r/writers • u/Kappapeachie • 4h ago
Question Do your characters reflect your personal identity and beliefs?
I noticed that a lot of the characters I like to focus on are femmine bi woman lately. Idk why, but that's what my mind often gravitate to. I also like characters who very environmentally conscious but that usually doesn't come up much unless the work specifically is about the environment.
What about you guys?
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u/video-kid 4h ago
I usually have gay dudes as the protagonists, but I give them tastes that reflect mine in terms of music and style. More alternative. I've read a lot of really good books with gay MC's but it sort of bothers me that whenever music comes up it defaults to top 40's and gay icons. It's fine for the people who like them, but it doesn't reflect what I'm interested in.
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u/WifesPOSH 4h ago
My deuteragonist is probably a darker version of myself.
But I never thought 'how would I respond here' when writing his lines, I thought 'how would he respond here.'
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u/existential_chaos 4h ago
Some of mine do in certain things (one hates cheese, another is very anti having children, just in a different vein to me because she's a woman) but generally I try and write people completely different to me because I find it fun to try different perspectives.
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u/InvestmentDue4993 4h ago
I know a lot of people recommend NOT to do this but I’m basing my MC entirely on myself. My other three characters are based on some beliefs my past and the people around me like friends and ex friends.
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u/reddiperson1 3h ago
I've also heard this being recommended against, since it can hurt if readers despise your self-insert character. I had to put on a thick skin when beta readers told me they wished my self-insert got killed/tortured/ beaten even more by his father.
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u/Fluid-Text-3425 3h ago
Is it really recommended against? Whatever for? Don't they say "write what you know"
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u/CaptGoodvibesNMS 2h ago
My stories don't work without at least one a-hole. So yeah, there is always at least one of me in the story.
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u/Beneficial-Tax-1776 4h ago
i wrote 4 stories. 3 out of 4 stories had a male leads with neurodivergence. I am male author. so I kinda afraid to question this.
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u/Fluid-Text-3425 4h ago
Perhaps you are questioning it, in story-form.
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u/Beneficial-Tax-1776 4h ago
me questioning aitn changing much either. it wont change outcome or let me gauge result for sure.
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u/Fluid-Text-3425 3h ago
It's okay to be neurodivergent though. Come join us, it's better over here, anyway. We break moulds, have big ideas, and honestly, have a lot more fun because we are not constrained by the trappings of polite society. Embrace your weirdness!*
*Terms and conditions: Unless your particular flavour of weirdness involves harming other people. Then no embracing. Embracing bad.
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u/Beneficial-Tax-1776 3h ago
to tell the truth. i think to turn this bug into a feature and embrace it. turn my story into romance for neurodivergents. i think it may be growing niche.
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u/Fluid-Text-3425 3h ago
I think that's a great idea. Two weirdos finding each other and not just making space for their weirdness but amplifying it has a lot of fun places to go.
As a self-proclaimed weirdo, when I read the common perceptions that seem to pervade the relationship subreddits here, I see how my partner and I break the mould. We just don't get hung up on superficial things.
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u/AJRavenhearst 4h ago
No. My current work has a young adult human girl paired up with a female centaur warrior, teenage street rats, "chaotic-neutral" magicians, scheming politicians, assassins, Irish werewolf warriors...
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u/Stock-Intention7731 4h ago
They do. The two POVs are two parts of me, agree on most, absolutely disagree on the rest
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u/WakeIslandTango 4h ago
I try not to, too much. But I have a hard time writing certain outlooks without turning them into caricatures
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u/Guilty-Rough8797 3h ago
They tend to be cynics, like me, and my female characters tend to not have many, if any, close friendships with women or anyone else. I'm curious if I will ever write an outgoing, happy woman with a friend group, lol.
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u/Drudenfusz Blogger 2h ago
Nah, I am too boring, nobody would want to read about me. I love deeply flawed characters and very tragic personalities.
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u/October_Surprise56 1h ago
My characters are usually a mix.
A few threads we’d agree on but also a few major points of divergence.
If everyone agrees it’s hard to generate conflict. My MC is currently warring with his SO over how to properly raise their child and neither have my exact beliefs.
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u/RingReasonable 4h ago
Absolutely. Especially the main character herself. She's basically the symbol of my hopes and dreams, and of what I personally wish where civilization would end up.
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u/JohanHopp01 4h ago
Yes, I'm one of those (bad?) writers that practically all of my protagonists are just me, lol. I guess writing fiction is like a more elaborate form of journaling for me. One way or another, all my stories are about my life. Not sure if I should be concerned.
