How to write short people.

[Ban]

This might be a very specific question but i'll ask it anyways.

Many of my protagonist's are short people. There is something i seem to love about the symbolism of a short man with little experience with reality for varying reasons, who is thrown into a large and scary world.

My question is to shorter people. I am a tall guy and i want to ask if there is any discernable difference in the way you guys are treated or perceive the world. I know that the differences are most likely very minor, but i like to see myself as a sort of method writer so to speak. I want to fully understand the character and its tiniest details and write as if i was him/her.

Please, be a specific as you like.

 

[FifthView]

Well if a tall guy has no experience of being short, maybe asking a short guy how being short is different than the experience of being taller....eh?

 

[Ban]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjBRNqwDPrU

Sure i understand your point, but i think i can say at least a little bit about how being tall is. Kids run in fear when you approach, people from kilometers around walk in the shadow you cast, you keep stepping on puny humans... you know that kind of thing
But in all seriousness i think i could learn something from this even if most short people have nothing to really compare it to.

 

[Svrtnsse]

There was a thread about this about two years ago. It had a bit of a silly title though so it probably isn't easy to find even if you searched.

http://mythicscribes.com/forums/res...allenged.html?highlight=vertically+challenged

Edit:
And yes, that's my thread, I've so far mainly written about the anfylk in my stories, and they're about the height of your average hobbit - while I myself am not.

 

[NerdyCavegirl]

Short people have to climb or jump more to reach things. Tall people hit their heads more. I also get mistaken for being 12-14 all the time, but that may also be my face, mannerisms, and dress.

 

[Ban]

There was a thread about this about two years ago. It had a bit of a silly title though so it probably isn't easy to find even if you searched.

http://mythicscribes.com/forums/res...allenged.html?highlight=vertically+challenged

Edit:
And yes, that's my thread, I've so far mainly written about the anfylk in my stories, and they're about the height of your average hobbit - while I myself am not.

Thank you Svrtnsse. I would thanks your post but i've thanked too much today. Surprisingly i remember seeing that post long ago, but forgot about it. I've been reading this site occasionally for much longer than i have been a member.

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

Another short people problem is that that also have little stubby arms that can't reach things very well.

 

[Ban]

Are you a short person? If so can you tell me how a short guy feels when standing in front of a really tall guy?

 

[Penpilot]

Define what you consider short?

I'm 5'5" and I guess that's a bit short for a guy. But I rarely even notice or have the thought cross my mind as being anything but a normal person.

To flip this around. How do you write a tall person? I'd wager it's pretty much like writing a short person. There are times when height matters, but most of the time it doesn't.

There are advantages and disadvantages to being either. Being tall means you can reach those top shelves in the kitchen more and probably make better use of them. But how about those bottom shelves under the kitchen counter? Being short, I'd wager I'd be able use those more effectively.

In general, we all tailor our homes to suit us, put things where we can reach them regardless of height.

For me, I go by the simple rule. Write your character's as people, not statistics. Everything else is just details that for the most part follow common sense.

Edit. To answer how does a short person feel standing behind a tall person, it feels like standing behind any other person unless they're blocking the view on something I need to see. Then it becomes a problem to be solved, just like any other person who has their view obstructed.

Unless your character has a Napoleon complex, writing them is like writing anyone else.

 

[Ban]

I agree with you on writing characters like humans first and foremost, but i am now ironing out the details of his worldviews. No mather how tiny they are, i want to know them.

What i was hoping for primarily is what kind of psychological differences short people face in their life. I have absolutely no clue what being very short (my character is barely 1.6 meters) face in life. What is it like to be surrounded by taller people all day? Is it more difficult to get a date? Are very short people excluded from things?

 

[Heliotrope]

Define what you consider short?

I'm 5'5" and I guess that's a bit short for a guy. But I rarely even notice or have the thought cross my mind as being anything but a normal person.

To flip this around. How do you write a tall person? I'd wager it's pretty much like writing a short person. There are times when height matters, but most of the time it doesn't.

