ms_valentina
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Has anyone written a real person into a character?
I love when my characters are based on people that I know. It's also fun to update them on how their character is doing. Has anyone else done this?
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Skwerly
Literary Master
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Location: Yucaipa, California
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Mood: Determined.
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Almost ALL my characters appear from folks I either know or have seen. Everything is based on something, though, right?
I seemed to be looking down from an immense height upon a twilit grotto, knee-deep with filth, where a white-bearded daemon swineherd drove about
with his staff a flock of fungous, flabby beasts whose appearance filled me with unutterable loathing.
My AC page:
Derek's Junk
My Horror Writing Forum: http://writersofhorror.myfreeforum.org/index.php 
I **love** creepy trees!
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Thomas Forthe (Tom)
Literary Master
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That is something I haven't tried, except for one true story.
"Two things are infinite; The universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe."
Albert Einstein
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boatkicker
Accentuate Writer!
Posts: 831
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Location: Dennis, Massachusetts!
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Mood: sick of the hiccups!
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I was always told not to, so I avoided it.
And then I read part of the first draft of The Circle and realized my narrator is my best friend Chelsea.
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Kiro
Superlative Writer
Posts: 321
Registered: 12/18/2009
Location: Michigan
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Mood: summer mood.
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Oh yes. That's a quite efficient way to make a character. When I was doing acting I based one of my roles on my father + my history teacher and the
combination came out really good. From my book Eliza is based loosely on a girl I used to date and Ramon is a mirror of my own physical appearance.
Here is one exercise I found on characters: You can look in the mirror and describe the person you see there. Hair, eyes, skin, movements, gestures,
voice tone and timbre etc. Then, make them one of your characters, whether they are important or not doesn't matter.
~ Your friendly neighborhood vampire, Cristian
"Keep dreaming, Brad Moonglowaftervodkaski.... "
In the Workshop: Midnight Journal (The Transylvanian writes a vampire story)
Writing progress:
Your feelings are never wrong. Remember that when someone is trying to show you they are right and you are not. |
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LaurieM
Literary Master
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Registered: 3/3/2008
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Yes there are pieces of people I know in many of my characters.
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Laurie's Author Website
The darkness is swallowing me. Bastian where are you? |
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Melanie
Founding Member
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Mood: In the inquisition chamber with the killer.
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Everything, or everyone, I write comes from bits and snippets of everything I've ever known or experienced, of course, but I've never taken the bulk
of any one person and turned them into a character. For example, I've written multiple abusive husbands in short stories, but none of them are my
ex-husband... or maybe they're all him... but weren't intended to be.
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Nancy G.
Literary Master
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The couple in my story "Angelo's" in Elements of Time are friends of mine. Some of the events happened as in the story.
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Skwerly
Literary Master
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Location: Yucaipa, California
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Quote: Originally posted by boatkicker  | I was always told not to, so I avoided it.
And then I read part of the first draft of The Circle and realized my narrator is my best friend Chelsea. |
Really? Who told you not to? Teachers, I am assuming? Ouch. Without that, I'd be lost.
I seemed to be looking down from an immense height upon a twilit grotto, knee-deep with filth, where a white-bearded daemon swineherd drove about
with his staff a flock of fungous, flabby beasts whose appearance filled me with unutterable loathing.
My AC page:
Derek's Junk
My Horror Writing Forum: http://writersofhorror.myfreeforum.org/index.php
I **love** creepy trees!
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Ditchdoctor
Accentuate Writer!
Posts: 653
Registered: 9/15/2009
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Most, if not all of the leading characters in my book are people that I know, friends or family.
Don't let fear and common sense stand in your way.
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boatkicker
Accentuate Writer!
Posts: 831
Registered: 6/27/2009
Location: Dennis, Massachusetts!
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Mood: sick of the hiccups!
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| Quote: Originally posted by Skwerly | | Quote: Originally posted by boatkicker | I was always told not to, so I avoided it.
And then I read part of the first draft of The Circle and realized my narrator is my best friend Chelsea. |
Really? Who told you not to? Teachers, I am assuming? Ouch. Without that, I'd be lost. |
Two teachers, and a friend who was probably told by one of the same teachers that told me.
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
Posts: 7022
Registered: 1/15/2008
Location: Texas
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In my novel, What Brothers Do, I have loosely (very loosely) based the three lead characters on myself, Ryan and Gregg (twin brothers, who are
the leads in the story)...When I started off, it was easier to develop the boys around my boys (grown men, not sons)... because that's what I knew and
could see and know was real. But as the characters began to 'live' in the story, they diverged from my boys and became their own men. A lot of the
beginning of the book was cut during editing, so the big parts that were based off my boys get killed... which is great, really, since the story
really wasn't about them.
