Daily Archives: June 3, 2023

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Creating Composite Characters from People You Know

June 3, 2023 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger

As far as composite characters go, take Don Draper from Mad Men. He’s widely thought to be created as a composite of several advertising execs from the mid-century. His name was likely from Draper Daniels, a Chicago ad executive, as well as Albert Lasker, Emerson Foote, and George Lois.

Of course, there is Ebenezer Scrooge, who was based on politicians and businessmen of Charles Dickens’ time.

Many of us unintentionally create characters in our books that are based on ourselves, family members, co-workers, or friends. After all, who do we know best?

However, when it comes to deliberately writing about those people in our lives, we want to make them into believable characters yet disguise them enough that they are not just “cut and paste” copies of actual people. The point is to capture their essence and incorporate them seamlessly into our book.

You may think that person has a particular personality quirk that makes for an interesting addition to your cast of characters, but if you think they wouldn’t like it, make sure you make them different enough to be unrecognizable, or you may lose a friend or even open yourself up to a lawsuit.

Perhaps you’d like to use a historical figure or a famous celebrity of today. Make sure to do your homework before you write about them. In this day of social media and “fake news,” it can be all too easy to be misled by incorrect information. You don’t want any backlash when you release your work. Being careful will prevent any legal action. Remember that readers are very intelligent and inquisitive people. They WILL know if you got something wrong, and that will ruin the believability of your story.

We fall in love with many fictional. They’re exciting and engaging, beautiful and dangerous, mysterious, and sometimes evil to the core. Don’t rely too much on a real person to capture your readers’ attention. This can be a very dangerous game, indeed.

There is no reason why you shouldn’t use people you know to help you conjure up the characters in your stories. Just remember that doing so successfully takes time and effort to get right!

After all – what better way is there to honor or get revenge on someone in your life than to make them a character in your book?