John August wrote Will as himself...

He lost his father when he was in college. That's what John Logan said:

"My dad was nothing like Edward Bloom, but my relationship to him had the same dynamic as the movie I was writing. For some of the details, this was extraordinarily helpful. You can't watch a person fight cancer for three years without learning a lot about doctors, hospitals and nutritional supplements. I knew what to put in the movie. More importantly, I knew what to leave out. There's a matter-of-factness that develops when a person is dying, which has
nothing to do with medical jargon and morphine drips. By keeping it simple, I kept it more honest.In terms of Will himself, I made him a journalist because that's what I studied in college. I made him my age (28 at the time) so that I could keep timelines consistent. And more than any screenplay I'd written before or since, I just wrote him as myself. While I hope the character embodies some of my better qualities, he certainly incorporates some of my worst. He's stubborn and self-defeating. He's eager to please but desperate for praise -- a grade-grubber grown up. And worst of all, he insists on being right, even when there's no "right" to be found."

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