I thought of writing a story for this prompt, but then
realized I really wanted to write about being a novelist and my take on “changing
faces.”
Each time I start a new story, I must “see” the characters I’ll
be living with for the next year or forever. I must be able to visualize them
in my mind to “hear” their voices and listen. Writing from different people’s
perspectives in a story makes me go not only into their heads, but I try to see
the view from their eyes as well, which means, to me, I have to change my face
to theirs and be in their world, not mine. Sometimes this is very easy to do.
Sometimes it’s horribly hard and I spend vast amounts of time trying to figure
out why I’m not able to mesh with the character.
One of my favorite parts of writing is when I meet the
characters that people my stories. Sometimes I can find an actress/ actor who fits
the look completely. Below are Sean Bean, John Hannah, and Winona Rider who were the faces that fit my forthcoming novel, The Seventh Man (due out in October or early November). Sometimes I can’t and the character stays uniquely in my
mind. I try not to over describe my characters because I like leaving it up to
the reader to fill in the blanks. So, the face I wear while discovering my
character might not be the one any of my readers see. This intrigues me,
especially when seeing a movie based on a book. I often wonder what the writer
thinks of who is chosen and how they fit, or don’t, their view of that face.
Also, I get to “be” someone else for awhile, think like they
do, look like they do, feel what they feel and that’s why we read too, isn’t
it? To be in another world, to be someone else for a moment.
That’s what I love
about changing faces when I’m writing.
 |
| Sean Bean |
 |
| John Hannah |
 |
| This look but with blue eyes, Winona Rider |
