I think with some of my characters, mostly the males, is that they have some kind of quality that I wish that I had. Whether it be a more kind and selfless nature, or a physical strength or skill that sets them apart from everyone else. Sort of an idealized version of myself within reason.

Like my character Gin, who's naturally a kind and caring person. Those are qualities I wish I had more of. And also, he's a werewolf, and I LOVE werewolves.

So yeah, my character's aren't really based off me, but they do exhibit charactersistics that I wish I had, or had more of.

Sam and Jim share numerous personality traits with me. Umbra is sort of like a representation of my tendency to obsess over things. Ezra has my "just get it over with" attitude which occasionally conflicts with my inherit laziness.

mlai
Actually I just can't understand, off-hand, how a character can become like you unless that's what you aimed for right at the beginning.

When I put a character in a situation, the question I'd ask myself is "How would he/she react based on his/her worldviews etc etc?" I'd go so far as to extensively research said worldviews (I love you Google).

I never ever ever ask "How would I react to this?" It's a fundamentally wrong question!

I dont know if its fundamentally wrong. I typically ask myself "How would I handle this if I were the character." I try to put their world views ahead of my own but that isnt always probable.

RobertTidwell
I dont know if its fundamentally wrong. I typically ask myself "How would I handle this if I were the character." I try to put their world views ahead of my own but that isnt always probable.

Granted you are always there as a reference for basic human emotions. That's a given. But it shouldn't apply at a higher level.

mlai, at least for me it can happen because, while I know where a story is going, I seldom know exactly how the characters will get there. I have ideas, but I try a very relaxed approach to developing my characters. I set them in the circumstance, & then allow them to mature in the most interesting way the plot will allow.

As far as how my character ended up resembling me without that being my aim I don't have an answer for you. I created them & people commented that they reminded them of me, or as the evolved, people said as much.

Later,
Chip

If my characters were like me they'd be laughing at every dumb thing that happened to them, and you know with writing.. it's best not to laugh at your own jokes or um the characters laughing at their own jokes.

Let's see... Starla's like my mom, always doing goofy things to embarrass me. Scout is a parity of my own brother or what I think he's thinking. Pepe is a parity of all those bullies from school. Luka is based after some old friends I had that have way too many problems for them to handle.

In a way they are me too.
Starla= what I think my brother thinks of me. The annoying sister. (She is also the character that looks the most like me.) Scout=myself next to my goofy mom/Starla and myself next to the people I care about/luka and myself next to bullies/Pepe. Pepe=myself as a bully.

I think the key differences though are Scout and Pepe are guys, so I made them more prone to aggressive and perverted behaviors, being attracted to chicks, and saying things I would never say.

well, I try to make my characters different, but to be honest, they're all different facets of me (except for Erika...). I don't enjoy writing characters I can't relate to at all; if I don't like a character, it just isn't fun developing them. however, I try to change my mindset when I'm thinking about the different characters-- in an unpleasant situation, King would get serious and calm, Eve would get flustered, Erika would get violent or mean, Tom would probably freeze up and cry, and leif would suck it up and try to keep a positive attitude.

that doesn't mean that I'd react like these characters... but I've felt the emotions they've felt. I think it's cause I'm probably the only person in the world I truly and really understand, cover to cover. if I tried to base characters off of real people, I would feel like my characters were strangers. the only exception is Erika, who's based off of my sister; but then, I feel like I understand my sister's personality enough to guess how she'd react in situations. (ok, Erika's a bit of an extreme version of my sister... she IS a psychotic, violent murderer...)

some of my characters are probably a little too similar. they're almost all very polite and nice (except for erika!! ^_^!!) but I'm working on making them meaner. none of them are religious, and they're all very emo...

but I feel like I'm figuring out this stuff as I go along. It used to be, when I wrote stories and stuff, the main character would always be the same person (with a different name and background) and the plotline, though seemingly different, always had the very same shape and theme. I consciously tried to eliminate that character-type that can't seem to get out of my fiction, and made it a priority to keep out the theme... but somehow, Tom/Eve turned into the classic Kristen character, and King's background is the same exact plotline I've been trying to escape from. (I didn't realize it as I wrote it... and now it's too late.) but oh well.

anyway, I guess my characters are like me, in different moods.

cs3ink
mlai, at least for me it can happen because, while I know where a story is going, I seldom know exactly how the characters will get there. I have ideas, but I try a very relaxed approach to developing my characters. I set them in the circumstance, & then allow them to mature in the most interesting way the plot will allow.

As far as how my character ended up resembling me without that being my aim I don't have an answer for you. I created them & people commented that they reminded them of me, or as the evolved, people said as much.

Later,
Chip

thats cuz you are trying to shove them into the plot. Try letting the plot develop around personalities you form before the story takes place and you'll find they will stay true to themselves which makes for a much richer cast.

I would say that there are some similarities...my daughter is the star in "It's Hard Out There For A Gwen!" and my wife and I star in "Our Proposal Adventure..." but "" is different I think as the story evolves so does the characters. I don't think you can help being similar to your characters. But I don't try to to develop them as me but it happens...just like my daughter...what ever you give birth to usually has the imprints of its creator.

All my characters have a little bit of my personality. Tori is someone who nobody really gets at all, very different from other kids. I think I was a lot like that when I was five years old, and I think I still am. Kitty has kind of the relaxed side of my personality, and Haru has the hyper part.
Especially when you're a loner, it's easier to build your characters around yourself since you don't know a great amount of other people.

Notice how I don't talk much, and suddenly I jump into the "comics" forum and suddenly I won't shut the heck up? Apparently, I like making comics a bit too much more than anything else... anyhew...

While none of my characters are technically "me" as I know myself, I'd have to say they're probably versions of myself as I'd be in their own lives. One interesting thing I just noticed, though, is that the Dea twins from my comic have a bizarre correlation to myself. Deedee is quiet and reserved, but harbors a deep hatred for people who wouldn't mind taking advantage of her or her friends and family - a lot like me, only she gets a lot more violent. Bebe, however, is more or less the anti-Leonard - she's loud, cheerful, and a slave to her impulses.

None of my characters are really myself. Mostly, they're other people I know, but I'm sure not telling people which characters are based on them. Probably the character that's closest to me in personality is Dr. Williams, but more as I was say, 6 or 7 years ago than how I am now. And maybe Dr. J as well. Dr. J puts his foot in his mouth about as often as I do mine, but Dr. J is a lot smarter than I am.

Well, they're all figments of my imagination, so I guess there's inevitably a little of me in all of my characters. But I do try to avoid writing myself into my stories. I find it gets actually gets in the way of writing if I identify too much with a character (same problem for the 2nd type of "Mary Sue" character, the one you're attracted to). I have to be able to distance myself to an extent and have an objective view of how they would react in a given situation. And I really don't have a problem with writing characters I wouldn't personally like, actually - Vector's a total douchebag, and I love writing him, it's fun.