Playwriting - Part 5B - Creating Characters by Combining Characteristics of People You Know

You may know a person on whom you'd like to base a character. However, if you do not have direct permission from that person to try to make the character exactly like the person, you need to be able to create a character that uses the characteristics from that person that you want, but that does not use all of that person's characteristics.

Perhaps you know of a person who is always nice to everybody that he meets. He helps out everybody with every task that they have when he is nearby. You'd take that personality trait, but then you would find a different person for the physical characteristics. Even when using physical characteristics, you should combine at least two people's characteristics to not make the character look exactly like a known person.

Perhaps your next person has long, blond, curly hair and tends to wear long sleeve turtle necks no matter the weather. Only take those things from that person and then find another person for more characteristics.

You might find somebody who likes to golf and then find another person who has the most muscle you've seen on anybody's legs. Use all of these things and combine them to make your character.

Once you've combined these details, your character is also sure to start having a "life" of his own. If you like using character biographies, use these details with the character biography you are making. Just make sure that people may be able to tell that you put in a specific nod to them that it is not okay to use their likeness in a play unless that person has given you permission. Using a few small characteristics, habits, or hobbies is fine as long as they are combined with different ones from other people.