Real People are More Complex

Screen shot of my page in progress. 

I know that seems obvious.

But I still think it's interesting.

Awhile ago my husband and I were talking about our ideas for characters, and he mentioned how all of his characters remind him of himself.

In a story, all of the different personality traits can make seperate characters. But in real life, a bunch of different traits can be found in one person.

I know with my current project, Mandy & Molly, both characters are exaggerations of traits that I find in myself.

I think the reason why characters are simpler than real people is because they need to be understood. It takes a long time to get to know a person well. A storyteller on the other hand has a limited time to get the reader to connect with the characters.

Of course as the story goes on they can slowly reveal more subtle sides of a character. But at the start, writers usually make it very clear who the main character is and conveys the overall tone of their personality.

I think it's neat how writers work hard to mimic life on paper, but still there is only so much that can be shown to the audience.

And a side note about something totally different:

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