Pratchett found a young protagonist useful, because when one is young 'you have to learn'. He included ideas of responsibility and 'guarding your society' as he felt it drew closer to the reality of a witch – that is, 'the village herbalist, the midwife, the person who knew things' like a designated driver, a witch is her community's 'designated sensible person'. With Tiffany, Pratchett wanted to 'restate' the purpose of magic on the Discworld and the relationship between wizards, witches and others.

A lot of Tiffany's understanding of the world is based on Pratchett's own experiences. The Wee Free Men features 'a lot of past' in its descriptions. In his youth, Pratchett was 'fascinated' by a nearby chalk pit, and like Tiffany knew how to read words before being able to pronounce them. Pratchett has said Tiffany Aching 'started with a girl lying down by a river, on the first page of The Wee Free Men'. But while the creative channel is being held open, all sorts of memories and thoughts creep out, somewhat to the owner's surprise. It sounds amateurish to say that characters invent themselves, and in truth they don't.

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