On Character

Talking about characters and writing in discussion and contemplating, how much of one character has a small part of the writer in it? How much of the views and opinions of the character are similar to the views and opinions of the writer. Some people my argue that a character is only an apparition of the writer and is based only on the imagination of the writer, their experiences and knowledge of people. Some may Argue that a writer can't help but put part of them selves into each character along with the people they meet and know.

Aren't some of the best characters based on people the writers knew? Or are the best characters ones that have been created with the restrictions of only the mind of the person doing the creating?

When writing a character who may be a lesser liked person by the other characters around them and the audience, is there something of the writer in that person? It has been said that a writer can't help but take from themselves when creating any character. So does that mean that when writing, the mind of the person creating must delve into the areas of their most unsavoury thoughts in order to bring out the most unsavoury character's.

Is a writer then deemed to be unlikable because people know the extent someone has to go through to then put together a fictitious being. Or could they be praised for there ability to create all different kinds of people and imagine there ways of thinking and being, whilst staying separate from their "real life" character.

Many people will love to watch or read about characters that do horrible things yet may be "freaked out" or "disturbed" when a friend may tell them about an idea for a story about a serial killer, saying with distain "how could you think of something like that?"

On characters and there portrayal by an actor, well, this is an art very different to writing. An actor may take a written character and ad to that character. Is the actor in some way inclined to be like the character they play? The actor takes an idea of a character and gives it life with personality and a face.

Actors sometimes give a lot, emotionally, to their roles and can really delve deep into the person they want to become in order to give a brilliant performance. Does that make them actually become the person or is it just someone they have to pretend to be, where they can distinguish from the character and their reality with out taking any of it across, either way.

Character, especially those with a less likable nature are loved and hated by many people. Sometimes they are based on real life people and sometimes they can be completely fictitious, does the writer or the actor put themselves into these types of character? Is there somewhere, deep down inside the actor or writer that is like the character they are designing? Maybe.

Characters can be shallow, indifferent, boring. The best characters have layers, writers and actors give them layers. Weather or not there is some part of the writer or actor in each character, all the time, is hard to say. Characters make a story interesting and make the action in any story mean something. Without anyone caring about the character, the action of the character doesn't mean anything.

Next time you read or watch something think about this discussion and how much of real people may be in the characters. What lengths do writers and actors go to to make a character most interesting?