'Casting' your novel

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StephanieZie

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I don't necessarily "cast" my novels on purpose, but I'm a visual thinker, so I have a very clear picture of what my characters look like. Then it's just a matter of google-ing around to see if I can find anyone close to that. I have two male MCs. I imagine the older as a sort of mid-30's Ed Norton, and the younger might be a teenage Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
 

Maria S

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I cast my characters. I use Pinterest so I can look at the images of the characters all in one spot.

I cast characters in the books I read too. I spend way too much time on google matching qualities in books with real life people.
 

BlankWhitePage

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I tend to cast characters as well. It helps me get a visual for appearance. Then I work on the personality on my own.
 

srgalactica

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I don't *have* to cast my novels, but it's fun sometimes. Kinda of cool thing happened once. I had one idea of how one of my secondary characters would look and I couldn't find a pic...and then my boyfriend goes "What about Hugh Jackman, when he was in Real Steel." I totally didn't see it. It wasn't right at all...and then, after several weeks of thinking about it and thinking about the character, I had the light bulb moment and the boyfriend was RIGHT! It was hilarious.
 

Whistle_White

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I try to avoid casting my novels because I always end up having Bendict Cumberbatch as both the hero and the villain.

And you know what, he could do it because he's that great of an actor!!!! *off to fangirl somewhere else*

(in all seriousness, Anthony Hopkins in a beard would be absolutely awesome for my anti-hero right now.)
 

SJNew

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I cast characters in the books I read too. I spend way too much time on google matching qualities in books with real life people.

Ah, fan-casting. I know what you mean, I've got a bad habit of trying to head-cast a movies version of whichever book I'm reading.

I try to avoid casting my novels because I always end up having Benedict Cumberbatch as both the hero and the villain.

That's another reason I try not to 'cast' my stories with pre-existing people. The temptation to just describe the male lead/love interest as who ever I happen to have a fan crush on at the time would be too great.


Recently, I've started using the Sims Create a Sim feature to help me brainstorm character templates that I can then build upon later on. So far I've found it surprisingly helpful.
 

Marniy

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I love casting my characters. I don't use actors though, I usually trawl through models.com and look for people that match my idea about the characters. That way, they lack any association to a part an actor may have played. These poor anonymous people can have any personality I inflict upon them.
I put the pictures on my desktop when I write- the characters from that particular scene. It helps me focus. If I get stuck, I look at the picture and think about what they would say or do at that moment.

It is a little disconcerting when their real lives intrude, however. My ultimate bad guy- a cold, asexual genius, turns out to be a gay Brazilian go-go dancer living in London. I laugh when I see his picture now, because of the absolute disparity to my fictional depiction of him.

I also have a pinterest board where I've posted people, places, and things I associate with the story. That's fun, although unlikely anyone will ever see it.
 

Sunflowerrei

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Ah, fan-casting. I know what you mean, I've got a bad habit of trying to head-cast a movies version of whichever book I'm reading.



That's another reason I try not to 'cast' my stories with pre-existing people. The temptation to just describe the male lead/love interest as who ever I happen to have a fan crush on at the time would be too great.

I know this all too well. I've done this A LOT in the past. I write the story with whoever I like at the moment as the male lead, then before I'm finished writing the story, I've gotten over them.
 

Marniy

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Recently, I saw a woman walking down the street who was the spitting image of my MC in my work-in-progress. That was freaky.


Heh! My physical therapist looked just like my FMC. I told her I'd send her a copy of the book if it gets published. :)
It made PT more bearable. It was fun to see my character "come to life".
 

TheWordsmith

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It would never occur to me to stack up a list of actors for 'casting' my characters. My characters are all a part of me and to try to fit them into some artificial mold of someone you may think you know is, to me, a horrible thing to do. And, on the flip side, to cubbyhole characters according to some actor's screen persona is equally abhorrent to me. It seems it would force them into some artificial, 2 dimensional charicature of somebody else.

I could not imagine myself doing it but ... if you believe it helps you in visualizing your characters ... more power to you.
 

Marniy

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If you believe it helps you in visualizing your characters ... more power to you.

Oh my goodness! Thank you! Thank you!

I not only believe it helps me, it does help me. But I am so pleased to have your blessing.

:p
 

Anna Spargo-Ryan

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I can't do it with actors - their personalities (or any number of their characters' personalities) get tangled up with the characters I'm trying to write.

