Is it normal or acceptable to portray aspects of yourself in your main characters?

by Kelley
(Alabama)

Question: I've had a few story ideas running through my head for a while, and I was wondering how often authors put an aspect of their personality or an issue they've dealt with in their personal lives into one of the characters in their writings?

Examples that come to mind are the emotional effects of being a caretaker for sick parent, or one's own mental health struggles as in depression or anxiety, or a legal struggle within one's own family as in custody battles.

Is it even wise to do this? Is it limiting the character? Or is it setting oneself up for hurt feelings when the story is critiqued?

Answer: Well, first off, the mere act of writing and showing your work to others to critique is setting yourself up for hurt feelings Everyone gets attached to their stories, the characters they've created, etc. It's hard not to take criticism personally. Your stories are like your children after all.

Nonetheless, it's something you must learn to do. Creators in every field have to develop a thick skin regarding feedback. Doesn't matter if you're a writer, an actor, a visual artist, a chef, or a costume designer. Feedback helps you improve. But to benefit from it you must be able to take it criticism of your work without taking it as criticism of you.

As for your main question... Yes, I think all writers put aspects of themselves, their lives, their experiences, people they know, etc. into their work. Every character in your stories comes from your imagination and will be based to some extent on what you know. Main characters in particular may resemble you because you spend so much time writing in their voice. But all have to live in your head (at least unconsciously) before they appear on the page. They will be built from whatever stuff is floating around in your head -- your memories, your feelings, your personality, etc.

Sometimes too, a story will be based on something that happened to you or someone you know. That's normal.

Of course, characters will also be built to some extent from your imagination, so they can be different from you or anyone you know in significant ways.

In fact, it's probably a good idea to avoid making a character an exact duplicate of yourself or a real person (unless you're writing historical fiction). By all means, take a particular trait of yours, but assign it to a character who is different from you ways -- perhaps someone born into very different circumstances. Take an experience you've had, but perhaps have it happen to someone in your story whose personality is quite different from yours. Imagine how they would react differently.

It's also a fine idea to create characters who you feel are completely unlike you or anyone you know, as long as you feel strong empathy for them and feel you can write them authentically. The human imagination is an amazing thing, capable of wonders.

(Of course, even when you do this, there may be aspects of yourself that will creep into the character, but only you will notice, and perhaps only in hindsight.)

Best of luck.

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