AFAWN - Character Creation - Part 4
The last comment I want to make on character creation which can alleviate some of the work in the process is to look for inspiration.
Let’s talk about inspiration from fictional characters first. To be clear, do not copy characters, do not plagiarize. Plagiarism is stealing and it’s wrong. But there’s no reason you can’t be inspired by a character. So when you come across one in a book or movie that resonates you, really give some thought as to why. What is it about this character that you find so appealing? Their attire? Their looks? Are they smart? Witty? Confident? Daring? Shy? Duplicitous? These are all qualities not exclusive to that character that you can find examples of in other movies and writing. So there’s nothing wrong with recognizing those qualities in someone else’s character. In fact, it’s likely that the character that’s inspiring you was also inspired by some other character written by someone else. The point here is, don’t be shy about recognizing desirable aspects of a character and adopting into one of your own. Because your character will be molded by the story and by their backstory in addition to whatever qualities you inject them with. But DO NOT STEAL!
Now let’s discuss inspiration from real life. It’s not uncommon for an author to lean on personal relationships or family and friends for inspiration during character creation. This is not much different from the first paragraph where you can absolutely recognize the qualities in these people that you want to put into your own characters. But if you’re going one step further and basing your character on someone from real life, you might want to consider talking to that person to make sure they’re all right with it, especially if you’re going to use their name. If you’re not using their name or you’re not putting events in the book that mirror real life events with that person, then it’s probably fine to just write and not worry about permissions. This is your call as everyone will probably have their own opinion on this. I like to think of the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you). And some other author were writing you into their story, would you want a heads up first? Me personally, I have a few characters in my book that are heavily based on real life friends and so I spoke with them first before writing them in.