I talk.
I’m outgoing.
I am in my stories.
Don’t like it? Tough
Okay, okay, if you’ve scrolled down this far, I guess you deserve to know a little more. 😀 And yes, that is just like me.
Many people ask if writers fictionalize friends and family members and add them to their stories. I did with my first book when I was learning about characters and trying to make them feel alive. But now I don’t think about it.
However, there is some real life in my books. And that is my personality. Yes, I am in many of my stories. It really wasn’t on purpose, but when your grandma reads one of your books and comments on you being one of the characters, you know it’s true.
So, who am I and what am I like?
I’m Sara in Gift from the Storm. (I just don’t like to cook or bake like Sara.)
Emma in Home Fires of the Great War. (I don’t have a twin or any younger siblings.)
Gina in Finding Joy. (Just ask my mom and she’d tell you that Gina and I are just alike. Including our love of mac & cheese.)
Debbie in Through the Tunnel. (Yep, outgoing, always dreaming up things to do, talking to everyone, that’s me.)
Autumn in Dylan’s Story. (Loves hot chocolate, cries in moments of stress or hurt for others. I’m not a good cook though.)
Allie in Lake Wood. (I’d much rather do outdoor things, or have adventures than do housework or cook.)
And those are just my novels. I don’t have time to think about each shorter story and find out if I’ve slipped into them or not. 🙂 And there are characters who are rather like me, but not completely.
Aunt Mimmie in By Paths Unknown.
Ali in Hymns in the Hills.
Charity in Triple Creek Ranch.
Sally in The Unexpected Request.
And so, there you have it. My personality slips into my stories and those characters are usually pretty easy to write about.
What about you? If you are a writer, do you find your personality slipping into your stories? If you are a reader, have you ever found a character who is a lot like you? Let me know. I’d love to hear.
I definitely end up in my books, usually without conscious thought, and often in surprising places. 😉 Off the top of my head, I’m a mix of Levi and Natalie from Bridgers, totally Alex from A Brother Is Born (except I can’t cook), and very much Jenna from Second Family. In the Quiet Valor series that I’m currently working on, I’d say I’m like Emmalie in more ways than I expected, but maybe not as much as some others. 🙂
Oh, that’s fun, Angie! Now I need to go and reread those stories and find out what you are like. 😀
Ah, I thought you were just going to leave us there after four lines (which wouldn’t be entirely out of character for you) 😉
Oh, yes, my personality slips into my stories, whether that just be a quirk of mine in a character, or a character who finds themselves struggling with the same things I do, or one with a family similar to mine. I know Caleb tends to nod and then say “Yeah, …..”, which I do. And his sister, Anna, is like me in that she’s introverted but has learned to be outgoing, even to the extent that those who don’t know her well might not even realize she’s shy at all. Another one of the nurses, Narcissa, tends to look at the ground while walking, which I do sometimes, but especially used to (that’s dangerous, btw; I know from experience that you run into people that way). Anna does that too, but not as much as Narcissa. Let’s see, Anna also giggles like I do. And from my other WIP set at Valley Forge, my protagonist Eliza tends to handle sorrow in the same way I do, except for the fact that she isn’t saved and doesn’t have a Heavenly Father to run to. But the basic core things like that she tends to close up but will open up only to those who she feels really care about her (which takes her a while to trust), that she finds a place alone to cry and doesn’t like to be seen crying by people who she’s not close to (but crying in front of someone doesn’t close her off to them more, it makes her open up to them more), and that one thing tends to pile on top of each other, leaving her crying about her life in general not just one thing (I think that most girls do that though! We’re spaghetti!), all those things tend to be similar, and she’s probably what I would be if I wasn’t saved. Now, what she is after she’s saved, which for most of the story she’s not, that’s more exactly like my personality. Except that I’m not quite as introverted as her, but as she learns to lean on God for confidence, she’ll become less and less like that. She also has the part of my personality where I tend to enjoy the company of small children or of adults, and don’t tend to seek-out people my own age. (She does have one friend who is only three years younger than her, but she loses contact with her; she does end up friends with a girl I think one year younger than her, but that girl was a faithful seeker to get Eliza to open up to her, and only with prayer and perseverance did that ever happen). There’s probably more, but I’ll quit there, haha! Man, I’m not sure if I realized how many characters I have that resemble my personality. I know I have guy characters too who have traits that I would like in a husband one day too. Like Caleb loving people and being one to try to brighten even the saddest events or Michael (who ends up being Eliza’s husband!) being observant of other people. Do you ever find that to be true in your characters?
I did just realize that, though I have multiple siblings and dream of having a bunch of kids one day (and when I say a bunch, yes, I mean like 9 or 12 or maybe even 15, lol!), that doesn’t come out in hardly any of my characters! Anna and Caleb’s family, I think the first family of characters I’d ever worked with, have 5 and 2 on the way (though they think it’s just 1!), but my other families tend to be small. I have one with 2 kids (and they’re actually half-siblings), another with 2-3 (I’ve just now started working with them, and number 3 would be quite small, so I’m still debating), another with 2 girls, one of my ladies has only one son, etc. Well, maybe one day if I have my 12 kids, I’ll write more large sibling groups! I also just realized that, despite the fact that I have both my parents and God has blessed me with ones that get along and are kind to each other, most of my characters don’t have one of those things. Eliza has only her dad, and he passes away during the story. Narcissa had only her step-father growing up, but was pretty much cared for by her older half-brother, and the girl who tries to be Eliza’s friend has a dad who I’m not even sure where he is! (And I’ve already finished the plotting and first drafting and I still don’t know; he’s mysterious!). WOW. Somehow I can type long stuff all the time, and still amaze myself at how much I talk…. Maybe I should just be glad that I don’t have to see everything I say in a day typed out!
Btw, in what ways are you like Charity in TCR (seeing as how I believe that’s the only one of these I’ve read… Yet anyway!)
I’m like Charity in the fact that I would be climbing trees and jumping from rafters, and making friends with people who aren’t like me. 🙂
I think it’s easier to write characters who have similar traits. At least at first.