Happy weekend, writers,
Last weekend I had a chance to visit with two
people I hadn't seen in twenty years, former co-workers who, without their knowledge, are main characters in the novel I'm writing.
It was strange.
For me, not for them. For so long, I have been modeling their characters' mannerisms and verbal tics on my memories of them, which trace back to 1994-1998. Catching up with them last week, I noticed some traits I'd forgotten, and realized that I'd gotten a few things
wrong.
Which is fine. Art shouldn't be an exact replica of life.
But the whole thing got me wondering: Do you base your fictional characters on real people from your life? And in your experiences, what have been the benefits and what have been the pitfalls?
You see, back when I was a teenager and working in a factory with these guys, I consciously studied them: what they looked like, what they sounded like, what they wore, how they walked, how they interacted with one
another.
Not for a book -- at eighteen years old I never imagined I'd ever be writing a book about these people. Or a book about anything.
I studied them just to sate my own curiosity.
Somewhere along the way, I fell out of that habit. Which is a mistake. As writers, we should always, always, always be curious about our fellow humans, and as often as possible we should exercise our powers of observation.
It took seeing my characters in person twenty years after the fact to remind me to never stop taking note.
Because
you never know if twenty years later you'll be writing a book about today's co-workers. Or friends; or family. Or the people on the subway with you. Or the couple in line behind you at WalMart buying that odd assortment of items.
So, this is what I want to know: Do you base your characters on real people? Are they people you see regularly? Do they know you're writing about them? And how do you keep your powers of observation fine-tuned?
