My apologies if this topic has been raised and answered before. If so, please point me in the right direction. I've scrolled through the topics and I've tried the search, but nothing really came up.
So - how attached do you become to your characters?
As a newbie, I'm still trying to hone my craft. I've noticed that I tend to develop an attachment to several of the characters I've created. I even accidentally fell in love with a gorgeous redhead whose fate I had envisioned was entirely different, and she ended up as the main character in a different story.
My attachment also pushes me to dig deeper into their stories, and I let them evolve far beyond my initial idea.
So, my stories end up in a series, and when a series comes to an end, I feel genuine loss.
How far does your attachment to your characters reach, and have I fallen victim to a noob trap?