I wrote recently discussing hobbies and whether to include them in your
novel. What about families? Obviously, most characters have families, and some
stories require stronger family types than others. But have you ever written a
novel where the characters or character’s families are based on your own? I
know this is a dangerous concept, because what if someone from your own family
decides to read your novel and recognises where you got that character type
from? Will they be flattered that you’ve included them (to a degree) in your
work, or would they be insulted that you see them in a way that is unfavourable
to them?
E.G. imagine you have a sister who loves a particular movie star, or
singer, and it’s all they talk about. And in your novel you talk about a girl
who is obsessed with someone in particular, if you’re drawing your inspiration
from that sister, isn’t it likewise that you may end basing some of the
dialogue on what they say? Isn’t it obvious that they may think you are mocking
them? It may upset her, obviously that’s not what you’re trying to do, but it
may be the end result.
On the flipside though, what happens when you make up a fictional
character, completely made-up, you haven’t based it on anyone because the character
in your mind is unique, but someone you know, thinks you are basing it on them. You create a clown type character that is
stupid and silly and clumsy and an idiot simply for the point of the story,
when a friend of yours who you’ve asked to reads the story for feedback, gets
upset because they think you are mocking them. What do you do? Do you rewrite
the character because your friend is upset, or do you just keep it the way it
is, because you know it isn’t based on anyone and your friend needs to accept
that?
Thing is you can never satisfy everyone. Someone somewhere is going to
connect with your creations, for good or worse, and if you start changing your
novel because of that, then you are never going to be happy with it. Do what’s
right for your novel, and if you do base a character on a real person, then
good luck, or don’t tell anyone.
Read, follow, comment and enjoy. M x
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