How are people in books different fro real human beings even when they are based

Question:Hello:

People in books are generally what is known as an archetype...they have one thing about they that is the biggest and main thing about them...being a true cowboy...being a hero...thats what they have to be in order to be interesting.

When you write about real people you focus on something...but what makes them real and interesting is that we know they are not that one thing...they will often have something that they will struggle with, or more often a relationship with someone that helps prop them up and be great. People are seldom great alone, its those around them that allow them to be great...Its not unlike drafting in a car for example.

The difference being that in fiction you have a reason for writing and you have to make some things larger than life...in a true story you can tell a tall tale, but the fact that they are human is always the most interesting part of that story...that they are just like us, but great.

I hope this helps

Rev Phil

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Hello:

People in books are generally what is known as an archetype...they have one thing about they that is the biggest and main thing about them...being a true cowboy...being a hero...thats what they have to be in order to be interesting.

When you write about real people you focus on something...but what makes them real and interesting is that we know they are not that one thing...they will often have something that they will struggle with, or more often a relationship with someone that helps prop them up and be great. People are seldom great alone, its those around them that allow them to be great...Its not unlike drafting in a car for example.

The difference being that in fiction you have a reason for writing and you have to make some things larger than life...in a true story you can tell a tall tale, but the fact that they are human is always the most interesting part of that story...that they are just like us, but great.

I hope this helps

Rev Phil

well, they aren't real are they- they exist only within the confines of the book (even if they are based on someone else, in the book they are still only a character)

When some body writes a book on somebody, some times the writer may be selective and be coloured by his own judgement about him. The writer may not be forthright enough to come out with his negative traits. It is the fault of the the writer. A biographer should be free from bias and be committed to bringing out the facts of the life of the protagonist in an objective manner. Very few biographers qualify to this standard.

No one on TV or in books ever goes to the toilet!

One is conceptual, only manifest on the piece of paper.
The other is manifest in empirical existence.
This difference is called "equivocal" in metaphysics.