Do you gravitate toward particular body types?

[Ban]

She had all the curves of a battleship, with long sword like limbs, the kind that made any man want to climb on board and test her edges.

I am imagining a very long, yet rotund torso held up through stick-like limbs. Not quite my type personally. More of a fluyt with broadswords fellow.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

No, would be my answer. Have you ever seen any two people with the exact same body shape and size?

EXACTLY alike? no, I wouldn't say that's a common thing. Just the other day I saw two guys at the gym with roughly the same build, but they had completely different gates in their walk, etc little differences.

But twins exist, hell triplets exist. And the kind of similarities I'm talking about are like, muscle mass, height, etc which is why until I have a more solid 'image' of the character in my mind. I resort to phrases like 'curvy' or 'athletic' etc. Just to give a basic idea of how they look.

The things that make the individuals in a similar body type group unique are the things that I tend to notice more than the physical traits. Even with anime/video game characters I like. (though yes when chatting with 'the bois' about said characters I joke about physical stuff)

I would still like to know how I could possibly describe a character as 'hot would smash' type of female character (curvy in the right places) without offending people. About 90% of the phrases in our dictionary (never mind the urban dictionary) are somehow offensive to someone out there even if the way you use them in the narrative isn't.

She had all the curves of a battleship, with long sword like limbs, the kind that made any man want to climb on board and test her edges.

Not going to lie, you almost got a cackle out of me with that one. I might steal/reuse that line at some point haha

 

[Jackarandajam]

I would still like to know how I could possibly describe a character as 'hot would smash' type of female character (curvy in the right places) without offending people. About 90% of the phrases in our dictionary (never mind the urban dictionary) are somehow offensive to someone out there even if the way you use them in the narrative isn't.

You're basically describing an extremely worn out trope here, that's why people would be offended. You have a right to put anything in your book you want to, but you don't have a "right" not to offend or annoy readers. If you MUST put a 90's pornstar in your book, good luck. Just like if your main character MUST be 6'4", blond haired, blue eyed with a broad chest and a commanding presence but a disarming smile that women can't tear their eyes off of and all want to bed immediately, good luck. You have a right to do that, but you don't have a right to people's opinion of the token choice.

"Hot would smash" includes about 97% of the women on planet earth for somebody. If your character is an Author Insert and the female character is a personal fantasy of yours, then I encourage you to write her exactly however she appears in your daydreams. Your priority isnt, in this case, other readers. If she's attractive to another character in the story, make that character attracted to her. Readers will believe that she is attractive to that character no matter what she looks like.

The insistence that for a female character in a book to be attractive she has to look like an IG bikini influencer is 2 dimensional and a mistaken prioritization. I could list a dozen actresses that people think are wildly attractive that aren't built like Jolie or Fox.

You don't have to make your reader believe that they too would be drooling on themselves over a female character by trying to force them to look at a pinnacle ideal.
Your reader will believe that the woman is attractive if other characters respond to her as if she is.

Charlize Theron was somehow smoking hot in Fury Road, even though she wasn't built like an anime cleavage-armor princess in an ad for a new mobile game.

If you're looking for descriptors that make all your male readers simultaneously wolf-howl after a couple sentences, I think you're barking up the wrong tree. If you wanna shoot for that anyway, shoot for it, but more people will raise an eyebrow at the exhausted trope than be made indignant that the female isn't diverse enough.

 

[Mad Swede]

I would still like to know how I could possibly describe a character as 'hot would smash' type of female character (curvy in the right places) without offending people. About 90% of the phrases in our dictionary (never mind the urban dictionary) are somehow offensive to someone out there even if the way you use them in the narrative isn't.

To me you're starting at the wrong end, and I would never describe a woman in that way.

When I wrote that I thought through the story and the characters in some detail I meant it. The thing is that the back story for a character will define what some of they look like, be that thin, fat, scrawny, dirty, pock-marked or whatever. What they end up doing in the course of the story helps define how their appearance changes.

None of my characters are stunningly handsome or stunningly beautiful. But they all have things in their personality and appearance which make them unique, and that can be their sense of humour, their eyes, hair colour etc. What attracts the characters to one another varies too, just as it does in real life. It's these details which make the characters interesting to the readers and hence draw the reader in.

You can summarise all this in one word: characterisation.

 

[Renè Williams]

EXACTLY alike? no, I wouldn't say that's a common thing. Just the other day I saw two guys at the gym with roughly the same build, but they had completely different gates in their walk, etc little differences.

But twins exist, hell triplets exist. And the kind of similarities I'm talking about are like, muscle mass, height, etc which is why until I have a more solid 'image' of the character in my mind. I resort to phrases like 'curvy' or 'athletic' etc. Just to give a basic idea of how they look.

