Hi, Authors of lush. Two part question. First, where do you guys get the inspiration for your characters? Do they have real life models? For example, most of my female characters are actual models or porn actresses, which I randomly pick then write a story with them as a regular person.
The second part I have seen some authors use celebrities as their description (I.E the character is the spitting image of *insert name of celebrity* ) is that something that is acceptable or looked over. The only reason I am asking is that I am thinking of writing a story with a shapeshifter that will be changing her body I would like to use actual models as the person she will shift/morph into, any suggestions?
Thanks for the help as always.
You seem to be talking about your characters' physical appearance rather than their backstory and personality, which is what I spend most of my time developing. I don't do a lot of descriptive imagery of my characters, leaving most of it to the readers' imagination.
We are our own inspiration, no need of any role models,
In the world's harsh wear and tear many a very sincere attachment is slowly obliterated.
Είμαι ταξιδιώτης τόσο στο χρόνο όσο και στο διάστημα
all the guys are based on David Gandy. all the girls on myself. i don't see enough visible personality in porn-stars to base stories on them. besides, porn stars aren't even hot.
There is a rule against using real, living people or writing "fanfic". Referencing a celebrity (e.g. "She looked like Jennifer Lawrence only hotter") is, IIRC, okay. Not sure about a shapeshifter turning into one, though. That might be getting closer to the line. Hopefully a current mod will come into the thread at some point and give us some guidance.
Personally, I don't visualize celebs for my characters. Often, I visualize someone I know or have met in my regular life. I have a character in an eternally unfinished story (because I keep waffling on how to end it) that I am now seeing physically as the bank teller I dealt with the other day. Lovely, blonde young woman who was almost exactly how I had been seeing the character (save for having a ring through the top of her ear, but I might just add that now).
I never willingly describe a character's physical appearance. The readers of my stories know exactly what each character looks like in their own mind. Anything else is either unnecessary or off-putting. I hate stories that start off with a paragraph about the principal's appearance that reads like a forensic pathologist's report (5'6",195 lbs, bald, blue eyes, 16" prick, 32yo, etc.). That said, when it is necessary to the plot I will give some details, but only when necessary. In my "Delights" series of a dozen novels, the main character, the Emir, is never described, and the only clue I give is that he is not as tall as his head bodyguard, but as Maktum is "almost seven feet tall" that isn't giving much away!
