Describing Characters

[Butterfly]

I'm thinking of an alternative solution. This is going to be a book, right? So what a book needs is a cover and an illustration... say the main character... Looking at it that way, do you really need to describe the MC when you can stick his/her face on the front of the cover?

 

[Svrtnsse]

I'm thinking of an alternative solution. This is going to be a book, right? So what a book needs is a cover and an illustration... say the main character... Looking at it that way, do you really need to describe the MC when you can stick his/her face on the front of the cover?

It's an alternative solution, but I can't help but feel it's a bit like cheating. :/

 

[Penpilot]

I'm trying to say that a writer who leaves a character's entire appearance open like a Mad Lib blank for the reader to fill in is leaving their job as a writer unfinished. When I start reading a book, I do not want to be an active partner in describing these things that I have never encountered before. Again, this is the same for every part of a fantasy world. Enchanted sword? Describe the runes or the jewels in the hilt or the tassel or the scabbard. Towering city? Tell me what it's made of and what kind of people live there.

It's not about describing nothing. It's about giving just enough so that the reader gets a specific image and feel for the character that you want them to get. When ever I read things like "His hair ended six inches below his shoulders. His green tunic was embroider with gold swirls and silver buttons. With eyes one inch apart, his stern look struck fear in to foe. His hands were callused in the palm but soft as silk on top. His pants were form fitting but not too tight as not hinder him...." zzzzzzz... I fall a sleep. The specifics of these types of images never stick with me unless they are specifically important. The feel of them is what's important for me.

When I read, I the impressions and feel of the character on the page forms an image. It doesn't matter if the author specifically states that a character has brown hair. If my impression of the character has black hair, that's what I see. If the color of that character's hair doesn't play a role in the plot or is an important attribute worthy of multiple mentions in the text, then it doesn't matter to me if it's brown, black, green, or purple.

 

[Malik]

I describe each character once, and quickly. The rest is up to you.

Nearly seven feet tall and so immensely muscled as to appear capable of pulling locomotives with his teeth, his head and goatee were shorn equally close and flecked with gray. Tanned biceps the size of footballs shoved at the rolled-up sleeves of his T-shirt, a vast expanse of black across which faux bloodstains marred the stencil GET UP.

If you can't picture him by now, I can't help you.

The rest is mannerisms, and little things that a POV character might notice as the story goes along. Nails bitten to the quick, a scar they hadn't noticed before, the actual color of their eyes. Because how often do you really, honestly, take a hard look at someone and remember them head to toe? Writers do that. Readers don't.

You're not gonna stare too long at a guy who looks like this, anyway, for fear he'd pound you into the ground like a fence post. In the real world, anybody with an instinct for self-preservation gives a guy like this a passing glance: "File under Do Not Antagonize. Got it."

I prefer it when the author gives me some leeway in picturing the characters. In fact, I get disappointed when the author furnishes me with a drawing or cover art.

 

[Malik]

I read a great description, i forget where, though. It was something like,

He looked like the kind of guy you'd expect to see standing alone in the middle of a wrecked biker bar, calmly sipping a beer as the sirens got closer.

You don't need to tell me anything more. I've got everything I need, right there.

Now, if I could only write like that.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I read a great description, i forget where, though. It was something like,

He looked like the kind of guy you'd expect to see standing alone in the middle of a wrecked biker bar, calmly sipping a beer as the sirens got closer.

You don't need to tell me anything more. I've got everything I need, right there.

Now, if I could only write like that.

I know that guy.

Edit: "know" as in I know exactly what he looks like.

 

[Malik]

Right? I could draw him from that one sentence.

You'd draw someone else. That's what's beautiful about it.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I read a great description, i forget where, though. It was something like, He looked like the kind of guy you'd expect to see standing alone in the middle of a wrecked biker bar, calmly sipping a beer as the sirens got closer. You don't need to tell me anything more. I've got everything I need, right there. Now, if I could only write like that.

That's a great example of description by context. Each reader fills in the details. The image they produce is accurate, and true, for their experience within the story.

 

[skip.knox]

The thing I keep in mind is that I don't have to do all the describing at once. Give the reader a tag, some piece, or even a few pieces, at a time. The same goes for describing places as well.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I'm thinking of an alternative solution. This is going to be a book, right? So what a book needs is a cover and an illustration... say the main character... Looking at it that way, do you really need to describe the MC when you can stick his/her face on the front of the cover?