The things that make the individuals in a similar body type group unique are the things that I tend to notice more than the physical traits. Even with anime/video game characters I like. (though yes when chatting with 'the bois' about said characters I joke about physical stuff)

I would still like to know how I could possibly describe a character as 'hot would smash' type of female character (curvy in the right places) without offending people. About 90% of the phrases in our dictionary (never mind the urban dictionary) are somehow offensive to someone out there even if the way you use them in the narrative isn't.

Not going to lie, you almost got a cackle out of me with that one. I might steal/reuse that line at some point haha

For me, its HOW and WHY you describe their looks, not the looks themselves. Pornstar looks are fine, if you don't blatantly call them that or comment on the features that fit that description for any reason other then the POV character/characters would notice them. It isn't the look that offends people, it's the use of the character that looks that way and how tastefully, or not, they are described, at least, i feel like that's the big part of it, imho. Two of my characters, female twins, fall into the classic Bombshell Body trope, but that's never explicitly stated except by other characters and they both work in the fashion industry in their current lives. My first MC is supposed to be a dashingly handsome 80 year old who looks 40 but he isn't tall or muscular, and i never write anything about opinions on his looks unless it's directly through a character who would think it, or maybe public opinion since they are all Public Figures.


Again, these are all personal opinions i hold and/or see evidence for.


One good way to be able to describe a bombshell character is to have one who thinks what you want the reader to, and have others think she's not attractive at all. Only if that character is just attractive to everyone and it's beat into the readers eyes how pretty everyone thinks they are does it become awkward and offensive, at least to my eyes.

I've also taken to just describing the things said character would be attracted to. I never call a woman in my story pretty until a character specifically is looking at them and feeling attracted or commenting to someone else or having an inner dialogue, and still i avoid terms like pretty or beautiful until i establish what specifically that thing is (exotic, almond, emerald eyes set above high, soft cheekbones and lush, pink lips instead of she had a pretty face, but after describing her face through that characters POV, i might later say something like "blah blah blah", he said as he gazed at her gorgeous features.). If anyone else thinks this is a good approach, let me know, so i know if i need to change course.

I also avoid bad timing of these things. In the heat of battle, Kai isn't going to care how pretty her face is, and she isn't going to care how chiseled his abs are or how his jawbone is set. During a serious convo, no one is going to be thinking about those things either. In short, I wouldn't be like "He lifted her from the ground, careful of her bleeding arm, her breasts bouncing as he checked his footing and balance on the loose, wet earth."

 

[pmmg]

I would still like to know how I could possibly describe a character as 'hot would smash' type of female character (curvy in the right places) without offending people.

How about through the frame of the POV character who thinks her that way?

Offending people? Here a secret, most are not even really offended, they just think they should be cause that's how our culture trained them. Tell the story the way it needs and don't apologize. You will never thread the needle of not offending people.

 

[Renè Williams]

How about through the frame of the POV character who thinks her that way?

Offending people? Here a secret, most are not even really offended, they just think they should be cause that's how our culture trained them. Tell the story the way it needs and don't apologize. You will never thread the needle of not offending people.

Besides, that's the sensitivity reader's job, right? *wink wink*

I used to have a scene where the father, who's 80+, says to his 18 year daughter, "What, you don't trust good ol' dad to take care of the invalid?" and she responds, "You can't call him that no matter how old you are," and he admits she's right, so maybe if you think you offended someone who might read it, let one of your characters be offended for them first. (The 'invalid' in question isn't actually disabled physically but has lost his memories due to magick, and has never lived away from a small tropic forest island with a cabin on it and 8 others his age and 1 adult)

 

[Ban]

Humans are on the whole an easily offended lot. Write your bombshells however you wish, and if the world is filled with Red Sonja's and Conan's? So be it. A story with character written the way the author intended it will always be more fun to read than one that has been sanitized.

As for the question however, I can't say I have a standard, as each story requires a different cast. The quasi-Gnostic novelette I am trying to finish currently features aeons-old deities (think cosmic horror). Then again, I suppose to Jackarandajam's chagrin my first instinct is to depict a version of myself. Broad-chested, deep-voiced, 6'3 (argh Bald eagle units!) and blond. At least my eyes are green not blue Hahaha and I be a bit pudgier than typical for this type. I blame trappist monks for that.

 

[pmmg]

Sensitivity readers can go suck eggs.

