The Perfect Face

One thing all readers want to know is what the character looks like. They want to see a face with each name. It can be hard for a writer to be able to describe a face. Many use pictures of actors and actresses, famous singers and what-not to help them visualize. Some go through magazines, tearing off one model's eyes, another one's nose, a torso here, a set of legs there; Frankenstein from scraps of paper.

Personally, I use Face Maker. It's a nifty, free, online game that lets you "draw" a face that looks a lot like a police sketch. You can print the faces out and label them for your notes, save them as a file on your computer, and publish them for other users to see if you are just playing around. It's fun and I have had better success in seeing my characters using it than tearing up magazine ads or looking at celebrities. The rest of the body is relatively easy to describe. The face though, it takes some work at times. Especially if you've just described Elvis to a T.

FaceMaker

It gives a person the freedom to make the face look exactly how they want in just a few minutes when they could look through magazines for days without finding the exact lip shape they want etc. I like using it, printing out my faces and coloring them with colored pencils. I get the face I want, the coloring of hair I want (or very close to), the exact shade of eyes and it makes description easier. Having that visual stimuli can help pull you out of a tricky situation when you just can't describe that one thing. Some writers don't need it, but I bet almost all would love to have that exact face they want in a picture. For those of us who can't draw worth a damn, Face Maker is neat. For now, peace and love, y'all.

~E.