Monday, June 14, 2010

Character Collages

So this is still along the lines of writings on the wall or tales from the notebook, only difference is the story is told in photos! Everything represents something about the character I'm working with.

The following people you'll be shown are from the Traveler's Series I'm working on! When I'm saying I'm working on it, I really mean it. There have been a ton of changes that no one has seen it, a lot of work in progress with this story and I figured after meeting the wonderful Miss Tera Lynn Childs at the book signing on Friday night (WAS A BLAST!!!) that it was time I try character collages since I too am a visual person!! I couldn't have been more happy with the way they've turned out!So here below I've have them! I hope you enjoy!

Eryn - MC - Recruit


Tully - Head of House


Bri - Gal Pal of Eryn's


Love Life - Blake & Eryn


So that is a sneak peak of what I'm currently working on! Several pieces will be added later on as I move through the story. I'll also be creating a collage for the world itself, but that will be slow because I need to find the right magazines! Ask questions if you have any!

So what do you do when writing your story? How is your writing going?

50 comments:

Stina said...

Oh this is such a cool idea. I might just have to give it a try. It'll be a great project to do while the kids are working on some art project this summer.

I finished the outline to my next project yesterday. I'm going to give it some distance then go back to make sure there's enough conflict etc. (though a lot of that comes out during the actual writing, once the characters start sparring.) And my awesome beta reader just sent me the next 11 chapter of my wip, so I'll get to start working on those edits today. Maybe I'll get to start querying this summer (the book has alreay been through several rounds of critting and editing):D

Christina Lee said...

OMG!!!!!!!! I SO love this idea, and now I want to do it too!

Vicki Rocho said...

This is so much fun. When I was a teenager, I spent hours (months, really) cutting pics out of magazines and papers to create my ideal life. I had a blueprint of my fictional house, then a separate page with each room, which had pictures of furniture, paint, etc. "my" room was the best because I had a fake wardrobe too!

I'd do these for my characters, too.

I had a lot of time on my hands back then...

Anne Gallagher said...

I love these. I've done them before for other areas of my life but never for a book. These are great.

Jessica Bell said...

how awesome is this!:o) I wish I had the time to do such a thing! where DO you find the time?

Lola Sharp said...

Love these!

I do it, but I use Polyvore. (pretty techie of me, no?)

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, Jen.

Love,
Lola

Kristin Rae said...

Wow you were QUICK getting to these! hahaha. They look fantastic!

Candyland said...

What a cute idea! If I had the time, I'd do it. I've just started outlining a new WIP that's mind-bending and frustrating at the same time...

Anonymous said...

I love all of these! I now have a new summer project. Thanks! Even the placement you chose of the images brings out the characters personality. Fantastic!

Jayne said...

Fantastic, Jen! Good collages too. I love making collages, and have a scrapbook ready to start playing with characters / scenes from my novel-to-be. I am planning to do it when I send it off to query to distract me from the wait! (And to save my sanity!)

Jaydee Morgan said...

I love these and you did such a good job with them. I've never done one before although I do cut out pictures I think could work for my characters - I like to keep a constant visual.

Aubrie said...

You just gave me a reason to save all of my old magazines! I love those character sketches. I'm going to do some of my own!

Lisa Miles said...

I do this, too, and it's SO helpful! I love yours:)

j.leigh.bailey said...

Something like this has never occured to me before. I so have to try this, especially since undertanding and visualizing my characters is my biggest stumbling block right now! Thank you.

By the way--I finished Forgive My Fins this weekend and I think I liked it even more than I did Oh. My. Gods.

Meredith said...

This is such an awesome way to get to know your characters! I love all the little details you put in. And I definitely love that you have a picture of Paul Wesley for Blake--so cute!

Joanne said...

These are beautiful, and a great idea. I usually keep a journal for my writing projects, filled with handwritten notes, thoughts, characteristics, which I often refer back to.

Jennifer Shirk said...

I took a class where Jenny Crusie discussed doing this for her books. Only she did it for not just the character but whatever she felt drawn to even if it didn't make sense for her story. She felt maybe her subconscious might be trying to tell her something she could add into the book.
Really cool stuff.

Unknown said...

What an awesome idea, and a great idea brainstorming activity that stokes the creative fires. I'm hands-on and visual too; I'll have to give this a try!

JE said...

What a great idea! It would be really cool to do this and have them hanging around your office...always willing you to keep pushing toward the end. If I find the time, I'm totally doing this!

~JD

Melissa said...

