Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Who Are My Characters



On this I 8 Wednesday, I say we have a little fun. Time for fun having.


Every so often I get to wondering where my characters come from. I mean, are they part of me, part of you, or are they strictly figments of my imagination?


Today I’m listing 8 possible explanations for who my characters are (and at the end of this post I’m asking you to play…tell me who you think my characters are and, if you write fiction, who your characters are).


1. My characters are really layers of myself at various ages.
2. They’re you.
3. My characters are strangers I study.
4. My main, secondary, and extra peripheral characters are loved ones.
5. Figments, purely figments of that James and the Giant Peach imagination.
6. Characters = split personalities
(ha!).
7. Real entities in their own right as fiction people (imaginary friends per say).
8. A swell mixture of all of the above (this is like option D on any scantron test in school).


This was a fun post to write. In fact, I’m laughing even as I type. So play. Throw out your guesses. No cheating by looking over a friend’s shoulder. Who are my characters? Any explanations I didn’t mention? Who are your characters?


Your ball…

*photo by flickr

17 comments:

  1. Number eight, heavy on number one. Although I would LOVE it to be option 7. I think the same goes for me. :)

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  2. I think my characters are a mix of all your characters and many qualities of people I know or have read about.

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  3. What can I say? I'm a novelist after all. Heavy on the #7. Plus they are so fun to be around. They teach me, they challenge me, and if they can't make me understand the sulk and quit talking for days!!!!!

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  4. A mix of those I know and pieces of me. ;-) Or maybe it's just personality that is similar to others. My characters might be completely unique. I just don't know. *grin*

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  5. My main characters are always a mix of who I am, who I wish to be, and even who I wish I wasn't at times.

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  6. Number 8 all the way. I think characters are mixtures of ourselves, friends, family, and people we've read about, imagined, watched and overheard. :)

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  7. I think number one is the reason I write kids' books. I must have loved my life from ages 8-10-ish!!! :O)

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  8. Number 8! That's what makes this gig so fun. :)

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  9. Number eight! And mine are characters who really catch my attention-the out of the ordinary. :P

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  10. a mix for sure -- all our art (whatever form it takes) is a relation of our life experiences. Not an exact revealing, but hints and shadows of our life. At least, that's what I believe.

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  11. Probably number 8:) I put a lot of me, or who I'd like to be in some of my characters. But I also love to study people and create characters from the personalities around me.

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  12. I'd say #8 and it's probably the same for me. I like to think I create my characters from scratch, but I'm sure if I look deeply I'd see their characteristics come from a combination of several of those you listed.

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  13. Kind of #8, but more #7 for me. I don't think you can point to any person I know and identify them as a character in my books. There may be parts of their personalities in there, but mostly I think they are figments of my imagination.

    I'm excited to hear what YOUR answer is, Wendy. :)

    Amy

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  14. I'm rooting for number 7. I LOVE that.

    I'm not sure where I pull the ideas of my characters, to be honest. I don't have anyone specific in mind when I start writing. They sort of form themselves as I go along. They become imaginary friends though, for sure!

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  15. Definitely 7 with a bit of 1 thrown in to keep them truly real.

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  16. Like Nisa, I vote most for #7, but if this is a math test and I'm working with a scantron, I go with #8. It seems like the "safe" way to go. ;)

    So cool to read everyone's thoughts on this. Thanks for playing ball!
    ~ Wendy

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