Do your characters seem real to you?

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mmp0303
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Re: Do your characters seem real to you?

Post by mmp0303 »

Characters become real to me in almost every book. If they did not it would probably take me forever to finish a book. I tend to get over invested in the characters that its depressing when the series or book ends.
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Maud Fitch
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Post by Maud Fitch »

From an author's and reader's perspective, it is hard to describe my connection to characters in a book because I 'feel' them more than I 'see' them. Often I couldn't describe the exterior of a character but I know their personality, what makes them tick, and if I can identify with their emotions that's a bonus.
"Every story has three sides to it - yours, mine and the facts" Foster Meharny Russell
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Nathrad Sheare
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Post by Nathrad Sheare »

I discover a character and he doesn't leave me alone for the rest of my life!
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who only dream at night.

-Edgar Allan Poe
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cabined
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Post by cabined »

If a character does not seem real to me, how will it feel real for those reading along? Characters take dedication and inspiration and at the end of the book, at the very least, should seem able to hop right on off the page.
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Nathrad Sheare
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Post by Nathrad Sheare »

I entirely agree! There's nothing about a story that captivates me more than a character that really seems like a person. I always feel as if I can talk to my characters, see them, breathe them in. I agree that it's important for a writer to be able to do that so that he can better convey the ideas surrounding his figures to a reader. It's almost like a parent who needs to teach his kids. He can't forget what it was like to be a kid himself or he'll screw everything up! When we become writers we can't forget what it was like to be just another reader, otherwise we'll find ourselves in those proverbial professional flames. :D
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who only dream at night.

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tstaf4d
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Post by tstaf4d »

The answer to this is really dependent on the person writing and how they connect to their characters (if they do at all, and I have heard some authors say they were not attached to some of their characters). Personally, my characters are deconstructed versions of the people in my life so I am very protective of them, and I sometimes struggle with where they are going in the plot because I know that it is going to shatter a part of themselves. My characters are extremely real to me because of what I put them through.
"Words are heavy" The Book Thief
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Nathrad Sheare
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Post by Nathrad Sheare »

Wow... I like the depth of your concern for your characters. I think that kind of thing inspires passion in a reader for them, too. Salutations.
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who only dream at night.

-Edgar Allan Poe
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authorkcfinn
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Post by authorkcfinn »

I spend a lot of time with my characters in my head before I totally know what they're about, for example I would never put a main character onto the page until I had sat and had a good mental conversation with them to see what makes them tick! I know some people who aren't writers find that concept a little mad, but I've met so many writers who say that their characters 'talk' to them and I am very much in that group. When nobody else is at home I quite often find myself acting things out that my characters would say and trying to do their voices and mannerisms to get a feel for how they walk and talk!
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Nathrad Sheare
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Post by Nathrad Sheare »

Ah, a kindred spirit! I like to bring my characters to life by whatever means necessary, and I try to do it when nobody is looking so I don't appear any more eccentric than I am. :D
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who only dream at night.

-Edgar Allan Poe
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Steve Freeman
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Post by Steve Freeman »

Update: I've had two people recently ask me if I plan to kill off either one of the major protagonists in my series. Both people seemed a little worried that I would. I viewed this as a good sign, since apparantly they've formed a personal attachment to my characters as well. :)
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Post by Loveabull »

As a writer I think our best characters are an extension of self or even a composite of ourselves and someone else we've known. So yes our characters become like our little ego's children.
" The writer must write what he has to say, not speak it."
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Post by juicyfruitsxoxo »

ecpkrys27 wrote:I have written some short stories, a lot of flash fictions and I'm starting my own novel. Before writing my stories, I listen to music, watch movies, look at nature (especially the trees, the clouds and the sky) or daydream. These things makes me inspired. Whenever my family travel to distant places where there are rivers, woods or forests and mountain tops makes me emerge into a new place and I begin to create a new world inside my head. Riding on the plane, a ship or using land transportation makes me see the world in a beautiful way.

Creating a new world inside my head will fade away if that world won't be created. Writing the world I formed inside my head makes me see the creation I did. This includes the characters I have created. I don't create characters that aren't real. I write not to impress but to express.

My mom often tells me not to be afraid or be scared whenever we watch horror movies. She said that I should always think that there are movie crews, directors, make- up artists, cameramen and producers around. She said that the actor isn't alone. Yes, the actor isn't alone BUT THE CHARACTER IS ALONE. I know that she is right but I believe that when a story is created, the characters are real inside the head of the writer and the director.

You inspired me by your response. You also gave me some tips that I should try. Thank you :)

All my characters and even the characters of other writers are real to me. I believe that reading books or watching movies makes a person enter into someone's head and let them see the reality of the world he created inside his imaginative mind.
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Post by ploafman »

To real. I sometimes run into them downtown.
Patrick Loafman, author of somewhere Upriver and editor of The Dandelion Farm Review.
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Nathrad Sheare
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Post by Nathrad Sheare »

Ha, ha! I've sat with a couple of mine down at the carwash... They talk to me while I wait. One of them is really into books. The other says the darndest things!

-- 04 Jan 2014, 20:15 --

Ha, ha! I've sat with a couple of mine down at the carwash... They talk to me while I wait. One of them is really into books. The other says the darndest things!
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who only dream at night.

-Edgar Allan Poe
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dudeandduchess
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Post by dudeandduchess »

Yes. Some people think I'm weird for actually "caring" about them and their welfare, but they just don't understand. It's like my characters have become my children... sometimes my older siblings. I guess there's always a deep connection a writer has with his or her characters. :)
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