Character Traits

[Craig Wallwork]

It’s only occurred to me recently that nearly all of the characters that I have committed to paper have no interest in smoking, a preclusion based on the fact, I assume, that I am not a smoker. So it seems, on a subconscious level, while I am eager to instil theories/methodologies/opinions that I hold, I am also keen on excluding those that I don’t practice or have no interest in.

So I was wondering; how similar is the fictional character we write, compared to the author who writes them? Are the characters you write just different facets of your personality, or are they completely different from you? Do they smoke, when you are not a smoker? Are they racist, when the hand who breathed life into their bigoted bones is pro-diversity?

Curious.

[C.W. LaSart]

My characters bear absolutely no resemblance to me. I have written stories about drug addicts, cons, hookers, rich assholes and the list goes on, but they never have anything to do with me. What I do, however, is often include snippets of real conversations I have had with people, or sayings that my friends use. I also, name the characters after friends a lot, which never fails to amuse them. I just killed my sister off in a story and I hope she is flattered rather than irritated

[Craig Wallwork]

Haha. Love the fact you use names of people you know. I once had a character named after my boss that came to nasty end.

I’m going to throw something out, and I’m not trying to offend or doubt what you’ve told me, but maybe there's a part of you that craves certain aspects of the character’s lives you portray, for example - the escapism of the drug addict, the scheming mind of the confidence person, the casualness and randomness of the hooker (not sex you understand, just the fredom of doing something ) and the freedom that money brings the rich arseholes. While we are able to detach ourselves from the character’s we write, the darker part of us, the person submerged under the blanket of social etiquette, manners, morals, is allowed to come to the fore and breath, wipe its brow and stick its sweaty crotch in the face of saints and priests without fear of repercussion. That we have the freedom to write and create characters that can be the most obnoxious people that have ever walked the earth could be a way to vent the darker sides of our lives. At the end of the day, it has come from our minds, which is to say, while the allotment of the imagination is fertile, we still need to the seeds to sew, and these seeds are rooted in emotion.

I want to add, before you beat me up CW, I don’t see you are a crack addicted hooker who cons people out of money. You’re way too nice.

[C.W. LaSart]

LMAO! Craig, I think I adore you (don't take that the wrong way, I know you are married and I am blissfully happy with my boyfriend of five years!). I suppose you could be onto something there, and I will not completely dispute it. I will add though, that if I harbor such longings, they are certainly subconscious since my writing is wholly dependent on Muse. I don't seek out stories, they just pop into my head, mostly complete and itching to be written. When I am writing, my characters stray so far and fast that it often feels like I am reading something that another has written, rather than creating my own world. There is always talk in the writing world of "pantsters" and "plotsters" and I am most definitely a pantster. I rarely feel personal pride in the stuff I write because I feel like a fraud-like someone else wrote it through me if that makes sense. The stories are written on autopilot and if I consciously add anything to them, it is during the edit. So maybe you are right my friend, but I hope I never have to confront the dark and evil woman inside me! LOL! I am so glad to have met you! I would wish you a happy holiday, but I suppose the 4th of July is far from a holiday there! I have always wondered if you guys get irritated when we celebrate it Just kidding, we are allies now and that's all that matters! I am secretly quite tickled to have so many new British friends.

[Draven Ames]

My characters are so far away from myself. I will note that a main character in my novel smoked, and I smoked at the time. I spent time carefully evaluating the smell and taste of smoking, so I could accurately describe the sensations. The point? I quit smoking after writing the book.

Turns out, once I paid attention to it, I realized how much I hated smoking. My wife quit smoking two weeks after I did.

[the_last_gunslinger]

For the most part, I feel as though my characters are derivatives of myself, with some embellishments to make them a touch more interesting. Perhaps I adhere too literally to the old adage that a writer should write what he knows, and I do know myself better than just about anything.

I'm not a particularly vulgar person, for example, and someone reading my stories would probably pick up on my lack of profanity. Most of my characters don't use excessive language such as that. It doesn't mean I never will, but I think my personality prohibits me from writing something too profane. I also place a heavy emphasis on a college education and as such, I find that many of my main characters are educated, or aspire to be educated, and I often draw on my academic knowledge as a shared expertise between myself and the characters I create.

