Male characters

Yeah, I don't think there's anything wrong with using pre-existing characters as sort of a base. As long as you just use them as a base and don't keep them entirely the same. Expies are all right as long as you take care to make them into your own character. Plenty of good characters were inspired by previous ones.

And using real people as a template means you have a better chance of portraying the character as having plausible thought processes and actions. I like looking at both characters I like and my friends for ideas for creating characters, personally.

What.

@The Earth Sheep: Don't make the mistake of assuming everyone's like you. I've seen it both ruin potential writers (e.g. a man who couldn't write fantasy, because he thought it would be unrealistic for someone to be psychologically capable of accepting supernatural events happening before their eyes) and trip up successful writers (e.g. a writer who apparently believes that risk makes life worth living, and that without risk everyone would kill themselves.)

edited 16th Jul '11 4:44:08 PM by feotakahari

I didn't say everyone was like me. I said some people are like me. I may not be very good at communicating, but what I was trying to say is that what they said was not a universal rule.

@ Earth Sheep- escapism is in setting and plot, not in characters.

You write a novel with 0 humans in it, and no one will care or feel attached enough to read it. And if you write your people unrealistically, they won't come across as human.

Ergo, you write your people too unrealistically, and no one cares about the story.

I think that Earth Sheep has a point in this: Just because something is realistic, does not mean it's entertaining.

Be it the grass growing or human beings.

There has to be someone human in the story, at least in action and thought, or why would a human care about the story?

I never said they had to be humans, but they have to act and think in a way that's recognizably human.

edited 16th Jul '11 6:29:03 PM by deathjavu

No there doesn't. Plenty of people can be entertained by animalistic main characters. See, funny cat videos on the internet.

Also the entire genre of xenofiction. But I think, generally speaking, humanlike characters are more entertaining for the average reader, and those need to be at least somewhat believable.

Oh yeah, definitely. It's just that, believable isn't the same as realistic, unfortunately.

That isn't a story. Technically, people can be "entertained" just watching fireworks or staring at stars in the sky. However, when it comes to storytelling, there's almost always a degree of personification.

—shrugs— Eh, it's a line. A line of artisticness. I mean, you have stuff like March of the Penguins and stuff...

I distinctly recall saying 'real-ish'.

Batman is believable, Spider-Man is realistic.

I'm not a fan of Spidey, because he just won't shut up, whether it be his own wangst or his god-awful quips. I think Unskippable said it best 'I would hate to fight Spider-Man, because even if you beat him, you still have to listen to him' (paraphrased)

BUT: There are people who like Spider-Man for exactly that reason.

All I was saying was that sometimes real people restricted by reality, and when you're already escaping, you might as well go the full mile.

deathjavu: Escapism isn't in characters

I have one word for you.

Shazam!

edited 16th Jul '11 8:42:14 PM by TheEarthSheep

You aren't saying that ALL fiction is escapism, are you? A good amount of fiction is the sort of thing that is written to explore, explain and try to gain a deeper understanding of reality, not to escape from it.

"I may not be very good at communicating"

May want to work on that, if writing is indeed your creative outlet of choice.