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Do you agree with his statement?
I don’t want to be biased just because he’s one of my favorite authors but I concur. Real characters are beautiful. This post could be a follow-up to my previous one about compelling characters.
I am finishing up a story where my characters were inspired by real people. Although I changed their physical traits and names, their essence and emotions are still palpable. Their spirits continue to live on in the ink of my paper because their story needed to be told.
I think my characters tend to be exaggerations rather than full blown caricatures. Some are based on acquaintances but I find most fun creating someone from scratch - like a fantasy person - or someone I'd love to be but am not.
ReplyDeleteTake care
x
Hi there, O.K!
DeleteI have created characters from scratch but I always give them a touch of someone I know. Sometimes I feel like Dante Alighieri whose characters were people he knew (the only difference is that he wasn't so kind, LOL!).
Have a great day!
Say hello to Charlie.
I agree totally, though I feel I am far, far from realising that kind of creative magic.
ReplyDeleteI think you (and this is only my personal thought process on knowing when your characters are 'alive') if you can ask a question on paper and have each of your main characters answer it, resulting in differing answers in accordance with their personality, then I'm of the opinion you're half way there - this is assuming you, as the writer, had to sit for ages dreaming up each of the answers, for if that is the case, then forget it, they are not 'alive'.
Hi again, Mark :D
DeleteActually, you're on the right track. I have an article on questions you could ask your characters in order to fully develop them. If you want, I can email this article to you.
Let me know.
Ciao!
I think it is just a small difference over the meaning of a word, nothing more.
ReplyDeleteHi Carole Anne,
DeleteYou mean "real" and "compelling"? Well, that depends. Real people can be dull, sometimes. Some can be interesting and appealing that you feel compelled to write about them.
Thanks for stopping by.
Interesting thoughts Claudia. I know for me being a newbie to novel writing I would give life to characters inspired by real people. I dont think I could do it any other way. My writing is often inspired by my life, experiences and people I know.
ReplyDeleteDear Cathy,
ReplyDeleteI understand your point since I'm fully aware you wrote a memoir. Like you, I find real people fascinating in every sense hence, a great inspiration for my characters ;)
Hi Claudia, I like "characters" that feel like real people whom I will miss when the book ends. So, yes, I like it when writers create "people." None of my characters/people are anyone I know - so far :-) Stopped over from Ann Best's blog for a visit. I like your blog.
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you! I did visit your blog and dropped by Ann's. Thank you for sharing your comment.
Will you be blogging once you hit the road in your RV? Your road trip sounds like fun. I bet you'll get inspired to write/finish your sequel. ;)
Oh, I like that photo of Hemingway in your post. He's one of my favorites too, Claudia. I agree with him on that quote.
ReplyDeleteBTW
Tagged you for ‘I’ve Been Tagged’ list. (compliments of Misha)
My post, the list of 11 bloggers and all the details are HERE: DG Hudson - Rainforest Writing:
http://dghudson-rainwriting.blogspot.com/2012/02/ive-been-tagged-11-questions.html
Hope you can participate.
Thank you for including me in the tagged list.
DeleteI will participate and tag other bloggers but until Wednesday (that's when I publish my weekly posts). Thank you for highlighting my blog. :D
I find personalities bring a character to life in a real sense. Just as each of us have our own personality. As for how real, I think it's how we perceive a person. I tend to study people whenever possible, how their body moves when they talk, facial expressions, clothing. All these elements bring a character from a caricature to a fully developed personality.
ReplyDeleteHow real? We had to have had something, someone who made a lasting impression on us. Even the smallest roles in a play are memorable for the part they play. In that sense I think we bring ourselves into elements of our characters. I don't believe you can get any more real than that. (Hugs)Indigo
Hi Indigo,
DeleteI like what you said, "I think we bring ourselves into elements of our characters." This is pretty much like art imitating life and life imitating art. If a person impact us in a profound way, this is inspiration enough for us to bring certain elements into our characters.
