Friday, November 25, 2005
TGIF!Finally friday! And I get to post a friday hunk. So many hunks so little time. But, I do have a few that I use as inspiration for my heroes. It's one of the perks to being a romance writer I think. We get to watch a lot of tv and movies and eyeball the hunks and claim that it's totally for research purposes. And it is, of course. ;-)
I think one of my favorite programs that's on right now is LOST. In fact, I have some books I'm working on that center around 3 brothers, and there are so many great guys on that show to choose from. And you can watch them interact, pick up on little quirks and facial expressions - all in the name of research. It was hard, but I did choose the three that would be my brother's. *I think* Jack - of course - the oldest brother. Mature, responsible and always jumping in to take care of things.
And for my middle brother - who better than the always charming - womanizing Sawyer? :-) Seriously - he IS so much the character I pictured for that hero - always trying to charm his way out of trouble, but landing in more trouble because of it. And having such a serious side that he tries to hide behind the flirty, not a care in the world attitude. It's fun to pick up new things watching him. And he isn't bad to watch either.
My baby brother in my stories I haven't even named yet. I'm having a hard time getting a handle on him, but for the longest time I was going with Boone. It was so much fun watching the way they all got along with each other. Sawyer and Jack always clashing and Boone never really knowing where he fit it. It was my perfect little family. And then they went and killed him. But still - he makes a nice younger brother.
So - do we all do that? Watch people on tv or in the movies and pick up on pieces of them that we can use for our characters. Sure, watching the guys is fun, but I've found women alot of times as well that would make great characters. Maybe it's just me, but I think that actually being able to see the characters in motion and interacting helps me with my writing and being able to give the characters the depth I like.
Just as an example - LOST does that so well. Each character has so much going on - little things that have brought them to where they are and made them into the people they are. Each of our characters we write need to be the same way - have had a life before we sat down and decided they had a story we needed to tell. Not that we want to see that whole life brought out as backstory on page 1, but there are so many ways and tricks to learn of layering it in. I'm sure I'll never know it all. It's all about growing as a writer. It's a journey that never ends.
