Well, maybe some of you do, but I never really did! In HS, I wasn't really considered a "brain" (though I did take all the AP classes and got straight As), or a school spirit person (though I did do all the school spirity things), or a "pretty, popular girl" (I was such a dorkus...will post pics, one day!). I pretty much fell into the misc catagory of people and my friends were a mixed bag: the opera singer, the computer nerd, the band/choir geeks, the slacker.....etc.
I think this is the reason all of my HS heroines never have a "type".
Issa, in HOW TO SALSA IN A SARI, definitely doesn't have a clique....until she begans her devious plan to take down her arch-nemisis, Latina princess Cat Morena. Issa's crew is cute soccer-player Ishaan and ditzy cheerleader Gigi.
Leah, in SHRINK TO FIT, is an athlete who is rejected by the other female basketball players for being best friends with the cheerleaders and shunned by the cheerleaders for not being "thin and perfect" (or so she thinks!) Leah's crew is hot, next-door-neighbor Jay and low self-esteem modelwannabe Shazan.
Zia in my JEWELS trilogy, is a total planner. She has full plans to win the Intel Science Fair Project, win a huge college scholarship, go to Stanfoard, then med school, then become a psychiatrist. However, she is terrified of accepting help from anyone and wants to do everything on her own....hmm, sounds a bit familiar :)
I definitely didn't have the drama that my heroines do when I was in HS, but still, I think there is a bit of High School Dona in each of my heroines.
What about everyone else? Do you put yourselves into the characters you write?
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Dona Sarkar
http://donasarkarmishra.com
HOW TO SALSA IN A SARI - out now!
SHRINK TO FIT - August 2008
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5 comments:
Hey, Dona!
I did a lot of people-watching in high school, so I think it's fair to say that I recreate those traits I found most interesting...plus throw in bits of myself.
Of my heroines to date, Nic from TOP TEN USES FOR AN UNWORN PROM DRESS is most directly like me, although as I talked about last week, she has more confidence than I did. Least like me is Kate in HOW TO HOOK A HOTTIE because like Zia, she's really focused and directed--and I was not. (More on this on Friday when I blog...)
I definitely put some of my own traits, quirks and points of view into my characters. I just may not always admit which ones they are. ;-) But definitely, all of my characters have a bit of me in them -- good and bad.
From our posts and reader comments, I'm sensing a trend among author-types. We never fit into just one category. I think that made us great observers and capable of understanding a variety of people--and that translates into believable characters of various types.
My characters are all definitely parts of me. I love making them do or say things I've always wanted to but didn't have the guts to! :)
I think you guys are right, we writers are observers in the world....which is how we create such fab multi-dimensional characters!
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