It's kind of funny that when you're not writing at all you're still so writing. I'm not sure where the process of writing begins, but it is definitely not when you put your fingers to the keyboard. I find myself looking at people and deciding if my character would wear those shoes or if she would put her hair that way. Traits that you think you can randomly apply to a character either stick or don't and you only begin to know your character when you can say with conviction that she would under no circumstances get that pierced.
You know that it is starting to come together when you feel like she is always somewhere just behind you, and you can roll things around in your head and they either drop off or stick and become embedded in who she is. There is a cool bit in Stranger Than Fiction where the character walks into the author's house and she knows immediately who he is because he is exactly like she imagined. We're working up to that, but really it's more than how they look - it's how they are at the core of their (fictional) being, and that is an evolutionary process.
On this date: In 1971 Jim Morrison died.
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Oh, that moment in Stranger Than Fiction made me gasp and gave me shivers. I tried to explain it to DH, but he didn't get it. I guess it's a moment only writers can truly understand and appreciate.
A few months ago when I was shopping, I watched a young boy walk into the store and my jaw dropped. He was my mc to the core. The way he walked, the way he looked. He was about 3 years too young, but it didn't matter. It was him!! I had to leave the store because his mom was starting to give me weird sideways glances - I guess it's not a good idea to stare at strange young boys in a mall. Or ever, for that matter.
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