Visual Inspiration

I am really excited about today's guest post. Sara from Sincerely, Sara is giving us a glimpse into her current work-in-progress and sharing the visual inspiration behind the two main characters in her novel. As some of you know, I'm a literary agency intern and I love getting to know authors and learning the motivations behind their stories. Sara's visual representations bring her characters to life. Hopefully one day, we'll all be reading a copy of the novel!

Sara's going to introduce herself before taking over the blog:

I'm a Creative Writing graduate student in New York and I spend my days writing my blog Sincerely, Sara, working on my book, doing homework, reading fantasy novels, watching way more TV than a person should, and daydreaming. I hope to be a published author one day!

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So I'm writing a novel.

I've been working on the same novel for about three years now. Although I keep saying I want to finish the first draft, the truth is I've changed a main part of the novel and am re-writing almost all of it, so technically I'm on my second draft. This is also the second novel that I've started (though the first one hasn't been finished yet).

So what is it about? Well, I'm not going to say. A writer (I think J.K. Rowling) once mentioned that you shouldn't give away your story idea, and it kind of stuck with me, so I really only tell friends and people that I have to tell (like those in my workshop classes). Nothing personal. It's just that right now this story is like my baby and I want it to be protected.

But I can tell you that the two main characters are Henry Bell and Samuel Caden and that they live in what used to be New York City. Henry wants his life to remain exactly how it is. Samuel. on the other hand, is on the run; he wants his life to go back to how it was. One day Henry comes across Samuel and their lives are changed forever.

I like using Pinterest to collect inspiration for what I think Henry and Samuel would wear. Somehow it helps me envision them better. Plus, it's also fun!

Henry Bell (above), 28, is a history teacher. He's quiet, kind, shy, empathetic, he's very neat, patient, stubborn, and wants his life to remain exactly how it is, with the possible exception of finding a nice girl to fall in love with. Every morning, he drinks a cup of hazelnut coffee while reading the newspaper. Henry's style is classic and somewhat preppy (think English professor). In my mind, he looks most like the guy on the bottom, but clean shaven.

Samuel Caden (above), 27, owns a small construction company with a friend. He's friendly, laid back, compassionate, loyal, likes to laugh and joke around, he's messy, angers easily, and wants his life to go back to how it was before he became a fugitive. Every morning, he hums the same tune (which annoys Henry to no end). He always wear a bracelet with a carved stone bear on it. Samuel's style is rugged and casual. He looks most like actor Michael Rady on the bottom right.

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A giant thank you to Sara for writing a great guest post! I hope you've enjoyed getting a sneak peak at Sara's characters. You can find Sara on her blog or at any of these social media sites: Bloglovin / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest.

If you'd like to write a guest post for I Believe In Story, you can contact me at the following email address: hello@ibelieveinstory.com.