In my book Adventures of the Amazing Brat Boy, that is entirely based off my son and his many zany issues. This book has a unique concept I
can't go into, but let's just say there are multiple POVs here, so we see the same scene told several different ways. While the reactions to the
scenes and the other POVs are all fiction and while the 'thoughts' inside Brat Boy's head are all fiction, the events are true stories about my son's
life.
In my manuscript Reluctantly Human, Turner is the main character, a musician and single father, and he is patterned on Gregg, a musician and
single father, though the story itself isn't at all Gregg's life, many of the events in the book are take offs of things that have happened to him
when he was on the road doing the Chelsea's circuit, or when he went away to conservatory, etc. The stories are just so good, I couldn't help but
string them together into a book that tells an amazing and touching story about what's really important to a man like him.
In my seven-book series, the Sienna Series, the character is loosely based on my life, but fictionalized - the events are mostly real, but the
outcomes changed some to either be what I wanted it to be or feared it would be. I'm not sure what I'm ever going to do with this series of books -
but for now, I bill them as "Loosely autobiographical...."
Missing File was written about a particular case I managed when I worked in criminal justice advocacy... the events aren't true, but the case
is, and the character, instead of being me, is patterned off my best friend from a few years back, Rebecca. She is such a dynamic person, and I used
to think I always wanted to be a bit more like her... so in this story, I write my events, her attitude and charisma... I really ended up liking the
character, whom I named Rebecca after her, a whole lot. Becky and I always made a good team, and though she's moved far away from me, I still consider
her one of my best friends, so merging the two of us together into a character just - worked.
In the Firestarter Fantasy Series I have four main characters, and they are all very, very loosely based on people I know. It's not that they
ARE these people, but I wanted to get a feel for them beforehand, before writing, so I infused them with the personality and 'feel' of people I know
who fit what I wanted these characters to be.
In Accepting Aimee the mother is loosely based off my own mother, and while Aimee started off being an amalgam of myself and a friend of mine,
she has really taken on a life and personality and attitude that is all her own, very unique and quirky, and I love her! She's amazing, and now that
she's found her voice, I have gone back and edited out the parts that were 'me' and let her have her own voice throughout.
But there are many characters I write who are sheer fantasy. Charles Truncy, a man who was a victim in the MIssing File story, was a real man in real
life, but I hardly knew him at all, so I had to 'make up' things about him. He isn't based off anyone I know. He's based off what I think it might
have really been like. I'm likely way off base too.
So yeah... I use real people in my writing all the time. I think we have no choice but to do that, since people are, in general, all pretty much the
same at the core. All we have to go on is our own experiences and voices and friendships and rivalries and and and.... so we infuse our experience and
our life into our works. It couldn't be any other way. But I do get so attached to my work and my writing that these people become real to me. My
little brother once told me I needed to get out more and do things with people. I told him I had too many people in my life already.... he said I
needed to get out of the house more, and I said, "Why? I like it here with all my friends...." LOL
I meant my characters, and I do mean it. I'm not crazy, not in a non-functioning sort of going to hurt you or myself or anyone else and can't pay the
bills or take care of myself kind of way.... BUT I am... how can I say this? Hummm... I'm delicate. Fragile, perhaps. easily broken and wounded, and
when that happens, I am not able to function. The people inside my head, they are real to me, and I write their stories. Sometimes I can set them
aside after and sometimes I can't. So I'm not normal. I wouldn't say I'm crazy, but I'm definitely not normal. These characters in my books - they are
very real to me. They talk to me, they haunt me, they whisper in my ear, the laugh at and with me, they cry for and with me. So it only makes sense
that I would want them to be like people in my life I've trusted and known.
Then the ones like Charles Truncy... when they start to irritate me, get on my nerves, when carrying them around inside me gets to be too much and
they will push me over that fine line of sanity vs. reality - I kill 'em.
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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Melissahuie
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Registered: 1/22/2010
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I'm not basing it off just people per se - but more like the what ifs. ..
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Kiro
Superlative Writer
Posts: 321
Registered: 12/18/2009
Location: Michigan
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Mood: summer mood.
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You should always filter the kind of advice through your own mind and consider benefits and drawbacks. Don't just take it for granted. We write what
we see and what surrounds us. If someone told you not to get inspired from real life it would be like blindfolding someone then asking him to paint a
portrait of a person.
[Edited on 3/11/2010 by Kiro]
~ Your friendly neighborhood vampire, Cristian
"Keep dreaming, Brad Moonglowaftervodkaski.... "
In the Workshop: Midnight Journal (The Transylvanian writes a vampire story)
Writing progress:
Your feelings are never wrong. Remember that when someone is trying to show you they are right and you are not. |
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boatkicker
Accentuate Writer!
