Writing Quote by William Jackson

There’s a quiet confession tucked inside Jackson’s matter-of-fact craft talk: puppets aren’t invented so much as smuggled out of real life. By framing his characters as “combinations” of people he’d known, then admitting they also contain “aspects of my own personality,” he collapses the usual distance between creator and creation. The quote reads like a behind-the-scenes anecdote, but the subtext is sharper: every supposedly “original” character is a social collage, and every collage is also a self-portrait.

The specificity of “Chicago” and “Indianapolis” does real work. These aren’t abstract muses; they’re cities with reputations, textures, and scenes. Dropping them in casually signals authenticity, the way comedians cite a particular diner to prove a bit isn’t just a bit. It also suggests a road map of influence: mobility, different Midwestern subcultures, different archetypes. “Weird” and “Dirty Dragon” sound like heightened nicknames, implying that Jackson’s creative process is less literary invention than exaggerated recognition - taking a recognizable human quirk and pushing it until it becomes a puppet you can literally put words into.

There’s also an ethical dodge embedded here. Saying a character is “based on” someone softens the claim: not a direct portrait, not an accusation, just inspiration. Yet he pairs that with the admission of self-insertion, which functions like a preemptive defense. If you see yourself in the puppet, so do I. That’s the artist’s alibi and his tell, delivered in the same breath.