quote:
Originally posted by The Eurostar:
I preferred the first Phil, the shy one, but I am adapting to the new one...
You're not the only one who has said that. The thing is that I never intended Phil to be that sort of person. I wanted to create someone who would continually defy expectations and break down heroic stereotypes. Phil is neither a hero nor an antihero, and you're never really sure if you like him. My goal is to dissolve the overextended black-and-white, good guy/bad guy distinctions we are so often trapped by in our writing. I have given a slightly different take on some of the characters here, but the purpose of that has always been to make them more human, more believable. You can make a character with as many inhuman traits as you want, but if the readers can't see some element of themselves in that character, then there's less of a sense of connection to the character, and that connection has always been one of the main characteristics of an enduring character.

I have heard many comments from people who say that they can't really understand Phil at all. That to me is a good thing, because there's a bit of everyone in Phil - and there's a bit of Phil in everyone. Don't be afraid to write with him because you don't understand every element of his personality. Phil is a very dynamic character, and if I were to make him more predictable or more "in the box", I would defeat my entire purpose for writing him in the first place.