Ever fall in love with your character?

[WoodmanStark]

After AwkwardMD shredded my first version of "Jennifer" I set out to write it over, this time putting actual effort into developing the Jennifer character as a person, not just "a list of interests and dimensions that sometimes talks."
I wrote the scene Doc Awk wanted to see - the first conversation between J and the male protagonist - and in the course of writing it Jennifer kind of developed differently than I originally envisioned - like for example having three BS degrees. I was beginning to find her even cooler than I first imagined.
Last night I wrote a new scene that isn't in the original published story, and I found myself as enamored of Jennifer as my protagonist is. I'm not even creating an idealized fantasy; she has a few traits that have her falling short of my "perfect" woman - but then, that makes her more realistic and believable, right?
Anyway, now I've got myself totally over the moon for Jennifer. Anyone else get this level of attachment to a character you created?

 

[NotWise]

Anyway, now I've got myself totally over the moon for Jennifer. Anyone else get this level of attachment to a character you created?

Pretty much, and in most of my stories. I don't create many female characters I don't love. I'm even polyamorous.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Pretty much, and in most of my stories. I don't create many female characters I don't love. I'm even polyamorous.

Well, to some degree. I find myself resonating more and more with one of my earliest F characters, Meg. I understand her world more every day.

 

[DarkWhispers2U]

I'm starting to find that if I don't particularly care/love a character then I need to write them better or perhaps eliminate him/her all together. The more I adore the characters, the more powerful images and emotions I can attribute to their emotions. Sure sucks having to kill off a loved character, though. First time I had to do it, my father had died a few months previous and it was tough to write that chapter.

 

[gunhilltrain]

After AwkwardMD shredded my first version of "Jennifer" I set out to write it over, this time putting actual effort into developing the Jennifer character as a person, not just "a list of interests and dimensions that sometimes talks."
I wrote the scene Doc Awk wanted to see - the first conversation between J and the male protagonist - and in the course of writing it Jennifer kind of developed differently than I originally envisioned - like for example having three BS degrees. I was beginning to find her even cooler than I first imagined.
Last night I wrote a new scene that isn't in the original published story, and I found myself as enamored of Jennifer as my protagonist is. I'm not even creating an idealized fantasy; she has a few traits that have her falling short of my "perfect" woman - but then, that makes her more realistic and believable, right?
Anyway, now I've got myself totally over the moon for Jennifer. Anyone else get this level of attachment to a character you created?

Well, not the level of infatuation I've had on real people, but yeah, I wished I had met a few like them when I was younger. They do have a tendency to be going along great with some guy and then - boom - they're gone, often with someone older and with a better job (or any job at all). I guess that is a function of their youth and their status as students.

Although sometimes it's a younger guy with an older woman. There is usually a built-in expiration date with that, sometimes by his finding someone his own age.

 

[sinnndy]

Since all but one story I have written is about me, I kind of like my character.

I have my first new story in about years hopefully coming here soon. It's in pending status. True story from a long time ago.

 

[KeithD]

I approach this Web site as dealing in erotica, not romance. I include some romance in my stories, but, no, this isn't a Web site I come to write for that sets me up to love any of the characters, at least in terms of romantic love--and I'd think of another term to think of and discuss the characters in terms of liking the composition of a character I've written.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I figure if I don't fall somewhat or a lot in love with a character, I can't expect a reader to. Generally speaking, the longer the story, the more affectionate I'll become towards a character because they're more fictionally present in my mind.

I've got a couple of long story cycles with two female protagonists - I suspect readers can tell which one I've fallen for most. I must write about jealousy, one day!

 

[TxRad]

I was married to two of my characters, so....

I was in lust at one time or another with several others.

 

[Emirus]

I’ve fallen in love with another writer’s Lady

With two exceptions, I like all the characters I’ve written about otherwise I wouldn’t have written about them. The two exceptions were stories about people in my private life that I detested and to vent my frustrations. Strangely, or not, they are my lowest scoring stories.

As for the Lady I’m in love with she was a minor character in a 200k series but subsequently a major character in her own series. To paraphrase Jessica Rabbit “it’s just the way she’s written.” I can’t really understand my fascination with her and neither can her writer.

