I made each of my characters have at least one thing I relate too on a personal level, that way its easier to get into their headspace.
Funny thing is, I do this to the vilains as well, often I inject flaws or quirks of mine into the bad guys, and some of their speech I wrote from my own heart.
In my opnion this is the best way to keep the audience guessing.
There might be aspect of my personality which some characters may have. For example, an anxious character is inspired by my own anxiety but usually over exaggerated.
However, there is no character of mine which is just me. Even when it comes to main characters, they aren't really like me at all.
I don't really like writing directly about myself because I don't think I am an interesting person.
When designing characters, the thought of how similar or dissimilar they are to myself is something that never even crosses my mind, lol. To me, they are completely separate people, and tend to be wildly different from both each other and me.
That said, there are characters who are coincidentally similar to me, and/or that I find relatable. If I had to pick which of my characters I'm most similar to, it's probably Jikyuu.
My mc is almost as far away from me as you can get. He’s a full-grown man, looks nothing like me, he’s grumpy 24/7, not to mention all his situational differences. I’m definitely not royalty living on a magical island prison.
There are a few small things that are similar. Like how his social isolation stems from feeling like no one actually would want to talk to him so why bother trying to talk to them… somedays it feels like that for me.
But mainly, Xivian is a character I created because I will never be him, making it interesting to act him out. A person I will never be, yet I carve his path, and make his choices.
"As a writer, your job is to identify the emotion your character is feeling, understand its origin, and imbibe the feeling yourself." -James Scott Bell
I think it is important to add your own feelings and emotions into your characters, and likewise you should add interactions with characters who are similar to your friends and family.
My main character Gruff is me before I found people who truly understand me. His siblings represent my siblings who love him, but don't understand him. And Master, represents my mother, who wanted to understand me and put effort to do so, but never fully got there.
On the flip side my second lead, Mel is me after I met my people. She is outgoing and excited about new experiences. She has people she loves and would do anything to protect them. I feel that same way when I am with my friends.
Understanding yourself, leads to characters who are leaps and bounds more interesting.
Not trying to call you out BoomerZ, just saying that you should be more open to exploring this option. I am still exploring it, and it's not always easy, but it's tons of fun.
The quote I used at the beginning of this post is from a book called Writing Unforgettable Characters by James Scott Bell__
Oh geez… I gotta call myself out.
Each of my characters are like me in very different ways. If Inside Out was filmed in my head type beat.
Casey: Anxiety/sad mixed girl
Sadie: Paranoid (FOR VALID REASONS WE’RE BOTH WOMEN OF COLOR IN THIS WORLD) proving my own point…
Andy: Optimistic externally
Lee: Great listener, but overshares
Jay: isn’t wrong when wrong
Paris: Identity crisis
See, I would argue the opposite, in that being able to write characters who are vastly different from yourself allows you to have a more holistic view of the world. Not that understanding yourself isn't important, I just think being able to understand other people's POV is equally important.
Also, I've personally always treated my writing as more of an escape. Not every story needs to be the author's personal therapy session, haha.
Yes and no. I'm working on a vent story so there are similarities, but I wanted to explore my personal stuff through different lives and experiences. In a way it's me having a conversation with myself, in public, in a way that's hopefully somewhat palatable. I also add in some wish fulfillment stuff here and there, because what's a personal vent story without exploring stuff you wish you had? Lol
Of my two MCs:
Julian shares some of my mental issues, they're also my main vent character for traumatic experiences adults voluntarily told me about while I was growing up. They also share my catharsis with metal music. Although they have some wish fulfillment traits like being book smart and able to do math well.
Apollo shares my dumbness, my awkwardness, as well as part of my love for music. (While I like almost all music, he shares my like for old country and 80's stuff.) Fulfillment-wise he later on goes back to school for a degree after discovering his work related passion, and manages to easily deal with student loans. Something I will never do because my greatest fear is getting into more horrific debt for something that won't pay off.
I agree with this to a certain extent, especially when we're dealing with an ensemble cast where it's necessary for the different characters to have different motives and personalities that conflict with one another and move the plot along.
But if we're strictly talking about main characters whom other people can root for, I personally find that it's more important to establish why the character holds a particular POV (i.e. their culture, experiences, basic temperament, etc.) than what the actual POV is.
And, if we as the author can't at least relate on some aspect of the character's POV (even if we don't agree with their conclusions and resulting actions), it would be impossible to write a character that's believable.
PRACTICALLY THE SAME (AS IN TERMS OF NATURE). BUT HE HAS THE LUXURY OR RATHER GUTS TO DO WHATEVER HE WANTS AND THATS WHAT MAKES HIM MORE DANGEROUS.
when an ordinary life collides with extraordinary power, Destiny takes a Dark turn. Behold Darius, the boy with the burden of a weapon that could change everything. will he rise as a hero or fall into shadows? Find out in #volkermord
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Pretty similar,my Mc and mine mental health isn’t the greatest, but we’re both taking it one day at a time. Finding happiness and peace in the little things in life.
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