I ordered a load of photos the other week, some of them mine from my trips and some grabbed off the internet. These are all grabbed, and I wanted them to put together a character inspiration page.
- Spitfire Blue is an American drag queen based in London. Her costume and repertoire hark back to the Forces’ Sweethearts like Dame Vera Lynn.
I’m not sure why I started with Spitfire, apart from the fact that she’s the character whose aesthetic I like the best. I mean, if you can put together an inspiration board with Kiera Knightly in feathers, wouldn’t you? It’s also the easiest board because there’s so little to her. She’s the glamorous alter-ego of one of my MMCs, and very, very tightly confined. She exists, basically, within the bar, and once I do his page there will be a drastic contrast between her setting and his. She’s as shy and sweet as he is brash and crude, and as confident as he is… not, I suppose. That’s the joy of an alter-ego, really.
The paper at bottom right is a small snipping from a massive sheet I got at Paperchase in Manchester, and there’s going to be at least a little bit on all the pages for this novel.
From a blank page to happily ever after 
I definitely need to do something like this! I bet it helps you put yourself in the character’s head.
It really does, and it’s great to have the visual prompts there as well. I’ve tried journaling as my characters as well, but scrapbooking is winning at the moment.