tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post1038828176435208172..comments2023-08-14T10:44:59.007-04:00Comments on Novel Spaces: How “Real” Are My Characters?KeVin K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14792797517571690942noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-7506014654088359082018-04-29T14:15:19.231-04:002018-04-29T14:15:19.231-04:00My characters are composites, as are many of yours...My characters are composites, as are many of yours. For evil characters, I rely on personality characteristics and motivations from books and films. It's always interesting to give each character some "good" and some "bad" qualities and see how they turn out. In one of my books, I changed the ending after my critique group started loving the bad guys too much.Joyce. Ann Brownhttp://www.joyceannbrown.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-8295607819015210152018-04-26T13:12:48.706-04:002018-04-26T13:12:48.706-04:00I agree, Gloria. Characters are fun! I love moldin...I agree, Gloria. Characters are fun! I love molding and blending them. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-65321141637896147492018-04-24T18:52:17.832-04:002018-04-24T18:52:17.832-04:00My characters are REAL to me, but only to me. Lott...My characters are REAL to me, but only to me. Lottie in Lottie's Legacy was a mixture of a woman I saw in a grocery store years back and worked her into the person I wanted. There's a homeless man in that story, but I've never known a homeless person. He just popped onto the page. Characters are just plain fun, the odder, the better.Gloria Getmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01566261963541833179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-56540282289085093362018-04-23T10:43:01.272-04:002018-04-23T10:43:01.272-04:00G.B. How did she like your portrayal of her?G.B. How did she like your portrayal of her?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-85408945774026083552018-04-23T05:55:14.033-04:002018-04-23T05:55:14.033-04:00Most of my characters are composites of people tha...Most of my characters are composites of people that I know. One character I wrote was based on a real person as she won a contest I was having for my 1st book and her prize was to be written in as a throwaway character. Wrote her as a complete polar opposite of what she actually was in real life.G. B. Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09783331838434598963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-34549419539886449602018-04-22T22:39:11.481-04:002018-04-22T22:39:11.481-04:00Amy, it's interesting that your subconscious c...Amy, it's interesting that your subconscious created that character. I'm sure that happens to a lot of authors. <br /><br />Liane, I often get lost in cyberspace. It's wonderful and maddening at the same time! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-16518181659468801892018-04-22T22:17:39.485-04:002018-04-22T22:17:39.485-04:00Money-green eyes! I want those!
I followed your l...Money-green eyes! I want those!<br /><br />I followed your link to those famous characters. Fascinating stuff! (I also clicked on some fascinating links on that page and lost about half an hour before finding myself back here. :D ) Some--not all--of my characters are based on people I know, or people I've heard about. Others are composites. <br /><br />Great post!Liane Spicerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-88726978039063447732018-04-22T20:30:54.182-04:002018-04-22T20:30:54.182-04:00Fun post, Maggie! I can think of one character in ...Fun post, Maggie! I can think of one character in my books who's, um, quite a character. I didn't intentionally write him like someone I knew, but I think my subconscious was working overtime. His wife read the book and showed it to him and he's convinced I based the character on him. Is he right? Maybe so! The man and his wife aren't the only ones who saw a strong resemblance--quite a few people who know me and know them also mentioned it. The character is a great guy (for the most part) and so is the real-life one, so it worked out. Amy M. Readehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13313132085132011921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-40866877525155713262018-04-22T20:06:18.522-04:002018-04-22T20:06:18.522-04:00Marja, it's fun to twist the real characters i...Marja, it's fun to twist the real characters into someone unrecognizable (in many cases, I hope that's Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-48470806668192473602018-04-22T19:57:49.515-04:002018-04-22T19:57:49.515-04:00John, I agree that we composite our characters. I ...John, I agree that we composite our characters. I know that anyone I've been in a book group with scrutinizes all the characters, looking for that gotcha moment: "I just KNOW that's so and so." I try to tell them that I've been in many book groups. They don't want to believe me. Oh well. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-41954512767536400592018-04-22T17:25:05.765-04:002018-04-22T17:25:05.765-04:00Enjoyable post, Maggie. I can think of at least on...Enjoyable post, Maggie. I can think of at least one book where the bad guy's personality was based on an historical relative, but the character was also based on a man I used to see at a local restaurant on a regular basis. Some of my characters are purely fictional, and others are based on someone I've known or seen. I'll let readers figure out which is which.Marjahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09528164359512905392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-82927416870182016702018-04-22T14:35:19.130-04:002018-04-22T14:35:19.130-04:00Good post Maggie. My characters tend to be a merge...Good post Maggie. My characters tend to be a merger of personality and appearance of people I've met or seen--and I think that's the practice of many writers. To date I've only had one person insist he was a 'character' in one of my stories. He was only partially correct, though he declined to believe it when I told him. Fortunately he wasn't offended by the portrayal. I guess it's a good thing he wasn't the villain.jrlindermuthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09204855909246670628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-55796170728504783572018-04-22T14:25:00.941-04:002018-04-22T14:25:00.941-04:00Mostly my answer would be no. I don't base my ...Mostly my answer would be no. I don't base my characters on people I know, except... My dad is definitely the character in my spy novels. My entire family shows up, but that's because I based it on our lives. As I say, "The facts are true. I made up the rest." As for my detective stories, I used to be a private detective, so I use some real stuff. But most is really from my imagination because I can control that world and I really have more fun creating characters. This was a fun post Maggie. GBPoolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12190573764848658894noreply@blogger.com