The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!
I spend a lot of my time with fictional characters, as someone who reads a lot of fiction and plays video games that have stories. But there’s one question I always struggle to answer… If I could be any fictional character, who would I like to be?
The thing is that I mostly like my life as it is: job, hobbies, abilities, friends and all. It’s hard to imagine wanting to be characters in the murder mysteries I read, or in the often tumultuous worlds of fantasy and sci-fi novels. I enjoy reading about Breq and Seivarden (from Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice), but I definitely wouldn’t want to be them. I enjoy Maia’s court in The Goblin Emperor (by Katherine Addison), but it sounds too formal, cold and uncomfortable to live in. And while I would love to hark back to my childhood and hang out with Benton Fraser and Diefenbaker (Due South) for a little while, I don’t have the courage to be a police officer.
But I don’t want to spoil the fun, and there are some really cool things that characters in these books can do that I’d love to join in with… so after some significant thought, I have to say I’d like to be Irene, from Genevieve Cogman's The Invisible Library (and sequels). Being able to travel between worlds via an interdimensional library sounds amazing, and having access to books from all those worlds sounds even better.
Sure, I’d have to have some harrowing adventures along the way, but the books might just be enough to make it worth it! (Let’s not kid ourselves. The books would definitely be enough for me.)
What about you? Do you have a fictional character you’d like to be? You can tell us here in the comments if you like, and if you aren’t sure what to write about on your postcards this month, you can write about it there too!
30 comments so far
Maisie Dobbs. She was my hero in all her books. What a life she had. The author, Jacqueline Winspear, has just come out with the 17th and final book. I will miss her.
I always wanted to be like Pippi Longstocking. The hero of my childhood! She is always smart and so refreshing different.
@dutchgranny , can we use a public repository like github for tracking story progress? I wouldn't mind being the clay pot in Tibor Fischer's Collector collector. A story where an ancient shape shifting sentient clay pot rizzes up attractive women telepathically.
I like the books by Genevieve Cogman as well and as I also like solving mysteries, perhaps I would be Irene's friend, Vale.
I'm completely agree with each word from @Svenny74 .. My favourite is a Pippi Longstocking since I was 10 and still is, despite I'm over 50s...
I would like to be Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, Nancy Drew or Annabeth Chase/ Thalia Grace from Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
... wow, hard to choose I love cartoons so, so much!!!!
I would like to be Woodstock :) Snoopy's best friend!
or Arlene :) Stitch, Olive, Snowy, and Dogmatix from the Romanian charachter cartoon Miaunel & Balanel <3
Lovely topic <3 and somehow how it fits with some requirements from my pen pals that I have extracted and found as required from August senders!
Happy Postcrossing!
:) :D
Mark Tufo’s characters in his Zombie Fallout series is amazing!! I’d be the main characters wife Tracy!
Hange Zoë in Attack on Titans. They're so cool!
Referring to famous/old character I would be inspired by Phileas Fogg, the protagonist of < Le tour du monde en 80 jours > by Jules Verne
I'm inspired by dragons. My idea is that THEY were the last creatures of God and that in former times they watched over the human beings and helped them. I started writing but I fear that writing is not one lf my talents
Aeon Flux
I would like to be Sarah Williams from the movie Labyrinth (1986). The story might have completely different ending, though. :)
I’d love to be Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. What a grand and merry adventure that must be.
Interesting thought experiment. I like the idea of having a signature, unique sort of recognizable name, but I would not want to be Uriah Heep. James Bond is another great example of that, has a variety of useful skills. He always gets the girl, but in the end, is a very lonely assassin. It would be fascinating to experience the universe as a woman, but which one? Circe perhaps. Ultimately when I think of fictional characters, i think of beings who have complex conflicts they have to solve across some sort of story arc. I already have that in the life I live, just don't know how it will turn out. That is more than enough.
@Svenny74 me too I love Pippi Longstocking! And also Emil, do you known him? A fantastic blond-haired, blue-eyed boy who gets up to all sorts of mischief in his little Swedish village! Another Lingren masterpiece.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_aus_L%C3%B6nneberga
it is very difficult for me to choose one single character from the book. I experience their story and life with them at that given moment
An inspiring topic! 🙂 I created fictional characters with a former school friend back in a ski ressort where we were the strolling persons instead of the skiing ones.
She was a large fan of Yu-Gi-Oh and offered me some sight of the dragon stories as I wasn't reading that fantasy genre (except 2 books about vampires later after school).
There was a character, Vegeta, in the stories we wrote and another one, Kiri, and they had their amount of powers. But mostly they did surveillance of the nests.
I now read books that are more about at least partly realistic stories.
That thing there is with an unexpected twist or science development in such books is enough for powerful story writing, I think.
I would be Beverly Crusher from Star Trek, she helps people and gets to be with Jean Luc Picard every day😘.
Oh, dear. This is a hard choice. Maybe Laura Ingalls Wilder. Or Anne, of Green Gables. Or Elizabeth Thornton of When Calls The Heart. Yes, I realize Laura Ingalls Wilder was a real person; her stories were based on her life. But there is also the fictional characteristic.
There is only ever one character I would have liked to have been. Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit. Blew me away from page one as a child and still does today when I often re-read it. Still a child at heart !
Ah, difficult choice between Anne of Green Gables, Pippi Longstotcking or Sara Stanley from The Story Girl...
Fors Wall!!! I love her~
I love all romantic classical literature! I really like Jane Eyre, but compared to her personality, I may ultimately choose to become Elizabeth, the second miss of the Bennet family in Pride and Prejudice. She eventually married Mr. Darcy (I admire Liz's views on life and love so much, and what a wonderful ending she had)
I agree with Ceres1849 as being the adventurer Bilbo whose eyes are opened as he travels . The Hobbit is the book i take on long hikes. My copy has done Tasmania's Overland track 2 or 3 times.
I like to be Winnie The Pooh; lovable, sweet, soft, kuddley and I love honey too.
I would love to be Encyclopedia Brown and help solve mysteries for people in my neighborhood!
I like play baskeball and honey
A hedgehog ...
"Hedgehog's House" by Branko Ćopić is a beloved children's poem and story that has charmed generations in the Balkans. The story revolves around a clever and diligent hedgehog who builds a strong and secure house. Throughout the tale, other animals like the fox, the wolf, and the bear mock the hedgehog's efforts, considering his work unnecessary and excessive. They boast about their own carefree lifestyles, relying on their cunning or strength.
However, when a harsh winter arrives, the other animals find themselves unprepared, cold, and hungry. They seek refuge in the hedgehog's sturdy house, which he graciously offers, despite their earlier ridicule. The story ends with the animals learning a valuable lesson about the importance of hard work, preparation, and humility.
This tale serves as a moral lesson about the virtues of diligence, foresight, and kindness. It emphasizes that hard work and persistence are rewarded, while arrogance and laziness can lead to difficulties. The hedgehog, though small and initially underestimated, becomes a symbol of wisdom and resilience.
Chihiro from Spirited Away!
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