Wednesday, October 4, 2017

IWSG & Me!

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.




Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

And we’re revving up IWSG Day to make it more fun and interactive! Every month, we'll announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

October 4 question - Have you ever slipped any of your personal information into your characters, either by accident or on purpose?

Not on purpose, no, but I think I have without realizing it until later.

Most of my MCs tend to have some element of me. Shyness. Awkwardness. Low self-confidence. Resiliency. Perseverance. Love of sports. Love of music. Compassion. Empathy.

Have to say, I was relieved when I realized I wasn't only passing along the traits I'm working on, but the ones I'm proud of as well!

How about you? Do you see echoes of you in your stories or in the stories you read?

46 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Passing along the good ones is a plus!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

In my series, there is a little bit of me in each of the main characters and to some degree, it was therapeutic writing it.

mshatch said...

A lot of my characters love books or have fabulous libraries or live in cool houses.

Heather R. Holden said...

My characters often have elements of me, too. They usually get my bad traits, though, so yours are lucky to get some good ones, too! LOL.

JeffO said...

I think the more I write, the less I do this (or the better I disguise it). That said, I also considered the conceit of sticking 'me' in each of my stories as a 'walk-on' character--gas station attendant, innocent bystander, hammered barfly--like Hitchcock with his cameos. Haven't actually done it, though.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

I think I write about my bad traits as a way of working through them. Glad to hear that I'm not the only one!

Carol Kilgore said...

Parts of me are sprinkled across almost all my characters. Good and bad.

T. Powell Coltrin said...

I said no on the question, but someone said in my comments they found that hard to believe that I don't. And maybe I do and don't notice. Or MAYBE one has to like themselves better than I like me to use one's traits. I don't know. :) I have great hair!!!

emaginette said...

Like our characters, we are made of many parts. :-)

Anna from elements of emaginette

Pat Garcia said...

Hi,
I truly believe you cannot avoid putting yourself in your manuscripts. After all you're the creator. You inspire and in order to inspire your readers have to know you're real.
All the best.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange

Jennifer Hawes said...

I think it's fun to put yourself in your own books!

Natalie Aguirre said...

Yes, that's awesome that you put in your positive traits as well as insecurities. I imagine we all put part of ourselves or our kids in our stories.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

I honestly think putting parts of ourselves into our characters is unavoidable.

Chemist Ken said...

It's always more fun to put the positive traits in. The negative trais must have come from someone else. :)

DMS said...

I haven't done it on purpose- but there are parts of me sprinkled in many of my characters. :)
~Jess

Jemi Fraser said...

It is! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

I bet! We do (mostly!) know ourselves well :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Nice! I could be one of your characters!! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

There are PLENTY of those to go around as well! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Yep - I usually see those AFTER I've finished creating the character! :P

Jemi Fraser said...

That's completely awesome!!! Love that idea - and you have to do it!!

Jemi Fraser said...

Yes! It's always nice to have company! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Yep - I think that's the way it is for me too :)

Jemi Fraser said...

LOL - I can't say it's ever intentional with me - but I do get to empathize with the characters over their traits so I guess... :)

Jemi Fraser said...

We are, indeed! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

So true! It's when we write our own realities that we are at our best!

Jemi Fraser said...

Yep - and fun to laugh at ourselves as we do it!

Jemi Fraser said...

I've definitely used some of my kids' traits in the writing too! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

I think you're probably right on that one! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

LOL - so true! Those klutzy characters MUST be from someone else! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Same here!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I feel like my characters have the traits that I wish I had. They're definitely involved in bigger world issues.

Leslie S. Rose said...

I often leak both my good and bad selves into my characters. Taking parts of me out for a "what if" ride in stories is very interesting.

Chrys Fey said...

I do it on purpose. All the time. LOL I give them my good traits, my bad traits, and I give the heroines traits I wish I had. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Yes! Mine are always SO much braver than I am :)

Jemi Fraser said...

That's so true! I'm always doing the 'what if' as well - so much fun :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Love it! That works for me as well :)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Good and bad. It's who we are.

Mason Canyon said...

I think as a reader we hope the author has put a few traits of themselves in the books, especially the parts we enjoy so much.

Jemi Fraser said...

So true! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

That's such a good point! We love getting to know our characters & it works better when they're 'real' people :)

Love Affair with Food said...

I don't think we will like reading a story with perfect characters. So life would be so boring without flaws!

Jemi Fraser said...

Absolutely true!!! And I guess life would be a little boring as well :)

Kelly Steel said...

Of course we use what we experience in our stories. So yes, we leave a little bit of ourselves with our characters.

TL said...

I think it's unavoidable to not add something of us to our characters. But I love that you can see your good traits so clearly and use them.

(It's been forever! Hope all is well with you. :-) )

sanpiseth40 said...

Hello!! I'am glad to read the whole content of this blog and am very excited. Thank you…
ตารางบอล