 

[Brutal_One]

After AwkwardMD shredded my first version of "Jennifer" I set out to write it over, this time putting actual effort into developing the Jennifer character as a person, not just "a list of interests and dimensions that sometimes talks."
I wrote the scene Doc Awk wanted to see - the first conversation between J and the male protagonist - and in the course of writing it Jennifer kind of developed differently than I originally envisioned - like for example having three BS degrees. I was beginning to find her even cooler than I first imagined.
Last night I wrote a new scene that isn't in the original published story, and I found myself as enamored of Jennifer as my protagonist is. I'm not even creating an idealized fantasy; she has a few traits that have her falling short of my "perfect" woman - but then, that makes her more realistic and believable, right?
Anyway, now I've got myself totally over the moon for Jennifer. Anyone else get this level of attachment to a character you created?

For absolute sure! My main story has a relationship between the character that is essentially based around me and a start of a BDSM relationship with a student. As a younger girl she has the usual insecurities but part of the story telling is helping her with that. As she is very important to how he behaves and thinks including those close to her I can only write it this way by being emotionally involved with the character.

Brutal One

 

[Maeven_quinn]

Interesting question.

I've never fallen in love with my characters but I have "squish" on a few.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

I feel strongly about my main characters. It's not always positively because they aren't always "good." I do try to be careful about it because I've read stories where it's obvious the author was in love with the character, and the writing became too self-indulgent as a result. It's not just the descriptions that can be self-indulgent, but the minutia about everything the character thinks and does, much of which is only important to the infatuated writer. I worry that I might get to that stage without recognizing it.

In a non-erotica example, Lillian Jackson Braun wrote a large collection of mysteries ("The Cat Who" series) featuring the same main character and his two cats. They were fun little books, entertaining and easily read in a single sitting. The main character's cats always played some role in solving the mystery. The main character was not a detective, but like Angela Lansbury's Jessica Fletcher, murders in need of solving seemed to follow him around.

It got to the point that the author doted so nauseatingly over the main character that I just couldn't stomach them anymore.

 

[Omenainen]

Yes and no. I’ve fallen in love with fictional characters but not my own. So far all of my main characters are more or less me, so I do love them, but not like that.

 

[SimonDoom]

I do not.

Most of the time, I try to create characters that I would find attractive, or erotic, or sympathetic. But I don't ever fall in love with them. To me, they are always projections of my creative impulses -- of me, I guess -- rather than separate people. I can't fall in love with them.

 

[WoodmanStark]

I feel strongly about my main characters. It's not always positively because they aren't always "good." I do try to be careful about it because I've read stories where it's obvious the author was in love with the character, and the writing became too self-indulgent as a result. It's not just the descriptions that can be self-indulgent, but the minutia about everything the character thinks and does, much of which is only important to the infatuated writer. I worry that I might get to that stage without recognizing it.

After my failure to make Jennifer into a real character, this was Doc Awk's other main criticism of my work. I think I've managed to strip out the most irrelevant shit and keep only what advances the story.

In a non-erotica example, Lillian Jackson Braun wrote a large collection of mysteries ("The Cat Who" series) featuring the same main character and his two cats. They were fun little books, entertaining and easily read in a single sitting. The main character's cats always played some role in solving the mystery. The main character was not a detective, but like Angela Lansbury's Jessica Fletcher, murders in need of solving seemed to follow him around.

It got to the point that the author doted so nauseatingly over the main character that I just couldn't stomach them anymore.

I've read a few of those, they are fun. I've learned just last year that when the "detective" isn't a cop or private investigator, these kind of stories are called "cozy mysteries".

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

After my failure to make Jennifer into a real character, this was Doc Awk's other main criticism of my work. I think I've managed to strip out the most irrelevant shit and keep only what advances the story.


I've read a few of those, they are fun. I've learned just last year that when the "detective" isn't a cop or private investigator, these kind of stories are called "cozy mysteries".

One great description I heard of this type of mystery is that they're "cozy" because everyone involved is in the room, so to speak. Like the detective, the killer is a character in the story, known to the other characters, rather than a stranger to be tracked down. They're usually contained within a small setting, too, like a village, hotel, or even household. "Cozies" is an apt name for them. They're total mental junk food, but there's a place for that.

