Real or Fake? Writing Characters.

 When writing, should you use real people to inspire your characters?

As a romance writer I don't use them for my main characters. I don't think I could write the kind of love scenes I write if I had a real person in my mind. Way too awkward. Not to mention, I haven't run into any alpha male sexy bear shifters lately to inspire me. 

Feral Serenity

So, character inspiration? No, not for the main ones. For side characters, though, I personally don't have any objections and I've been known to borrow a name or two for a few characters.

I may have also borrowed inspiration for some villains too. Hey, we all know the writer threat of 'be careful or I'll put you in my novel.' There have to be some perks for spending all our spare time chained to a computer or a laptop. 

When there are so many people around us, it's hard not to dip into that pool, and for writing exercises, I was advised a lot to watch people.

One piece of advice I would give, is don't make it a carbon copy. While some people might be flattered to be included in your book, may even ask to be, you don't want someone to be offended by reading themselves as an unlikeable character in your work of fiction. I feel like that might lead to some legal ramifications. 

Something we can probably agree on is that writers, and artists of all kinds, are influenced by life around them, and that means people, so there is probably a chance that you've been impacted without even realising. 

Real characters. Yes or no? My answer: Sometimes. 

So tell me, have you used any?

All Over the Place

 Organisation is key...

I feel like there's no order in my life right now.

I have to-do lists and schedules and still I've fallen into chaos. In fact, I'm so busy making check-lists and rotas that I forget to write and work toward my goals. My goal now is to keep it simple. 

This blog is specifically for updates on my writing, and I'm going to try and keep the personal parts of my life out of it a bit more than I have. I think that will help streamline things a little. I'll write about other parts in a separate blog. Of course, if anyone is interested in reading about my IVF journey you can do that by vising my site, To Be a Single Mother.

I have a few days off coming up, and I'm hoping they can be exclusively for writing, which means I need everything to be done before then. My time over the next few days will be scheduled within an inch of my life. I have the day job to contend with, and the real-life responsibilities that get in the way of writing time. 

A busy few days so I can earn my writing time.