Occasionally my visuals won't be working as well as I'd like and I'll look for some imagery to help me. But it has to be someone I'm not familiar with, like an English footballer or a Brazilian politician or something, otherwise it has more impact on my story than I'd like.

I'd never cast personalities in this way, for the reasons TheWordsmith has stated. They are purely visuals.
 

Kitty27

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I do it all the time. Check my siggies,lol.

It helps to have a visual when I am describing the character in the novel. Not an exact replica,of course. I just use the actor as a base to build from.
 

ccarver30

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I cannot write my story until I find just the right actor/actress to play the roles. I also have a file that has pics of my characters. And my current avatar is my MMC for Final Flame. :) I fall in love with all my MMCs though. :(
 

Anna Spargo-Ryan

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Yesterday I took the kids to the pool and saw a guy who looked exactly as I'd imagined my MC's husband. I actually gasped when I saw him. It was creepy of me, but I took some notes about the way he walked and sat and his expressions, very helpful.
 

Personal Prose

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I love casting my characters. I don't use actors though, I usually trawl through models.com and look for people that match my idea about the characters. That way, they lack any association to a part an actor may have played. These poor anonymous people can have any personality I inflict upon them.
I put the pictures on my desktop when I write- the characters from that particular scene. It helps me focus. If I get stuck, I look at the picture and think about what they would say or do at that moment.

It is a little disconcerting when their real lives intrude, however. My ultimate bad guy- a cold, asexual genius, turns out to be a gay Brazilian go-go dancer living in London. I laugh when I see his picture now, because of the absolute disparity to my fictional depiction of him.

I also have a pinterest board where I've posted people, places, and things I associate with the story. That's fun, although unlikely anyone will ever see it.

Thank you for the models.com link. That is what I've been looking for because of the reasons you stated.
 

ccarver30

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I love casting my characters. I don't use actors though, I usually trawl through models.com and look for people that match my idea about the characters. That way, they lack any association to a part an actor may have played. These poor anonymous people can have any personality I inflict upon them.
I put the pictures on my desktop when I write- the characters from that particular scene. It helps me focus. If I get stuck, I look at the picture and think about what they would say or do at that moment.

:evil:ROFL:

and I usually make a character as my wallpaper. It's a reminder that I should be helping them get through their struggles instead of being on FB.
 

Marniy

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:evil:ROFL:

and I usually make a character as my wallpaper. It's a reminder that I should be helping them get through their struggles instead of being on FB.


What a great idea! I need a kick in the pants right now.
 

guttersquid

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I never visualize my characters' faces. I may give them beards or mustaches or facial piercings, but I never pin those things on a specific face.

Now that I think about it, I never visualize other writers' characters' faces, either.
 

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I don’t do this because I already know what my characters look/act/feel like, so picking someone out to be/play/stand-in for them seems strange to me.

I stumbled upon the idea of “casting characters” I think several years ago. I believe I was browsing fictionpress or something like it. At the time, I found it to be a really weird thing to do. I don’t think that anymore, though, since I’ve since learned that there are quite a few people who do it.

Basically, it isn’t for me. For everyone else: if it helps you out, then go for it! :)
 

allmywires

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I don’t do this because I already know what my characters look/act/feel like, so picking someone out to be/play/stand-in for them seems strange to me.

Pretty much how I feel. Casting characters to me - whilst it could be kind of fun after you've finished writing with them/know them well enough to have an unshakeable image in your head - is sort of like picking a template and drawing around it. I've found my characters from in me somewhere, I don't know exactly what they look like but I know their most important features and I wouldn't want to project that on someone else.

I will, however, longingly await the day that I'm invited to attend the casting call for when my novel is made into a blockbusting Hollywood film (incredibly likely, I know ;) ) and see my characters come to life.
 

Maxtina James ASB

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I do that all the time! I actually draw the cast of my stories as my characters :)

I pick those who look like the characters in my head, and the choices have been very close so far.
 

Sieglinde

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

ArachnePhobia

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I didn't think I did this, but since I've been strongly considering un-trunking BP after I finish draft 2 of Gallery and draft 1 of vamp story, I was going through pieces of it the other day... and I remember I did try to channel champion kickboxer Kathy Long when I described the Princess. They don't look exactly alike, but I was going for 'attractive, so readers could see why the teen boy MC gets so dopey around her, but intimidating, so they could also believe random scum and villainy would recoil from her mere presence, even before she starts dropping them.'
 
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