SDs Based on Real Life?

[Callypso]

I have a curious question for my fellow RPers: Would it be considered morally reprehensible to create an SD based on someone you know in the "real world"? I was considering the behaviors and characteristics of people in my own life and, for some reason, began to ponder how that would translate to a book, a comic and then to SoD.

I would imagine that every SD has a little piece of the player in them, whether intentional or not, since everything is "filtered" through the lens of a single author, however, what if that author was deliberately writing a character based on a real person?

Have any of you ever written a character that way? "Created" a character influenced by someone in your life, whether it be a lover, friend, relative, housemate or a frequent customer or teacher? If so, how did you feel about that?

Could it be considered exploitation or sensationalistic or otherwise? Does it matter when it's essentially understood that the character you are writing is only based on that author's perception of a person and the author's interpretation of another person's motivations, behaviors and worldview?

I suppose what I'm really wondering is whether one should worry about any karmic backlash (if you believe in that sort of thing) for writing a character in that particular manner?

Thoughts???

[Lucca]

Hmm. This is something I, personally, would not condone unless you're writing a fictional retelling of something that actually happened to you, and you take some liberties to make it more interesting.

That said, I've done it before, and it's something a lot of young authors do. There are good reasons why not to do it, but I'm not going to say it's not EVER the correct way to go about conceiving a character.

[Kari Muffin]

*pops in briefly* I would hardly consider it morally reprehensible to base a character on someone in real life.

I had a professor of the opinion that the best fiction is based in reality. And most of the fiction he shared with us during our class was of a wide variety of authors who based their works on real life experiences they had and bended them into "fiction." The characters were based on real people there, it's not much different from basing an RP character on someone real.

Of course... there's sometimes backlash. There are plenty of authors who have been disowned by family and friends for writing heavily fictionalized memoirs. Even with an all caps warning people still took the works as gospel. So if you do decide to base it on someone and they find out.... and don't happened to be flattered by your depiction of them you might get a little backlash.

But I say go for it if you /really/ want to.

[Lucca]

Um, just popping back up to say that I don't think there's anything MORALLY wrong with it. >_>;; Just that it's not always the best thing to do, partly for the reasons Kari said about backlash if they find out.

((Not that I necessarily think anyone thought I was saying that, just....yeah.))

[Vyn]

I think, ultimately, this question comes down to your own opinion on the subject. I, personally, can't imagine that anyone could ever come closer than simply drawing inspiration from another person. You only ever see layers of a person - their style, their appearance, their personality and antics - but even when you know someone so well that you can literally guess the words coming out of their mouth, you may never really know what's really going on inside their head. You never really /know/ anyone.

In the end the character will always just be your interpretation of the individual filtered through the lens of the single author and the rest of the moral judgement comes down to you.

I doubt there's anything you could do that would invoke universal punishment such as karmic backlash but, as Kari said, there's always a possibility that the person you're writing about won't enjoy your depiction of them; so do take a bit of caution and consideration into basing a character too heavily on someone you know in real life.

[Harpsdesire]

I wouldn't say that it's a morally wrong thing to do, and I think many writers have based a character on a real person... but it does open cans of worms when it comes to privacy, that person's feelings, and even possible legal complications if the character is in a published work.

I'm not sure it's actually a bad thing to do... but probably not a great one either. I think it's a matter of degree, to some extent.

If you base a character about the obviously observable qualities of the person, like occupation, hair color or broad personality traits (i.e. Bubbly, shy, stoic), that could be a good jumping off place for a character who is merely inspired by the real person, and I think that's a reasonable thing to do.

On the other hand, a character that IS a real person, with same/similar backstory, emotional life or exact appearance could definitely pose a problem, especially if it's a person who you are close to and have personal/deep knowledge of, and in cases where the they may feel like private information or sensitive issues are being aired to the world at large. This can be really offensive and hurtful, maybe made worse when its in the guise of "Oh, it was the CHARCTER that felt unloved by her parents *winkwink*" and "No, the CHARACTER was the one who had issues with that addiction". There's a real chance for someone to recognize themselves in the character and feel like they're being taken advantage of or violated somehow. I imagine it would be pretty painful to feel like someone used you as a character under their control, or made something trivial of your deepest feelings.


So in summary: Using some qualities of a person, yes. Using someone's traumatic and angsty history as backstory without asking, HECK no.

