Your characters and you

[Kay M]

Im sure we all have an alter ego in our daydreams, a protagonist that is pretty much an idealised version of ourselves....but what about the other characters? Where did they come from, and what about them makes you relate to them.

My character has loads of kids, and some of them have things about them that are like me at different life stages. Two of my daughters, are teenagers and practically inseparable (but aren't twins, although they both look alike and are close enough in age that they are in the same classes at school), and they are pretty much the two different sides to me. That's why they work together best.  I like organising and planning things, but I am a major procrastinator and never get things done-so Jenna organises most of their school stuff (like remembering when they have homework) and makes Georgie get stuff done and makes her stay on track and not wander off to do other things. I am shy, and somewhat antisocial, but sometimes my brain really wants to say things, but I cant make it come out and then the moment passes. Georgie is the one who handles the social side of things, shes a bit impulsive and says all the things I wanted to say but worried I would be weird if I said, and she offers advice to Jenna in social situations. I used to be quite an extreme person, who got upset over everything and had such a temper, but then I learned to control myself...Jenna is the calmer one who isn't that emotional, and keeps her cool when Georgie is being extreme, and keeps her from doing impulsive things that she will regret....she isn't completely unemotional though, she doesn't show it as outwardly as her sister, although if she is pushed too far, it is not pretty. Georgie is the one who doesn't stop to think, but Jenna makes the plans, they generally have the same goal in mind, but go about it different ways. Also one is a lesbian like me, the other is asexual, as I am not a very sexual person (none at all until I was in my twenties, and even then, there are only a few people I would ever consider being with...and if it doesn't happen, I don't care and don't feel I am missing anything).

Then there is Danielle, one of my younger kids, who is a lot like me as a kid, she is the quiet, serious, intelligent child who prefers books to doing active things, and prefers to play imaginative games alone. She was nearly five when my daydream started, but now she is seven. Mikayla is a year younger, and she is a lot like me too, but the kind of person who loves the outdoors and spends her days finding and playing with bugs like I did as a kid.

I do have daydream versions of my family members, but they don't feature in it as much, generally the other main characters are people who I made up, usually based on real stories from people who survived being in a cult, like the one some of my character's family grew up in.

[Cyan]

I don't daydream about myself or even an idealized version of myself. I switch between my primary main character and her daughter. They're both similar but in different ways. I base my characters on different versions of myself, but not who I really am.

[Ivy White]

My primary main character is a bunch of aspects of myself. I'm not sure if I can call it an idealized version or a fragment of myself, but I know it's the daydream "me".

I do tend to have a love interest - and the different love interest I've had in different storylines are pretty different too character-wise. I sometimes switch perspective to them. Sometimes I have children but not always.

Other characters I interact with generally serve a purpose in the story, they're some sort of plot device. Sometimes I create new ones or I take some from the canon.