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Basing my protagonist on myself

What are the signs of accidental self insertion?When to publish satire of current events?Should I remove scenes that I myself find “boring”?How can I get myself writing again?YA novel with old protagonist?Is protagonist identification/empathy influenced by the reader's gender?What Can I Do to Familiarize Myself with my Characters?“Calm” vs Adventurous Main ProtagonistHow to avoid basing an autistic character too much upon myself?Not projecting myself onto my charactersIs it bad to project myself into my story?

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2

(I asked another question about this novella here.)

In a novella I'm writing, I explore the lives of a young Hispanic woman, Ramona, and her brother, Rafael, in an Orwellian-esque future America where Hispanic immigrants and citizens alike are persecuted. Ramona, give or take, is me, while Rafael is my brother. Their fears and experiences closely mirror my and my brother's own, with a bit of dramatic exaggeration (for example, we have undocumented relatives, but inside the novella, these undocumented relatives have been imprisoned or killed).

I can see ways this could strengthen my characters, by making them hit so close to home so I can really understand and showcase their feelings and thoughts. Are there weaknesses to this?

creative-writing characters

share|improve this question

asked 9 hours ago

weakdnaweakdna

4,48755 gold badges3232 silver badges7373 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Maybe have a look a this question: writing.stackexchange.com/questions/35717/…
  
  – Llewellyn
  8 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
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2

(I asked another question about this novella here.)

In a novella I'm writing, I explore the lives of a young Hispanic woman, Ramona, and her brother, Rafael, in an Orwellian-esque future America where Hispanic immigrants and citizens alike are persecuted. Ramona, give or take, is me, while Rafael is my brother. Their fears and experiences closely mirror my and my brother's own, with a bit of dramatic exaggeration (for example, we have undocumented relatives, but inside the novella, these undocumented relatives have been imprisoned or killed).

I can see ways this could strengthen my characters, by making them hit so close to home so I can really understand and showcase their feelings and thoughts. Are there weaknesses to this?

creative-writing characters

share|improve this question

asked 9 hours ago

weakdnaweakdna

4,48755 gold badges3232 silver badges7373 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Maybe have a look a this question: writing.stackexchange.com/questions/35717/…
  
  – Llewellyn
  8 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

(I asked another question about this novella here.)

In a novella I'm writing, I explore the lives of a young Hispanic woman, Ramona, and her brother, Rafael, in an Orwellian-esque future America where Hispanic immigrants and citizens alike are persecuted. Ramona, give or take, is me, while Rafael is my brother. Their fears and experiences closely mirror my and my brother's own, with a bit of dramatic exaggeration (for example, we have undocumented relatives, but inside the novella, these undocumented relatives have been imprisoned or killed).

I can see ways this could strengthen my characters, by making them hit so close to home so I can really understand and showcase their feelings and thoughts. Are there weaknesses to this?

creative-writing characters

share|improve this question

asked 9 hours ago

weakdnaweakdna

4,48755 gold badges3232 silver badges7373 bronze badges

share|improve this question

asked 9 hours ago

weakdnaweakdna

4,48755 gold badges3232 silver badges7373 bronze badges

share|improve this question

asked 9 hours ago

weakdnaweakdna

4,48755 gold badges3232 silver badges7373 bronze badges

asked 9 hours ago

weakdnaweakdna

4,48755 gold badges3232 silver badges7373 bronze badges

asked 9 hours ago

weakdnaweakdna

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1 Answer
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There are pitfalls into which you are more likely to fall if you base your protagonists on yourself and/or people you care about. These pitfalls can trouble you regardless, but if you're basing a character on yourself, you need to be particularly aware of them. Here are some, in no particular order:

• 
  Mary-Sue characters: how self-critical are you? Are you giving your character your weaknesses, your worse traits, your mistakes; or are you writing the character as the kind of person you would have liked to be? Each character needs to be ultimately human, not super-perfect.


• 
  Wish fulfilment: what happens to your characters - does it follow from the story, or does it happen because you want it for your insert-character? Does Prince Charming fall in love with your character because she's earned it, or because you want a Prince Charming for yourself?


• 
  Nothing bad can happen: are you comfortable having bad things happen to your characters - things that might traumatise them? Are you comfortable killing them if your plot calls for it? Or do you love them so much, because they are "you", that you protect them from the full impact of what the plot can wreak on their heads?