 

[Jackarandajam]

As for the question however, I can't say I have a standard, as each story requires a different cast. The quasi-Gnostic novelette I am trying to finish currently features aeons-old deities. Then again, I suppose to @Jackarandajam's chagrin my first instinct is to depict a version of myself. Broad-chested, deep-voiced, 6'3 (argh Bald eagle units!) and blond. At least my eyes are green not blue Hahaha and I be a bit pudgier than typical for this type. I blame trappist monks for that.

it's a hard time in history to be the walking ideal. I'm a blond&blue scandi that tries to take care of myself too, but I try to avoid making my characters as beautiful as I am.

 

[Ban]

it's a hard time in history to be the walking ideal. I'm a blond&blue scandi that tries to take care of myself too, but I try to avoid making my characters as beautiful as I am.

It isn't easy being gorgeous, but we shall carry our burdens on our mighty shoulders shan't we? In other news, a recent spike of narcissism has hit the North Sea region.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

To me you're starting at the wrong end, and I would never describe a woman in that way.

When I wrote that I thought through the story and the characters in some detail I meant it. The thing is that the back story for a character will define what some of they look like, be that thin, fat, scrawny, dirty, pock-marked or whatever. What they end up doing in the course of the story helps define how their appearance changes.

None of my characters are stunningly handsome or stunningly beautiful. But they all have things in their personality and appearance which make them unique, and that can be their sense of humour, their eyes, hair colour etc. What attracts the characters to one another varies too, just as it does in real life. It's these details which make the characters interesting to the readers and hence draw the reader in.

You can summarise all this in one word: characterisation.

That's the problem: what if their characterization, the life they chose to live etc makes them have a specific body type?

People hand wave it and say 'everyone can be attractive' yet get offended as shit when you try to describe a 'supermodel' type character. Doesn't matter how well you write the character (or the male character getting 'distracted' by them) or how they're used in the narrative. You say or do the slightest thing that might imply sexualization and they eat you alive, regardless of if you intended sexualization or not.

A species of rabbit people in my story have good 'leg game' but that's more due to how the actual animal looks in real life, and how that would translate to a race of rabbit humans. (without going too far and actually giving them rabbit legs, which in my opinion would look odd) Their legs are like that because most of them are a warrior/amazon tribe. (And plenty of writers get away with 'hot' amazon races these days too)

Humans are on the whole an easily offended lot. Write your bombshells however you wish, and if the world is filled with Red Sonja's and Conan's? So be it. A story with character written the way the author intended it will always be more fun to read than one that has been sanitized.

You really can't please everyone so I'd rather write the characters that fit my story. But I at least want to try to find an inoffensive way to describe characters like this without pissing off half of the audience.

As for the question however, I can't say I have a standard, as each story requires a different cast. The quasi-Gnostic novelette I am trying to finish currently features aeons-old deities. Then again, I suppose to Jackarandajam's chagrin my first instinct is to depict a version of myself. Broad-chested, deep-voiced, 6'3 (argh Bald eagle units!) and blond. At least my eyes are green not blue Hahaha and I be a bit pudgier than typical for this type. I blame trappist monks for that.

And sometimes the cast requires a 'super model' or two, but the world gets mega offended at those characters existing regardless of how you use them in the story.

 

[Ban]

Are people (not here but elsewhere) truly getting offended though? Perhaps we frequent different online or real world places, but I never encounter folks upset about the way fictional characters look. The most I have come across is that "Men writing women" subreddit, which from the little I saw just made fun of bad writing. "Her boobs bounced breastily" and all that comedic nonsense. I can't say, and perhaps I am lucky for it, that I ever encounter someone who is upset with the way the characters themselves look.

 

[Renè Williams]

I mean, i'm confused, because I feel like somewhere along the line in this thread, Supermodel, 100% Smashable and Bombshell became the same thing and I can't even think of a super model whose a bombshell, or vice versa, because one denotes a tall, think, lank, exotic faced women with small to flat chest and bottom and the latter seems to describe the classic 'buxom blonde/brunette' or 'spicy redhead with bozzongas', and most men would smash either because they think other men would too...even if they wouldn't.

Remember, you goal isn't for the READER to think anyone is pretty, but convey other people in your book feel that way. These terms are superfluous to that goal, and so is fear of offending.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Are people (not here but elsewhere) truly getting offended though? Perhaps we frequent different online or real world places, but I never encounter folks upset about the way fictional characters look. The most I have come across is that "Men writing women" subreddit, which from the little I saw just made fun of bad writing. "Her boobs bounced breastily" and all that comedic nonsense. I can't say, and perhaps I am luckily for it, that I ever encounter someone who is upset with the way the characters themselves look.

Most of the complaints I get are from here tho. Half of the time from folks over-assuming what point I'm trying to make.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I fully understand the complaints which is why I want to find a 'safe' way to describe these types of characters to begin with.

