The Character Cocktail...

If you've ever read one of my books and wondered, "Wait... is this character based on someone she knows?" the answer is almost always... no.

Well... not exactly.

There's a phrase I like to think of when I'm writing: the character cocktail.

People always say, "Write what you know," and I think that's true. But that doesn't necessarily mean we take one person from our real lives, change their name, and drop them into a story. At least, I don't.

Instead, every character becomes a strange little mixture of people I've encountered throughout my life.

Maybe one has an ex's confidence, a friend's sarcastic humor, my grandmother's quiet kindness, the protectiveness of a movie character, and a handful of completely made-up quirks that only exist because they make me smile. Another character might have my hubby's stubborn determination, a stranger's laugh I overheard in a coffee shop years ago, and an irrational fear of elevators for absolutely no reason other than it fits the story.

It's more like mixing ingredients into a recipe. By the time it's finished, you can't separate the flour from the sugar. The individual pieces disappear into something entirely new.

And honestly, I think that's what makes characters feel real.

They're familiar without being recognizable.

One thing that has always been important to me is how I borrow those little pieces. If I include a trait or habit that reminds me of someone I know, I want it to be something that makes me smile. A kindness. A funny expression. A quirky habit. A way they love people. I never want someone to read one of my books and feel like I've taken one of their flaws or painful moments and put it on display for the world. If someone ever recognizes a tiny part of themselves in one of my stories, I hope it's because they see something beautiful there.

That feels like a much better way to honor the people who have wandered through my life.

Ironically, the book I'm working on now is the first one where I consciously tried not to do that.

I've been editing the final paperback version forever it feels like - which is mostly my own fault because apparently procrastination is part of my creative process now - but while writing it, I challenged myself to create every single character without leaning on anyone I knew. No familiar mannerisms. No recognizable personalities. No little pieces borrowed from friends or family.

I wanted to see if I could build people completely from scratch.

Will they feel more original?

Or will they actually feel less real because they aren't grounded in those tiny observations that come from real life?

Honestly, I have no idea.

Maybe I'll discover that the best characters are always a cocktail of reality and imagination. Maybe I'll find out I don't need those familiar ingredients at all.

Either way, it's been a fascinating experiment, and I'm excited (and maybe a little nervous) to see what readers think when it's finally finished.

Now... if I could just stop procrastinating and finish the edits.