Bookish Surprise!

Basing Characters on Real People

Creating a compelling character is more than picking a name, race, and gender. Readers need to invest in your characters. For that to happen, a writer must give their characters back-stories, families, flaws, motives, well-rounded personalities, etc. Given this, some may consider basing their characters on family, friends, foes, teachers, movies stars, or that creepy guy they saw at the gas station last week. So the question remains, should writers base their characters on real people?