshes out more. For example, my opening comic was pretty muddled for detail, so I updated some of the character bios to fill in the holes and explain the situation better. Eventually the series will reflect these additional details as it progresses.
I leave character pasts uncertain unless it's absolutely necessary. You never know when you might come up with a funny back story for the office jerk that nobody likes, and you feel fortunate enough that you had the presence of mind to leave these kinds of options open for a later date.
I think one of the best things you can do is leave the past open until you are absolutely 100% sure you know what you want that past to be.

I have back stories present, but I doubt that they'll ever pop up in the comic directly. They're just their in my head to help govern the interactions between the characters.

The main character in my comic has a serious dislike for one girl, for instance, but she's not the sort of person to going into detail about why, and the girl she doesn't like doesn't really understand it, so it'll never be revealed.

There's lots of details that haven't been revealed about my characters pasts, although most of them will probably be mentioned eventually.

i'll touch on backstory. in my current story, barclay and yu fleeng puu obviously have a lot of history together, but i decided just to make sure people know OF that history, rather then what it really is. i was going to tell it originally, and actually made two comics, but i felt it was really boring for whatever reason.

whenever i get to the next 'book' (the current one is running long (d'oh!)), i plan on giving focus to Pusillanimous' history...mostly to create a running gag ultimatly leading up to one of the last pages where his real name is revealed...and then it won't be funny...*cough*


anyhow, to straight answer your question, i think backstory is fine and dandy, so long as you don't make it seem boring compared the persent (assuming your story focuses on the present)

You're right--if it's completely uninteresting, any amount of back story is kind of useless.

I am one who likes to make references to the past, such as Steve's childhood acting experience, or the career path that led to Joel being both a movie reviewer and a radio personality. My fear that some of my references might seem too "inside-joke" for new readers, so some kind of history might seem necessary.

So right now, I'm just filling in some of the blanks. There's a good chance that I might draw some flashback-type strips (especially if I get that writer's block for the present story again), and having this history in place is important. Hopefully it won't be boring! :)

I have a backstory for every god, and quite a few of the incidental mortals that make their way to the story. But like you said, they're also pretty boring.

I also have a list of rules that I don't allow myself to break. These are rules about how and why the gods can or can't do things that they do. Among them are general guidelines like not allowing my characters to break the 4th wall to such things as why they hear/read everything in their language.

I try to make my stories follow my own version of logic, which can be pretty scary sometimes, I think.

I have a certain amount of backstory for all of my main characters, but I try to keep it fairly flexible -- some things just come to mind when I'm scripting the comics, and unless it contradicts something I've already established, it gets woven in. Jordan's past, for example, is a pretty major plot element, so I had to figure it out early, but I don't feel like I need to know all the historical details of everybody else, so I let that happen as I go along.

For Spaztic Plastic, I've had a beginning and an end planned for some time. Then I just knew things that HAD to happen before certain other things could happen.... makes sense... :D

The backstory is not important to my comic. It's starts off as "Hey, this is a comic, we all live together, watch us do our seperate things." And that's it. No backstory is needed, really.

The backstories of a lot of my characters (each and everyone one of the named ones except the bounty hunter hunters, actually ) are pre-designed, but like it was the case several time by now, it will only ever be mentionned in parts as flashbacks. Although I like to keep thing... muddled when referrencing to the past, since memory isn't perfect, so those panels are always great fun to draw.

Or something.

Wee !

Well, the events occurring before the fist comic are actually not important to the story itself. I would only consider it something that will be interesting to lead to the current situations.

I might decide to release something like this at some point later. I think this would be appropriate for something like an extra section for people that support the site then.

That's a great idea, DistAdvent: Vote for the comic, get a bonus story or "photo" from the past. Something out of the family albums. I'm gonna start working on that one.

I did something like that, though just for fun:

http://www.ribaldyouth.com/pics/groupshot.jpg

:)

Most of my characters have backstories. I keep it in my own head for reference, but it doesn't usually impact the comic much.

I have a vague backstory in mind that becomes more clear as the characters say their lines. I figure, in real life, the past determines the present. But, in comics, the reverse can be true.