Just wondering...

[megwrites]

How many of you cast actors in the roles of characters you're writing in your works? How does that work in your writing process, how important is it? Are they just physical models, or do you borrow attributes from either the actor themselves or a role they've played elsewhere?

Comments

[fiction-theory.livejournal.com]

Further, and this is the iffy thing, I don't like to write someone if I can't imagine how they smell, and I can't imagine how actors smell.

I find that really fascinating. I notice the smells of things like food and whatnot, but I tend not to smell anything from people at all. Can I ask what it is about smells that you find so essential, and how does that work into your notions of the character?