How to use sociological and/or psychological studies in character building?

A story I’m trying to write have several characters who have been raised in foster families. None of them have been physically or emotionally abused, but I still felt like their childhood sould have some sort of impact on who they are, even as adults.

So I’ve started reading real world studies focusing on orphans and people raised in foster famillies. It helped me build my main character and make her reactions and choices more consistent.

But I think I overdone it and now too much of my characters' personalities, quirks and motivations are inspired from these studies, and I’m afraid they’re becoming stereotypes.

Is it a good idea to use sociological studies and such for character building?

is a duplicate

This question has been asked before and has already been answered. It should be marked as a duplicate.

Please enter the URL of the proposed duplicate in the details field below.

not constructive

This question cannot be answered in a way that is helpful to anyone. It's not possible to learn something from possible answers, except for the solution for the specific problem of the asker.

Communities

How to use sociological and/or psychological studies in character building?

0 comment threads

0 answers