On Wed, 11 Oct 1995, Damon Jason Casale wrote:

They do??!?  Hmmm...  I usually decide on what I want my characters to be
like, come up with reasons why, and get to know them intimately before I
start writing them.  Sometimes they're based on real-life figures, but more
often than not, they're not.

If you can come up with characters and characterization not based in real 
life, then you are definately a better writer than I am.

Ichinohei Hitomi
Hitomi@escape.ca