There are advantages and disadvantages to being either. Being tall means you can reach those top shelves in the kitchen more and probably make better use of them. But how about those bottom shelves under the kitchen counter? Being short, I'd wager I'd be able use those more effectively.

In general, we all tailor our homes to suit us, put things where we can reach them regardless of height.

For me, I go by the simple rule. Write your character's as people, not statistics. Everything else is just details that for the most part follow common sense.

Edit. To answer how does a short person feel standing behind a tall person, it feels like standing behind any other person unless they're blocking the view on something I need to see. Then it becomes a problem to be solved, just like any other person who has their view obstructed.

Unless your character has a Napoleon complex, writing them is like writing anyone else.

I can say how it feels as a tall woman... I've always been tall and gangly. Skinny and 5" 10 for a woman is not good. I often feel like Brienne of tarth. I stand next to tiny woman and I feel huge, non feminine, Amazon. I feel like men don't want to stand too close to me. And I feel undesirable.

My sister is tiny. She says that she feels secure in the arms of most guys because they are so much bigger than her. She feels petite, and cute and desirable. She has trouble reaching things, but she stands straighter than I do. Head held taller. I've learned to slouch and appear smaller than I am.

She likes dancing. I feel like a fool and like I can be seen from the very back of the room.

She can wear her hair however she wants, I have a long neck and short hair looks weird.

She has to shop in a he petite section and has trouble finding clothes. That's a plus. Shopping is easy for me.

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

Are you a short person? If so can you tell me how a short guy feels when standing in front of a really tall guy?

I am not a short person per se. I am about average at 5'11" or 180.34 cm. But I have associated with extraordinarily tall people (6'6" and up). And I can say that I feel small, almost like a child looking up at an adult small.

 

[FifthView]

Are very short people excluded from things?

Well, at about 5' 6", which I think much of the world calls 1.68m, I never expected to feel welcome on the basketball court.

The question you ask is very difficult for me to answer, because any instance of feeling excluded could be attributed to other factors as well. And these are all things that happened in middle school or high school, so that muddles the memory.

However, I will say that I think there were instances when taller boys thought they could intimidate me or bully me, very briefly, because of my height. I don't mean any sort of truly cruel bullying, but just a kind of initial attitude, something in passing. I think this sort of thing has happened occasionally since I've been an adult. But again, nothing terribly serious. (For one thing, I mastered the "You really, really don't want to mess with me" look when I was fairly young.)

It's said that taller male political candidates have a, erm, leg up on shorter male candidates. But I've never run for office.

I think that in a rough fantasy milieu, where the threat of physical violence might more often come into play, shorter characters could be underestimated by taller thuggish types. And I really don't think this would be a cliche much of the time.

 

[NerdyCavegirl]

I agree with you on writing characters like humans first and foremost, but i am now ironing out the details of his worldviews. No mather how tiny they are, i want to know them.

What i was hoping for primarily is what kind of psychological differences short people face in their life. I have absolutely no clue what being very short (my character is barely 1.6 meters) face in life. What is it like to be surrounded by taller people all day? Is it more difficult to get a date? Are very short people excluded from things?

Well I imagine it depends on the person. I'm 5'0", my male is 5'4". Every now and then we might have trouble seeing over someone else or something and it's like "damn this kinda sucks", but little people have an easier time climbing so that solves most problems. xD As for standing in front of a tall person, the only real problem is having to lift your head to look them in the eye. One of many reasons I like to have at least a 5 ft personal bubble. If anything, I feel more powerful around tall people, because I can just punch them in the nads 4 times and bolt before they can even move. xD I imagine it all depends on whether the person is self-conscious about their height or own it like I do.

 

[ThinkerX]

My daughter is on the short side. She dropped by to collect her mail a couple hours ago. Then she spotted a trinket I'd misplaced and went to set it on a rather tall shelf filled with tottering stacks of books and papers. I helped her pick up the resulting mess.

