Writing Yourself into Fictional Characters
Why It Matters and How to Do It Well
Writers are always leaving fingerprints on the worlds they create—whether they mean to or not. Whether consciously or unconsciously, writers often put pieces of themselves into the characters they create. This can manifest in subtle ways—a line of dialogue, an emotional moment, or a reaction to conflict, or in more profound ways, such as the choices a character makes or the values they hold. Far from being a weakness, this practice brings authenticity, emotional depth, and thematic richness to a story. It is one of the most potent ways an author can connect with readers on a human level.
Why Writers Reflect Themselves in Characters
Authenticity: Characters who carry real human fears, hopes, and flaws feel genuine. Readers can sense when a character is emotionally truthful, which makes the story more engaging and believable.
Emotional Connection: When writers draw on their own experiences or emotions, even in subtle ways, it lends the story emotional depth. Readers can tell when something feels honest and are more likely to care deeply about the characters.
Catharsis and Exploration: Writing can serve as a means to process unresolved emotions, reflect on past experiences, or explore complex thoughts. By giving these experiences to characters, writers can explore them safely and sometimes gain new insight or closure.
Symbolism: Characters can also serve as symbols of the writer's inner struggles, dreams, or beliefs, adding another layer of meaning to the narrative.
How to Do It Without Overloading Your Story
Divide Traits Among Characters: Don’t pour every personal trait into one character. Spread different aspects of yourself across multiple characters to create variety and depth.
Show Hidden Parts of Yourself: Some of the most memorable characters come from the emotions or qualities we tend to hide—vulnerability, fear, and longing. Giving these to your characters makes them complex and real.
Let Characters Make Their Own Choices: Even if a character reflects part of you, allow them to act in ways you wouldn’t. This keeps the story fresh and allows the characters to have lives of their own.
Maintain Balance: While emotions are essential, maintaining some distance helps you craft stronger plots and clearer themes without getting lost in personal reflection.
Discovering Myself in My Characters
As I was developing this story, I came to a realisation that surprised me: I had been writing parts of myself into the characters without fully meaning to. It wasn’t something I planned from the outset, but over time it became impossible to ignore. I remember one moment clearly while writing a quiet scene where Ash, my main character in the next trilogy, sat alone, wrestling with fear and doubt, and realising, almost with a jolt, that I wasn’t just writing him. I was writing me. That scene, and others like it, made me stop and reflect on how deeply my own emotions, experiences, and unspoken thoughts were woven into the fabric of these characters. The more I sat with the characters’ struggles, their choices, their quiet moments, the more I saw reflections of my own thoughts, fears, and experiences shaping them.
What started as just character development became something much more personal. Some characters revealed aspects of who I used to be, while others reflected who I am today, and still others captured traits I admire or wish I had. The discovery was both unsettling and freeing. It helped me realise that without even trying, I was leaving emotional fingerprints on every page.
I think many writers do this without realising it. Sometimes it takes stepping back from the work to see how much of ourselves we’ve poured into the page. That’s when the writing becomes not just storytelling, but a deeper exploration of who we are underneath the surface.
Personal Reflections: How My Characters Reflect Me
In my own writing, I’ve realised that different characters carry different pieces of who I am:
Ash is the ship's captain who uses humour and sarcasm to cover up emotional pain. His dry wit and emotional distance are defences I know well. Through him, I explore what it means to survive without becoming emotionally numb.
Jayne is tough, blunt, and hardened by life. She reflects the side of me that has faced adversity head-on and kept going through sheer determination. Her story helps me examine how trauma shapes people over time.
Danan is the gentle heart of the crew. She’s curious, technically skilled, and quietly resilient. She’s inspired by characters like Kaylee Frye (Firefly, 2002) and Five (Dark Matter, 2015), and she represents the part of me that believes in kindness and the goodness of people. Writing her allows me to hold onto the hopeful, creative side I don’t want to lose.
Quinn is logical, quiet, and always on the lookout for patterns. He reflects my analytical side—the part of me that processes emotions through thought and problem-solving. Through Quinn, I can explore the tension between reason and emotion.
Each of these characters gives me a way to explore different emotions, memories, and perspectives. This exploration has shaped the overall tone of my story, balancing moments of grit and darkness with flickers of hope and emotional vulnerability. It has also helped anchor the themes of survival, identity, and human connection that run through the narrative, making the story feel more personal and authentic. They help me tell the truth through fiction.
The Risk of Writing Too Close
While writing yourself into your characters can bring authenticity and depth, there is also a risk of over-identification. When a character becomes too much like the writer, it can lead to self-indulgence or the temptation to protect that character from necessary conflict or growth. A character too closely tied to the writer’s ego may stop evolving or become unrealistic. The key is to allow characters the freedom to make their own choices—even ones the writer might not personally agree with or choose themselves.
Recognising when you’re holding back a character’s development out of personal attachment is an essential part of the process. One way to loosen this attachment is to ask yourself: What would this character do if they were nothing like me in this moment? Sometimes, the hardest thing to write is the thing that forces both you and your character to grow.
How Readers Connect When Writers Are Honest
Readers instinctively connect with authenticity. Even when the setting, plot, or characters’ experiences are vastly different from their own, readers are drawn to the emotional truths beneath the surface. For example, consider Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Bilbo’s reluctance, fear, and quiet bravery resonate deeply with readers because his emotions feel genuine and human, despite the fantastical setting. When writers are brave enough to bring real emotions into their stories, such as pain, hope, doubt, and fear, it creates a bridge between fiction and the reader’s experience. It’s not the dragons or the treasure that stay with us; it’s the quiet moments of fear and bravery that feel timeless. This is what makes stories resonate long after the final page is turned.
When you write honestly, you’re not just telling a story—you’re offering readers a chance to see a reflection of their own inner lives in your words.
The Takeaway: Why It Matters
Bringing parts of yourself into your characters isn’t self-centred, it’s how you create stories that feel real. This approach can also help writers overcome writer’s block or superficial plotting by anchoring the narrative in genuine emotional stakes, giving the story a sense of urgency and authenticity that can push past creative roadblocks. The most powerful narratives emerge from genuine emotions, profound conflicts, and profound questions about the world and ourselves. By writing both the parts of yourself you’re proud of and the parts you struggle with, you create characters that readers will remember.
Fiction becomes not just entertainment but a way to reflect on who we are, who we’ve been, and who we might become.
A Practical Exercise for Writers
If you want to explore this idea in your own work, try this simple exercise: Write a short scene where you give a character one of your greatest fears, hopes, or secrets. Don’t over-explain it or justify their feelings, just let them live through the moment. See how it changes the way you write them, and how it feels to bring that hidden part of yourself into the open.
Often, these small exercises can unlock deeper layers of both character and theme, leading to more meaningful storytelling.
If you feel comfortable, drop a comment below and let us know how you went with your character/s and scene, how you felt after writing it, and whether any surprises or emotional insights came up along the way. Sharing your reflections might help others see how powerful this process can be.
Book Re-release
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