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Joined: 2/28/2011
Posts: 17
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Pretty simple - do you pretend that your book is a movie and assign actors to each of the parts?
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 412
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No. I try to avoid that like the plague, because I feel it locks me into certain characteristics and mannerisms.
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Joined: 2/28/2011
Posts: 17
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I actually did it to lock in said characteristics and mannerisms.
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Joined: 3/14/2011
Posts: 80
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Most definitely not. My characters reveal themselves more as the story goes on. If I shoved them into a specific actor they might not grow!
When I'm done with the story I might think about it though. 
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 244
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For one character I did. The MC in my last book. I didn't do it until partway into the book. The character had been established and all that. But I found that having an actor whom I was familiar with playing the character in my head helped identify when my character went off-character in reactions or dialogue. Immensely helpful to me especially given that I was writing a male MC for the first time. I'd written male characters, but never as the focus.
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Joined: 3/7/2011
Posts: 38
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I don't pretend that my work is a movie, but as someone who works visually, it's helpful to have in mind a person who resembles the character to me. I don't pick an actor then try to make my character like that person; I pick someone who makes me think of my character. Helps me with seeing possible reactions, mannerisms, expressions. Being so visual, I even make storyboard files for my main characters.
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Joined: 3/14/2011
Posts: 49
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I always do. It helps me to better visualize my characters and keep them all straight in my head. Most of the time they're actors, but occasionally I pick models or random photos I find on Flickr.
Nine times out of ten I know immediately who I would want to play my main characters, though other times I have to go searching for them.
I think with actors it's helpful to watch a lot of their different movies, so that you can pull mannerisms and habits from all of them.
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 102
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I, like Ava, don't think of my work as a movie, but I do keep pictures of people (actor or not) who remind me of my characters. The reference person will either resemble the character or remind me of them in some way.
I often bounce from project to project and it can be difficult to keep straight which character has green eyes, and which has grey, etc. A picture helps to quickly refresh my memory about the character so I can write them again. I do have written character files as well, but the picture is a quicker memory trigger for me.
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Joined: 3/14/2011
Posts: 226
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Everything about my writing is like a movie, from the characters to the way I write it. I choose actors so I can get the physical descriptions in my head and have less trouble remembering eye color or hair color or other features (like dimples) later. I don't give them the actors' mannerisms, though. They would stop talking to me, and I can't have that. I get a pretty good idea of who they are as I do my character profile before I write, but there's always something I didn't know abou them that they reveal as the story moves.
While I'm writing, I see the scene in my head and watch it, typing what I see. I don't get a lot of scenery description in my first drafts because I'm too busy writing action and dialogue.
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Joined: 3/30/2011
Posts: 2
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Sometimes I do. For my leads, I usually have someone in mind, but it's also usually fluid. There are other times where a photo, actor -- what have you -- will serve as a muse. In some form or fashion, seeing them in a role or even a billboard ad has inspired a part of the character.
I don't spend a lot of time on the visual detail of my character in what I'm writing. I give the reader a description of them that pencils them in and then lets them do the work. I find this to be most complimentary when I'm reading other books because readers usually cast the books in their head as they're reading anyway.
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Joined: 4/6/2011
Posts: 29
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KS Brown, your minority consists of at least two.  We've had the same Netfllx DVD on the shelf for four months now.
I couldn't cast my characters if I wanted to, at least not using any current actors (though someone critting my query on another site did so, and the results were very funny and strangely apt). I have a mental image, that works well enough for me. Some characters start out fairly vague and come clear later on (if only when a beta reader points out that I have never actually described them....). Others are pretty solid from the get-go.
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Joined: 2/28/2011
Posts: 17
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I went ahead and did a cast and saved an image the same width as my second monitor so I could see whom I was writing about if I got stuck.
Having my characters stare at me is kind of unnerving, albeit in a good way.
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Joined: 3/7/2011
Posts: 55
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I do cast my books, but what I don't do is use celebrities. Instead, I comb through headshots of talent agencies to find people who match what's in my head. (I typically use this agency: http://acclaimtalent.com/, but there are others out there as well.) It's a good way for me, who can't draw worth a damn, to narrow down a character to a specific look. This may not work for everyone, of course.
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Joined: 3/29/2011
Posts: 19
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I do tend to cast my books, more so I have that solid picture in my head whenever I'm writing. I'm a very visual person, so when I write, I need to see those characters interacting to make it more realistic.
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 222
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Nope, only character I 'cast' is the primary lead role, and only because I need a main character for the story to be centered around!
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Joined: 4/28/2011
Posts: 4
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I 'cast' my main characters at first, mainly because I'm a little ADD and it helps if I have a visual aid. They quickly diverge, though, and become their own 'person'.
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Yes and no. I can't place actors or well known personalities as my characters. It often leads to a lot of bleed through where my character starts to emulate a certain show or movie. Unless I want that character to have an extremely similar personality it doesn't work.
It does, however, help to have an image to put to the character. Google searches, deviant art, model profile sites are useful for finding people I've never seen move or speak. Sometimes seeing a model in a certain photo helps solidify character traits. Unfortunately it can become a distraction if I'm not careful.
