Finding the Faces of Your Fiction

Currently, I'm engaged in an activity I should have done months ago: Compile more detailed profiles for the characters in my novel (including photos). Being a visual learner, I need to see photographs of my characters in order to bring them to life in my fiction. For "Plainfield" I realized that some of the characters were thin (even the protagonist) because I didn't have a good mental picture of them. Therefore, I scoured through online yearbooks from the period (1950s), Google Images, and family photo albums on Flickr looking for my characters. I had no real criteria other than trusting my gut to match my mental image with a face online. I spent hours doing this, thinking up different (and often random) search criteria. Sometimes I would just search the character's name and find all the people named Walter. Other times I searched a character's profession, such as "teacher," "sheriff," and so on. My thinking is that on some metaphysical level, a teacher out there will match my teacher character (people of a certain physical nature are attracted to certain jobs).

The problem with searching this way is that often I would get images tagged with my keyword, but that didn't show anyone--just a pic of a place, a car, a building, etc. After a little digging, I discovered an article on Ars Technica detailing a cool trick to take advantage of Google Image's facial recognition feature. Basically, do your image search, then append "&imgtype=face" to the end of the result URL. Hit Enter, and the results will be reloaded with only those that contain faces (as in the screenshot of this post). Click here for the full article. This is a pretty cool little trick for fiction writers who want to create in-depth character profiles that include photos (and not those of people you know).

Do You Need Novel-Writing Software?

A reader of this blog recently e-mailed me asking for a recommendation for a novel-writing software package. A few months ago, I reviewed some of the major novel-writing suites for PC Mag ("Ten Tools for Your Bestseller"). For Windows users, I thought yWriter4 was the best all-around package for writers. And the fact that it is a free download makes it an even better value.

But the question remains: Does using novel-writing software significantly the process or greatly reduce the time it takes to crank out a decent draft? Obviously, writers have been creating magnificent literature for hundreds of years without computers or novel software. So here's my take: If you are a beginner, working on your first novel, or without much academic training, this software can be very helpful. At its core, most novel-writing suites are organization tools. They use the scene as the basic building block of fiction and shape their programs around that premise. Any package worth its salt should let you create character profiles, scene summaries, plot and story arcs, setting descriptions, and more. Such features can be incredibly handy for those who constantly struggle to keep notes and outlines organized.

Keep in mind that most suites are better utilized when you are at square 1 in the process, instead of trying to incorporate the software in the middle of writing or editing your novel. Also, I've found the word processors in these programs awkward. Most are not nearly as powerful or feature rich as Microsoft Word. Another problem with novel-writing software is that it will probably be difficult to use for those who are accustomed to tactile, physical world notebooks, index cards, and even sketch pads. And since these programs are often very robust, you can easily spend more time writing character profiles, scene notes, and summaries than actually writing your novel. Finally, if you're not diligent about backing up and you have no hard copies, your entire novel--outline, manuscript, everything--can be obliterated if your computer dies or is stolen.

I think the best way to approach novel-writing software is to download yWriter4 and give it a shot. If it appeals to you, you can stick with it or go for one of the for-pay packages. Writing a novel is one of the most difficult things you will ever do, and no software can change that essential fact. It is also one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had, no matter whether the novel gets published.