Readers-How Do You Picture Characters?

I'm in the middle of the Dresden Files series right now (Jim Butcher), and I've found my brain has a weird way of envisioning what the characters look like. Well maybe it's not weird, I've never really asked anyone else about it. Certain characters I envision as actors or other public figures that I've seen over the years, certain ones are actual people I've seen in real life but don't know well, and certain characters seem to just seem to be random faces that pop into my head when I read a description of the character.

How do you envision characters when you're reading?

I always make them up from people i have seen on book covers. lol

I am reading Ghost Story right now (again) because I finally have Skin Games and wanted to freshen up. I LOVE Harry!

I absolutely LOVE this series, in in the middle of the White Knight right now. It's honestly the only series I've ever seriously considered rereading.

Bob the Skull is one of my favorite characters, as is Mavra, even though she's kind of evil...

I love me some Dresden Files. Just read his newest book. Love love love love love.

As for characters, they are completely made up in my head. I don't think there is a single one that is based off a real person, unless there was a movie made of the book. Then the actors in the movie tend to become the book characters.

This exactly for me too.

I have never pictured a real person as a book character. Often my characters are a little bit fuzzy, like I have a very good idea of what they are LIKE, but not an exact, perfect picture of their faces.

Occasionally if a movie or show is made, it might change the book character in my head, but still often I have the book version and the movie version.

And clearly I need to read the Dresden Files.

I always make up my own images of the characters. Sometimes they will look a bit like celebrities, but not a whole lot. Usually I'll look at a celebrity and say, "Oh hey, that's Character from Book! Celebrity would be perfect to play Character if they made Book into a movie!". I don't just pin celebrities to characters right off the bat though.

^Yup, this. Often the version in my head isn't even supplanted by the actor who played the character, just depends.

It helps that my favorite book series has a website with character profiles and pictures! THANK YOU dark-hunter.com!:rofl1:

Uhhh, not very much, and I'm very bad at paying attention to the author's descriptions of them. But usually I only have a very fuzzy idea anyway, nothing concrete. A lot of the time I don't even picture how they look.

http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden

YES!!! Come to the Dark Side we have Bob!

I'm pretty much incapable of picturing book characters in my head. It actually frustrates me while I'm reading, I have to learn to let it go and just live without a picture of my character. But I tend to like books with movies and I always watch the movies first, in part so I can picture them when I read. In the past I have been able to use real life people or actors as the characters. Like my eighth grade history teacher was the main guy in Mr. Murder.

Um. Yes.

The Dresden Files TV series sort of intermingles with my own images of characters, so I'm not really sure what is in my head and what my brain stole from the show. Some of the characters I have really clear images (Dresden thanks to the show, the Knights thanks to my obsession with them because they are SO much cooler than even Bob) and others I don't think I could picture if I tried (Molly).

I "create" characters in my head like others the only ones I equate a real person with are books Ive read after movies or shows

Same!

Hilariously if I read something in the character description I don't like I will sometimes totally disregard it lol

Well in an instance like GOT where I watched the show then read the books I totally see the show characters as the book characters. But in an instance like Harry Potter where I read the books before the movies, I have my head version still vs the movie version.

But in a book where there is no movie then I just make up a character.