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Date Posted: 01:19:15 09/09/24 Mon
Author: TSL (Exhausted)
Subject: Q & A
In reply to: JeffsFort 's message, "IMAGINE Magazine Question for 8/15" on 01:51:57 08/27/24 Tue

The answer to this question(s) is very complicated and I don’t mean that as a copout, honestly. I have and I am writing several characters that are based completely or at least partially based on real people. I have several reasons for doing this, and they make sense to me, whether or not they make sense to anyone else is really up to them. Does that sound cold, probably but hey it’s my story(s). Okay let me try that again, the reason that I write about real people and let the readers know that the character is totally or partially based on a real person is one, to honour that person and to show my respect for that person. Two is cheating because I know that person’s characteristics and how they interact with people. Third is a combination of the first two, as it allows me to build a more realistic and lifelike person, whose personality will hopefully jump off the page and grab the reader’s attention.

As a reader how I feel about the situation is also a bit complicated. First, does that information matter to me, not really in the scheme of things? However, I do believe in a lot of cases that it does make the character more real to me as a reader. [Author’s Disclaimer: It is tough for me to actually read a story wholly as a reader and not let the author/editor part of me interfere.] Does the fact that a character is based on a real person distract me or turn me off, the short and long answer is NO! Can that fact taint the image of that character, possibly because I would wonder why the author knew or was a friend of that person, and why they would glorify that person if they were not a good a person?

Overall, I believe that basing characters totally or partially is overall a good idea in the majority of times. So if you are an author go ahead and base characters on real people, it is wholly up to you whether or not you tell your readers or not.

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Replies:

  • Difficult to answer -- Boudreaux, 22:29:15 09/09/24 Mon
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