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 Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 1:35 pm
The truth is I didn't really know what to call this.
But have you ever found yourself writing into your story, something your character says or does, that you or a friend or family member would normally do? Like write in a slang term that might not fit the era or the characters personality? Little actions they do, like the Male Main Character of your story might skip down the hall of a medieval castle he works in which isn't anything like his personality, normally he is a no nonesence kind of guy.
I only ask because my friends and I usually refer to 'food' as 'noms' and I found myself almost swapping the word 'food' whenever mentioned in my story, for the word 'noms'. Which isn't even an actual word to my knowledge.
So, I ask. Does stuff like this sometimes happen to anyone else? Alright, I pass the baton along, next speak please!
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Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 1:53 pm
It makes sense given that every character is a fragment of you or your experiences/people you've met. Most writers do take elements from one or more people to shape them into believable characters.
But it probably is wise to veto anything they do or say to ensure that it is appropriate to the character and their era.
I often have my characters having similar exchanges to what me and my family have. biggrin My family haven't noticed though lol
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Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 7:49 pm
I just go a step further and add their mannerisms to my own. I see snippets of people who had interesting ways of talking and such in my own speech and other traits. Not sure how much of that comes out in my writing though, as I don't really look for that sort of thing.
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Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 8:01 pm
I usually have a character who acts like me, just so I feel more...into the story. If you get what I mean. confused And I always have my characters talk like people do today - it helps me convey what I'm trying to say, and I edit it out later. So that's not a huge problem for me. And my characters bicker in the same way my parents, my friends and I do. xd It makes the story a lot more fun for me to write.
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Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 8:46 am
@elemental: I do try and make sure anything I may accidentally place in my story is appropriate for the character and era. I also find it very hard to keep little snippets of my sense of humor out of my stories as well.
@Kiddo: I have found myself sometimes talking the way some of my characters would as well. I was working on this short about people in a different world than ours but they spoke a lot of old English, and the week I was writing that I spoke in Old English. My friends became concerned. Now they're used to it. It's funny how that can happen sometimes.
@Fighter: I do get what you mean. I think every writer has one character, whether they are the main character or a side-line character, that has at least some similarities to themselves, just so they feel like a part of the story. So they'll know how to word certain things with certain people. Or even have people they know, like your friends or family members, characters based off of them. Because then you know the character better. I usually write in whatever type of speech they are supposed to talk in. I find it easier to understand that way. And remember the time period too.
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Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 9:41 am
Dude, I'm so making my character refer to grapes as gonads, which is what me and my friend calls them. And that could so work because I'm about to write a scene in a cafeteria. mrgreen
If you write something not appropriate for that character I'd suggest fixing it during the editing process. Every action should make sense. Granted, if you are trying to layer the character, give them depth, then keep it. He skipped down the hallway? He's really a child at heart. But this too has to make sense and seem realistic. It's hard.
Luckily I'm writing about a crazy woman who had a mental breakdown and suffers from delusions and paranoia, so when she does things that seems out of context you can just chalk it up to her craziness. She's a lot of fun to write!
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All Purpose Muling Device
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Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:30 am
Can't say as I have. See, I have this thing where I'm pretty damn familiar with the personality and mannerisms of each character I'm writing. At worst, I will forget a certain trait or quirk for a bit if I haven't touched them in awhile.
It also helps that I tend to write things where most ... weird things I or people I know might say wouldn't make any sense whatsoever.
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Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 3:15 am
Hmm, I phase into my character sometimes. As if I wasn't acting like myself at the time but following an impulse. I usually act according to what characteristics I think I have but sometimes I slip out of character. For example, I start socializing and talking as if I'm someone else.
The characters in my story usually have a voice inside my head, chattering and making noise all the time. I call the place in my head with all the voices 'the apartment' and there's Lester, which was one of the characters I develop a long time ago, hit his neighbour playfully sometimes, push people's potted plant off the balconies and basically being a menace. But he's funny and can run very fast, that being trait of a prankster. His neighbor is the cook, I can't recall his name right now but he makes really good Fettuccine Alfredo. Some pasta and cheese dish.
In the end, it's alot of snippets that get filtered into the story I write. I'd ask them: What would you do in this situation? And they would reply: Let's just steal it or something among those lines.
But I usually don't do things like adding word I usually use on the characters. hat would be weird.
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Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:12 am
Usually in my writing I inevitably have a character that is just like me or a character that has a few of my characteristics. I don't plan it that way, it just happens. I noticed that awhile ago and I decided to avoid doing this in my next story. It worked well for the first three chapters until I made the stupid decision to write a flashback of the character. It was a flashback of her in high school and I realized while writing that this past character acted more like me than the future her. It was a major /facepalm and now I'm in the process of rewriting it. stare
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Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 3:53 pm
I one time had a character say "It was epic!" in an alternate universe 1989. It was promptly edited.
I once saw someone who tried to RP as a French nun from the 19th century, and her sample post was full of "******** and the like. I laughed so hard when I read it. It was truly terrible. xD
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Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 5:48 pm
That happens to me a lot. I usually base my characters off people I know except that I twist them up a bit. Like Micheal from my story From the Eyes of a Wren. He is a mix of my two crushes. A friend of mine was trying to write a story and she didn't get that who and what your are around influences your writing.
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Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:52 pm
It has been pointed out to me, quite bluntly, that both my main character and I chew on our lower lip when we're stressed or thinking or some such. I didn't realize I was chewing my lower lip when he told me.
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Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 8:41 am
Wow, I haven't been on in a while. I appologize for not replying to all your posts.
A lot of us seem to write habits and such of people we know or ourselves in with the characters we write. But some of us don't. I guess it all depends on the person really.
I find many of my characters do have something related to someone I know but then equally I have characters that don't relate to anyone. I really enjoyed reading all your posts.
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