by Hallee Bridgeman, @halleeb

I am a very visual person. I learn visually, I think visually, and I tend to describe things through my visualization. 

Characterization is vital when writing a novel. You need to know everything you can know about your character. In teaching a class on characterization, I came up with a two-page characterization worksheet that examined everything from eye color to details about the relationship with the best friend.

However, because of the way that I think and process information, sitting down and filling out one of these characterization worksheets would make me feel a little bit overwhelmed and would make the fun, creative part of putting a character together a daunting task.

I attended a national romance writers convention one year, and a very popular romance author from the nineties (and one of my favorite authors back when I read secular romances) taught a class on using scrapbooks to create characters. She passed around these 6-inch thick photo albums filled with clippings of houses and characters, diary entries, fabric samples, floorplans… It was such a treat to carefully turn the pages of the books that inspired some of the novels I knew well.

Then it occurred to me that I do very much the same thing – I just don’t do it with pieces of paper and fabric in a photo album.

I use Pinterest, and I’ve used Pinterest for almost all of my 35 novels.

I create a board for a book or a series, and then I spend a day or three and just pin everything I can think of: images of my characters, the rooms in their houses, what the day-to-day of their jobs look like, what tattoos look like, what jewelry would look like. I search fabric samples, color pallets, inspiring images, city maps and landmarks. I find everything I can think of and just throw it on my board.

As I write, I constantly refer back to the board – especially as it pertains to outfits or room settings. If I can see it, I can describe it. And, if I have a picture of it, then I don’t change details halfway through the book. It all stays uniform and precise.

I also make many of them public. I’ve discovered that my followers really enjoy watching me put a book together in a board on Pinterest. It grows anticipation of what the book is about and what each image might represent.

I use Scrivener for the first few drafts of my novels, and inside of Scrivener there’s a Character Worksheet. Instead of typing out the descriptions of my characters, I just throw their pictures from Pinterest into that document. Then, whenever I need to refer to it, it’s right there.

Everyone’s brain is different. It’s fascinating how God made us all so unique. If you find filling out worksheets and answering questions with words instead of pictures to be a daunting task, try doing it with images instead. It’s possible that your brain is like mine -and you need the pictures to inspire the words on the page.

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Daisy’s Decision

Daisy has had a crush on Ken since high school, so going on just one date with him can’t possibly hurt, can it? Even if she’s just been painfully dumped by the man she planned to spend the rest of her life with, and whose unborn baby she carries? Just one date?

With nearly a million sales, USA Today bestselling author Hallee Bridgeman writes action-packed romantic suspense focusing on realistic characters who face real-world problems. Her work has been described as everything from refreshing to heart-stopping exciting and edgy. Hallee has served as the Director of the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, President of the Faith-Hope-Love chapter of the Romance Writers of America, is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), the American Christian Writers (ACW), and Novelists, Inc. (NINC). An accomplished speaker, Hallee has taught and inspired writers around the globe, from Sydney, Australia, to Dallas, Texas, to Portland, Oregon, to Washington, D.C., and all places in between. Hallee loves coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. Above all else, she loves God with all of her heart, soul, mind, and strength; has been redeemed by the blood of Christ; and relies on the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide her.