A Little About Character
Recently, a reader asked whether the character of Kalan, in The Wall Of Night series, is based on a real person.
In penning my reply, it occurred to me that others might be interested in my answer, so am sharing it here:
“Kalan isn’t based on a real person, but is his own character, one who has been shaped by the events and experiences of the narrative, which has itself evolved from my original concept. Having said that, I think stories and characters are undoubtedly shaped by the experiences and observations of the author. Such experiences and observations, though, can be very broad-based, going well beyond the author’s own life to accounts in the media, biographies and autobiographies, historical accounts, and the archetypes and traditions of myth and legend. So although I feel sure characters are born somewhere amid such material, pinpointing a particular event or other character determinant is usually very difficult, and most often impossible.”
I could have just said “no”, of course, and left it at that — but I feel this is a more interesting, as well as more informative, response. 😉