Bearing in mind that, especially if you go with traditional publishing, assuming there is even a character on the cover (and today's trend is to go fairly abstract), they very rarely look as they are described in the book. The reason? The artists don't often read the books they're doing the covers for. They don't have time. To have a matching cover is a rare thing. It's perfectly normal. And if you're going the self-publishing route, unless you're sitting in the artist's lap while they're working, at some point your visions will diverge and you'll have to agree on a happy medium. So, don't count on cover art to do your work for you.

 

[oyler44]

In describing my characters, I select 3 distinct features that are fairly unique. I select these during my building a character phase. Before I even begin the REAL writing. Then when I come back to my pre-built character once the writing has started I can use those 3 features to describe. Leave everything else to the imagination.

 

[skip.knox]

Selecting a couple of distinct features, as oyler44 does, is quite the right thing to do. I tend to pick one or two up front, but as I start writing the character I'll sometimes find something additional. One of my characters is in a fight early on. He's not a fighter and it was sheer impulse; for most of the story he struggles with a basic fear of violence. Sort of out of the blue I had him get wounded in that early fight, from a knife. A deep knife cut will hurt for weeks, even months. So he acquired a nasty gash on his left hand that I can use throughout.

The place where I have more difficulty is in supporting characters, the kind that pop up in a few, scattered chapters. Giving them a useful tag, whether physical or mannerism or speech, is more of a challenge, for me. At least in a fantasy world we have the additional crutch of being able to pick a different race!

 

[Chessie]

I prefer describing characters through their personality vs looks, but its something I'm working on as of the beginning of this thread. My readers got a similar image of the main character that is not who she is at all. To me, it matters that they get a good image of all the characters as I have thought them up and spent X amount of time detailing things about them so they are real people. First impressions and all. I have found this thread useful, so thank you everyone. It seems more of you agree that they should be described/given the face time like any other world building or plot detail in the story.

 

[saellys]

A personal preference to which you're entitled. However, that level of detail isn't necessary for all readers to enjoy a good story.

I can grant this if you're working with a 1500-word limit and you have to push the maximum amount of plot. A lack of description could be used to great effect in a parody, too. But if you're writing a novel and you use boilerplate like "enchanted sword" and "towering city" (let alone "young hero" or "beautiful maiden") in a fantasy world that is meant to be rich and unique, you're doing your reader and yourself a disservice.

Although I read this book, I don't recall much about it. I didn't like it nearly as much as most people. I'd have to re-read the story to determine if the description caused image confusion, or if it was reader projection (which is what I think you're implying). I'm not likely to look into deeper as I find the story a tad boring & predictable.

Or you could take my word for it, but here, I'll save you the trouble. From the first chapter:

I watch as Gale pulls out his knife and slices the bread. He could be my brother. Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes. But we’re not related, at least not closely. Most of the families who work the mines resemble one another this way.

That’s why my mother and Prim, with their light hair and blue eyes, always look out of place. They are.

This will probably get more heated since character descriptions are tied directly into issues of representation, and everyone here just loves to talk about that, so I'm going to duck out now.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I can grant this if you're working with a 1500-word limit and you have to push the maximum amount of plot. A lack of description could be used to great effect in a parody, too. But if you're writing a novel and you use boilerplate like "enchanted sword" and "towering city" (let alone "young hero" or "beautiful maiden") in a fantasy world that is meant to be rich and unique, you're doing your reader and yourself a disservice.

Again...no one is talking about using generic description like "enchanted sword". I'm talking about minimal description where the prominent, specifically chosen details perform a lot of work. The reader fills in the remaining blanks which are of the more mundane sort...or not prominent or important.

Or you could take my word for it, but here, I'll save you the trouble. From the first chapter:

I watch as Gale pulls out his knife and slices the bread. He could be my brother. Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes. But we’re not related, at least not closely. Most of the families who work the mines resemble one another this way.

That’s why my mother and Prim, with their light hair and blue eyes, always look out of place. They are.
This will probably get more heated since character descriptions are tied directly into issues of representation, and everyone here just loves to talk about that, so I'm going to duck out now.

Thanks for the example. Your point is well taken & your assessment appears to be accurate in this instance. I wouldn't fault Collins here. Still, I don't think it applies across the board.

 

[skip.knox]

Rather famously, Mickey Spillane never describes his main character. Not in any one of his books. He did this deliberately (all the stories are first person), so the reader could imagine himself as Mike Hammer.

Now, I'm not claiming Spillane as Great Literature (!), but it does show that a minimum, as in zero, amount of description is possible. It really is all in the telling.

 

[lonelyboy1977]

Very Helpful Thread

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread; you've helped me a great deal with my current WIP. Not to mention I don't need to start a new thread asking questions that have been answered here.