- Ernest Hemingway once said, "When writing the novel a writer should create living people; people not characters." This means that the author should create a character that has such a strong connection that it seems that it is real life; however, this is not an easy task. It takes authors many years to master this skill. When this skill is accomplished, the reader is left with a feeling of friendship that can only be compared with real people. The novels of Siddhartha, Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, and The Alchemist have both great depictions and horrible depictions of teenagers today.