Picture me!

Some love them, some don't.

Let's face it, character pics aren't the greatest. They usually ruin the perfect images etched in our mind. When we pick up a book, we somehow manage to mold a picture everytime we meet a character. Same with movies, when we see the main male character being introduced in the trailer, you'd be like 'Wait, that's (insert hot guy character here)? @$&@ ! He's supposed to be HAWT!"

I remember back in booksie, when I first started I didn't know why people were so crazy over character pictures, so I actually did it for fun as well right until I got a few messages saying they don't agree with my choices (and they start suggesting celebs). Even when I first started posting on Wattpad, one girl said I needed to remove my character list because that's not how she imagined them. I removed them a few hours later because I gave it some thought. Then a few weeks later, I brought them back. I figured, hey - this is my story, I can do whatever I please.

I respect people's opinions since everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but they also need to respect the author for doing that. Some people are very rude when it comes to stating their opinions. I mean, come on! If you hate it so much, then I suggest you go somewhere else. Plain simple.

When I read a book and see character pictures after, believe it or not, those original images in my head remains the same. Somehow, I can control it.

Character pictures are fun. It's nice to pick your own little cast, almost like making your own movie, you know? So if you hate character pics, then don't look at the list. But then again, it's really hard not to.

Okay, let's move on to picking the characters. I admit I'm guilty for doing this but I just want to point it out (well, it was already pointed out plenty of times in the past) how every book seem to have such beautiful characters. Believe me, I cringe whenever I do that with my characters. For me, I think they're okay as long as they have flaws. Because that's how it is in real life. People have flaws. Lots and lots of flaws. They may be beautiful but they're not as perfect as you imagined them to be.

Hmmm.... what else?

Oh yeah, like when you're a new writer for example and you choose celebs that looks waaaaaay older than your average seventeen year old. I cringe when I think of that because I'm guilty of that, too. But I try my best to pick the best ones that fit the characters in my mind.

Like some stories back in booksie, whenever I come across a character sheet, I see the main male character who's about 16 years old with a body builder's frame! Bulging muscles with popping veins all over! I'm like OMG, seriously? I don't think I've seen one 16 year old that looks like that.

They're 16, NOT 30!

Sorry, I'm just pointing it out. It's just so unrealistic you know?

Whenever I'm in my car, waiting for my son to come out of his class, I always look at the high school kids that passes by. Sure, some of them can look like Abercrombie models but majority of them are just skinny as toothpicks with their sagging pants and skateboards.

So when it comes to picking your cast, I think it's alright to pick an image of a guy/girl that looks a little over their age just as long as they don't look like bodybuilders (those really huge ones) please, don't even go there. Remember, It's ok to pick a character with a little muscle. Just ... not too much muscle.

Speaking of too much. People sometimes overdo it. In the past, I've seen newbies (even populars) choose the same popular celebrities to portray their MMC/MFC's. I admit, I'm guilty of this one. There's a huge selection of people to choose from in Hollywood. Even when it comes to models. It gets boring later on. I admit, I get so excited whenever I see that certain celeb playing the part, but after awhile when I see the same celeb playing the lead in every book I see, I lose interest.

It's best to pick an unknown cast, especially for the lead characters. But it's also advisable to mix them up, popular or not. It's all up to you. Have fun choosing your characters. Also Keep in mind, that just because you chose a hot celebrity as your main character doesn't mean you'll get popular overnight. Choosing popular celebs for your cast doesn't guarantee an overnight success. It still grinds down to having a great well written story.