What Do You Think Your Characters Look Like?

I’m a very visual person, as you might be able to tell from my maps. I like to have pictures that I can look back at and be like, ‘oh yeah, that’s what it looks like.’ Unfortunately, I sorta suck at drawing, which is super lame because my mother and my sister draw like pros.

I have so many sketches of my characters. Just like the maps, they’ve gone through some changes over the years, but they’re just never it. Whatever it is. I feel like I’d just know it when I saw it. Or maybe not. Maybe I’ll just never be satisfied! *sniff*

Anyway, here’s how I wish my drawings would look:

But here’s how they actually look:

Not too bad, but not a Monet! Seriously, all I want is a good representation of who my characters are! Is that so much to ask???

When I picture Nyx and Jet, the two main characters of Return to Royalty, I can never complete a concrete picture. I always have feelings about who they are and what they look like; just general impressions. But every time I put pencil to paper, it’s not right.

For example:

Nyx is a 20-year-old college student. I know what I looked like in college. I always wore my hair up, always had on stretch pants or jeans, and never put on makeup. I like to think that Nyx would be a little classier than that, but we all know that college kids only roll out of bed when they have to be somewhere.

The only time Nyx would dress up would be for going out with her friends. And she’s a blonde-haired, green-eyed, Texas country girl, so she’d wear boots, jeans, and maybe a cowboy hat.

The first picture I found that I thought was close to what she looks like is this one:

I obviously did not create this (as is demonstrated by the one I did make above). There’s something about this girl that isn’t right, but she’s close enough that I saved the picture. I think it might be the face…

Anyway, the point is that what I see in my head is never quite what I see on paper. And don’t even get me started on Jet!

This would probably be closest to Jet:

But even still, this isn’t quite right! Something about the eyes and maybe the hair. And not really the right build. Why did I even bother to save this one??

Ugh! Maybe I just wish I was a better artist!

What do you guys picture your characters to look like?

#writing #behindthescenes #ReturntoRoyalty #thoughtsonwriting #thoughtsaboutwriting #story #books