What is the concept of a character's "ghost?" According to Kristen Kieffer from the podcast and website, well-storied.com, a character’s ghost is "an emotional injury that, though suffered long ago, continues to haunt them into the present day." Whether or not we find enduring value in the idea of a character ghost, we can say with certainty that a character's backstory influences their primary narrative, because it's logically a no-brainer, unless your protagonist is a newborn, and even then, the newborn's experience in the womb will likely influence its behavior. Characters do not spring from a vacuum. Each character has lived a specific life that has led them to the launching point in the story. That backstory formed who they are and how they react. How much of that backstory do you reveal to the reader? That's something every writer must determine for every story they write. Some stories and writers require volumes of backstory. Other, little to none. The writer, however, should most likely know each character's backstory, whether they decide to veil or reveal that backstory in the narrative.

Events in the character's backstory create that character's dramatic needs, most simply stated as what a character wants. A character's conscious and unconscious objectives spring from their experiences, from their backstory. And just as importantly, unconscious objectives are often fear based. It's not just what a character wants; it's what a character fears. If we accept the idea that stories are based on the choices characters make when pursuing their objectives, we must also accept that characters make choices based on avoiding their fears, or on confronting their fears. Indeed, stories often climax when the protagonist confronts a source of fear, and either vanquishes it, or is shattered by it. Both Chinatown and Vertigo feature protagonists who are shattered by their fears, and I bet you can name a dozen stories that end with the protagonist vanquishing their fears.

Let's take a couple of famous Shakespearean characters to illustrate the idea of a ghost as it relates to backstory, if briefly. Macbeth has a backstory of unbridled, murderous ambition, but if he has a "ghost," it's firmly chained and locked in the closet. All you really need to know is that he'll kill to achieve power. The why is relatively unimportant. Hamlet is haunted by his personal ghosts, which takes the shape of childhood wounds that take shape when his uncle murders Hamlet's father to marry his mother. You need to understand the "ghost" if you want to understand the characters' psychology and actions.

Does every character have a ghost? Certainly, because every character has conscious and subconscious objectives that grow from their specific backstory. Is the ghost simply a new way of packaging old ideas? Or does it present traditional concepts in a fresh way that enhances learning? I'll leave that answer up to you.