Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Pictures of Characters

Have you ever read a book then looked at the cover and grimaced because the characters look nothing like they were described?

Yeah, me too.

For this very reason, I resisted finding pictures of real people to base my characters on. After all, my characters are conjured in my imagination. No one could possibly live up to the images in my head!



A few books ago, though, I had a change of heart. I'd find myself having to look up the heroine's eye color. I couldn't remember if the hero had brown or black hair. I knew I had to change.

Now, I fill out my character sheets for a new book, and when I form a mental picture of the hero and heroine, I spend a few hours on the internet, searching for models/actresses/musicians who come close to the ideal. I thought it would be much harder than it is. I've been fortunate to find the perfect picture for each character. Once I find them, I print out one or two pictures and stab the pics into my corkboard. The hero and heroine will be right there in front of me the entire first draft.

By the way, my current book features the gorgeous Teresa Palmer and the not-too-shabby Eric Martsolf. It's really not difficult to gaze at these two all day long! (Curious? Check them out: Teresa Palmer and Eric Martsolf.)

What about you? Do you find pictures of your characters? Or does the idea turn you off? I'd love to hear from you.

Join me on Friday. We'll be talking about a fun Point of View trick I like to employ.

And...

Write Already! It's Wednesday!

21 comments:

  1. Fun post, Jill! That happens to me a lot - there is one book in particular that I just LOVE (it's actually a trilogy), but the cover always bothers me because the two characters look nothing like I imagine them!

    That's a fun idea about searching the internet. I tried it once. But I spent way too much time doing it and I didn't really find anything. So I had to stop. But that's awesome you found your characters! And you're right - they aren't bad to look at at all!

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  2. Yes, I will admit that I do the same--but only AFTER I know the general description. I don't want my characters to look exactly like celebrities, but they are the easiest "models" to find on the net and stuff. In fact, the hero in my WIP bares a resembalence to David Boreanz in his early years.

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  3. I do get pictures of my characters. I put them up on my novel blogs if anyone is interested while they're reading. It's always nice to have that visual in my head, I think.

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  4. Hope you're all having a lovely Wednesday morning!

    Katie: Imagine the horror when our own books feature covers with pictures that look nothing like our characters! Yikes! And I'm with you on the internet time vacuum. So much to see...

    Ralene: I understand. My characters resemble celebrities, but I see them slightly different. After all, I think of them as real people and we're all different!

    Lady Glamis: The visual has helped me to focus on their individual attributes. I start out with this great, clear idea in my head, but six weeks later it's gone. I need pictures!

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. I have to say that I wish I had that luxury. Since I write historical fiction (more specifically fictionalized biographies), I have very little choice in my character's physical appearance (and at times, I wish I did!). So far, the characters I've chosen have portraits which I use as my basis; then I read biographies for everything else. Once I have the foundation, then my imagination takes it from there!

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  6. I try to think of someone I know but that doesn't always work. I also tried once to cut a picture out from a magazine and that didn't work! So I'm still figuring it out. Good post!

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  7. Jody: Yes, I suppose writing historical doesn't give you that option! It isn't as if many celebrities where corsets or old-fashioned hair!

    Terri: When you find your perfect method for picturing your hero/heroine, I hope you'll share!

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. I never even considered doing that! I do have pictures of: scenery, buildings, cars, shoes, flowers, frogs..... but never the characters. Hmmm....

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  9. Tess: I never considered getting pictures of shoes. Although, now that I'm thinking of it, I'd probably feel like shopping if I started gathering pic's of shoes!

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  10. I usually have a picture in my mind of how I want my characters to look. But that's a great idea, finding specific pictures. I do find that I forget eye color or other details on occasion, particularly with my WIP right now. It's a trilogy. Once you find a picture, do you find that you sometimes use other characteristics from that actor or actress to help describe your character?

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  11. Cindy, great question! I'm unfamiliar with the work of the hero and heroine in my current book, so I have no idea what their mannerisms or speech are like. I think that's part of the reason I used them.

    My last book, though, I did have a famous actress in mind. As I wrote, my heroine became more real to me and less-actress like, so she was doing her own thing!

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  12. For my latest novel, I have two classic movie stars in my head that serve as reminderes of what my characters look like - which makes sense, since the novel is set in the 1940s. :-)

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  13. Hi, Jill. I know just what you mean having to go backtrack to get the eye color and hair color, etc. The characters start to mesh from one book to another when your editing some, revising others, and writing the first draft of another. I may just have to do some character shopping myself. Thanks for the idea!

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  14. Awesome idea. I'd been resisting for the same reasons you mentioned, but I think I'm going to have to. It will make writing/editing much easier if I'm able to stay consistent!

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  15. Melissa: I'm a sucker for Cary Grant. Put him in one of your novels for me! :)

    Eileen: It's a rough job, looking for attractive people, but someone's got to do it. Ha! Ha! Do you write category also?

    Windsong: The visual helps me tremendously. But, my motto stands: if it doesn't work for you, you don't have to do it again! Thanks for stopping by!

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  16. My characters are usually based on real people, so I almost always have a picture of them, though usually it comes from my memory rather than a photograph. But for books I read, it totally annoys me when there's a picture! Like you, it almost always distorts my image of the person and the reading isn't as fun afterwards.

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  17. I had to laugh when you said you love your writing today on my post! :)) That is awesome! I hope I can say the same thing some day!

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  18. Davin: Welcome and thanks for coming by. I've been reading about people who don't like the current trend of not featuring a face on the cover, but I love that trend! It lets me keep my image of the character. What genre books do you write? I'm very nosy!

    Terri: I laugh out loud at my own work. It's pathetic. My hero just cracks me up. And my heroine doesn't understand how men work, so she's been a hoot to write! Go ahead, enjoy your words. It's allowed!

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  19. Sometimes, I use a pic to help me come up with an idea of what the character will look like, but it never sticks. The character might resemble the pic, but there's always something different. Hey, that's what they want, not me. Oh, well.

    Otherwise, I use character sheets to keep track of everyone.

    Lynnette Labelle
    http://lynnettelabelle.blogspot.com

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  20. Lynette: My characters become very real in my head, as I'm sure yours do too. I LOVE character sheets. They're life-savers.

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  21. Photos: I used to get pictures of the characters from magazines, but I sort of evolved away from it. Photos of models and actors are airbrushed to be frighteningly perfect. Instead, I tend to lean towards impressions of the character rather than specific descriptions.

    Character Sheets: I don't use them. I have so many characters that they would be cumbersome. I just keep track of everything on a five page style sheet.

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