So many people ask me if my characters are based on real people that I know, and I can honestly say that they aren’t. I do take little characteristics from different people however, and I mix them up with the characteristics of others, so there are ‘elements’ of people that I know in my characters, but that is definitely it.
I find that it helps to fill out a profile about my characters sometimes, which can then be referred to as a handy guide when you can’t remember what colour eyes your protagonist has. My profile questions range from age and eye colour all the way to their favourite quote and what food they don’t like eating. You soon find yourself getting to know your characters pretty well.
The next thing I do is a Google search. When I’m writing a character I can kind of see them in my mind’s eye, but what really helps (even though its a bit time consuming) is for me put in the description of the person I’m visualising into Google Images and see what comes up. I then trawl through those images until one of them leaps out at me. Sometimes its a famous person and sometimes it’s someone from a stock image, but I can generally find my characters lurking around somewhere in the internet.
For example, this is how I saw Jordan:
No doubt you visualised him in your own way, but for me, unless Reggie Yates can play him in the Netflix series, I won’t be happy. LOL
The setting of the book is almost a character in itself. While Hemsfield is a fictional place, in my head it was a mash up of Hemel Hempstead (which I know well) and Hatfield (where I went to university).
If you are interested in seeing how I visualised some of the other characters and settings within ‘Hypnotic’ you can check out my Pinterest board ‘Hypnotic’ at @TheSherryHostler
Sherry x
