Monday, February 15, 2010

Blog Chain: Coming Clean Regarding my Stalker-O-Shame Wall

This blog chain is brought to you by:

ME!

Please hold your applause until the end :)

Anywho, my question for myself and the other writers is this:

How do you get inside your character's world?


I'm almost afraid to tell you guys how I do this because it's a little OCD and a little strange, to say the least. Basically, I stalk my characters. How, you ask? It's quite simple, really.

My latest book, BREATHLESS, takes place in an actual town called Niceville located in Florida. I was there, once, but it was like eighteen years ago, so I don't remember a whole lot. Because I'm the type of person who really likes to get inside my characters' lives/heads I hurried on over the the Remax website and started looking up houses in Niceville. When I found one that fit the location/price range I imagined for my family, I printed out all the pictures (various rooms, street views, yard, etc.) and pinned them up around my work station.

Next, since I write YA, it was time to explore the high school. Again, I googled the local high school and printed out various pictures posted from their website including the athletic fields, front entrance, hallways, etc. But that was not enough. My teen's going to want to grab a coffee before class. So I headed over to google maps and typed in the high school's addy and from there searched for neighboring coffee shops. Not only did I make a note of this on my wall-o-stalker-shame, but I "street viewed" my path the whole way there to get a feel for the area.

And I don't stop there.

My MC makes an anklet from a stone she found at the beach. So what do I do? Search the shelves at Micael's Crafts until I find a bead that closest resembles what I have in mind so I can make an anklet of my own.

Because I'm crazy?

Probably.

But it's also because I'm a very visual person and surrounding myself with pictures and things that belong to my MC makes her and her world more alive to me. And when you bring the world to life, for me at least, the story practically writes itself.

So how about you? How do you bring your fictional world to life?

Stay tuned until tomorrow when our own feelin'-the-love Rebecca answers this question.

28 comments:

  1. Ooo good topic! LOL I want pics of your wall-o-stalker-shame :D

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  2. I love your stalking techniques - even making a anklet - that is so cool!

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  3. I love this! And you know what...I do the same thing.

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  4. That's a lot of detail, but I bet it really helps you with description!

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  5. I get into my character's heads by having them write me a letter. It can be pretty hysterical, especially when they're mad at you for messing with their lives...

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  6. Great post Cole! I've used Google Maps more than once to get a feel for the city I'm writing about. Walked the streets so to speak. It really helps! :D

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  7. Google is a writer's dream-come-true.

    Great topic!

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  8. Cole, I don't use the word crazy. I prefer eccentric. :D

    Great post!

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  9. Love the topic, and here I thought I was crazy for taking an unplanned 1hr drive to a rainforest to get more ideas about the location of my novel.

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  10. Wow, this should be an interesting topic. Your process does lean more to the OCD side perhaps, but it's so cool that there's no way anybody could make fun of it (actually I'm a little envious). This sounds like a great way to get into the world, so to speak. Nice post.

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  11. I love this. I should definitely do a little more stalking of my MC. I am very visual as well. I have been wanting to visit the area my MC is from just so I can visit the places from his life. I never really considered internet stalking.

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  12. lol I've done the same thing, though I haven't gone as far as to surround myself with pics and writers - probably because I haven't had a desk/area that's mine to write in.

    On my last book, I got to research mansions! Since my book was set in Austin, Tx, I searched for mansions in Austin and found this beautiful one situated on top of a hill overlooking the city. LOTS of pictures. I really ought to print them out. If they ever sell that house and take it off the real estate site, I'm screwed. :-)

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  13. This is an awesome process! I may have to try stalking my characters now...

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  14. OMG! That's so me! I was tempted to buy a charm bracelet and dolphin charm because it plays an important role in my novel and it was important to my mc. Glad to hear I'm not the only one doing things like this. :D

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  15. I found your blog after Shooting Stars said that you were stalking your MC, I had to check this out!!!

    How brilliant!! I never would have thought to 'stalk' my MC, but you bet as soon as I get home I am going to start!!! I love it, what a creative (creepy) fun way to get to know the character!!!

    Love your blog!!! Look forward to stalking you!!! *laughs*

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  16. Whew! I am so glad that I'm not the only one doing this. (I love that you guys are enablers - hee.)

    Jen and Amber - thanks for the follow! I look forward to getting to know you :)

    And to all you other visitors - thanks for stopping by:)

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  17. I came to visit you via Shooting Star...What a wonderful post! I love how you shared your immersion into your manuscript. I will be back! I can't wait to hear more. :)

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  18. GREAT post! What a great stalker you are!;)

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  19. Awesome post! I love this.

    My WIP is set in New England, in the days before Christmas. So rather than stalking a character, I'm stalking a season.

    I've tried to bottle the Christmas spirit and uncork it in my attic.

    Come March, I'll still have Christmas cards on my desk, lights in the attic, and candles on the shelves. I'll be reading about Victorian Christmas traditions. Crosby will be on the playlist. And I'll be burning evergreen and apple-cinnamon candles.

    There's something about sound and scent that builds a mood...

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  20. Okay, now I'm thinking I don't know my MC at all! Thanks. :/

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  21. Dude, you do soooo much more than me! I base all my "real life" stuff like high schools, etc. on stuff from my hometown. My high school. My streets. Whatever I remember. Housing layouts, etc.

    I am just that lame. Or allergic to research. I still can't decide which. :)

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  22. Love it! I will dream up whole scenarios that aren't even going to be in the book, just to make my characters more real, more fleshed out. Just going through my day, I'm having them go here and there and have these instances and conversations that aren't going to ever really happen. But it kind of fills in the gaps and sometimes makes me see things that I need to do differently to stay true to them.

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  23. Yeah, I had a character from Romania. Went to his home town via Google, Yahoo earth, Wikipedia. Read up on Romanian history. His father was killed in a flood in the late 70's. Yup. Stalk.

    Psst, we're still friends.

    LOL! Great post! :)

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  24. Dude, this is AWESOME. I'm totally stealing this for our next book. The series we're currently working on is set in Shaker Heights which is the town right next to ours. Talk about lazy.

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  25. I love this! I'll get into my process more on my turn. Great post.

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  26. Love this question. And I love you even more for being the stalker you are! I can't wait to answer this.

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  27. Great topic, Cole! And, yes, I've worn jewelry that matches what characters have worn, too, so you're not completely deranged.

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