[ozmosis7]

My characters certainly have pieces of me. As I used to smoke long ago, I know how it feels, what it's like to miss it, how it haunts you even now--things like that. But they also have other lives of which I have nothing in common. For instance, I have yet to skin anyone alive, and I don't plan on it any time soon unless my one neighbor complains about my bushes out back a few times more. :P

[Craig Wallwork]

I have always wondered if you guys get irritated when we celebrate it

I’m sure we’ll adopt it as a holiday soon. We tend to covet most things American here anyway

My characters are so far away from myself. I will note that a main character in my novel smoked, and I smoked at the time. I spent time carefully evaluating the smell and taste of smoking, so I could accurately describe the sensations. The point? I quit smoking after writing the book.

Turns out, once I paid attention to it, I realized how much I hated smoking. My wife quit smoking two weeks after I did.

Can I suggest an idea for your new book, “Quit smoking by Writing a Book About Smokers!” by Draven Ames! People spend millions of dollars trying to break the habit – you could be a wealthy man this time next year, Draven.

I'm not a particularly vulgar person, for example, and someone reading my stories would probably pick up on my lack of profanity. Most of my characters don't use excessive language such as that. It doesn't mean I never will, but I think my personality prohibits me from writing something too profane. I also place a heavy emphasis on a college education and as such, I find that many of my main characters are educated, or aspire to be educated, and I often draw on my academic knowledge as a shared expertise between myself and the characters I create.

What would happen if one of your characters had to verbally assault a person that required excessive profanities, while out of your comfort zone, would you attempt such a thing or steer clear?

The challenge of writing about America, and the vernacular of some regions, would be hard me for to make sound believable, yet recently I had to write a story about Venice Beach for an anthology. I’ve never been there, don’t know the area, or the people, but I circumnavigated the colloquialisms by focussing on a narrative. I side stepped the issue. Likewise, I side step smoking because, like you, my personality prohibits me from including it. And like Draven, if I did, I would need to begin to smoke to understand the sensations, the feeling etc. But all that said, if I had to write about a person with a terminal illness one day, while I may not be terminal ill myself, I think searching one’s own soul for the insecurities found in my life and mortality, and then magnifying them 10 fold, may add a little believability to the character, which is to say, anything, within reason, it possible to write.

For instance, I have yet to skin anyone alive, and I don't plan on it any time soon unless my one neighbor complains about my bushes out back a few times more. :P

Hahahaha. Let's hope the way you write about skinning someone lacks a degree of authority. If it's too accurate, or sounds too believable, I may get worried.

[TerryE]

I find that there is a part of myself in most of my characters, especially while I am writing them. Even if they are the complete opposite of me in some aspects, there's something else they have in common with me.

I'm not a particularly vulgar person, for example, and someone reading my stories would probably pick up on my lack of profanity. Most of my characters don't use excessive language such as that. It doesn't mean I never will, but I think my personality prohibits me from writing something too profane.

I'm the same way, gunslinger, but I can write in ways that I would never speak in real life. I recognize that my restraint is not common in society, and you do have to reflect all aspects of society at some point or another. In fact, I have one story, told from the point of view of a demon, that was almost an exercise in profanity. I don't think I could perform it at a reading, though.

[C.W. LaSart]

I am gleefully vulgar and profane I also smoke. I am a bad, bad person! When I don't know something about a habit, I try to find someone who does. I wrote a story about a meth-addicted mother, and I have never done meth, so I called a friend from High School who had and interviewed him about the taste etc. It was believeable enough that the publisher half-implied it was auto biographical! I was both flattered and offended at the same time.

[Draven Ames]

It was believeable enough that the publisher half-implied it was auto biographical! I was both flattered and offended at the same time.

Love it. Sounds like you wrote it very well.

[C.W. LaSart]

Love it. Sounds like you wrote it very well.

Haha! It was for SNM

[the_last_gunslinger]

I'm the same way, gunslinger, but I can write in ways that I would never speak in real life. I recognize that my restraint is not common in society, and you do have to reflect all aspects of society at some point or another. In fact, I have one story, told from the point of view of a demon, that was almost an exercise in profanity. I don't think I could perform it at a reading, though.

Yeah, I think I could write it too; the culture in which we live can become pretty vulgar. I'm not saying that's good or bad, but since I am witness to so much of it from other people, not to mention other forms of media, I think it would be all too easy to reflect that kind of language in my own work. For me though, it just doesn't occur naturally. That's not the first thing that comes to mind when I am fostering my characters. If I'm writing along and I feel as though the character would be better suited to some well-timed vulgarity, I'll definitely include it. My mind just doesn't go there automatically.

[portrait in flesh]

I can't say the characters I write about are really reflections of me. They're more unlike me than they are like me. There is one hard limit rule I will never allow a character I write about to engage in, but other than that they kind of do what they want without being restrained by what I would do.

[Craig Wallwork]

What can't your character's engage in?