Character Lessons, by Lori Roberts Herbst

 Since I’m in the process of outlining and drafting a new series, I’m currently immersed in creating characters. For me, breathing life into fictional humans represents a huge part of the joy of being a writer. These people exist because of me — how awesome is that?

 

But as I began fleshing out my main character, an almost-thirty-year-old named Shelley Shore, it occurred to me that for as much as I create my characters, they also help create me. From their actions, emotions, and thought processes, I am continually learning about myself — my values, my perspectives, my humanity. When Callie Cassidy, the main character in my Callie Cassidy Mystery series, exhibits resilience, I realize again how important that trait is to me. When her mother displays empathy, I touch the inner part of me that prioritizes it. 

 

It got me thinking about the huge role books and characters have made in shaping my moral code over the course of my life. Obviously, my parents did the bulk of the legwork there, but fiction also played a big part in my development. Here are just a few of the many characters who teach me what it means to be human.

 

Charlotte (Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White) UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.”

 

Sydney Carton (A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens) THE POSSIBILITY OF REDEMPTION

“It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done.”

 

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron (The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman) TEAMWORK, FRIENDSHIP, AGING

“It was a community, and in Ibrahim’s opinion, that was how human beings were designed to live.”

 

Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee) DOING WHAT’S RIGHT

“We’re paying the
highest tribute you can pay a man. We trust him to do the right thing. It’s that simple.”

 

Theodore Decker (The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt) FINDING JOY

“I had the epiphany that laughter was light, and light was laughter, and that this was the secret of the universe.”

 

The Lorax (The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss) PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

 

Ove (A Man Called Ove, by Fredrick Backman) THE IMPORTANCE OF LIVING IN THE PRESENT

“We always think there’s enough time to do things with other people. Time to say things to them. And then something happens and we stand there holding on to words like ‘if’.”

 

These are just a few characters who have helped me grow. What about you? What life lessons have you learned from fictional characters?

 

The Callie Cassidy Mystery series is available on Amazon Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and paperback.

 

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Lori Roberts Herbst writes the Callie Cassidy Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in Rock Creek Village, Colorado, and the soon-to-be-released Seahorse Bay Mysteries, set in a Texas cruise port town. To find out more and to sign up for her newsletter, go to www.lorirobertsherbst.com