C Is For… Characters!
Contributed by Rachel Wilder.
Characters.
My biggest outlet for my creative energies is writing. My first choice is fiction stories, usually with paranormal or urban fantasy elements. And, whatever the plot or setting, the driving force are the characters.
One of the very first things I do to cement the character is to find a photo of them. A vague image in my mind isn’t enough. I usually pick an actor as I like to have more than one image for my character.
I have a co-author, A. Catherine Noon, and for our latest story our main character is Caden Meadows. His physical appearance is based on the talented actor William Moseley. Since Caden is twenty-two, I picked earlier photos of the actor. I was lucky enough to find a similar image for our cover. You can see images of Moseley on the Pinterest board I curate, here. A link to our book, As the Crow Flies, is here.
What do you think? And how do you picture characters when you read them?
Let me know in the comments.
Rachel Wilder
Working for a photo must help with description. I don’t usually create an image of the character in my head while reading, but I do reference the cover when the character is available there — and I do drop a star on the review if the character on the cover BREAKS what is described in the story. Like once “short hair, blond, clean skin” had a cover of dark, wind blown and heavily tattooed – I was wanting to curl up with that bad boy and the story wasn’t about him at all. What you have with you chosen picture and the cover looks great.
Sometimes I have an image in my head for a character. Often, I see an image (I have a folder full of cards I’ve purchased over the years) and I either think, aha! that fits so-and-so, or the universe bops me on the head with a story.
Having a picture on which to base your character is such a great idea. It must help make them feel real in a way description alone just can’t do. Kudos!