I know when I go and see a writer, the first thing I think to myself is, 'Are they the character in the book?' You just can't help it; it's the way people are.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
It's that kind of thing that readers have. I have it as a reader myself: that expectation that the writer will be that person. Then I meet other writers and realize that they're not.
The interesting thing about fiction from a writer's standpoint is that the characters come to life within you. And yet who are they and where are they? They seem to have as much or more vitality and complexity as the people around you.
I suppose it's possible that a writer would have feeling for his characters, but I can't see how, because writing is such a meticulous, intricate, technical business. I wish I could say that I love my characters and that frequently they take over the book and run away with the plot and so on. But they don't exist.
When you're writing fiction, you're in every character 'cause you can't help it.
Part of me becomes the characters I'm writing about. I think readers feel like they are there, the way I am, as a result.
The problem with being a writer is that some readers tend to think that anything that comes out of a character's mouth is you talking.
One of the things I love about writing is the way you can use what you know and what you've experienced, without actually writing about yourself. I've given many of my experiences and perceptions to many of the characters in the book, but none of them is me.
You have to have empathy, knowledge and compassion for your characters if you're a writer.
I think all characters are facets of the writer. In a way, they have to be if you're going to write them convincingly.
I don't think of the characters as being good or bad because that doesn't help me as a writer.