Author-Character Relations

I ALWAYS go for the sidekicks. With. Out. Fail.

Conveniently, my books tend to take place from the POV of the sidekick.

I rarely get attached to the MC or the villain because I know they both need to suffer. I tend to latch onto the comic relief, whoever it may be. Like in Harry Potter, I loved any mentions of the Weasley twins and gave a hearty scream of, "KHAAAAAAAAAAN!" when tragedy struck them.

I have to love my MC to write it.

However, my MCs tend not to be very heroic, and my preferences in characters show that.

I always relate to my MCs, because they are the ones that I give pieces of myself too. Why would I write about a protagonist who I didn't love?

I usually get attached to the love interest the most. I end up putting traits in them that I look for in guys myself, so it's not hard to fall in love with them.

And I love my MCs, but I only ever give them one or two traits in common with myself. In my most recent WIP, the main character gets more like my best friend with every word. My other WIP, I wish I was more like her. But I'm pretty sure she's the only one that I've felt that way about.

I'm with Shady on the sidekick thing. If there is a best friend situation I always love that best friend. Without fail.

In my own writing I usually get very attached to my MC because not being attached to them makes for horrible writing. They usually aren't my favourite character though. I usually love one secondary character slightly more.

Also, I usually love the characters that are the most emotionally fractured. Apparently, I like them broken and in need of professional counseling.

In books/movies it depends, but for Harry Potter I abolutely adore the teenage Voldemort (i know, i know creepy) and the same with Lucius Malfoy. However, I usually tend to go for the guy that the main girl ends up with this is probably because he will be the most ideal guy in the book/movie and the most developed. In my own writing, though, I place whatever guy I happen to be thinking of as ideal as the (usually) tragic love intrest.

alainn_chaser said:

I'm with Shady on the sidekick thing. If there is a best friend situation I always love that best friend. Without fail.

In my own writing I usually get very attached to my MC because not being attached to them makes for horrible writing. They usually aren't my favourite character though. I usually love one secondary character slightly more.

Also, I usually love the characters that are the most emotionally fractured. Apparently, I like them broken and in need of professional counseling.

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Haaha the best guy friend of the heroin is always such an interesting character-- such as Simon from City of Bones/Ashes is such a complex character I cant help but love him.

Conant said:

I think people write a lot of time from the POV of the position they best see themselves in. Like, everyone I know who writes does that.

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in everything that i have ever writen i always place myself as the MC and they tend to be very different characters depending on my mood!

Wow. I guess I'm a bit weird because I love each of my characters. I have about 17 in my WIP and they each have different personalities, but I find each one of them fascinating. They are like people I have known and admired. I have enjoyed different actors, Sean Connery, Sean Penn, James Earl Jones, Will Smith, Ben Affleck, Mel Gibson, Russel Crowe, Viggo Mortenson, Orlando Bloom, Alan Rickman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, etc. and they each have their own personality. I can't say I love one more than the other. I just love them all. That's how I love my characters. They are like my children.

When I read or watch TV, I fall for the sidekick or the quirky character. LIke in HP, I was mad for Ron Weasley. On TV, my favorite characters are the supporting roles. IN Twilight, I hated Edward and bElla, but I liked Emmett. See what I mean?

In my books, I get uber-attached to my characters. I feel like they're real people, so now that I"ve finished The Duff, I find myself MISSING my MC and her friends. I get so attached to them, and it hurts to let them go in a weird way.

I do get attached to my MCs. This caused a problem with the fantasy novel I've just completed in draft - a key scene in the middle where she is badly beaten by the bad guys disturbed my sleep for a few days when I first wrote it.

In other works, fiction or film, I always go for the sidekicks or underdogs. I adore them. Especially if they're a bit on the fun-loving, wacky side or a bit of a misfit. I relate more to them than the MC who is always in the limelight.

I do like all my characters, villains or good guys, but there are also a few that I feel closer to and all protective all. I adore my MC Connor because he is that goofy, quirky guy who would normally be a sidekick and I love wacky, comical guys. He's the kind of person I'd definately be friends with, which makes sense because he's loosely based off a friend of mine.

Paul is a character I'm more protective over. I didn't intend for this to happen but Paul has ended up being in a family situation similar to mine so it's easier for me to write about his difficulties. So I relate a lot to him.

It's wierd but I always end up liking male characters more than female characters. Not because I'm boy mad (honestly! It's so not me) but because they always end up being interesting characters. Except Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and Willow in Buffy. I love them.

My main character is almost never my favorite. (With one of my short stories being the only exception.) I have a soft spot for the tough girls, the ones who stand up for themselves, probably because I could use more backbone myself. ^_^ But whenever that character type shows up in my stories, she's usually my favorite.

This also makes it incredibly easy to predict which characters I'll like in film or fiction.

I do feel like I know my MC inside and out, and I care very much about her. But my favourite characters are the love interest and the illusive bad guy. They are so far the most interesting and I'm still peeling away the layers to find out whats inside.
I almost always find the comedic sidekicks the most annoying.

Bad guys, well done bad guys at least, tend to be awesome, well-thought-out, and with great personalities. Those are the ones I latch on to, in others books and my own.

Conant said:

I, however, always seem to identify with the bad guy.

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LOL, i always love the bad guys. I never base them off myself though. Instead i always make them really cool, or my idea of really cool. lol.
And when i read books i always base how good they are on the villain. if the villain isn't good enough, the book becomes boring for me. in most cases. sometimes it doesn't matter, hehe

I'm very attached to all my lead characters in both my series. I'm another who quickly loses interest in the project if I don't have strong feelings for the characters. Many a good plot has been discarded because the characters weren't moving me.

I'm very normal in that I usually attach most to the hero. Except for Harry Potter. I was so attached to the Weasley twins. Seriously, what happened to them ruined the series for me. I was so mad I decided to write my own fantasy YA series, where the lead characters are twins and NEITHER OF THEM DIES! It was a pointless death too! Ugh! At least now I know how NOT to end a series.

I get kind of attached to other people's characters too, obviously.