: Re: How to avoid hearing "that's me!" from your friends when they read your characters? I recently asked about getting inside of someone else's head for writing good characters who are noticeably

@Debbie451

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My answer is: steal a little.

For example, your character needs to be a big spender, or a big gambler. If you have a friend who is impulsive in every capacity — overly generous with money, dashes off for a weekend jaunt to Mexico on a whim, walks into a store for a pair of headphones and walks out with a new stereo, eats anything put in front of him, drives like every street is the Autobahn — then pick one facet of that impulsivity, like spending without thinking, and give that to your character.

Don't copy any phrases this friend says, and don't use any real-life incidents. Just keep that person's single habit in mind when developing the character. That will help give the fictional person real texture without making an avatar out of someone who doesn't want to be so enshrined.

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