That said, to some extent of course you'll be putting something of yourself and of people around you into your characters. Little details you observe in people around you can make your characters come to life and be unique. Your understanding of good and bad, of how people are, how they think, how one might respond to a situation and how one should respond - all those things inevitably seep into your writing. So it's not a question of "whether", but of "how much".

share|improve this answer

answered 6 hours ago

GalastelGalastel

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3

There are pitfalls into which you are more likely to fall if you base your protagonists on yourself and/or people you care about. These pitfalls can trouble you regardless, but if you're basing a character on yourself, you need to be particularly aware of them. Here are some, in no particular order:

• 
  Mary-Sue characters: how self-critical are you? Are you giving your character your weaknesses, your worse traits, your mistakes; or are you writing the character as the kind of person you would have liked to be? Each character needs to be ultimately human, not super-perfect.


• 
  Wish fulfilment: what happens to your characters - does it follow from the story, or does it happen because you want it for your insert-character? Does Prince Charming fall in love with your character because she's earned it, or because you want a Prince Charming for yourself?


• 
  Nothing bad can happen: are you comfortable having bad things happen to your characters - things that might traumatise them? Are you comfortable killing them if your plot calls for it? Or do you love them so much, because they are "you", that you protect them from the full impact of what the plot can wreak on their heads?

That said, to some extent of course you'll be putting something of yourself and of people around you into your characters. Little details you observe in people around you can make your characters come to life and be unique. Your understanding of good and bad, of how people are, how they think, how one might respond to a situation and how one should respond - all those things inevitably seep into your writing. So it's not a question of "whether", but of "how much".

share|improve this answer

answered 6 hours ago

GalastelGalastel

50.3k88 gold badges156156 silver badges278278 bronze badges

add a comment
 | 

3

There are pitfalls into which you are more likely to fall if you base your protagonists on yourself and/or people you care about. These pitfalls can trouble you regardless, but if you're basing a character on yourself, you need to be particularly aware of them. Here are some, in no particular order:

• 
  Mary-Sue characters: how self-critical are you? Are you giving your character your weaknesses, your worse traits, your mistakes; or are you writing the character as the kind of person you would have liked to be? Each character needs to be ultimately human, not super-perfect.


• 
  Wish fulfilment: what happens to your characters - does it follow from the story, or does it happen because you want it for your insert-character? Does Prince Charming fall in love with your character because she's earned it, or because you want a Prince Charming for yourself?


• 
  Nothing bad can happen: are you comfortable having bad things happen to your characters - things that might traumatise them? Are you comfortable killing them if your plot calls for it? Or do you love them so much, because they are "you", that you protect them from the full impact of what the plot can wreak on their heads?

That said, to some extent of course you'll be putting something of yourself and of people around you into your characters. Little details you observe in people around you can make your characters come to life and be unique. Your understanding of good and bad, of how people are, how they think, how one might respond to a situation and how one should respond - all those things inevitably seep into your writing. So it's not a question of "whether", but of "how much".

share|improve this answer

answered 6 hours ago

GalastelGalastel

50.3k88 gold badges156156 silver badges278278 bronze badges

add a comment
 | 

There are pitfalls into which you are more likely to fall if you base your protagonists on yourself and/or people you care about. These pitfalls can trouble you regardless, but if you're basing a character on yourself, you need to be particularly aware of them. Here are some, in no particular order:

• 
  Mary-Sue characters: how self-critical are you? Are you giving your character your weaknesses, your worse traits, your mistakes; or are you writing the character as the kind of person you would have liked to be? Each character needs to be ultimately human, not super-perfect.


• 
  Wish fulfilment: what happens to your characters - does it follow from the story, or does it happen because you want it for your insert-character? Does Prince Charming fall in love with your character because she's earned it, or because you want a Prince Charming for yourself?


• 
  Nothing bad can happen: are you comfortable having bad things happen to your characters - things that might traumatise them? Are you comfortable killing them if your plot calls for it? Or do you love them so much, because they are "you", that you protect them from the full impact of what the plot can wreak on their heads?

That said, to some extent of course you'll be putting something of yourself and of people around you into your characters. Little details you observe in people around you can make your characters come to life and be unique. Your understanding of good and bad, of how people are, how they think, how one might respond to a situation and how one should respond - all those things inevitably seep into your writing. So it's not a question of "whether", but of "how much".

share|improve this answer

answered 6 hours ago

GalastelGalastel

50.3k88 gold badges156156 silver badges278278 bronze badges

share|improve this answer

answered 6 hours ago

GalastelGalastel

50.3k88 gold badges156156 silver badges278278 bronze badges

answered 6 hours ago

GalastelGalastel

50.3k88 gold badges156156 silver badges278278 bronze badges

answered 6 hours ago

GalastelGalastel

50.3k88 gold badges156156 silver badges278278 bronze badges