Figments in Fiction

I've never seen this movie, but does he have a bevy of dead girlfriends?
always seemed like an odd concept for a lighthearted romantic comedy. "Matthew
and Jennifer! Learning the power of love! Piles of dead bodies!"


Talking to the Dead - Sort of

How many times have you had a conversation with a long lost friend, relative, or enemy? I'm not talking about
an email chat or phone call, but a literal one-on-one conversation with a dead or absent person. One who comes to life via your imagination?

If you've done this, you're a rarity I'd say - but it happens more often in fiction.

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about actual ghosts in fantasy settings. Fiction will use this in a non-magical series to allow a character to express some hidden side of themselves that they would never share with another person. Their deceased spouse or friend is another story!

It's a representation of an inner conflict a character is having, and is usually presented in an ambiguous way; I think it's usually done to be interpreted as a character struggling with consciousness. They're not exactly dreaming, but are somehow not completely with it - they're most likely talking to themselves or their own subconscious minds to process some deep, impossible-to-express thought.

There was a great Sopranos episode where Tony was sick with fever and imagining talking to his friends in some somewhat real and somewhat bizarre scenes that ended up giving him a real-world insight about one of those friends.

It's a cool way to bring back characters who have passed away and let audiences/reader see them again.

I've noticed that Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul do NOT do this. They will bring back old characters by showing flashbacks we'd never seen before, and presenting a scene that shows whatever thematic, story, or character nuance that they want us to know, feel, or think about.

Have your characters ever sat down with a figment from their past and had a chat?

And here's a better question, actually - how do you SHOW that the figment is not really there, or is a ghost or vision, visible to one character but invisible to others? Does a glowing effect on the figment character do it? Do you indicate it with dialogue?

Have a good one!

-Banes