I really enjoy talking about my writing with one of my uni friends. She’s not quite a writer but she’s got the mind of one, and we have lots of “Yeah, that’s exactly how I feel!” moments. It’s cool beans. She told me a story she’d made up when she was little today. It’s my turn tomorrow.
“Let’s go to uni early and chat,” she texted. “Because your story sounds long.”
“Hah,” I replied. “You have no idea.”
Some context: let’s just say that right now, ‘complicated’ is an incredibly optimistic term to use when describing my nonexistent novel.
For convenience and also because I was feeling childish, I drew up a quick reference chart for some of the main characters to help her visualise.
As in…
…… Yeah. I don’t know what compelled me to do such a thing.
…
………
Okay fine, so I’m actually quite proud of a few. I’m particularly fond of the two on the top left, and the old dude in the second row. He’s awesome. And the sun! Metaphorical representation of supernatural beings because I got lazy. I reckon she turned out adorable.
Let’s pretend the rest mutilated themselves while I was typing up this post.
..
Does anyone else like visuals for their creative projects? Share your approaches! Don’t worry, me and my body-less characters will cushion any embarrassing art projects.
Plotting Bunnies 
I can’t draw people to save my life. I tried for a while but I just gave up, especially since people kept finding my drawings. Doubly embarrassing!
I hear you loud and clear! My biggest nemesis is the face. On occasion, my figures can look vaguely proportionate: four limbs, a head – check, check.
Face? Expression? …. Oh, I don’t need one! All my characters are descended from Slender! /shot
Once, I was doodling (a portrait) terribly on the back of my maths homework. My teacher noticed the finished product as I lifted my paper and looked surprised. I frantically batted my eyelashes and said, “My little cousin drew that.”
hahaha that’s amazing!
At least you have an idea as to how they look. To me that’s very important in differentiating characters and personalities.
Also, keep in mind one of the best comics online is drawn by a mathematician using stick figures. xkcd.com
Indeed, knowing how they look is very helpful. I knew this before I ‘drew’ them here because I casted my characters. That said, I really enjoyed putting expressions on their faces. It made me think and hear the way they wanted to be drawn!
Classic stick figures! That mathematician’s got the right idea haha
Thanks for reading!