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The main character is Me!

TopHat

Minstrel
Hi everybody!

I have finally come up with a good plot, setting, supporting characters etc for my current novell. The problem now is the main character. I have no idea how to make him so i thought about adding some attributes and/or personal touches to him from myself and my own life. Maybe i could borrow him some of my own fears, goals in life, hopes or dreams...

But I´ve reached a point where it feels like im writing about myself and no longer about a fictional person. Im placing myself in the characters place in my novell!

How far do you think the writer can go about adding some "personal" touches to a character before it turns into himself? Should it be done at all?

//Tophat
 

kayd_mon

Sage
Write what you know, they say.

Your readers won't necessarily know that the main character is you. My first foray into writing used a character almost exactly like myself, and while my wife noticed it, other people who didn't know me didn't notice.
 

TopHat

Minstrel
I see. I guess you get to know that character a lot better than others.
Did you have any problems placing your characters in different situations? For example becuse it feals like your writing about yourself maybe you want the best for your character? Maybe he doesnt end up in lifethreatening situations or he is very skillfull, maybe even a master at what he does, knows all the answers etc.

My question is: Can that personal connection to that character distrupt your writing?
 

Butterfly

Auror
Every character we write comes from our minds. So every character will have something of ourselves in every one of them... or so the theory goes.

It shouldn't be a problem so long as you don't let the story suffer as a result, but think of ways to disassociate yourself with it. Don't write the character exactly how you look, don't give them the same likes and dislikes, goals, motivations, etc. Give them a name that is nothing like yours. It may help.
 

kayd_mon

Sage
It can. The story I wrote in which I was (practically) the main character wasn't fantasy, but more humorous realistic fiction. In it, the main character faced problems, but it worked out in the end.

I can see trying to make your character too good, since you're so attached to him, but that can happen to any character, really. You just have to remember that it's often the flaws in characters that make them interesting. Likewise, you can't be afraid to hurt your characters or place them in danger. There must be real stakes!
 

Legendary Sidekick

The HAM'ster
Moderator
If your character shares your strengths (greatly exaggerated?) and flaws (also heavily exaggerated?), this can work out to be a likable character. You need to embrace your flaws, as a writer, and your readers need to embrace the MC's flaws, which they will if your MC is relatable or endearing enough.

An MC who's a... well, not a mini-me... a mega-me? That can work. It did for my first (um... only) novel (I think). I'm sure I'm not the only one guilty of that here, and I'm sure all authors do that to an extent.
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
My question is: Can that personal connection to that character distrupt your writing?

It can if you don't control it. What I mean is if you won't allow your "character" to take a punch in the face because it's a stand in for you, then there's a problem. But if you're willing to let the charter be put through the ringer because the story demands it, then I think you'll be fine. As said above, we all put a little of ourselves into each character.

There's nothing wrong with drawing heavily from your personal life and experiences. Just don't confuse life and story.
 

Lucas

Troubadour
Personally, I would find a book about myself pretty boring. Would basically be Tyrion, but sober and with a worse sense of humour. I found it funny to write my first true novel because the main character is so darn stupid. I basically imagined him very much like those guys in primary and high school who smoked behind the school, stole candy from smaller kids, failed all tests, used drugs, were taken by police, and did not feel bad about any of that.
 
No, if you know when to stop it. For example my MC has little traits of mine in him, more reclusive than most, but at the same time this boisterousness and loquaciousness that is just not me, but a garner of some of my friends.

IMO, most characters in novels are generally adaptations of real-life people in authors' lives or a mixed product or something. So, if you know where to stop it, to prevent yourself from reaching that point of affection and relation for your character that would prevent you in turn from doing anything malicious to him, you'll be fine.
 

Lucas

Troubadour
I usually have many POV characters, and I am working to make their perspectives/personalities so different from one another that they *feel* like different characters. I don't really view any of those characters as myself when I am writing about them, rather I am imagining myself as them.

In my most recent book project, my main characters are an "Elvish" girl (11 years old), a 40-year old former highwayman turned military hero, a 32-year old homosexual count, a 50-year old philosopher and a 24-year old mildly autistic professor in economics.
 

SineNomine

Minstrel
It's generally dangerous, but verboten, to have a self-insertion story. The danger is in the fact that when you feature yourself, or even an exaggerated version of yourself, it's hard to avoid the self-love. Even if you avoid outright mary suedom, you can subconsciously influence the direction of the story simply because your positive traits become better and your negative traits tend to be mitigated. We like to think we are good judges of our character, but even when you freely list your negative traits you tend to think about how they aren't quite so bad. Unless you're depressed, you don't really think in terms of how your flaws damn you, just how they make you "quirky".

Of course this isn't NECESSARILY true, just somewhat likely. You can avoid the pitfalls if you work hard enough and stay vigilant about spotting trouble areas (and also avoid overcompensating in the other direction...) and so it is ultimately a perfectly valid way to create a story. Perhaps more importantly, it's a great tool when you are new to writing and don't have much experience writing from radically different PoVs, or feel unsure about your ability to do so convincingly. It can be helpful for learning how character traits should influence the unfolding of your plot since you generally find it easy enough to ask yourself "What would I do?" and then thinking about what would follow than asking the same of a PoV character who thinks and acts nothing at all like you.
 
I'm my main character in story as well. I don't look at it as a bad thing at all. If it's a fantasy novel you have no limits. You could be anything so why not be? While my character does possess some "other worldly" qualities, she is still very much me. I find it liberating, and an excellent way to live in a world that isn't...here. I don't just do it with my main character, I do it with many of my characters. I base several of them off people I know and love...and hate. In the end they're right- the reader wouldn't know it was YOU-when they read it maybe they see themselves as that character. The possibilities are endless, don't let it hold you back.
 
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