Tips on figuring out a background

It's been a while since I had to make a new pc, and I guess I ran into a case of writer's block.  I've tried looking at some generators online as well as a pdf of a character generator book ... and idk it just hasn't helped me figure out my new role.  I wanted to play a paladin, seeing as our group has a rogue, a wizard, and one player who hasn't decided what to be yet I thought a paladin would fit in nicely, a strong, fighter type as well as a divine caster at lvl 4+ would work well.   The issue I run into is why is she a paladin?  I asked my DM about how some one becomes a Paladin and he said they were called to it... but I'm not really sure how or what that would mean... how is some one called to be a paladin?  

By that it means they were born to it, so you can have a story where your character grows up in an order where they raise priest and paladins. Perhaps your character grew up in a church orphanage, and she was mesmerized by paladins. Or perhaps all she saw were male paladins in her city, she felt she needed a shining example of good, order, and a symbol for younger girls to aspire to. In character creation, ask questions about your character by yourself. Why does my character do this? How would they feel about “blank.” In “blank” situation, what would my character do? It's worth the time to invest by asking questions if you are running into a block

no, I asked that and he said they weren't born to it.  that they were called by what ever power or god ... that you couldn't be raised as one. 

Though I do like the seeing other paladins and wanting to do good and follow their examples 

I personally don't like that. But that's my opinion, I rather see something organic from the background not like my character is eating Frosty Flakes and suddenly the character's god/goddess tells him/her to be a paladin.

I like playing the kid who fam was killed and raised in a church that's how he became one, or the high born and play him as a knight that strives to be good and for doing so is given divine favor from the gods. That could be him not knowing how he is doing it or he was trained by the church to know how to heal. 

Check out this blog post for a good way of looking at it:&nbsp; <a href="http://angrydm.com/2013/01/the-memory-game/" rel="nofollow">http://angrydm.com/2013/01/the-memory-game/</a> "Writing a back-story is the RPG equivalent of narrative masturbation."