--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I never put real people into my fiction…" description: "\"“I never put real people into my fiction -- I can't see the slightest point of that, when I have the alternative of inventing utterly subservient slave..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/barbara-kingsolver-200_fiction_i-never-put-real-people-into-my-fiction_2215735.png" --- # I never put real people into my fiction -- I can't see the… ![“I never put real people into my fiction -- I can't see the slightest point of that, when I have the alternative of inventing utterly subservient slave-people, whose every detail of appearance and behavior I can bend to serve my theme and plot.” quote by Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/barbara-kingsolver-200_fiction_i-never-put-real-people-into-my-fiction_2215735.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/barbara-kingsolver-200_fiction_i-never-put-real-people-into-my-fiction_2215735.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/barbara-kingsolver-200_fiction_i-never-put-real-people-into-my-fiction_2215735.png) > ““I never put real people into my fiction -- I can't see the slightest point of that, when I have the alternative of inventing utterly subservient slave-people, whose every detail of appearance and behavior I can bend to serve my theme and plot.”” [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She prefers creating fictional characters over using real people because it gives her total control to shape them for her story’s needs. **In simple terms:** She writes invented characters to control the plot. Key Takeaway Use fictional characters for narrative flexibility. Themes creativity control ethics Mood reflective analytical Type literary ethical When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - teaching creative writing - editing Key Concepts character construction authorial authority Questions to Reflect On - How does control over characters affect story authenticity? - When is it appropriate to base characters on real individuals? A Different Perspective Real people may limit creative freedom and raise privacy concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) ## Related quotes > [The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/the-reason-that-fiction-is-more-interesting-than-any-other-form-of/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [In times of trial, for inspiration, people want to look to real people rather than to fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-beaufoy/in-times-of-trial-for-inspiration-people-want-to-look-to-real-people/) [Simon Beaufoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-beaufoy/) > [It's fun to tease people about where fiction and life intersect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/it-s-fun-to-tease-people-about-where-fiction-and-life-intersect/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [When you're an actor, you're a slave to other people's visions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvester-stallone/when-you-re-an-actor-you-re-a-slave-to-other-people-s-visions/) [Sylvester Stallone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvester-stallone/) > [My father was a slave and my people died to build this country and I am going to stay here and have a part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-robeson/my-father-was-a-slave-and-my-people-died-to-build-this-country-and-i/) [Paul Robeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-robeson/) > [“It would be restful to serve, if only as a slave, people who saw clearly, coldly, straight, not obliquely and with hypocrisy only, such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-madox-ford/it-would-be-restful-to-serve-if-only-as-a-slave-people-who-saw/) [Ford Madox Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-madox-ford/) > [I don't \*ever\* write about real people. Art is supposed to be better than that. If you want a slice of life, look out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-don-t-ever-write-about-real-people-art-is-supposed-to-be-better/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [In language that is searing and lyrical, evocative and precise, this exceptional book thinks with the zombies, specters, felons, slaves, dogs, cadavers, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/in-language-that-is-searing-and-lyrical-evocative-and-precise-this/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Literature takes its revenge on reality by making it the slave of fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/literature-takes-its-revenge-on-reality-by-making-it-the-slave-of/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Sometimes after a compliment about my characterization skills, I'm asked if I model my characters on real people. Emphatically, no. And sort of, yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-weeks/sometimes-after-a-compliment-about-my-characterization-skills-i-m/) [Brent Weeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-weeks/) > [What I strive to do is make my characters seem like real people so that the reader experiences them as people - that's something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaume-cabre/what-i-strive-to-do-is-make-my-characters-seem-like-real-people-so/) [Jaume Cabre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaume-cabre/) > [What sometimes annoys me about the arts is increasingly that we have to put real people on screen or stage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zawe-ashton/what-sometimes-annoys-me-about-the-arts-is-increasingly-that-we-have/) [Zawe Ashton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zawe-ashton/) > [Fat girls aren’t real people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/fat-girls-aren-t-real-people/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) ## More by Barbara Kingsolver > [“Jesus was a more reliable backer, evidently, less likely to drink himself unconscious or get liver cancer. No wonder people chose Him as their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/jesus-was-a-more-reliable-backer-evidently-less-likely-to-drink/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/now-i-m-starting-to-think-he-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-my-whole-life-he/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/cooking-is-80-percent-confidence-a-skill-best-acquired-starting-from/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“In Bobby Ogle's version of heaven everyone would wind up in one place, criminals and Muslims included.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/in-bobby-ogle-s-version-of-heaven-everyone-would-wind-up-in-one-place/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Weeds are job security for the gardener.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/weeds-are-job-security-for-the-gardener/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/it-s-what-you-do-that-makes-your-soul-not-the-other-way-around/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Lusa turned to Crys, her eyes shining. "That was a luna." Crys shrugged. "So?" "So? So what? You want it should sing, too?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/lusa-turned-to-crys-her-eyes-shining-that-was-a-luna-crys-shrugged-so/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/the-strength-of-motherhood-is-greater-than-natural-laws/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“An imperfectly remembered life is a useless treachery. Every day, more fragments of the past roll around heavily in the chambers of an empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/an-imperfectly-remembered-life-is-a-useless-treachery-every-day-more/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Respecting the dignity of a spectacular food means enjoying it at its best. Europeans celebrate the short season of abundant asparagus as a form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/respecting-the-dignity-of-a-spectacular-food-means-enjoying-it-at-its/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Somehow it had come to pass that this man was her whole world, and she had failed to take his measure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/somehow-it-had-come-to-pass-that-this-man-was-her-whole-world-and-she/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [After 'The Poisonwood Bible' was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/after-the-poisonwood-bible-was-published-several-people-believed-that/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world, of character, my sense of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-can-count-all-the-ways-in-which-being-a-mother-has-enriched-my/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [But we've all ended up giving body and soul to Africa, one way or another. Even Adah, who's becoming an expert in tropical epidemiology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/but-we-ve-all-ended-up-giving-body-and-soul-to-africa-one-way-or/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [If the Lord hasn't got a boyfriend lined up for me to marry, that's his business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/if-the-lord-hasn-t-got-a-boyfriend-lined-up-for-me-to-marry-that-s/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) [Explore all 939 Barbara Kingsolver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) Phil Hogan > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) Coheed and Cambria > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“His hands on my waist he gently pulled me n embrace. I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) [Browse all 7,410 Fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I never put real people into my fiction -- I can't see the slightest point of that, when I have the alternative of inventing utterly subservient slave-people, whose every detail of appearance and behavior I can bend to serve my theme and plot.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Barbara Kingsolver" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-never-put-real-people-into-my-fiction-i-can-t-see-the-slightest/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fiction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-never-put-real-people-into-my-fiction-i-can-t-see-the-slightest/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/barbara-kingsolver-200_fiction_i-never-put-real-people-into-my-fiction_2215735.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/barbara-kingsolver-200_fiction_i-never-put-real-people-into-my-fiction_2215735.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/barbara-kingsolver-200_fiction_i-never-put-real-people-into-my-fiction_2215735.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I never put real people into my fiction -- I can't see the slightest point of that, when I have the…” — Barbara Kingsolver", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Barbara Kingsolver", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I never put real people into...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-never-put-real-people-into-my-fiction-i-can-t-see-the-slightest/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-never-put-real-people-into-my-fiction-i-can-t-see-the-slightest/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```