Making Character Collages

After this awesome video by Tera Lynn Childs at Writeoncon, I felt inspired to make a few character collages. I'm going to be starting a new project soon, and I wanted to get an idea of who these characters really are. Plus, I got to spend lots of fun time with my friends and critique partners, which is always good. We talked through our stories a little bit and worked out some plot details while we cut things out. I wish I had taken a picture of the living room floor with all of the magazines on it! It was completely packed with everything from Dwell Magazine to Vogue to Martha Stewart's Weddings. We probably had over 50 magazines spread out on the floor to choose from! When you're stuck on figuring out a character's personality or what kind of clothes she wears or what her hair really looks like, heck even what house she might live in, you can always grab a stack of magazines for a visual cue. It's visual inspiration that gets your ideas flowing and helps give that extra spark when you're either stuck or just tired or unable to make some decisions. I highly recommend it.

And no, your collages don't have to be the best looking, most artistic pieces in the world. Seriously. Check out my first collage from last night here. It's simple, but you can easily get an idea of what this character's personality is. Include words, outfits, details like the cheerleader, ice cream, kittens, her favorite handbag, a scarf, whatever. Anything goes as long as it gets you thinking and helps you clarify who that character is or what she likes. You don't even have to show them to anyone else. I plan to hang mine on the wall in front of my computer so that I can look up while I'm writing that character's dialogue or a scene from their POV. I figure it's worth a shot to see if I can get into that character's head a little faster and see things from their eyes.

Happy Friday everyone. Have a great weekend.