So, my shor
t story. I wanted a picture of of what my main character looks. If I could draw, I would draw it myself. Sadly, I am drawing impaired. I decided to go looking for a photo that fits my mental picture. That is, a man, dark, strong but not a bodybuilder. Someone who is affectionate and clever and quick. I went to deviantart and searched for soldier. Nothing. Warrior turned up a bunch of sword toting people. That was interesting, but not what I was looking for. Pirate turned nothing that fit my mental image. Finally, I did a search for male. Really, what could be simpler? That was why I didn’t try it first – I thought it would too simple. Silly me. I turned up lots and lots very interesting photos – many of them involving nude men. I had to sign in to just to see most of the pics (they showed too much fine male flesh for just anyone to see). I found this one picture, not nude, of a guy that fits fairly well with my mental image. Except for the lips – they are too pink. I’d pictured paler, thinner lips. It is a male stock image someone posted.
Story Treasury 
Yes, deviantart can be really inspiring if you know how to find the good stuff.
If you haven’t already, collect anything you find there that looks vaguely inspiring. You may still be able to make use of it later, at least as writing prompt. If you can draw, make sketches based on your findings.
Okay, I’m stating the obvious again…
LOL I haven’t saved all the pics that caught my eye in awhile but I will be sure to start again! Sadly, I can’t draw.
Just make sure you have some means of sorting them in categories… I still have some file folders with several hundreds of unsorted pictures each… worst thing you can do. *dies*
Yeah I have a whole folder full of more unsorted pics than I can count. I made a start at sorting them but there are lots left. That folder was why I stopped saving pictures – I was getting them
so quick sorting looked imposable.
Yes, if you want to sort them, you gotta do it right away. I use some fairly broad categories I sort pictures into (anatomy, nature, items, vehicles, architecture, scenery, poses, technique, general, funstuff) as these worked best for me.
However, your categories will depend on what you’re looking for. I’m looking for inspiration and reference as a comic artist, while you’re a writer. You may want to take a look at how the dA folks sort their galleries and especially their favorites. That can be very helpful in determining what categories work for you.
I didn’t think about looking at the gallery categories. That’s a good idea. My own categories at present are like this: animals, men, women, fantasy, scenic, abstract, sexy and other. I put too many things in other – I need better categories.