Posts: 831
Registered: 6/27/2009
Location: Dennis, Massachusetts!
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Mood: sick of the hiccups!
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| Quote: Originally posted by Kiro |
You should always filter the kind of advice through your own mind and consider benefits and drawbacks. Don't just take it for granted. We write what
we see and what surrounds us. If someone told you not to get inspired from real life it would be like blindfolding someone then asking him to paint a
portrait of a person.
[Edited on 3/11/2010 by Kiro] |
I had an assignment like that in my 2D art class, in 8th grade. We only had to sketch though. Not paint it. (and I say 'it' because it came out not
looking like a he or a she. or anything vaguely human. There was an eyeball in the hair.)
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Anita M Shaw
Member Writer
Posts: 51
Registered: 1/17/2008
Location: Set up in my sister's living room - Torringto
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Mood: Missing my girl and boys . . .
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My characters are mostly based on people I know. The female cast is either based on me, or elements of me. But they also can be of any of my relatives
and friends . . . people I've known . . . seen walking down the street or standing in line somewhere.
The guys are likewise based on men or boys I know or have seen somewhere. My dad is himself in All For The Love Of Thomi and any book in my DreamWynd
Whispers Romance series. He plays a small part in Thomi, but may get to do more in other books. We'll see. Today marks the 12th anniversary of his
passing. Tomorrow will mark my mom's. I know they wouldn't have minded being included in a story.
My sons appear (first names only for the obvious reason Thomi's last name isn't Shaw) in my romances. They also star in some of my kids' and ya
novels. Sometimes under their own names, and sometimes not.
My best friend (and daughter I never had) wants to star in my books too. I have two books in mind for her. One will be a romance, and she'll be
interested in one of Thomi's brothers who is based on my oldest son, Tristen. My friend's name is Melody, so the title of that will be something like
A Melody on my Mind. The other is a young adult story based on her real life relationship with her daughter. Which will be a part of my young adult
series called Marooned on Planet Earth. Haven't got a volume or sub title for that yet. The first book is called The Scoville Tragedies. Story based
loosely on my high school days, and the break up of a family and how the main character feels about it. The break up events are loosely based on
things that happened within my siblings' lives. This story will have two books to tell the tale. Maybe more . . . we'll see.
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RaiscaraAvalon
Superlative Writer
Posts: 456
Registered: 12/5/2008
Location: Lost In The Realms
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Mood: Need To Learn How To Sleep...
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All my characters are based on real people. Most times the male main is based off my best friend, and the female myself...with bits of other people
thrown in. My stories tend to be huge melting pots. Then they develop their
own sense of life, and do things neither of the original mold would do. And sometimes its fun...like when I let my best friend read it, and he gets
all excited because I nailed him perfectly, or surprised at how the character ends up. In fact we tease each other all the time about it (he's a
writer too).
The most well known writing cliche is "Write what you know."
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Reprobate
Extraordinary Writer
Posts: 175
Registered: 3/23/2010
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Mood: Capriciously Frolicking Through Hell
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My main characters are different versions of myself.
If I don't like someone, I'll write them into my novels to die a horrible death at the hands of my protagonist, assassin Katla Sieltjes.
rep·ro·bate
n.
A morally unprincipled person.
One who is predestined to damnation.
adj.
Morally unprincipled; shameless.
Rejected by [fill in the supreme being of your choice] and without hope of salvation.
"Beware the lollipop of mediocrity! Lick it once and you'll suck forever..."
Calvin: "I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor
reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!" - Calvin and Hobbes.
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RobertArend
Literary Master
Posts: 2166
Registered: 10/19/2008
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I write under this warranty
“All persons described or not in this work are fictious, none based on anyone living, dead nor undead—especially if I have had or continue to be
having sex with them….”
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sharkbytes
Master Writer
Posts: 1051
Registered: 1/17/2008
Location: Michigan
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Mood: anxious for the last 3 miles
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Robert- you are quite the tease. Is that a warranty or a warning?
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RobertArend
Literary Master
Posts: 2166
Registered: 10/19/2008
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It is a warranty granted anyone who opts to buy any of my short stories... especially to include in an erotic anthology....
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CDPA
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Posts: 14
Registered: 2/24/2010
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My instincts seem to lead me to create purely fictional characters; I think because the creative options are greater. The problem is, of course, that
my characters lack depth and realistic personalities, and my stories tend to be confusing and esoteric. I should probably just concentrate on poetry.
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jmkelley
New Member (Welcome me!)
Posts: 7
Registered: 3/23/2010
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Every character I write is an absolutely bizarre mishmash of people I've known. I think my MC in my completed novel is more me than I intended him to
be, which is weird considering I'm a woman. I have another work in progress that's in its infancy stage that has a character strongly based on my
father. That one is quite deliberate this time.
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