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Do your characters know that they're not real real?



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Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:43 pm
Kale says...



Almost everyone here knows that your characters have to be a realistic as possible. A lot of people here hears their characters voices in their heads, and talks or writes to them.

People write letters to their characters? Okay. I didn't know that.

But do they're characters know that they're imaginary? Have you ever talked to them about how they only exist in your and soon the reader's head?

No. That would be silly. They already know, seeing as how they are a part of me and I control them (to an extent).

Or do your characters just know that they're not real, without you needing to tell them?

This.

I don't know about other people, but my characters and their stories are closer to dreams than anything else. Being a lucid dreamer, I can control my dreams (and by extension my characters and their stories) to a certain extent, but as dreams are mostly the work of the subconscious mind, there are elements that I can't control or have a limited influence on consciously.

My characters do talk to me, but it's more like "Hey! You haven't worked on my story in a while..." or "I have this great idea for some conflict/plot!" or they make comments on situations that I'd never actually say out loud but which amuse me nonetheless. Basically, they act as voices for certain aspects of my personality that I might not otherwise be aware of.

Every once in a while, if I'm really bored and have nothing else to do, I'll talk to them to amuse myself. Really, though, it's just the same as a day dream.

In short, my characters exist for the purpose of amusement (usually mine). I know that, they know that (because they're all part of me), and the readers know that. End of story.
  





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Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:40 pm
Chloe(: says...



This really is a lot of help. One of the things I needed to know if this was a common thing for people to have extremely realistic characters who thought they were real. Does anyone with characters that you don't talk to or don't write, characters who don't know that they are being written about, or characters who believe that they are real?
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Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:20 pm
MagnusBane says...



Nope. Realistic as my characters are, they know that they aren't real. (Well, except for Jimmy D, but he's just crazy.)

I wasn't aware that people write letters to their characters, although I do have conversations with my characters regularly. Mostly, they just make comments that I would never say or make suggestions that would be hilarious but that I would never actually do. Sometimes, though, they all start having long arguements with each other.

I'm just curious, since this is kind of related to the topic: What about a Muse? Has anyone hear named their Muse? Mine is named Viva, and let's just say she has her own... quirky... personality.
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Wed Apr 29, 2009 8:14 pm
Chloe(: says...



Haha, Vivian, Viv and other 'Viv' are common muse names, for those who name their muses. Mine is named Vivi, and some people call me Vivi (okay, fine, a couple.)

And username is Vivacious. I named myself that because I thought it was an awesome word. Now, whenever I see it anywhere, I feel weird.
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Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:03 pm
Krupp says...



I can't say my muse is like that. My muse is music itself, and some rare dreams, and certain adventures I have in life.
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Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:05 pm
WaterVyper says...



Well, I sometimes do. With the characters in an urban setting, then yes. If otherwise fantasy or sci-fi, then no. It's difficult for me, especially since they have these strange markings or mutations on them. This sort of thing is quite fun.
There once was a cat.
He wasn’t particularly fat.
Fuzzy was his favorite mat.
And really, that was that.

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Keep reading, it’s just the start of the show!
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Thu May 14, 2009 4:29 pm
Eimear says...



My characters, to me are real.

End of.
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Thu May 14, 2009 5:34 pm
Imperatrix Xoco says...



Vivacious wrote:A lot of people here hears their characters voices in their heads, and talks or writes to them.

I'm one of those weird people who has written to her characters. It was mostly as an exercise to try to get a hang for how one of my characters, who picked up English as a second language, would write. I quickly discovered that it was in all caps with punctuation where he remembered it, which proved to be pretty vital to the story later.

Though I must admit that I "talk" (though "think" is a more appropriate word here) to my characters all the time. They just make commentary about what's going on around me, pop up for a mini conversation when I'm bored, or what have you. They also like to infiltrate my dreams on regular occasion.

Or do your characters just know that they're not real, without you needing to tell them?

This one. They're figments of my imagination, not people. In the story they're people; in the story, they would be positively shocked if I tried to tell them that they are not real. But in real life, it's not even something that fazes them. "Yes, I'm fake, whoopdee-do. Now, you should get tacos; I'm starving."

As for Magnus' question about the muse thing, I must say that my muse goes nameless. I don't even know if it has a gender or anything. I just know that it is the little voice in the back of my head that, at the most random things I see, hear, do, etc., says "Y'know, what if...?"
  





