Amanda T. Fox

This week’s article is going to be a little different from the first few in the way that it is less about writing advice and more about the psyche of characters. Something that was brought up in several of my classes during college was the significance of characters in the story. Not only in the way of character building, of course, but in the way of the meaning behind their actions and the reflection of ourselves behind the characters.
This is what I thought I’d discuss this week.
Some authors will argue that their characters are independent from the writer, but if studying English lit has taught me anything, I truly believe it to be the opposite. Within every character a writer creates is a small piece of themselves, whether it’s a direct reflection through likes, dislikes, character habits, or phrases, or an indirect reflection, such as perhaps the version of ourselves that we wish we could be. Every character is someone new, someone we’ve created, but the truth is that we leave a sliver of ourselves with them, and to me, that’s what makes for a great character in a book.
After all, how can the readers relate to them if we, the writers, can’t?
Taking from my most recently published book, Siren’s Circus, the main protagonist, Lyra, has several reflections of myself while also remaining a character all her own.  As different as I thought I made her, as I ran through the edits, I couldn’t help but see some of the little pieces of me that I left behind. From something simple, like how she plays with her hair like I do, to the more complex, such as how impulsive she can be, especially when her loved ones are in danger, there can be little doubt that there is a little of me in there.
It’s like leaving a tiny piece of our hearts and souls into the characters we create, and there can be no doubt that that is out of love. We love our characters, perhaps because of how similar yet very different they are from ourselves. Since having my eyes opened to the concept that every character holds a piece of their author, I’ve found that I enjoy every book I pick up all the more, because those heartwarming moments become all the warmer. The more intense scenes become more heart wrenching, the losses more devastating because in those moments, there’s every chance that the author was struggling through something that they expressed through the struggles of their characters.
And that, I think, is why these stories, these books, these wonderful characters can almost seem to reach out from their pages to grab ahold of us and have such a profound impact on the readers. It’s a connection from author to reader that isn’t thought of nearly enough, because that piece of our hearts, those struggles, those uplifting moments is what lets us know that we aren’t alone, that someone out there understands what we’re going through, even through fictional characters.
A bearing of one soul to touch another is a beautiful concept, and it’s through the psyche of our characters that we are able to touch the world in so wonderful a way. I’ve seen it said that when writing a character, we shouldn’t put ourselves into them, but I truly believe that it’s by leaving pieces of ourselves in those characters that we reach and relate to others, and that is why the impact of our books is so grand. So, bear your souls, let the characters carry pieces of your hearts, because that is what helps us connect the world together through these stories that we love so dearly.
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think in the comments, and if you like what you read, be sure to subscribe for free so you don’t miss the next one! Until next week, loves.

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