What an excellent idea. These look really cool. I want to do some! I only wish I had the time...ugh. But these look super super super cool. I just kept staring at them. The only other problem with me doing them is I have such an exact picture in my head of my characters and I've never seen any person who looks close to any of my main characters. So I feel this character collage would be an exercise in frustration for me.

Oh sigh.

My writing is...not going so well. I haven't started yet. BUT I only have a week and a half left of school. SO you know what that means. That's right. In a week and a half I'm locking myself in my room with some water and writing like a mad woman. I need to get these characters out!

Glad the signing was a blast. Hope everything else is going well.

Crystal Cook said...

Jen!! Those are AWESOME!!!!! Too cool sweet friend :)

I'm so happy for you that everythings coming together, you're doing an awesome job :)

My writing's going pretty good, I'm hoping anyway :)

Jen said...

This is a great idea. I have a jounral devoted to each novel idea and I just add whatever inspires me...and I'm probably gonna have to do a character collage now too!

Lydia Kang said...

That's a wonderful idea! I love that you do that for your characters!

As for me, I'm still in revision hell. It never ends.
:(

Erica Mitchell said...

These are so cool! I actually do this as well. I'm so visual I hold a casting call for my characters and put together collages and hang them all over the house so I see them pretty much everywhere I go. Not that my characters ever really leave me alone ;) Now I want to make another one haha. I haven't ever done thier clothing...hmmm...afternoon project???

Moll said...

I love your collages!

I do something similar, but I haven't done it in a few months and I know that it would be a lot different now. It's amazing how much a story morphs and grows!

My only complaint about trying to put together character collages is that models and actors are usually so pretty! And my characters are not that pretty. ;)

JeMA said...

How fun! Your collages really speak a lot about your characters. I like how you incorporate the art with the writing!

Creepy Query Girl said...

Awesome awesome collages! So much fun:)

Laura S. said...

These are amazing, Jen! I love magazine collages. :) Such a cool idea! Good luck and have fun finishing them up!

Tahereh said...

i love it!! it makes me want to make one too! :D

Anonymous said...

Oh. Oh wow. Those are absolutely amazingly gorgeous! I wish I could do that as well, but I'm very bad when it comes to scrapbooking projects. :)

Kenda Turner said...

What a cool idea! I think I'll try this as I develop my next story idea. Kind of exciting to think about. Thanks for sharing...and inspiring :-)

Lindsay said...

Great idea.
I used to do things like this at school for art. I haven't done it for a long time but I may have to start again.
You inspired me. :)

Anonymous said...

Nice! Collages are fun.

My writing's going well, even though I'm taking it very slowly. But I can afford to right now.

Anonymous said...

oooo....I love this idea!!




LOVE!

Leigh Hutchens Burch said...

I love this idea! I loved to make collages like this when I was a teenager. :)

Okay, so I made one for my hubs on our first dating anniversary... six years ago. Collages never get old!

Great tool for getting to know your characters better. :)

Kimberly Franklin said...

Those collages are so pretty! What a great idea. I have a feel for your characters already. :)

Christine Danek said...

What a great idea! Gives a great visual to work from.

Emilia Plater said...

These are AWESOME! I've collected pictures for collages like this before, but I've never gone ahead and glued them together. You've really inspired me, Jennifer. Great post!

Jemi Fraser said...

I've never done anything like this - but they sure look fun! :)

Hilary said...

Very cool. I guess it gives you a more concrete image of your characters and their lives. Clever. :)

Amy Saia said...

That's awesome Jen. You worked hard on that! It gives a great sneak peek of these characters!!

Samantha Bennett said...

I pretty much adore these. I love how they capture not only the physical aspects of a character, but the overall vibe. Fantastic!

Susan Fields said...

What a great idea! I love your collages, but I don't think I would have the patience to look through all those magazines. I'm glad to hear your making good progress on your wip!

Eva said...

I love this idea. I usually just keep a picture file on my computer and when something inspires me for my story I put it in there.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

That looks so fun, Jen - I love it! And your characters look awesome. :-)

Jai Joshi said...

Character collages are so cool. I actually quite like to draw my characters, putting in the features I see in my head and figuring out what they wear and look like. That helps to solidify their form in my mind.

Jai

Carol said...

Brilliant idea and lovely to see Characters coming to life. Thanks for sharing them :-)

C x

Clara said...

They are so great Jen! This is giving me a lot of ideas!!! =D

Hugs!

Vicki Rocho said...

psssst...don't forget to come by and check on your blackjack hand. do you want to stay or would you like me to hit you?

Me said...

They look fabulous, Jen! (Now you know what I mean about them giving you a fuller sense of the character, huh?) :)