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Thu May 14, 2009 6:43 pm
JFW1415 says...



I don't talk to my characters, but they talk to each other, which is how I get most of my stories.

They are real, in a sense. In the world that they belong in, the make-believe world I created around them, they are real. In this world they aren't, but they never pass into this world.

My muse is me, not a seperate being. I see/hear/taste/experience something, and my mind just follows the though. Why/what if is my muse.

[I know some people who make myspaces for their characters.]

~JFW1415
  





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Thu May 14, 2009 7:18 pm
tori1234 says...



I DO talk to my characters, but I am the one who puts the words in their mouths. I know they're not real. They don't know that they're not real, because they are not real and can't think for themselves, though some people like to say that their characters "talk" to them. Seriously, if you hear voices that aren't yours in your head, get some help.
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Thu May 14, 2009 7:23 pm
Lauren2010 says...



My characters talk to me, and I to them (I am currently in an interesting fight with one of my characters and now we aren't talking because of it. Her story is now on hold.). But they certainly know they are not real. They often poke fun at the fact that I spend much of my time communicating with imaginary people, but I really think they wouldn't like it if I stopped talking to them.

And I don't have a muse. =(. Unless you count the fact that my sisters dreams inspire a lot of my stories. Which is rather odd...

But yes, my characters are real enough to me. Though we both know they can't exist in the regular world.
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Thu May 14, 2009 8:35 pm
Moody says...



My characters don't know that they aren't real, it wouldn't fit in most of my writing/story lines. I just try to imagine what they would do during the course of the story based on the personality traits/roles I give them.
  





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Mon Jul 27, 2009 5:50 pm
vox nihili says...



As I write them, my characters believe they are absolutely real. I try to keep the emotional responses, especially, in spectrum to the situation. I give them reasons for their feelings and try to make as much irony and emotional distress as possible. To me, my characters are some of the coolest, most interesting people around. Lol. I draw their pictures, give them pasts, etc.
  





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Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:59 am
ImaginativeInsanity says...



When I saw this question, I was intrigued, because I didn't exactly know the answer... so I decided to ask my main character. Here's the short conversation that ensued:

Me: You know you're not real right?
Reyla: (silence)
Me: Reyla?
Reyla: Well... I think I'm real in the world that you put me in.
Me: That is true.
Reyla: So therefore, I'm real to some extent.
Me: But your world isn't real. It's something I created.
Reyla: But it's real to me, and it's real to you. Isn't that all that matters?
Me: Yes, but, for the sake of replying to this topic... do you believe that you're real in the real world?
Reyla: (hesitates) Well, I'm a part of you, so doesn't that make me partially real?

:shock: She's never that philosophical on paper, but I like her answer. Hope it helps.

And no, I am not schizophrenic. As evidence from most of the people who have replied to this topic, most writers are imaginative enough to create their characters' personalities to a great enough extent to know exactly what they'd say. And when you ask them something, your mind's ear (that's what I call it when you think actual words out in complete sentences and phrases) just takes on the voice of your character and your mind will "tell you" the answer. It's not like hearing voices that aren't your own. It's like your own voice taking on your character's personality. I've found that it really helps with character development and plot development alike.

As for my muse, I've actually never acknowledged one origin for all of my ideas. They come from anything from a line on a TV show, to something that pops into my head as I'm walking down my dark hallway at night... If I were to personify my muse, he/she would be a very interesting character.
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Tue Aug 25, 2009 1:55 am
SteviexOctopus says...



In times like these I have to quote E.L. Doctorow: Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

I'm not a schizophrenic, but I do have people who 'live' in my head. I mean, if your thoughts can live in your head and your thoughts are of a made up person then don't they technically live in your head?

Sometimes when I'm brainstorming I'll write a conversation between me and the character I'm having problems with. It helps me get a better sense of their character, and sometimes it will help me develop thoughts that were there in my mind that needed some help to be known.

As for if they know they're real... Well my MC knows, she's the one who first whispered the tale my mind, but then again she's not even real in her own universe. =/ As for the rest, I think they're happy not knowing... it's like in the movie Bolt, the dog has to believe it's all real. My character's need to believe it's a real.

And for a muse bit, I don't really know what a muse is. But I do tend to get little bits of what if's while I'm doing random things. It's always fun, especially when the little what if fills in a plot hole. =D
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