Why you should use fictional characters as your role models

I don't know if you caught Nathan's post about How to JV your way to success - if not you should check it out.

In it, he joked that I am Robin to his Batman - of course we all know that in reality I would be Batman, don't we?

But it got me thinking about using fictional characters as role models. We should be, and I hope we are, our authentic selves on our blogs, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to better ourselves. And one way of doing that is to emulate our fictional heroes in different situations. To try to second guess what they would do, how they would react or behave. After all, as writers, we should have a vivid imagination.

That thought process made me consider which of my fictional heroes I'd most like to be.

I discounted Sherlock Holmes - he was just a little too weird.

Jack Aubrey from Patrick O'Brian's fantastic novels (Master and Commander, for example) was a contender, but in the end I decided he was a little too gung ho.

I can't see myself as an American, so all the decent comic book heroes are out of the game - even Batman.

Fitzwilliam Darcy had many great qualities, but was perhaps a little vain for me, and those sideboards are just a pain to keep trimmed.

In the end it hit me, my favourite fictional character had to be from Star Trek, and from the best series, Next Generation.

I considered Data as my role model, as I have huge admiration for his logic, his strength and his ability to just keep working. Then I swung towards Will Riker - there's a man who wears his emotions on his sleeve - full of passion and fire.

But of course there is only one character I'd really want to be from the series. Unlike me, he's both short and slight, yet he commands an incredible presence, whether on his own star ship or on an alien planet. He never loses his cool. and seems to know instinctively what needs to be done. He surrounds himself with the best people, and then leads them to adventure and excitement, always delivering them back to safety.

I want to emulate his decision making skills, his ability to analyse data and come to a conclusion. I hope to be as good as he is at defining the right direction to take, and to bring a crew of fantastic people along with me.

The fictional character who I would most like to be is Jean-Luc Picard. We already share a hairstyle.

And you? Which fictional character are you?

Not related in any way, but worth reading nevertheless:

1/ Lifestyle benefits of being a blogger

2/ Setting a budget for your blog

3/ What is Web 2.0?