Thread: The Theory of Fictional Characters as Reflections of Writers’ Personalities.

Originally Posted by Foxee

Now that would be interesting!

Umm......it might not be quite your cup of tea. The MC is not exactly a Mother Teresa type.

Don't worry about my typecasting...go ahead and post it.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

I'd forgotten that I put something in Workshop ages ago written from a female POV and it was quite well received.

Heh. So this is a case of you obsessing and over-thinking things.

Originally Posted by JosephB

Heh. So this is a case of you obsessing and over-thinking things.

Don't you start. I've just had a lecture from my better half on the same topic. Ok, yes, I do, sometimes. I'll get over it. In fact I'm over it. I'm working on something to rock Foxee's socks off. Try and say that quickly three times.

I'm duct-taping my socks on, Ox. Good luck!

There is one other question to be considered - as long as you don't play a group of people to stereotype, who's to judge whether or not you're accurate? Between the diversity of people in the world and all the idiosyncrasies and hypocrisies they can have, I'd think any type of person is possible. Therefore, if someone tells you, "There's no way a so-and-so person could be like that," is it because of your lack of empathy or their lack of imagination?

I could just be full of shit, of course, but I still wonder about the above often.

Originally Posted by Leneth

"There's no way a so-and-so person could be like that," is it because of your lack of empathy or their lack of imagination?

Welcome to the forum, Leneth.

I guess the problem with a lack of empathy might be that all your characters would more or less be a reflection of how you feel and react.

But how much does imagination and the ability to simply observe and capture human behavior come into play?

I have no idea. I think it likley just comes naturally to people who write good characters. So I don't think knowing is that important. It's more of an innate ability.

Originally Posted by JosephB

Welcome to the forum, Leneth.

I guess the problem with a lack of empathy might be that all your characters would more or less be a reflection of how you feel and react.

But how much does imagination and the ability to simply observe and capture human behavior come into play?

I have no idea. I think it likley just comes naturally to people who write good characters. So I don't think knowing is that important. It's more of an innate ability.

Thanks, JosephB.

Personally, I think it all depends on the writer's own natural proclivities when it comes to characterization. Do you want your characters to be caricatures or down-to-earth? What purpose do they serve in the story, and how do you want them to serve that purpose? Do you stick to the guidelines of the genre/format or risk trying something else that you think will work?

I would prefer to write however I want to write and let everyone else sort out whether they think it's good or not. That may be harder in practice as I don't have that kind of self-confidence (yet, I hope), so I guess it comes down to what you yourself think is good and how confident you are in that opinion.

Hell, in a world where the literary quality everything from Shakespeare to Twilight is still being fought over, does anyone really know what's definitively 'good'? I think not.

Originally Posted by Leneth

I would prefer to write however I want to write and let everyone else sort out whether they think it's good or not. That may be harder in practice as I don't have that kind of self-confidence (yet, I hope), so I guess it comes down to what you yourself think is good and how confident you are in that opinion.

If you're writing to be read, your audience should be taken into account. Though confidence is important, so is craft. Even huge amounts of confidence can't override poor quality. By the same turn the art of writing may be subjective to a degree but even a character I dislike should have me admiring how that character is written.

Originally Posted by Foxee

If you're writing to be read, your audience should be taken into account. Though confidence is important, so is craft. Even huge amounts of confidence can't override poor quality. By the same turn the art of writing may be subjective to a degree but even a character I dislike should have me admiring how that character is written.

Hence why I said 'I would prefer'. I know the job isn't always that kind. ^_^;

Originally Posted by JosephB

Welcome to the forum, Leneth.

I guess the problem with a lack of empathy might be that all your characters would more or less be a reflection of how you feel and react.

But how much does imagination and the ability to simply observe and capture human behavior come into play?

I have no idea. I think it likley just comes naturally to people who write good characters. So I don't think knowing is that important. It's more of an innate ability.

i think empathy goes beyond just observation and interaction, it's reflection on those observations so that you can relate to what the person is doing. the only way you can feel empathy for another person is to be able to find a way to relate it back to your own life in some way, some people are naturally better at it than others... but i strongly believe that it can be learned and practiced.

in my mind that's sort of where this all gets fuzzy. if you feel like you can truly understand the motives of another person, is it really 'writing what you don't know' or is it just writing about something that you've internalized and feel to be true.

so if you take the case of a man writing the part of a woman... i could create actions for the woman based on what ive observed other women to do, or i could ask myself why the women (that im comparing) do what they do so that i can myself create new actions that still fit comfortably into observed reality.

but then there is the whole 'craft of writing' thing, if you understand what you want to say but you can't say it in an effective way, then it's about as good as not knowing in the first place.

Originally Posted by Sigg

...so if you take the case of a man writing the part of a woman... i could create actions for the woman based on what ive observed other women to do, or i could ask myself why the women (that im comparing) do what they do so that i can myself create new actions that still fit comfortably into observed reality.

but then there is the whole 'craft of writing' thing, if you understand what you want to say but you can't say it in an effective way, then it's about as good as not knowing in the first place.

I might have used the example before but I have Sidney Sheldon book here somewhere that someone passed on to me and it threw me out of the story in the first chapter. I didn't much care for the main character to begin with, not really the author's fault there. And I was willing enough to keep reading and see if I warmed up to the book.

Then a female character was introduced. It made me laugh, shake my head, and put down the book when I read, supposedly from her point of view, that this well-dressed woman who was going out for the evening, 'checked her reflection in the mirror and messed with her hair.'

Sure, a woman's observed action might be that she messes with her hair...but that was a masculine interpretation of that action that didn't fit with the feminine POV as it was presented. She was quite serious about looking lovely and would not have seen a last-minute perfecting of her hairstyle in a negative light.

It was a small thing but added to the presentation of the main character it pitched me right out of the book and I haven't picked it up since.

What did I take away from that as a writer? Actions observed from reality are not enough. Your character has to have believable motivation for the action and a mood that fits. The wording should follow.

Originally Posted by Sigg

i think empathy goes beyond just observation and interaction...

Yes, it does. I was pondering over how much of writing good characters is empathy and how much of it is based on observation and interaction. Likely some combination in varying degrees. Hard to say.

And yes, craft has a great deal to do with it. I was going to say that goes without saying -- but I guess it doesn't.

Originally Posted by ash somers

to put it another way, writers can only write about what they know

This about sums things up for me.

Originally Posted by Foxee

What did I take away from that as a writer? Actions observed from reality are not enough. Your character has to have believable motivation for the action and a mood that fits. The wording should follow.

very well put.