Suddenly Seven/Stolen Pictures

[j_cheney]

OK, when a scene runs through my head, I generally type it up and file it, even if it's not what I'm currently working on. I have quite a few folders on my desktop, each of which represent a different novel set-ups. There may be a few random scenes, or over 300 pages (in one case). Anyhow, whenever I get around to seriously writing something, I can pull out those pre-recorded scenes, plunk them into place, and then smooth out the edges with a planer.

Therefore, I am suddenly now 65 pages into Devil in the Details, or just past Chapter 7. Nice to have it flow so quickly, but I'm not having any illusions about the big terrible scene that awaits me in chapter 13/14. That's going to be horrible to write. ::shivers in dread::

lisamantchev commented about thinking of characters in terms of what Hollywood actor would play them (as I know melissajm does sometimes, as well.) I really don't do that....I have a bizarre system of my own. I cut pictures out of magazines and use them. I've always done this. I have picture, articles, etc. cut out of magazines all the way back to my college days. Filed. Neatly. In portable file boxes.

This isn't just pictures of the people, BTW, I have pictures of buildings, parks, gardens, animals, clothing, rooms, furniture....anything that catches my eye. What can I say? It's a weird approach.

Comments

[rcloenen-ruiz.livejournal.com]

I don't think this is a weird approach. I think it's quite a good approach. I probably should do something like that. Most of my visualization tends to take place inside my head...probably because I'm too lazy to do the cutting out stuff.

Hmmm...I think I shall post further about this on my lj, as I seem to be writing a longer post than I intended to. But, just for the record. I don't think it's weird.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Aaahhhh, validation!

[stinabat.livejournal.com]

not odd at all. i do both. some characters i can't help but see as certain actors -- right down to the voice. however, there is one particular character that is specifically patterned after an image i saw on a photographer's portfolio. i think the portrait is of her brother. as for setting, i collect images online all the time. sometimes they're out of period films. sometimes antique store catalogs. anything that helps. and that's the answer. don't fuss over it. it works for you and that's all that counts.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Cool. I pick them up off the Internet, too.

Antique store catalogs...I haven't tried that yet. Thanks for the tip!

[keesa-renee.livejournal.com]

Mmmm...I, on the other hand, have never been one to think visually, at least not to that extent. I tend to think (and write) more in emotions and minds/inner lives and the-way-I-feel-when-I'm-around-this-kind-of-person...I probably couldn't physically describe any of my characters, as far as hair color, eye color, nose shape, etc., goes, let alone base them on a specific actor. I think I'm the one who's weird in that way, though, not you, because a lot of people tell me that they do build their characters around images or actors.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

I think, at the base of it, we're actually the same. I don't visualize people. I walk away from a mirror and I can't remember what I look like, much less try to picture others in my head (so I've never understood what that scripture means, in relation to me, at least.)

That's why I have to have pictures. So I can keep my visual details consistent throughout my descriptions. I can't do that in my head.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Yes, that makes sense. ;o)

[keesa-renee.livejournal.com]

I've got it!! The verse isn't saying "it's stupid to look in a mirror and then forget what you look like; no one would ever do that"; it's saying "hearing the word and not doing it is as useless as looking in the mirror--to see what you look like--if you're the sort of person who's going to forget right away, anyway."

There, now! Hehe. My Inner Editor wouldn't let me rest until I had figured out exactly how to phrase what I was trying to say. :-) Oh, and I seem to have messed up your comments line...they don't let you edit comments, and I realized I had left off half a sentence, so I deleted it and reposted it--with the rest of the sentence--but that's why the post you reply to is down there below your reply. Sorry about that! :-D

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Don't worry aobut it. If I recall correctly, the word 'fool' is used in that verse, which I userstand was incredibly harsh in the Hebrew language. I think I've always understood the content of hte verse, but rather found the analogy to be disturbing. (Because it didn't work for me) Oh, well!

[keesa-renee.livejournal.com]

Mmm. I hadn't ever thought about it that way. :-) I do create files on characters for novels (it's part of the Snowflake process...I probably wouldn't do it except for that), which keeps me from describing a character's hair as auburn in one scene and blonde in another (something I've done before...), but for short stories, I generally tend to have a minimum of character description...a lot of the time, I'm more likely to introduce a character by telling what emotions he calls out in my main character than his hair color, just because I don't think in terms of hair colors. I've heard some how-to authors really stress the fact that one of the worst things in the world is the "mirror description"--where one character looks at themselves in a mirror and we get a detailed description of hair color, eye color, etc.--but that's never been a problem for me, because I don't think that way.

