One peculiarity of mine is that, though I consider both Elves and fairies fantastic creatures, I think of elves as if they could be real, whereas I think of fairies as completely imaginary!  I know that doesn't make any sense whatever.  But it makes a difference in how I imagined them. 

Elves, for instance—and as I have blogged earlier, I've actually begun a story about elves—seem to me to have little flaws in them.  I described my elf as having essentially a perfect complexion.  But when I imagine Tinker Bell, for instance, I imagine her as a perfect, 3-d cartoon character, perfectly smooth.

Somehow my elf is more flawed.  Her name is Fern; my human character, Lauren, is heavily questioned by Fern about how things are on Earth, and Fern describes what it's like in elf-land (I haven't yet thought of a name for the planet), and wonders why things aren't like that on Earth!  And I have to describe all the ways in which Fern is flawed, actually very tiny flaws, but it is those flaws that make her a real character!

KHB