I always feel slightly hypocritical posting these tips. It's like I am putting myself up on a pedestal and saying I have everything figured out. Well...I don't.
One example is my most recent (and continuing) story, Two Symbols. Aside from many larger flaws I have not had a very consistent picture in my mind for some of my minor characters. Several of them in fact, have gotten their looks changed up to three times. That can make for confusion if in one paragraph I mention Kat's red hair and in the next say that her hair reminded Stefania of a raven... (by the way, if you are now looking back through the story for this particular mistake, let me save you a bit of time--it was purely fictional. Kat has always had red hair in my mind...though I'm not sure I ever mention it in the story!)
If you go have a firm mental image your story will be that much more interesting. I don't mean that you need to write like Horatio Alger and spend the first three pages of your book describing what your character looks like but think about it for a bit. Physical characteristics often point to personality characteristics. Does your character have crow's feet? (I'm assuming you know what these are?) They probably laugh and smile a lot. Do they have strong lines around their mouth? They have probably gone through a lot of pain (physical or mental) and come through stronger.
Anyway, I think you get the point.
Now that I am nearly finished with my story I decided to finally put down on paper what my characters look like. This is obviously not a necessity as some of us are not artists, but the point is you should have a very clear picture in your head. If you do not how can you ever expect to put a good image in your reader's?
For me it is easier to have a physical picture of a person to base my character's feature off of. First I collected pictures of epic looking people on Pintrest but when they didn't exactly match up with how I wanted them to look I decided to try something new--drawing human faces!
So, here is my first experiment in a facet of art I have never before touched:
Sorry some of the pictures aren't the best. I was taking them in blinding sunlight and couldn't see my camera screen!
Which one is your favorite? Cleon, is mine. I felt like I did the best job with him. Beppo on the other hand....was a not so successful portrait of my brother. He looks similar but his (the drawings) head is flatter and wider. Faith, you have seen my brother (the younger) more recently than the others. What do you think? Does it look like him?
You might notice the absence of Cleon and Kat's son...whose name I have forgotten, and also Zeppelin. I didn't intend to leave them out but simply didn't have time to get them drawn.
One example is my most recent (and continuing) story, Two Symbols. Aside from many larger flaws I have not had a very consistent picture in my mind for some of my minor characters. Several of them in fact, have gotten their looks changed up to three times. That can make for confusion if in one paragraph I mention Kat's red hair and in the next say that her hair reminded Stefania of a raven... (by the way, if you are now looking back through the story for this particular mistake, let me save you a bit of time--it was purely fictional. Kat has always had red hair in my mind...though I'm not sure I ever mention it in the story!)
If you go have a firm mental image your story will be that much more interesting. I don't mean that you need to write like Horatio Alger and spend the first three pages of your book describing what your character looks like but think about it for a bit. Physical characteristics often point to personality characteristics. Does your character have crow's feet? (I'm assuming you know what these are?) They probably laugh and smile a lot. Do they have strong lines around their mouth? They have probably gone through a lot of pain (physical or mental) and come through stronger.
Anyway, I think you get the point.
Now that I am nearly finished with my story I decided to finally put down on paper what my characters look like. This is obviously not a necessity as some of us are not artists, but the point is you should have a very clear picture in your head. If you do not how can you ever expect to put a good image in your reader's?
For me it is easier to have a physical picture of a person to base my character's feature off of. First I collected pictures of epic looking people on Pintrest but when they didn't exactly match up with how I wanted them to look I decided to try something new--drawing human faces!
So, here is my first experiment in a facet of art I have never before touched:
 |
| Comparing this picture with my story I realize I misspelled her name...I haven't decided which place though. Probably in the story. ;) |
Sorry some of the pictures aren't the best. I was taking them in blinding sunlight and couldn't see my camera screen!
Which one is your favorite? Cleon, is mine. I felt like I did the best job with him. Beppo on the other hand....was a not so successful portrait of my brother. He looks similar but his (the drawings) head is flatter and wider. Faith, you have seen my brother (the younger) more recently than the others. What do you think? Does it look like him?
You might notice the absence of Cleon and Kat's son...whose name I have forgotten, and also Zeppelin. I didn't intend to leave them out but simply didn't have time to get them drawn.
I like Stefania, Cleon, and Ron. I do agree with you though, Cleon's the best. Why haven't you ever tried this before? You're good at it!.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to have faces with the names. I have to admit, though, there are so many characters that I am having troubles keeping them straight in my head, but it may just be because I'm reading the sections so far apart.