HERO SHOPPING
I’m a very visual person. I always thought everyone had their own personal “TV” in their heads that they could watch.
This works well for me as a writer, because I often see (and hear!) my scenes play out on that personal TV set.
But, the disadvantage is, if I can’t see it clearly, I can’t describe it clearly for my readers so they can tune in their sets. Sometimes I have to find visuals to help.
One thing I love to do is go hero shopping.
Where does one shop for heroes? Why, the Internet, of course. (How did we ever manage without the Internet?) Most of the time I use modeling websites. A lot of writers I know use celebrities as the model for their heroes/heroines, but I tend to gravitate more toward models who aren’t that well-recognized. Usually I know some of the characteristics I want, like blue eyes, or dark hair. I’ll know if I’m looking for someone younger looking, or a little older looking. What’s fascinating to me is how certain faces pop out for the different characters. I generally create an “audition pool” of potential candidates, and then I carefully choose between them. It’s mostly instinct at that point.
I do the same thing for my heroines, and any significant secondary characters.
Then I create a page with their pictures on it, and print it out. Right now my current hero and heroine are taped to the shade right next to my computer. This way, when I need to describe a certain physical characteristic, or a particular body movement or expression, I can glance over, get a really solid look at them, and put that onto the paper.
In my new book, A KID TO THE RESCUE, I’m 
introducing readers to the Hawkins Family. This family had a total of twelve children. The hero in KID is “child” number seven. So I needed images of the entire family. When I went “shopping” for the Hawkins characters, I tried to select people who shared similar characteristics. It turned out there’s a very distinctive jawline that runs in the family, particularly in the men. Also, to my surprise as I’ve learned more about the individuals, I can see those traits in their pictures—traits I didn’t know about when I picked out my models. For example, it turns out brother Hayden is a real flirt, a real lady’s man—and you can clearly see that in his pictures. (To see the whole Hawkins Family as I envision them, with a little help from a modeling website, go here. Please note that Kasey’s name has been changed to Kara, and some of my characters have developed back story that would make me now list them as divorced instead of just “single”—and these ages are based on the book A KID TO THE RESCUE. Now I just have to keep them all straight as I try to write more stories for these fine, fun, people.)
I send these pictures along with my manuscript, and my editor passes them on to the art department. The art department, also being made up of very visual folks, appreciates the fact that I give them something besides words to describe my characters. (Pictures being worth a thousand words, yada, yada…) My covers have always been fantastic, so I think submitting the pictures is helpful.
I also shop for furniture pictures, vehicles, and home layouts. Whatever I need in order to envision things clearly so my readers can also see things clearly.
Do you have a personal TV set in your head? When you write or read, do you actually “see” the scenes in your head? Does it irritate you when the pictures on the cover don’t precisely match the descriptions of the characters inside the book? Where would you go hero shopping?
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