Are your characters a part of you?

Waist-deep in revising my garbled zero draft, I realized I had a problem. I was waffling on key parts of character personalities, backgrounds and motivations. Whatever I decided would have a profound impact on the way the narrative unfolded.

Characterization is extremely important.

Interesting characters make an familiar concept fresh. They anchor readers to a story. At worst, they can drive a reader to revulsion or boredom and make them give up on the book. At best, characters make them fall in love, care, and never forget. 

There are still a few key things I don't know about my story; I'm steadily working on it.  

But I know one thing: I don't want my protagonist to be me. 

If I gave her too many of my dominant personality traits and interests, I'd slip into writing myself. It is an easy trap to fall into.

How much of a character is actually a reflection of the author?
Is it a bad thing if character(s) have too many similarities to the author? Does it cheapen the story if it is obvious that the author's personal life influenced the narrative heavily? Does this create weak writing and poorly-written characters? The dreaded Mary Sue and Gary Stu?

Inevitably, our stories and the characters that inhabit them are a reflection of us. We either give them traits that we admire or despise. We put them in situations that we find compelling and then walk them through the scene. In the most intense scenes, we experience what they feel on an emotional and/or physical level. We become them in the similar way that an actor becomes the fictional person they're portraying.

That's part of what makes story come to life.

Even if they're not a direct reflection of us as a person, our characters reflect our experiences. How can they not? Fiction has to have a kernel of truth to be believable. It isn't possible (or necessary) to completely distance ourselves from our characters. We have to draw from our own experiences (or the experiences of others) to transform a figment into as real of a person as possible.

But, there is also a slippery slope. Too much of drawing from our own experiences can make a story autobiographical. It is possibly a thinly veiled attempt for the author to deal with their own issues in a way that gives them complete control over the situation. I've been guilty of it. I'm sure you have too.

A writer has to be self aware to avoid the worst of this. All of our protagonists shouldn't be a slightly altered manifestation of us devoid of any of our actual or perceived flaws. Our antagonists shouldn't be a one-dimensional manifestation of someone we dislike. Drawing inspiration from diverse, external sources adds color and depth to a story.

How about trying to portray a character who doesn't fit so neatly into your worldview or mold? You may be amazed at how they turn out.

My main character has similarities to me, but I've made the most dominant part of her personality the exact opposite of mine. Simplistic concept, but it works for her. She's done things and will do things that I don't necessarily agree with, and that's OK. I see a challenge for myself with this character, and I'm excited about it.


It is an exercise in creativity and growth to write a character who tests you. Perhaps that character will be your greatest triumph. Or at the very least, they'll be fun and fascinating to write.

Extra points if this character is your star and not one of the side characters. Supporting cast members seem to be so much easier to allow to get away with things. This likely goes back to that unconscious or conscious desire to insert ourselves into our story, and if the main character reflects us, then certainly we don't want them to stray too far outside of what we view as right, normal or important.

But that's another blog post.

Here's to developing strong, fascinating characters that aren't just you or me in a wig.