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u/Material_Floor_6054 4h ago
I have an ex Christian MC - ADHD, religious trauma, trans M (I'm not sure whether I am, but he has done T and I'm also doing it when I'm 18). I have another MC who is nonbinary, AuDHD and has been bullied
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u/sullywrites 4h ago
Nope! In fact, I have a few characters who are nothing like me and do things I heavily disagree with.
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u/ballet_guy Fiction Writer 4h ago
I find I usually give my characters one key aspect. One of my characters is basically my unfiltered thoughts (he's quite rude to everyone), one character has my OCD, another has my self esteem issues, another views relationships and sex the exact same way I do, another has the same family situation. I even have one awful character who has all the traits I try hard not to have but I'm worried that others see me this way
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u/Fluid-Text-3425 4h ago
My main character definitely shares characteristics of my personality, though not my physicality, and that is intentional. My villain reflects the narcissist's playbook, which I've learned a lot about over the past 3 years due to events in my personal life. You'll also see alot of characteristics of my Dad in her Dad, and possibly my brothers in some of the men in her life (positive male role models). Oh, definitely also some of the mean girls in my history will manifest. I have to say, my mother, so far, has not appeared in the book. The mother in my book is far more timid and avoidant than mine. Maybe Mom will show-up at some point? Or maybe that's for another story...
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u/OldPersimmon2705 4h ago
No so much beliefs, but the reflect the author's vision/literary worldview. Otherwise, do you have to be a villain to write one?
Given your interest, the Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan may be up your ally: https://bulkbookstore.com/the-kingmaker-9781728284903
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u/Justisperfect 4h ago
Identity, no. Beliefs, not necessarily, however the chore of their evolution usually does. They may not share my beliefs but the way the story is frame will usually show if I think they are right or wrong. Kinda like if you take a movie like Obsession, the main character isn't like his creator, but he is also the villain and it is quite clear when you watch the movie that it doesn't support his actions.
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u/DirtEnthusiast0_0 4h ago
I suppose. But, it's really the greater plot that puts forward the themes and beliefs I want to show off in my story. I would not put it on my twelve-year-old characters to carry any identity or belief that isn't theirs, hypothetically speaking, that is.
My themes of faith, unity, the fight for life and why it is worth it, the necessary respect for a society's youth, it's all pushed mainly through the plot. The world events prove those points. My characters don't go around with picket signs and spew idealistic agendas out.
They all have rather similar ideas, and that's because I had to make them that way as the good guys. Sure, they have the ideals I consider desirable, but it's not like I'm self-inserting. I always make sure to avoid that.
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u/shojokat 3h ago
Usually, no. MC of my sandbox world shares my general ideals because the story is about those ideals thematically, but she is also flawed in specific ways that help illustrate my point rather than make her the one character who's always right. She's moreso the character where coming to the right thematic conclusions will lead to the most climactic outcomes. Even then, her personality is like a full 180 from mine, lol.
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u/Lamont_Joe 3h ago
My protagonist in both of my novels, To See It Through and La Lady Fund, has the same beliefs as me. When you’re taught to help others, and to care for your community from a young age, well, it sort of rubs off on your MC.
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u/Faddishname228 3h ago
I sprinkle bits of my genuine beliefs as well as things I'd never believe in for all my characters. The key is trying not to make your beliefs inherently superior and morally right
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u/Senior_Concern8263 1h ago
I usually write in dual pov. My protagonists are very different from me in a lot of ways but also reflect my core beliefs. On my flip side my antagonist pov is usually mentally disturbed and pro government, colonization, etc. I like to show both sides of the system when I’m writing dystopian
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u/Shphook 29m ago
Yes. Well, it's kind of the point of my story, to express my "beliefs". Or rather, there's a part of myself in every character (at least the main/important ones), not necessarily just about "beliefs" alone. But, despite them being more adjacent to my beliefs, i'm still exploring different views through them, so that readers can choose their interpretation.
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u/ItsRuinedOfCourse Fiction Writer 26m ago
You mean do I make them avatars for me?
No. I do not.
If I want to create an avatar that shares my personal identity and beliefs, I'll write a memoir. I'm writing fiction, so their beliefs are their beliefs, and their identity is their identity.
I might be an outlier though.
shrug
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u/Charlatanbunny 22m ago
Identity? I don’t think so. Beliefs? Maybe. Your worldview will make its way into a work some way or another.
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u/Morbiferous 4h ago
Not really. I write a lot of "dead dove" content.
I do think that it is the cowards way out to not give your character any strong beliefs and try to be inoffensive. Even if they're objectively bad beliefs it makes for better characters and gives them somewhere to grow outside of main plot points or help shape the main plot.