Characters In Fiction
Aug. 3rd, 2011 09:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
writingopedCharacters in fiction are just that - fictional characters. The concept may seem simple and obvious, but there are a surprising number of people who don't fully grasp the concept.
Many readers don't understand that characters in fiction are not real people plucked out of life and stuck onto the written page. While it is an author's job to make characters seem lifelike, they are in fact characters and not real people. Even historical characters used in fiction are refracted through the lens of the author's feelings, thoughts, and perspective. Other characters tend to be amalgams of people the author has encountered, sometimes without the author even realizing or intending for that to be the case. In addition, the author's own perspectives always come into play. The way the author sees the world will always color his or her characters in some way.
The people I know often end up in my writing in some regard. Back in my fanfiction days, I created three child characters based on my youngest brother's youngest children. The actual kids very small at the time, their own personalities just beginning to emerge. I took what little I knew of them, added some hopes and fears and suppositions, and used the combination to create three pre-teen characters.
For more recent examples, I will point to the two main characters in my recently published book, The Hand of Fate (shameless self-promotion :) ). The female lead is loosely based upon my best friend. She has had different life experiences, and has a somewhat different view of the world. She reacts to situations differently from the way my best friend would react to them. Even though she has my best friend's snark and wit and some of her habits and likes and dislikes and problems, she also has a lot of me in her. She also has a lot of herself in her, bits and pieces that came from no known source. Similarly, the male lead is an amalgam. In his case, he gets his looks, his job description, and a few characteristics from an acquaintance of mine, his family tree from someone I met back before there was a world wide web, a few more characteristics from my own wishful thinking, and other bits from - once again - no known source. While the best friend and the acquaintance might recognize some of themselves in these characters, they will also see quite a bit of difference between the characters and themselves. This is what makes the characters 'characters.'
It amazes me how many people don't seem to fully grasp the concept of fictional characters, how many readers will assume a character - even one based on a historical figure - to be a 100% accurate representation of an actual person. This is never, ever the case - not even when the author is writing about him- or herself as a character (maybe especially not then).
The not-entirely-truthful standard disclaimer says: "Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental." The honest truth is that fictional characters should resemble actual persons. That's their job. And much like song lyrics, the object of that resemblance should be a subjective thing, different for every single reader. The character based on my best friend, for example, might remind one reader of a sister, another of her mom, another of an old friend from college, and another of herself. No reader who doesn't know my best friend will see a resemblance between the main character and my friend, and those who do know her may not recognize her in the character, due not only to the other influences on the character but also to a difference in the way they and I see my friend.
Sadly, as long as people fail to understand the simple idea that characters in fiction are "made-up", there will be a need for the standard disclaimer.
Many readers don't understand that characters in fiction are not real people plucked out of life and stuck onto the written page. While it is an author's job to make characters seem lifelike, they are in fact characters and not real people. Even historical characters used in fiction are refracted through the lens of the author's feelings, thoughts, and perspective. Other characters tend to be amalgams of people the author has encountered, sometimes without the author even realizing or intending for that to be the case. In addition, the author's own perspectives always come into play. The way the author sees the world will always color his or her characters in some way.
The people I know often end up in my writing in some regard. Back in my fanfiction days, I created three child characters based on my youngest brother's youngest children. The actual kids very small at the time, their own personalities just beginning to emerge. I took what little I knew of them, added some hopes and fears and suppositions, and used the combination to create three pre-teen characters.
For more recent examples, I will point to the two main characters in my recently published book, The Hand of Fate (shameless self-promotion :) ). The female lead is loosely based upon my best friend. She has had different life experiences, and has a somewhat different view of the world. She reacts to situations differently from the way my best friend would react to them. Even though she has my best friend's snark and wit and some of her habits and likes and dislikes and problems, she also has a lot of me in her. She also has a lot of herself in her, bits and pieces that came from no known source. Similarly, the male lead is an amalgam. In his case, he gets his looks, his job description, and a few characteristics from an acquaintance of mine, his family tree from someone I met back before there was a world wide web, a few more characteristics from my own wishful thinking, and other bits from - once again - no known source. While the best friend and the acquaintance might recognize some of themselves in these characters, they will also see quite a bit of difference between the characters and themselves. This is what makes the characters 'characters.'
It amazes me how many people don't seem to fully grasp the concept of fictional characters, how many readers will assume a character - even one based on a historical figure - to be a 100% accurate representation of an actual person. This is never, ever the case - not even when the author is writing about him- or herself as a character (maybe especially not then).
The not-entirely-truthful standard disclaimer says: "Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental." The honest truth is that fictional characters should resemble actual persons. That's their job. And much like song lyrics, the object of that resemblance should be a subjective thing, different for every single reader. The character based on my best friend, for example, might remind one reader of a sister, another of her mom, another of an old friend from college, and another of herself. No reader who doesn't know my best friend will see a resemblance between the main character and my friend, and those who do know her may not recognize her in the character, due not only to the other influences on the character but also to a difference in the way they and I see my friend.
Sadly, as long as people fail to understand the simple idea that characters in fiction are "made-up", there will be a need for the standard disclaimer.
