It seems to me that you put an = between realistic and boring/plain, but not all books about 'realistic' characters are living the same kind of life that you do, and usually the books aren't about they normal life but something that happens that goes out of the every day routine, an event that throws everything upside down. If you haven't noticed, not many books are about someone going to work, home, eat , sleep, etc, a good novel is about life with the dull parts left out (citing I don't remember who) or rather a period of the life of someone. so therefor a character can be both realistic and still live an eventful life at the same time.
Elg, for what's worth, I usually create a character picturing someone I know (this isn't unique, I think), and then I shape them a bit more by using enneagram descriptions (which I think is a bit more unique). This gives realistic and consistent behaviour patterns, I believe. HTH
I concede it is possible to be "realistic", which is relatively expressing "close" to real, but I still believe aiming for overt realism in a work of fiction is a good way to lose an audience. I say that because realism comes in degrees, and if given the fullest priority realism can hijack a story. You can see it in the writing workshop, where in an effort to be as real as possible the writer includes way too many details, when most of those details should remain unexpressed. I run into this... a lot. I'm not sure if I've made this clear, but I LOVE science fiction. I can watch an episode of Star Trek and not give a damn about the episode. I'm the guy with the Starfleet Technical Manual wanting to know every little detail about how every little piece of fictional equipment works. Screenplay gives you that gift, to bombard an audience with two of five senses. If I were to translate this passion for detail into a written work it would be disastrous. If my intent is to make this fictional universe as real as I possibly can, I could spend the whole volume writing about a single propulsion system. At some point I must admit defeat, because in writing fiction I must concede ultimately it is fiction, overtly unrealistic, so trying to make it real is an exercise in futility. Along with that lost realism I must also concede a lack of plausibility. Ultimately I must trust the reader to enjoy the world I've tried to create--to make it real--because most will likely find it unappealing.