 

[Penpilot]

What i was hoping for primarily is what kind of psychological differences short people face in their life. I have absolutely no clue what being very short (my character is barely 1.6 meters) face in life. What is it like to be surrounded by taller people all day? Is it more difficult to get a date? Are very short people excluded from things?

I guess I didn't make my point clear. Speaking only for myself, I don't face any psychological differences. I'm comfortable with myself physically, and I'm not surrounded by people who are always taller than me. Some are. Some aren't. Some are my height. And for the most part, as I walk through a crowded mall, I don't take note of who is taller than me or not or who is shorter than me or not. They're all just people to me.

If there are psychological differences, they'll come from your character and their history. Again, do they have a Napoleon complex? Did they get teased as a kid and did that affect them or did it just roll off them like water off a duck's back?

These things are just like any other character with a specific history, specific hot buttons, specific personalities, specific things that go beyond one single physical trait.

Most people are not defined by one single trait. And not one trait rules over their personalities. Those who are, have uncommon issues.

To me, this is the same question as how to write tall people, skinny people, fat people, people with big hands, people with hairy feet. It all depends on your character. There is no generalization that can be made that says all short people face X, and because of that have Y in their psychological make up.

Call one person a short-stack and it may drive them to tears. Call another person the same thing, and they'll laugh in your face.

When I can't reach something, I don't think I can't reach it because I'm short. I think I'm too short to reach that. There's a subtle difference in that. When a 6' 6" person can't reach something, do they think I can't reach it because I'm short, or do they think I'm too short to reach that?

I'm going to apologise ahead of time, but I'm going to turn up the snarky meter for the next little bit to drive home my point.

As for getting dates... sigh... I say this with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but India's average height is just under 5'4" and their population is over a billion. I think they do all right in the date department. China has a short population to and they also do all right.

And as for being excluded, other than for safety reasons, why would someone be excluded from something simply because of a physical trait like height? Would you exclude someone from an activity because they had blue eyes?

"I'm sorry. You can't play poker with us. You're too short," said no one ever.

Ok snark off.

I have a nephew who is small for his age. He's quite popular. And in terms of sports, he's one of the best hockey and baseball players on his respective teams. He gets selected to all-star teams in both sports. And he's deathly scared of the monsters under his bed.

 

[TheCatholicCrow]

If depends on how short you're looking to write the characters. The MC in Ursela Hegi's Stones from the River is a dwarf. IMO it's one of those books that just stays with you. If you're looking to include really short characters it might be something you'd benefit from reading (and maybe watch that show Little People Big World [I think that's what it's called anyway]).

Otherwise if you're looking to go slightly short - it probably wouldn't affect the character all that much. I'm 5'4'' - not dramatically short for a woman. It is intimidating standing next to guys that are really tall. I knew guy in college that was close to 6'10'' (if I remember right)- nicest guy I've ever met but when he caught me off guard and stood close to me I couldn't help but get anxious (not because I didn't trust him or anything - he just towered over me and I remember it just made me feel really vulnerable). I don't know if this makes sense at all. It didn't dawn on me when he was sitting - only when he stood. I felt bad but I couldn't help it - I swear it was like standing next to a bear. So (perhaps more so for women) tall men can feel threatening even when they totally aren't.

I can't imagine the same would hold true for short men but then, that's just a guess.

Short people have a tendency to be treated like children. At least that's what I gather.

 

[Miskatonic]

Acknowledge certain physical limitations, how the average person might perceive them, and then after that write them as a human being with emotions, ambitions, motivations, etc., that other people have.

 

[Ban]

Ok, thank you everyone. I understand that the differences in life for short people are, overall, not terribly significant and that i should treat any character as a human (unless they're not of course) first and foremost.

Thank you all for the examples in life that a short person faces. I think these small details are very important in order for me to liven up the character. His short height should by no way be his dominant trait, but it is still a part of him and if i don't write the story at least slightly from that perspective then i might as well not make him short. Better yet i could make everyone he same height in that scenario.