Speaking of mirrors, I think the scripture is describing exactly what you're talking about, if we're thinking about the same one (whosoever heareth the word of God and doeth it not is like unto a man beholding his face in a glass, who, when he has gone away, immediately forgetteth what he looks like, rough quote); it doesn't do you any good to look in a mirror to see what you look like if you're going to immediately forget what you look like (the way I do, and the way you do); similarly, just *hearing* the Word does no good if you don't *do* it. (If, on the other hand, you're just looking in the mirror to see whether your shirt is on backwards, for example, the scripture is less applicable...unless you're going to turn around and forget whether or not your shirt is on backwards, but that's a different problem altogether.)

In other words, the scripture isn't saying "it's just as stupid to look in the mirror and forget what you look like as it is to hear the Word without doing it"; it's saying "there's no point in hearing the Word without also doing it, just as there's no point in looking in a mirror--to see what you look like--if you're one of those people who turns around and can't remember what you look like a second later."

Umm...does that make sense? :-D

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

I do on occasion have a person look in the mirror....but not to admire their silky red hair...more like to check a bug-bite. Something prosaic.

[jtglover.livejournal.com]

The American collage/assemblage artist Joseph Cornell kept a whole house full of miscellaneous stuff, from baby doll limbs to little wooden containers. It all went together into the stew, and it resulted in some amazing art. Why not with writing? :)

I have Teh Oodles of Written Bits floating around too, though I'm rarely able to plunk a scene down in a story. Often times I'll come back to something later and find I already have reused it in some way, or that I'm finally (two years later) ready to start it.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Teh Oodles of Written Bits! I love it!

Yeah, a lot of them will never see daylight, I'm afriad. Sometimes I just don't have adequate plot to support them. :(

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Not that weird! Somewhere in my house is a manila envelope full of clippings of people who look like Cantrips. ;)

(Actually, the Malak/David Tennant thing is the first time that I've seen one actor fit a character so perfectly. That's why it's neat. ;))

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

I tried that for the first time last night. I thought Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse might be a dead ringer, or close, for Dorfit, but I'd never seen him playing a role as an adult. I was trying to extrapolate from his DWW role (Smiles A Lot.) Unfortunately, his face ended up a bit too long and narrow for Dorfit... he might make a Bren, though.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

See, this is the value of collecting these things for YEARS....I have hundreds of pictures to match with. (But yes, sometimes I don't make a match...spend hours poring ovbeer catalogs and magazines, not looking at the clotes, but at the people)

Good pictures of children are the hardeest to find.

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Got a link to a picture?

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

See, and he doesn't work for me at all in that role....which just goes to show how different people's minds are.

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

David Tennant, or Nathan Lee?

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Tennant,,,I have no idea who Lee is.

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Me neither.

Ok, now I'm curious...is there anyone you DO see as Malak?

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Don't visualize...remember....

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Good point. ;)

[theladywolf.livejournal.com]

Mm, I visualize every scene too, but I do it all in my head. Your approach seems like hard work to me. :) I also have a tendency to play out scenes in my head as if I'm watching it in a cinema or if I'm actually in it. (though I swear I don't Mary Sue)

Same happens when I read a book. I often think back and can't remember if I've seen the film or read the book.

But I do have a tendency to walk by things in shops and know I'm going to write about them some day. When that happens I bring them home and put them on the shelves in my study. It's like Ye Olde Curiosity Shope now. :)

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

I don't 'see' books like movies....and because I don't visualize, I tend to skip over physical description in things I read. The pictures really do help, because otherwise, I wouldn't ever bother to describe anything. ;o)

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Me neither-but I try to make myself do it when I'm writing, so my readers can "see."

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

THat's Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, not Nathan Lee :-P. He's an actor who's also Lakota, which, if you refer back to my earlier response, which, er, included his first role, should narrow it down. The character I have is 35, Dances With Wolves was about 20 years ago, which is why I went looking for current pictures last night...

but I've never done the picture thing really.

It can be carried to the extreme. I recently picked up a copy of The Princess Bride (the movie) and it had, in the extras, an interview with William Goldman, in which he admitted that when he was writing the book, he was picturing Fezik as Andre the Giant.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think I remember him. Big grumpy guy, didn't get the girl?

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

Nope. He played the kid who almost gets offed by the Pawnee raiders, but survives. That's why I had him in mind -- he was about 14-15 then, and that was 20 years ago...

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Ok