- Do you often find your characters can relate to you as their writer and vice-versa?
- Do you see any small part of yourselves in the characters you've written, even if you didn't mean for this to be the case?
- Is there any other RPer on the forum whom you think actually mirrors their character in a surprising way now that you think about it?
- If you do this sort of thing actively and purposefully, then why not share what characters you relate to and how you found writing said character?
1. First part of that question: that's a perspective I've never taken, mostly because I do not personify my characters to such an extent that they consistently break the "fourth wall", that they have that dramatic irony, that they would be
aware that they are a figment being written by me, the writer. So to answer the first portion of your question as it is worded: no, never. Conversely, yes, here's why:
2. I as the writer, I can relate to my characters in some way. I have to. To the reader and as another human being, we as a people know only as much as we have learned and experienced, have the mental capacity to comprehend and analyze, and the skill in which to clearly and effectively relay or communicate it all. If any of these parts fail in the process, you may find a disconnect between what you hoped to achieve and what the audience could tell--assuming the reader is in some way keen on what you're writing, for lack of a better word.
Was that irony?
If you plan to have a character with human characteristics and you are writing them, it would do you well to put in some recognizable trait that strings them together, otherwise you will be struggling to write them. It is comparable to writing a character with a specialized, real-world profession you plan to work into the plot, but hardly knowing anything about that profession. Continuing is a struggle. You have to learn up on it, a kind of interaction with material that will educate you on the matter. Same thing here: Our understanding of people is by our interaction with them.
You know yourself best. You live with yourself everyday. You can easily write a quirk, mentality, or position of yours into your character. To write beyond yourself while still retaining a string of traits that are easily comparable to you as a writer, you also know your family and close friends well. They are not like you, yet you can relate to and draw parallels from them. Going even further, many people write characters that would otherwise be conflicting with how they perceive themselves. That character may be derived from experiences with people whom they disagree, personally feel a rivalry with, or have felt the end of their antagonistic behavior, actual or perceived. Mirroring traits or even fantasizing how those people go about their lives and then using that conjecture into a character is, all in all, a relation--just not between you and your character in the way most people initially think.
Hell, I've even written a character that is hardly like me, but most of the supporting characters they interact with are in many ways similar to me, and so the main character's reactions are greatly shaped by that inversion. That's a spin for a number of people.
There, my shiny two cents, though I expounded beyond the question.
3. I will say that majorly, anyone who doesn't have the wherewithal and/or the desire to perceive beyond themselves will most often write a character that is an idealized version of themselves, with circumstantial details adjusted to the setting of the role-play. There is nothing wrong with that despite one popular belief, but it is an observation of mine. On the whole, I don't know anyone well enough to say that, yes, this person writes characters on a specific forum that is otherwise not like them, except
this one thing. In truth, you can find anything in any character and pin it correctly to the author if it's general or universal enough, don't you think?
4. Almost every character I have ever made has something to which I relate. Every character I make in this way, I enjoy. That said, I am not attached to any of my characters in role-play,
because role-play is such a temporary endeavor that most often relies on the dedication of others, when you think about it. It's just another writing challenge to me, with a little something familiar thrown in to keep me on track.