Is he his characters?

Q: Have you ever put your own personality in one of your characters, or do you liken yourself to one of your characters?
A: Well, I expect there's a bit of me in all of the male characters. My secretary thinks that I am Matt. My wife thinks I'm Loilal. Other people have said they detected me in other characters, but I think it's just a bit of me in all of the male characters. I'm not sure how I could have written them otherwise. 

Q: Robert, do you see yourself as any of the characters? 
A: I see myself as whoever I happen to be writing at the moment. Other people have notions... they think I'm this character or that. I'm everybody. 

Q: I have heard of some authors writing themselves as a character in their books. Have you intentionally done that or perhaps see yourself in one of your characters? For example, Loial is taking notes so that he may write a book about Rand and the events surrounding him. Is he perhaps the "closest fit" to someone who embodies you for the series?
A: According to my wife, he is -- but I don't think so.

Q: How much are you like the major characters?
A: I don't really that any of the major characters are very much like me, although there's some bits in Mat that remind me of me when I was younger. (followed by the regular "I think of myself as Lan, my wife says I'm Loial.")

Q: Which character in the Wheel of Time do you most identify with?
A: I always identify most with the character from whose point of view I am trying to write at that moment. I try to get inside their heads, inside their skins. Sometimes this has disadvantages. I have gone into the house at the end of the day and, before I can say a word, my wife has said to me, 'You were writing Padan Fain today, weren't you?' Inevitably, when she says this, I have indeed been writing some character you would not like to be alone with. But if you mean which character do I think is most like me, well, Lan Mandragoran expresses the ideals I was raised to aspire to, while Perrin is perhaps most like me as a boy and young man. On the other hand, my wife claims I am a perfect Loial!

Raina's Hold / Thus Spake The Creator - Index