'Casting' your novel

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kibou

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I definitely cast, but like many have said, it has to be someone I don't know. There is no way I could cast famous people.
I have an idea in my head, say race/hair colour/age, and then I have to find a picture that looks similar to what I'm envisaging. This can take some time!
When I write, the characters act out the scene in my head (much like a film), so I need to be able to visualise them. I often seek out visual representations of clothing, locations etc etc.
I find unless I have a face and a name (I can spend days looking for the right name), I cannot get them to act in my head. Personalities, mannerisms and voices come from this acting, so that isn't picture specific.
I work on Scrivener, so I have a character template complete with photo for each of my main players and a few of the minor.
I couldn't work any other way.
 

WriteMinded

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As I write, a picture grows. Sometimes I come to visualize someone I know or an actor. Colin Farell with blue eyes for my (so far) favorite MC, Liam Neeson in a later book. However, I don't build my character accordingly. It works the other way around.

The men are always clear to me, the women not so much.
 

Becky Black

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I rarely do it, but must admit that one of the main characters in my most recent draft just happens to look exactly like an actor named Tyler Hoechlin.
 

TheWordsmith

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I do that a lot. My current WIP's two leads look like David Tennant and Misha Collins.

Well, yeh. I could cast them in anything ... well, maybe not cement! But, I couldn't use them as characters in my work. Too limiting. But I do like your train of thought!
 

heza

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The only novel I've "cast" anyone in I cast with real people. Not people I know, just people I've seen: a motorcyclist getting pulled over by a cop in the parking lot of my gym; the kid who works the drive-thru at the chicken place I like.... that kind of thing.
 
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