Hugs to you, too! :D
Acting and writing both deal with the creation of characters.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter who inspired my characters. As vain as it might sound, my characters are primarily an extension of an aspect of myself.
I don't think it's vanity, Jay. I think some/most writers like to incorporate a bit of us in our characters because they are our creation. We want to immortalize a part of us, just like procreation ;)
DeleteMy characters/people emerge from somewhere or other, don't know where. They just emerge from everything I've ever read or seen.
ReplyDeleteHowever I have found it useful, sometimes, to use a person I know, or a film/TV star as a visual clothes peg. That has its own dangers of course because a Clint Eastwood visual might end up talking like film dialogue. Mind you, if you use the visual for, say, a Roman Centurion then you immediately short circut that possible danger.
Hi Mike,
DeleteYes, one can also get certain traits or characteristics from TV/movie stars as inspiration. After all, they, too are playing characters who were the creation of a writer. But you're right to say that one must pay heed to dialogue and diction.
I think that if characters are very real to the author they will be real to the reader. When creating my characters it's important for me to know everything about them. This way it will transfer onto paper not in details but in action. I get confused when reading books where the character will act "out of character" so to speak and it makes me wonder if the author truly knows his characters and forgot that character X would do that and not character Z.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura,
DeleteYou couldn't have said it better, Laura. If the reader connects with the characters to the point of feeling acquainted with them, then, they're real.
What a very thoughtful post, Claudia. The protagonist I'm working with right now is an extension of several people I know, though I've exaggerated certain characteristics. By the way, have you seen "Midnight in Paris"? The character of Hemingway in the movie is spot on-- just what you'd think he'd be like. My husband and I were roaring.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Raquel. WOW! This character you're working on must be interesting, yet complex. Yes, I've seen "Midnight in Paris" and I absolutely loved it. :D
DeleteI think that characters in a novel may often be based on real-life people. If you recall someone who you found interesting you could take those traits and embellish them to meet the needs of a character in your story.
ReplyDeleteHi Anthony,
DeleteDefinitely! I've done this before. But, I've also created some interesting characters who were conceived as an idea or an inspiration from a song/poem/event, etc.
Was Hemingway mad? Or have I imagined that he did some crazy stuff during his lifetime, i.e. try fighting a bear?
ReplyDeleteLike the profile photo, btw - are you a female version of Benjamin Button? You seem to be getting younger looking?
LOL! I am not sure about the bear fighting story, Mark. I couldn't really tell you. But I can tell you that he liked drinking as much as writing. Regarding your question about Benjamin Button; well, I owe my good genes to my mother. It also helps that I am vegetarian and I used to practice yoga :D Thank you for your kind words.
DeletePPS: If I have trouble reading the 'Prove you are not a Robot' text, does that mean I have the potential to be 'a robot'?
ReplyDeleteOMG! I've always wondered why there were never any photos of me as a baby!?
Yeah! this new security gadget that blogspot has implemented it's a bit annoying, but it's for our own good ;)
DeleteI bet you do have baby pics somewhere, everybody does.
My characters are usually a mix of myself and other people I know :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that Nutschell ;) I think most writers find it easier to incorporate a bit of us in our characters.
DeleteRe: baby photos - actually, no, I don't have any. Apparently due to the fact I spent much time as an ill baby in hospital. Sort of answers a lot of questions, really, come to think of it - don't say a word!
ReplyDeleteOh, okay.
ReplyDeleteClaudia,
ReplyDeleteI am new to your site, and I love it so far. I agree with you and Mr. Hemingway. Characters must feel real to you, or they will feel flat to your reader (assuming it ever gets published). The stories that I love the most have characters I want to visit or name my children after. The books I put down are ones with characters I can't relate to or care about.
I agree...You have to make your characters into real people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hemingway.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephen,
DeleteYep! So do I. :D