But that's just my two cents.

[Callypso]

Thanks, everyone, for your input.

Vyn definitely hit the mark on one of the dialogues going through my head over this dilemma. It seems that no matter how much knowledge of the "real" person I use to flesh out the character, I'm never really going to know what the "real" person actually feels/thinks/whatever. The character that I would potentially create would be my interpretation. If it really came down to it, would the person I'm basing my character recognize it as themselves? It would be so heavily filtered through my own lens that it might make them unrecognizable, in a way.

That being said, this potential future character(s) would probably never find its way to the person(s) they would be based on. I don't have any intention of publishing or making well-known the works based on the real individual(s) and wouldn't be that worried about backlash in that respect.

Harps and Kari also had insightful positions, that one might worry about belittling or trivializing a problem or situation. Again, the likelihood of these works reaching the person(s) they're based on is slim-to-none, but it was definitely on my mind. (I would like to note, however, that I would definitely avoid using full stories or histories, since that wouldn't be okay.) When I put myself in the character's shoes and ran through some scenarios to gauge how the character would react based on this person(s) that I know, it became more of an issue. There is definitely some concern that I might be doing an "injustice" to the real person's character, but if I'm solely using bits and pieces and the character is essentially a speculation/interpretation of what I think the person acts like/thinks, does it matter? How would I ever know it's true? Would it really be a slight if it's my interpretation?

I think when it really comes down to it, it's probably just a qualm I'm having because I will know that I'm basing the character on a person that I know, and I would just have to be mindful of what would, for me, constitute as "crossing the line". After all, Louisa May Alcott did essentially the same thing. "Little Women" was based on her own life and family and events, though I'm sure things were embellished or altered to suit her needs (and there was the underlying theme of "everybody's good in their own way" running throughout the novel, haha) and was filtered through her own lens. Again, I'm not intending to put those works "out there" in a way that would draw that kind of attention or backlash.

It's a very interesting internal debate I've been having and I really appreciate everyone's thoughts and comments on it. I think I might forge ahead, but I have to listen to my gut and recognize what will and what won't be okay for me to do. Of course, I was also worried that I would be a terrible person (karmic retribution) for doing something like that. I think, though, that a better way of looking at it would more like a therapeutic/self-discovery sort of experiment. I can get to know this character and figure out more about myself through that character, based on these things I'm using as inspiration from a real person... if that makes sense.

Again, thanks for all the comments. It's been really helpful.

[/|/afamere]

>.> I know that I haven't been around, but I have been aroused by this discussion and would like to toss in my 2-cents into if that is all applicable.

First off, I would like to say is simply this: I Don't see anything wrong with attempting to copy someone down on paper. I find it a real challenge to see if I can depict someone in the light that they themselves might. I have, on many occasions, went back to some of the people that I have written about in short stories and whatnot to ask if this was done correctly or if I had done a good job in copying them. Usually I haven't gotten any bad Karma from it, and sometimes I may even get praise.

And the Key Factor is this (or what I believe is): "Ask first, write later". With that in mind, ask someone if it would be alright, and who knows, they may give you tips on some things that you hadn't realized either.

---

Sorry for the lateness, XD

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

I forget what author said it, but they said, "Write what you know."

Most people create characters that share traits with people you know. I personally see nothing wrong in creating a character from someone that has inspired you. I mean, if you plan on creating this character based off of someone for just fictional fun that has nothing whatsoever to do with real life, there is no harm.

Now, from a legal standpoint I'm pretty sure there is something against writing about someone you know fact by fact for public consumption without said person's permission. But hell, then authors just change the name and PRESTO! You can't prove they didn't come up with that character all on their own.

So, since we are talking about taking a real person and turning their personality traits and character flaws into a SoD character, I say GO FOR IT!!! That way, this character is more REAL to you. You even have a living muse to get ideas from!

Now you even have me thinking about my own friends and acquaintances.

EDIT: I forgot to add! One of my close friends is a writer and trying to get published. One of the books she's written actually has a character based completely on me! (I even become a main character in the later books!) And I am frikken THRILLED! My character actually starts out as the comedic relief. XD I LOVE IT!
Oh, and I couldn't help but glow in amusement when I found out some of her online readers absolutely loved my character. Hehe!