Now that you’re comfortable describing someone I want you to think about what your character might look like. Let’s say that your best friend is the person you want to be your character. This is where we hit a wall. You may say “Hey I want to make the hero of my story look and act exactly like my friend, and I don’t want any trouble.” That’s fine, that is your decision, but there is a price to pay. When using someone’s likeness for an intellectual property, such as creating a character for a comic strip, you run into the issue of likeness rights. Likeness rights involve the author to pay a fee to the person whose likeness they use.

So now that you have lost the idea of what your main character is like and are on a rampage due to likeness rights It would be best to introduce you to Jigsaw Man. Jigsaw Man, as I refer to it, is a person you may create from various people. For the Jigsaw Man you may use your notepad, your pencil and some free time.

1. First you should go to a very public, yet free, setting. The best place would have to be the mall
2. Walk through several of the stores as you normally would, window shop, but also keep a close eye on the patrons around you. Keep them in mind. You could also sit around the food court or on the benches in the mall and watch those around you.
3. Periodically take notes on something about someone that catches your eye. For example, if you see a tall skinny man wearing one red shoe, you would make note of his shoe if it intrigued you (not that he was skinny).
4. Return home and review your notes from the mall.
5. Now mix and matches notes to describe one person.
6. Now you have a a unique character.

Say you don’t feel up to making a human character. That is fine, make a monster or a space alien. It’s pretty simplistic to do so, but instead of making them look human, look more towards insects and reptiles. Try mixing and matching monsters you already know of to create a Jigsaw Monster. Keep in mind using too many features for a monster can make it seem unrealistic.

Remember: When you do this, don’t make it too obvious where your ideas came from.