Knowing Your Characters

[SkyBubble]

Have you ever spent so long on a story that the characters almost become real people to you and you kind of miss them when you've submitted the story?

 

[Bamagan]

About half the reason I write is so that the children of my mind will move out and let me sleep. Or at least they go play in the yard for a while.

Edit: I am using the word 'children' in the sense of 'offspring' and not 'minors' or otherwise underage folks.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Have you ever spent so long on a story that the characters almost become real people to oyu and you kind of miss them when you've submitted the story?

The 'almost' is important. There's nothing cringier than an author talking as if their characters are actually real people. On the other hand, let's face it, I know way, way more about my characters at this point than I know about, say, most of my work colleagues.

 

[StillStunned]

I'm in the "beware of falling in love with your characters" camp. Like Robert Jordan, wanting to describe every single thing they do and say. Or when the author adds a self-insert character to act out their romance with their fictional character. For one thing, it becomes much harder to put them in any meaningful conflict situations.

But no matter how attached to your characters you are, the good news is that you can always write more about them. Or even just tell yourself stories about them in your head. Or write over-the-top fanfic that you never publish.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

It's not just me.

Many times, I will be having drinks or hanging out with some of my beta readers and someone will bring one or more of my characters into the conversation, as if they were a real person, simply absent from the conversation. Things like, "So and So would probably freak out over that," or similar.

I don't see anything wrong with making my characters seem real to people.

 

[sinfantasy]

Yes they can, they also tend to creep in to the next story (completely different one.)

Thats why... Once I finish the story, I spend few days to flush them out of my mind. That's one the reasons I dont prefer series.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I'm in the "beware of falling in love with your characters" camp. Like Robert Jordan, wanting to describe every single thing they do and say. Or when the author adds a self-insert character to act out their romance with their fictional character. For one thing, it becomes much harder to put them in any meaningful conflict situations.

But no matter how attached to your characters you are, the good news is that you can always write more about them. Or even just tell yourself stories about them in your head. Or write over-the-top fanfic that you never publish.

Laurell K. Hamilton, anyone?

--Annie

 

[MelissaBaby]

Have you ever spent so long on a story that the characters almost become real people to oyu and you kind of miss them when you've submitted the story?

When you write the same characters over a period of years, I have done with a few series, I think that sort of thing is unavoidable.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I'm in the "beware of falling in love with your characters" camp. Like Robert Jordan, wanting to describe every single thing they do and say. Or when the author adds a self-insert character to act out their romance with their fictional character. For one thing, it becomes much harder to put them in any meaningful conflict situations.

But no matter how attached to your characters you are, the good news is that you can always write more about them. Or even just tell yourself stories about them in your head. Or write over-the-top fanfic that you never publish.

One of my firm tenets as an author is that to write a believable character, you have to know more about them than you reveal to your readers.

 

[Voboy]

I like my characters. I don't ever love them, but some I definitely like more than others.

I try not to get sentimental nor mystical about writing smut, but the way my characters make themselves known to me is something I cannot even begin to explain; it's my subconscious, or my "muse," or what have you. I recognize that I create them and write about them, but in a very real sense I don't think I have control over them. I turn them loose and then they shape the story by telling me what they should do to be true to their natures.

If I like them enough? I just use them in another story. Simple.

 

[Bamagan]

One of my firm tenets as an author is that to write a believable character, you have to know more about them than you reveal to your readers.

Seconded... although the preponderance of penises measuring 8+ inches with the power to bedazzle mothers, daughters, and/or sisters suggests that certain readers do not demand a high degree of believability.

 

[Djmac1031]

Only sure.

Most notably Jenna from my long running series The Jenna Arrangement. I used to joke she'd often dictate where the story went next more than I did.

Then there's Cozbi, my She-Demon character from my Angels & Demons series of stories. She started life as the antagonist in the first story, The Devil And Angel Em, and quickly grew into a lead anti-hero featured in several other stories. I adore writing her and just used her in the Lit-Con 2026 Challenge.

 

[iwatchus]

The characters from series, absolutely. Probably approaching a cringey level (@TheRedChamber)

21 of my 25 stories published so far are that series andI have a hard time letting go of them. I am now writing my second story which brushes on that universe and has fringe characters in common.

And while I do not expect to see them in the physical world, they do feel like they have an independent existence to me. With the series, I was often surprised by what they did, my conscious mind only realizing what was happening an instant before it went through my fingers to the screen. Rationally, I understand that some part of my subconscious has planned this out; their actions form too much of a coherent plan not to be planned. But it really brings the illusion to me that they have their own sentience. Which feels very creepy.

 

[SkyBubble]

When you write the same characters over a period of years, I have done with a few series, I think that sort of thing is unavoidable.

I've done some series as well.

 

[SkyBubble]

One of my firm tenets as an author is that to write a believable character, you have to know more about them than you reveal to your readers.

I think this is true. For the story I'm currently writing, I know the main characters' meet-cute (which is referred to in passing in the story), I know the chaotic call where he first asked her out. I know what the future holds for them. None of that fits within the confines of the story. But it helps frame the story.

 

[SkyBubble]

One of my firm tenets as an author is that to write a believable character, you have to know more about them than you reveal to your readers.

This is true. The better you know the character, the more real the character will seem to your audience. Don't just know what they do and how they react and feel in the story. Know them as well as you can.

I've written the meeting and a few other things for the characters in the story I'm working on. They don't fit within the story arc, but hey help me understand my characters better.

 

[YDB95]

Yes, there are definitely some characters I still miss and think about revisiting now and then. Whether or not I actually do that depends on how well I feel I've wrapped up the story to date.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Post-partum depression of a sort.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Have you ever spent so long on a story that the characters almost become real people to you and you kind of miss them when you've submitted the story?

Absolutely. Most of my stories, as a result, take place in the "same universe" so that my characters can live on, and sometimes make appearances in new stories. Some of them are literal continuations.
Also, every story I write, at least one character, is based in some way on my wife (typically the main female lead) and one based on me (typically the main male lead) so that makes it more real too..