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Do you use photos to assist with setting?

I've been attempting to find a photo that conveyed the beauty of the underworld in TWISTE ROOT (my WIP). With SECOND SOUL, I used various Thomas Kinkade paintings to create Heaven. It's tricky when you have absolutely nothing in mind, and I am a very visual person. I need the other worlds in my book to be described to the point that the reader feels he/she is walking through the story. Well I found the photo--finally! What do you think? Nice, huh?





Do you use photos, visuals, etc. to help you write? If not, what helps you visualize? TWISTED ROOT is so deeply imaginative that I've had to pool lots of photos (and create some of my own) in order to correctly set the book. It is a journey for sure. So share, what helps you create setting?

M.B.

Comments

  1. Kenda TurnerDecember 10, 2010 at 10:06 PM

    Good question. I collect photos of hollow sycamore trees! I try to track them down wherever I go since such a tree figures predominantly in my WIP...Can you imagine one big enough to sleep a family of six?

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  2. Lo HughesDecember 11, 2010 at 12:43 PM

    That picture is perfect! I use photos, but more for characters than for setting. I have certain actresses/actors in mind for my characters when LC his the big screen (haha ya right). I've taken to writing with a split screen...on one side is the text I'm working on, and the other side pics of the characters. It works really well when I'm trying to nail voice! I've also taken to using maps a lot. I have a neat book called 'London in maps' which maps London history from the fifteenth century onwards. Pretty handy for historical fiction!

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  3. Melissa WestDecember 13, 2010 at 4:31 PM

    Kenda -- Wow, a family living in a tree! Your story sounds fantastic.

    Laura -- Maps are a great idea, esp for a historical. I'm going to keep that in mind for TR (which is a dystopian but the underlying theme is political and historical).

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