 

[SimonDoom]

One great description I heard of this type of mystery is that they're "cozy" because everyone involved is in the room, so to speak. Like the detective, the killer is a character in the story, known to the other characters, rather than a stranger to be tracked down. They're usually contained within a small setting, too, like a village, hotel, or even household. "Cozies" is an apt name for them. They're total mental junk food, but there's a place for that.

It makes you wonder what's going on in the minds of readers that drives the appeal of those stories. Do we harbor secret paranoid fantasies about the people around us? Do these stories play on those fantasies? One wonders.

 

[Brutal_One]

I do not.

Most of the time, I try to create characters that I would find attractive, or erotic, or sympathetic. But I don't ever fall in love with them. To me, they are always projections of my creative impulses -- of me, I guess -- rather than separate people. I can't fall in love with them.

I guess the OP needs a qualification because of course “falling in love with a fictional character” is insanity in anybody’s book but I think what is meant is caring about your characters enough in your writing setting. If characters came from your mind or imagination it is part of your psyche, no one else’s right so if writing a particularly nasty or evil character you as your own reader would expect to dislike the character but we are taking about characters we love right so if there yours and you love them you must love that part of yourself. As for cats. Cats in general are cool and aloof and Independent. They can be affectionate but if you want love get a dog . Brutal One

 

[Voboy]

I didn't think so, but I recently wrote a piece that revisited a character I hadn't used in quite some time. I'd forgotten how much fun she was, and once I tried to explain it to my GF she thought it was funny.

"You're Pygmalion!" she laughed, and as I sat down and thought about it, I thought maybe she was right.

 

[WoodmanStark]

One great description I heard of this type of mystery is that they're "cozy" because everyone involved is in the room, so to speak. Like the detective, the killer is a character in the story, known to the other characters, rather than a stranger to be tracked down. They're usually contained within a small setting, too, like a village, hotel, or even household. "Cozies" is an apt name for them. They're total mental junk food, but there's a place for that.

I hadn't thought about why they're called "cozy" but that seems to fit. All I know is that it applies to any mystery where the detective isnt a professional - they're a writer, or a baker, or a librarian, or some other occupation that isn't really known for detective work.
I would even put Gregory McDonald's Fletch in the category - Fletch is an invesigative reporter but thats not the same as being a pro detective.

It makes you wonder what's going on in the minds of readers that drives the appeal of those stories. Do we harbor secret paranoid fantasies about the people around us? Do these stories play on those fantasies? One wonders.

I'm partial to the fan theory that Jessica Fletcher is actually a serial killer (how else to explain all the murders in this small town where she lives?) and that Murder, She Wrote is her memoir that she's writing as she sits in prison.

 

[Brutal_One]

I hadn't thought about why they're called "cozy" but that seems to fit. All I know is that it applies to any mystery where the detective isnt a professional - they're a writer, or a baker, or a librarian, or some other occupation that isn't really known for detective work.
I would even put Gregory McDonald's Fletch in the category - Fletch is an invesigative reporter but thats not the same as being a pro detective.


I'm partial to the fan theory that Jessica Fletcher is actually a serial killer (how else to explain all the murders in this small town where she lives?) and that Murder, She Wrote is her memoir that she's writing as she sits in prison.

Funny. They used to say similar about Bergerac. So many murders on a small place like Jersey. Brutal One.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I've got very fond of my main character in the series I've just written, partly because he and his friends have kept me company for the last few months while I've been ill (think about what they do next, sort it out in my head, type it out when well enough to sit up), but also he's based on about half-a-dozen friends of mine, taking various traits and mixing them together, so not surprising I like the result.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm partial to the fan theory that Jessica Fletcher is actually a serial killer (how else to explain all the murders in this small town where she lives?) and that Murder, She Wrote is her memoir that she's writing as she sits in prison.

This is a fantastic idea for a book.

 

[WoodmanStark]

I didn't think so, but I recently wrote a piece that revisited a character I hadn't used in quite some time. I'd forgotten how much fun she was, and once I tried to explain it to my GF she thought it was funny.

"You're Pygmalion!" she laughed, and as I sat down and thought about it, I thought maybe she was right.

I'm Pygmalion?

FUCK! I'm Pygmalion!