Oh gosh, that's basically me when I'm trying to write my first story for any character. I think when that happens I just binge on material - when it's RPF that's pretty much interviews, articles, other fics... I end up stealing bits and pieces of characters from what has been written before, I think, and I end up with a picture of a really nice character. 8D So I think we work the same way, but when I hit the point where I have an image, I start dismantling it all over again because it's somehow more fun that way.