31 July 2008

When the Character is You

Many writers beyond memoirists find themselves creating a protagonist who is patterned after themselves. This can pose a problem or two.

One, many writers tend to be introverts and thus their character ends up passive and sort of floating from one event to the next.

Also, I've found that although most people are quick to identify other people's flaws and faults, they have difficulty pinpointing their own. Without a flaw, the character arc becomes more difficult to manage.

Do you find yourself creating a protagonist that is patterned after yourself?? If so, do you have trouble getting close enough to the character to create a full-blown characters with good and bad qualities, warts and all??? Just curious.......