I am here today to talk about something that I feel needs to be addressed. Haha. Just kidding. Bust seriously, I am here today to talk about my love for fictional characters. Let's be honest, we all love fictional characters. It's like a sport, or maybe a job. But there are no trophies, no perks, no raises, and no bonuses. Well, there might be a few bonuses.
I have certainly been in love with my fair share of fictional characters. I swear I have never loved anyone like I loved Patch Cipriano from the Hush, Hush series. I could be his Nora. I bawled like a baby when Fred Weasley died, because we were supposed to spend forever together. Who wasn't in love with Pacey or Dawson?
So, a few things about loving fictional characters I want to talk about.
First, why do we love them? And why do we inherently love them more than real people? I think we love fictional characters because we can. Because it doesn't cost us anything, and yet we get so much in return. We can read about them, or watch them on TV shows or in movies and it doesn't cost us anything. Yes, we get emotionally invested, hard core sometimes, but they can't really break our hearts. They can't cheat on us. They can't steal from us. And I think this is why we sometimes love them more than real people. Real people are hard, they are messy, they have minds of their own. There are so many other reason to love frictional characters, but that is not really why I am here.
I want to talk about loving fictional characters as their writers. Now, many authors feel differently about this. Some say that they do not love their fictional characters and so say they absolutely love their fictional characters. Now, mind you, I am mostly referring to YA authors and characters. Firstly, I believe this has a lot to do with gender, then it has to do with who the author is, and so on. Many fans want to know if authors love their characters. Rachel Higginson, for example, will sometimes say she loves her characters as children and therefore not romantically.
I would like to address my opinion on this subject. Yes, I love my characters, but how do I love my characters? This is the thing, I write both of the characters so while I might not be in love with my male characters, my female characters are in love with my male characters. My female characters are a part of me, so therefore, wouldn't I be at least partially in love with the male characters? I don't know. I am only twenty three years old, a lot younger than the other authors who write YA books, therefore I don't feel so badly about being in love with fictional characters as they might. Especially NA characters, I can totally be in love with them. This probably makes no sense, and I realize that I am rambling, but I feel many different things about loving characters. I love some of them as brothers, some of them as friends, some of them as loves, and so forth. It really depends on the character, the book, the situation, how long I spend with a character and so on.
One of the things that I am trying, and failing, to say is that I think it is okay to love fictional characters. They are fictional after all. They can't ruin real life relationships. They can't break your heart. They give you far more than they take from you.
I am just going to stop here while I am somewhat ahead. But you feel free to love or hate fictional characters however you see fit. Also, don't get me started on hating fictional characters. That is another topic for another blog. Until next time.
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