Editing For Better or For Worse (section)

==Characters==
{{main|List of For Better or For Worse characters}}

===Original characters===
The strip focuses on a family known as the Pattersons:

* ''Elly Patterson'' (née ''Richards'') is a stressed woman yet loving wife and mother of three. Elly tried night classes, writing columns for a small local paper, and periodically filling in as a dental assistant in John's office before landing a job in a library. Nearing [[menopause]], Elly was surprised to learn she was pregnant with their daughter, April. After the library job ended, Elly began working in a book store which she and John eventually bought and expanded to include toys and hobby supplies (such as model railroads).  She then sold the store to her friend and began retirement.
* ''John Patterson'' is the husband to the strip's [[protagonist]] Elly. A mild-mannered dentist and loyal family man who is a big kid at heart. Over time he develops interests in cars and [[model railroading|model railroads]], even going so far as to try and run them through the house and back to his workshop.
* ''Michael Patterson'' started in the strip as a rambunctious preschooler, who grew from a fresh little boy to a sullen teenager and became a good, mature young man. Michael became a freelance writer, married to his childhood crush Deanna Sobinski and is a father to daughter Meredith and son Robin.
* ''Elizabeth Patterson'' started in the strip as a bratty and demanding toddler, growing to a cute little girl, to an awkward preadolescent, to a confident and bright young woman. When the original series of strips ended, she was a teacher who had just married her ex-boyfriend Anthony Caine and became stepmother to his daughter, Françoise. Elizabeth gave birth to a son, James Allen Caine, whom she and her husband named in honour of her grandfather's death.

In 1991, a third child was born:
* ''April Patterson'' is the youngest, and so named because she was born on [[April Fool's Day]], 1991. She nearly drowned during a spring flood when she was four years old: the family sheepdog Farley lost his own life while saving her. She developed over the years into a bright tomboy who was a talented musician with a love of animals. When the original series ended, she was about to go off to university to study [[veterinary medicine]].

As John and Elly's children grew older, the strip started to focus on neighbours and friends as well, creating an ever-changing roster of characters.

The comic's main characters were initially based upon Johnston's real family, but Johnston has made significant changes.<ref>Aaron Johnston wrote: "[T]he strip, though based in part on our family and our personalities during the early years, mostly comes from Lynn's own imagination. … I think that in the late '80s and early '90s there was a real split … [i]nstead of being a reflection of our family, they truly became Lynn's own imaginary family with a life all their own." - ''Suddenly Silver: Celebrating 25 Years of For Better or For Worse''</ref><ref>"Elizabeth is me at the age of two melting crayons on the radiator; Michael is me at the age of six feeling jealousy and rage at the coddling of a younger sibling." - from ''A Look Inside For Better or For Worse: The 10th Anniversary Collection'' by Lynn Johnston.</ref> When her children were younger, she asked their permission before depicting events from their lives;<ref>Aaron Johnston relates being asked for permission to use his experiences with wearing glasses in the strip in ''Suddenly Silver''. Aaron "dreaded" Michael getting glasses, and suggested that Elizabeth get them instead.</ref> and she only once used a "serious" story from their lives, when Michael and Josef photographed an accident before Michael realized he knew the victim. Unlike Deanna, the real-life victim did not survive.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14846-2004Oct7.html | newspaper = The Washington Post | title=Comics: Meet the Artist | last = Tobin | first = Suzanne | date =  October 8, 2004 | access-date=2007-06-30}}</ref> Johnston says that she dealt with the bad news of her own [[infertility]] by creating a new child (April Patterson) for the strip.<ref>Described by Johnston in ''All About April''</ref>