EVERYONE is a Character!

I used to be so careful. After all, every How-To book on the art of writing provides the same advice—don't base your fictional characters on real people. While it's okay to borrow a trait or a habit or a quirk, you should never borrow the entire personality or persona—at least according to the experts. It only leads to trouble and who wants trouble?Thus were born my composite people. I was Dr. Frankenstein and they were my creations, cobbled together from spare parts, leftover remarks, and funny anecdotes from long ago.My technique had three steps: I would start with a picture from a magazine of what I imagined my character looked like, usually it was an advertisement. Next, I would choose a name, working hard to ensure that it wasn't already taken, that it wasn't the name of someone famous or notorious (Google to the rescue). And finally, I would invent a backstory for my character hoping it was original enough to pass muster.

Read the entire article in the November 2016 issue of InD'Tale magazine.

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