Well, considering how many times I have killed off my main character's love interest in my stories, it should be clear how much I care for my characters. But in all seriousness, I sort of get what you mean. They are not merely a device you use in your story - they are people in their own right. They have personalities and they seem very alive to me. I connect with my main characters a lot because they are basically me anyway. I have a habit of falling in love with that main character's love interest (which still doesn't explain why I keep killing them off). Even my villains have some sympathy from me - I understand them and why they are the way they are and, while I don't make excuses for them, I sort of like them as much as I like my other characters. There have been one incident where I got so attached to a character that I almost cried when I had to kill him off. The villain was kept in a cell and he got a guard talking about his life, his girlfriend, his slightly bad relationship with his father. And as I started to concoct this backstory for him I knew that the villain was going to kill him and make his escape. Even though he was a minor character I got so upset about his death. So I suppose I do sort of understand where you re coming from.
There were times when I've connected with characters who were misunderstood, resentful and isolated. One such character I created had me laying awake at night because for one moment, I felt I had become that character. It was...somewhat creepy and cool at the same time. It felt like for the first time, that character had his own voice, his own personality that wasn't something I forced on him. It was pretty awesome considering all my other characters seem to have the same basic personality and voice.
You have to connect with your characters. If you don't feel a connection with your characters, than neither will anyone else. Take the time to flesh out character profiles before writing the first draft. Get to know them. Become intimate with them. Then write.
...Y'know, I can't help but get the feeling that I missed a big opportunity to say, "Well, um, I don't exactly take them out to dinner with me and then to the movies, but...yeah, I do. I have to if I want them to be believable." But yes, you have to connect with them; you have to care about them otherwise no one will. Readers are excellent at picking out the sort of characters you didn't bother with, and they'll wonder why you even put them in the story to begin with.
Exactly! I do put a lot of thought into my characters and make them as real as possible. This is precisely what I do. I tend to visualise them because I always play out the stories in my head so they are just naturally visual to me if that makes sense. Wow! Nice! Haha! I agree with what you say here, this is totally what I do.
Yes, I too feel the presence of my story, characters around me. Like I imagine I am talking to them even I have all the things live in my mind while writing any story. I make my own world with myself and the characters in my mind. I don't feel too much loneliness, so it happened only when I sit alone not all the time.
