Do your characters seem real to you?

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Stevie-Holbrook
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Re: Do your characters seem real to you?

Post by Stevie-Holbrook »

Most of the time, they are, but it depends on the development of a character. In order to feel their presence in my life, I need to be able to understand them inside and out to get the full effect of the person I am reading about.
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zifranka
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Post by zifranka »

The immediate answer is yes. The fact that they had to be written somehow tells me their presence in my head has been that strong they actually nag you to let them out. Sometimes a character simply lets you release a part of you you're otherwise unable to express in real life, because maybe they sprouted from some events in your pasts, they're made up of things you failed to do, you wish you could have said--basically a wish, a nightmare, or some alternate reality you hope you could have had the chance to live through. The most beautiful thing about original characters is their unpredictability. You might so often find yourself typing away and wonder where the words come from. They surprise you, and if at first you find it difficult to write about their entire history, give it time and they'll reveal themselves to you. That's when you're pretty much certain they could very well have a life of their own. Writing then becomes even more magical, as it's like weaving a dream.
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cdohm
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Post by cdohm »

Of course!! I hate when I have someone in mind for a character and then a movie comes out and he person is not even close to how I imagined them to be.
ankop95
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Post by ankop95 »

I get attached to my characters lives and stories. I always have a feeling they are actually real to me. I sometimes forget they aren't real people and get back to reality.
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the biblophile
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Post by the biblophile »

Characters in books were the only friends I had growing up. Now they only seem real if I see some aspect of myself in them. It is a matter of relatability.
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Kourtney Bradley
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Post by Kourtney Bradley »

There have been numerous occasions that I have gotten really in to a book and felt like the characters are real people that I have actually had encounters with. My husband laughs at this all the time ( in a playful way) and usually says, "you know it's a book, right?" Sometimes it just takes a good story with a great line up of characters to make you feel that way.
Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light. :techie-studyingbrown:
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ebeth
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Post by ebeth »

If it is a good book that I am reading and really into it sometimes the characters feel real to me. When I write it depends on how detailed I can get about the character.
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redfoxx1978
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Post by redfoxx1978 »

I write using characters based on people so they always seem real to me. Once I even had a character jump back in a book unplanned. It messed with the whole direction of the book though so I had to take him out
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MarkMueller
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Post by MarkMueller »

I have written a trilogy of novels featuring a newspaper reporter and his wife, a radio station personality, and their young daughter. To me, these three characters are as real as the members of my family.

It's like when the writers of the TV show "All In The Family" were considering whether or not to kill off Edith Bunker, one of the most popular TV characters in television history. When the famous producer Norman Lear talked to Jean Stapleton (the actress who played Edith) about it, she said to Norman: "Edith is only fiction. She's not real." Whereas Norman Lear replied, "She's is to me."

That is my exact sentiment about my three characters. They have become such a part of me over the past four years that I sometimes forget that they only exist between the book covers.
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karolinka
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Post by karolinka »

Yes, they do, if I spend enough time with them and flesh them out properly, and that takes time. Usually, when I write my books, I have just a general outline of a character in my mind, but that gains substance as I do character sheets, write the story, even use my drawing skills to draw him or her. I spend time thinking about them also, which helps bring them to life. But if I don't do all this, they don't seem real, so I really have to spend time with them, like you would with a good friend.
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Post by noethe5 »

I'm a pretty new writer, but I will say that there have been many, many books and series that I have finished and even up to a week later I find myself wondering what is character X is doing right now? I miss him. I guess that's what suspension of disbelief does your a person. I love the effect that a good book has on me.
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Lady Countryrose
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Post by Lady Countryrose »

The characters that I have written, they seem real to me. I could feel the feeling that they are going through. Their fears. They to me, seem to be living and breathing people. People I may have never met before but people none the less.

Shouldn't a writer know their characters well enough to feel like they are the author's children? At least well enough to know what makes them want to live.
Cowgirl888
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Post by Cowgirl888 »

Yes...very much so. That is one of many reasons why I read...I can be or relate to someone for awhile.
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William Alan Webb
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Post by William Alan Webb »

What a great question! My characters seem very real to me, but that hasn't always been the case. I used to move them around like chess pieces on a board, but somewhere along the line I learned to listen to them. That's when they came alive for me.
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Post by mewsmash »

My characters have very much come to life. I sometimes feel upset that they'll never be able to experience the real world, because they're just words.
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