Are your characters based on people you know? Maybe even quite loosely, but something about them in borrowed from them for the sake of the story and the character? I sometimes do this without even realizing it at first. Other times it might be deliberate. I don't really see anything wrong with this, but others might disagree. I think it can help when it comes to developing characters that feel full and realistic. On the flip side, are your main characters some sort of version on yourself? I think as writers we often step into our characters and something like that is probably easier if we created a character that (for better or worse) is somewhat like us. Do you do these things? How does it affect your writing? If you don't do this at all, what sort of things do you do in place of this?
I've definitely learned about parts of the human condition from people I know (or myself, since I'm human some of the time). That all goes into the mental library, then comes out as characters' constituent aspects. End result is that I probably couldn't track a trait's most influential source if I tried.
For the most part, my characters are heavily inspired by various people, though there are some that are mostly constructed from the ground up using my knowledge of psychology. It is probable that these characters are subconsciously influenced by people that exhibit traits of said characters. I also do make characters like me, and it is quite hard for me to construct characters that don't have at least some elements of me since I am on the autism spectrum, making it rather difficult to properly betray "normal" people. I also have a tendency to draw a lot of inspiration from historical figures.
I'm guilty of having my characters spout phrases that are my pet peeves. In my book on Haiti, my character slammed Columbus, as that was the rhetoric I believed. I found out later that I was totally wrong about his escapades on the island, but my character is stuck with the mis-info. In the historical genre, I have a hard time relating acquaintances to the characters of old. I have written a modern mystery/drama and almost all the characters are pieces of friends I've known.
My MC is a phallocentric (phallophobic) moron who ignores his perception and believes he is cursed. He is based on a years-long recurring nightmare. All my other characters are based on observations or experiences.
My bad guys are collections of all my most uncomfortable pseudo-beliefs, and my good guys have all my vices.
That makes me think of this hilarious article: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/dec/05/my-boyfriend-a-writer-broke-up-with-me-because-im-a-writer "Don't write about me in order to spin a broader point." —and then she does exactly that. I think no one's a good guy here, for the record; they're each clearly too self-absorbed to have any kind of sustainable relationship. She was in love with the nouns: Paris, writer, Nora Roberts, and now needs to pin being dumped on a flaw in the societal framework instead of something bland like character and maturity. He couldn't stand being around her because he couldn't stand himself. It raises an interesting question, though: fictional or non-fictional, would you be okay with someone dear writing about you? It rips you from your context into theirs, and both are quite biased. And while a fictional character rests in ambiguity, all it takes is one cozy interview for the author to say: yes, the chainsaw burglar was actually based on my close friend Not The Territory and his bewildering pastimes. I'm undecided. Need to think about it.
I mean I've done it enough to other people that I feel like I would sort of have to be okay with it. Sometimes I've asked the person and sometimes I've just done it. Even in fiction I've kept a name, occupation and location when I based a character on a former lover. Actually, I've done that with more than one lover, and those things were published. So... break my heart and I'll put you in print. LOL. No one who knows I've done that to them really cares. People know I'm a writer and that these sort of things happen.
only if my character were outlandishly transposed by someone who hates me. I'd rather not be included in someone's memoirs.
Are your characters based on people you know? Maybe even quite loosely, but something about them in borrowed from them for the sake of the story and the character? They are never consciously based on people I know. I often steal from people though. My sister has this habit of being her own worst enemy and creating her own conflict, in life that's tiresome, in literature it can make for a compelling character if done correctly. I like character driven stories. The Grandfather is definitely my Father and uses his very dry sense of humour just to add a splash of Humour into a Psychological Horror so it has some dips and isn't intense throughout. I also want him to be likeable and humour is a good way - we all like a funny guy/gal. Are your main characters some sort of version on yourself? My main character is a little bit. In fact the ending of the novel is based on a problem I tend to have which is that I always assume the worst and see a situation as hopeless and then...POP...it's solved. Being someone who gives up too easily can have some bad consequences - as my MC will find out.
