A great story is one that has characters that you can trace back. The character should have a past, a present, and a future. Their past does not always have to be listed as a lot of family members, or their life’s story, but anything that pertains to the point of your short story should be there. For instance, if you are writing about Suzy being afraid to fall in love with Stan, you should give some background as to why she may be afraid. If Suzy has a great uncle that is part of her story now, you may want to include a bit about her lineage or why it is important that you know who he is in relation to her family tree.