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Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 376
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I think what Kate said about personalities plays a big part of things, but I've used real world people as character models before. Usually they wind up stylized or idealized beyond recognition, but they're there.
What I'll do on a regular basis is take a completed novel and see if I could 'cast' it if it were made into a movie. That can be a lot of fun once the characters are already in place.
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Joined: 10/20/2011
Posts: 350
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I don't usually. Now it might be that I might find a certain actor's appearance to be inspiring for a character--one of my male leads is definitely inspired by Gerard Butler. But my characters generally form their own appearance in my head and like to keep it that way.
Now, if I like to pretend that my future book gets optioned for a movie and start casting it that way, yes. But that's based more on talent than appearance as wigs and other things can always be used.
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Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
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My characters are all created "from scratch" - physical characteristics not based on any person living or dead. I do wonder every so often about who would play them if (a) my books were ever published and (b) my books were ever adapted for TV or film.
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Joined: 12/1/2011
Posts: 35
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First - this is my first posting here. I've been trolling a bit since I saw the booth at NYCC and finally got around to joining up.
As far as casting my books - I do not try to cast real actors the roles, but I do occasionally look at a certain actor who I think looks similar to a character to help me visualize for description.
I also do try to imagine how certain sequences will look "on screen" (and I feel exceptionally egotistical when I do) to help me map out the events. I do that mostly with action scenes, and I like to think of it more as choreographing. I even find myself standing by my laptop slowly mocking out the movements, trying to make sure they make sense and are plausible. Not too bad when I am home, but can be embarrasing when I'm in a Starbucks or a B&N!
Looking forward to joining a lot of conversations here!
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Joined: 12/1/2011
Posts: 35
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I'm lucky then - my wife already knows that I am insane!
I do that with dialogue as well. I spend a lot of time listening to and watching people talk as well. I have often been told that my dialogue comes across as believable, and if that is so I credit my (sometimes nosy) habit. I do the same with movie characters as well (not actors), listening to speech patterns and the mannerisims that accompany them.
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Joined: 10/20/2011
Posts: 350
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I listen to people as well to understand dialogue patterns. One of the perks of being a very quiet person. I found it helped with my dialogue as well. Too bad my novel is set in 12th century England, so the speech patterns are entirely different. But it's useful information to have as a writer anyway.
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Joined: 12/29/2011
Posts: 10
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I do use character pictures to keep characters consistent. They might be actors or models. It helps me describe different aspects noticed by various characters. One character might notice legs, another focus on eye color. It gets interesting with eye colors that change with light quality: one character might see green eyes, another hazel. If I didn't have pictues, I'd get confused. When it comes to mannerisms, though, that's all unique to the character, just as actors play different roles. And if I think of my stories as movies, I might have too many "head shots" during emotional scenes, like they do in movies, and end up with talking heads!
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Yes, very much so. I even go so far as to observe the character through their movie, television and talk shows. From these and pictures, I create my character. When I'm done I have a resume, fun facts and emotional and physical descriptions.
Most of this is done on the net as we don't watch TV at home. Only movies on Sunday. (the only day we are together as a family)
As for Tom. I understand it's in his contracts to angle the camera so he looks tall. He's self conscious about his height. Makes you wonder what is going through their heads when they pick their leading roles.
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Joined: 4/3/2011
Posts: 66
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I do after it's written. I am a visual person, so it helps me on revisions.
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Joined: 1/10/2012
Posts: 28
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My stories usually start from a "what if" premise, in which characters based on people I know face an unexpected situation. So I don't cast my characters with potential actors, but I do cast them in terms of real people or an amalgamation of several real people.
This, in turn, makes it both easy and hard to craft a plot. I have a clear idea of how my characters will react to any given situation, which helps the writing a lot. However, I've often had to rework the plot to fit the characters because no matter how much I try to stick with a cool plot, my characters won't cooperate if I force them to act in ways that are untrue to them.
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Joined: 12/16/2011
Posts: 2
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When I first began reading Stephen King I would almost stalk his books. As soon as one was released I would rush to buy it. Soon he became a favorite of Hollywood and many of his books were made into movies. Soon I began to "see" his characters much as a casting director would and I truly believed that his writing was aimed at the silver screen. I finally began to read Tim O'Brien of the Vietnam Writers group. The Things They Carried and really everything else he wrote. His characters were like the men I knew in Vietnam. His characters and their dialogue was like a reading 'flashback." Not all flashback are painful.
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well....no, I see them, so to say...their features, their general appearance, but I always leave my imagination door ajar and ready to welcome surprises also as regards the features of my characters....soppy as it might sound, I like to think they kind of generate themselves and grow on their own....
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Joined: 1/24/2012
Posts: 7
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As others have said, I "see" the story as I write it. However, my characters appearances tend to look like, or be drawn from, a larger pool. (Sports, movies, tv, real life)
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Joined: 2/25/2012
Posts: 20
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Sometimes, yes--I have a very limited visual imagination, so it helps me avoid setting my characters in a vacuum of zero description. I've worked up a few slideshows of maps and character profiles and concepts for each story I work on, and flipping through them tends to gear me up for more writing even on lazy days.
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