The problem is most folks are too busy eating me alive to help solve the problem that I want to solve. At least I'm making an effort to solve it.

I should point out too, that most of these characters aren't insanely 'goofy' when it comes to these features. Even the rabbit people I described earlier.

I mean, i'm confused, because I feel like somewhere along the line in this thread, Supermodel, 100% Smashable and Bombshell became the same thing and I can't even think of a super model whose a bombshell, or vice versa, because one denotes a tall, think, lank, exotic faced women with small to flat chest and bottom and the latter seems to describe the classic 'buxom blonde/brunette' or 'spicy redhead with bozzongas', and most men would smash either because they think other men would too...even if they wouldn't.

I think everyone got confused due to my poor phrasing. Your assessment is correct though, there aren't a lot of words where you could elaborately describe these features. The communities I talk to are all fine describing characters this way (granted, they're often anime game communities but still a lot of anime game fans are pretty chill about this stuff, even the women) and we joke about it quite a lot. Rest of the world not so much, it is very hard to talk this way about characters in writing.

The kind of characters I'm trying to describe (at least a couple of them) are significantly.... 'blessed' with varying degrees of being blessed in top or bottom. but even that which doesn't feel offensive, is somehow too offensive. Which again, is the issue, I'm simply describing the character as they appear in my mind and (usually) nothing else.

What I would like to know (again) is how to describe a 'thicc' or 'blessed' character without resorting to 'make the male audience horni' language. Because most of the male characters are going to notice these features (especially characters going through puberty) and it's kinda frustrating.

 

[Renè Williams]

Most of the complaints I get are from here tho. Half of the time from folks over-assuming what point I'm trying to make.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I fully understand the complaints which is why I want to find a 'safe' way to describe these types of characters to begin with.

The problem is most folks are too busy eating me alive to help solve the problem that I want to solve. At least I'm making an effort to solve it.

I should point out too, that most of these characters aren't insanely 'goofy' when it comes to these features. Even the rabbit people I described earlier.


I think everyone got confused due to my poor phrasing. Your assessment is correct though, there aren't a lot of words where you could elaborately describe these features. The communities I talk to are all fine describing characters this way (granted, they're often anime game communities but still a lot of anime game fans are pretty chill about this stuff, even the women) and we joke about it quite a lot. Rest of the world not so much, it is very hard to talk this way about characters in writing.

The kind of characters I'm trying to describe (at least a couple of them) are significantly.... 'blessed' with varying degrees of being blessed in top or bottom. but even that which doesn't feel offensive, is somehow too offensive. Which again, is the issue, I'm simply describing the character as they appear in my mind and (usually) nothing else.

What I would like to know (again) is how to describe a 'thicc' or 'blessed' character without resorting to 'make the male audience horni' language. Because most of the male characters are going to notice these features (especially characters going through puberty) and it's kinda frustrating.

Maybe try not to focus on those details. State what they are, then never bring it up again. If i tell my friend that a woman had really big blank, that's me saying hey, i noticed this. If i tell them every day or every time i see them, it's creepy.


Safe ways are like safe spaces. It's only safe until someone comes and changes that. Nothing is safe forever.

Also, think of your audience. Are you going to market to the anime/manga guys and gals who are also big readers? You already said they aren't offended by this. Do you expect to grow your audience beyond that? Then you can't pander to the first group and must venture into more tasteful territory. Many authors/creator have gotten 'called out' for 'offending' too many people, yet still live comfortably off income from their work.

 

[Mad Swede]

If you want a safe way to describe these things then DON'T objectify characters in your stories. That means treating your characters as people, not as a tool or toy, as if they had no feelings, opinions, or rights of their own. It means not demeaning characters by having them judged by the size of their tits or their dick.

This is what I mean by characterisation. You can get away with descriptions of people which are detailed and say quite a lot about their physique and their attractiveness, but it has to be appropriate to the scene, the setting and the other characters. That sometimes means spreading their descriptions across several chapters, letting the reader gradually build their own mental image of the character. I try to be subtle about it, making sure that other characters only notice things about the character being described when it would be appropriate to do so.

 

[pmmg]

If you want a safe way to describe these things then DON'T objectify characters in your stories.

I'm gonna counter this a little and say, stop looking for the safe way to do things. That's where you die.

And I will boost the signal of:

...but it has to be appropriate to the scene, the setting and the other characters.

Write in character. If you POV objectifies, he objectifies. If the narrator has such a voice, then so he does. If they dont...then do whats true to that.

 

[Finchbearer]

I can agree that there are broad definitions for ‘body types’, such as ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph, and variations in between those broad terms, but in terms of the question asked, when we are writing, or thinking about our characters, are we really ever describing two people who have all the same physical attributes in our own stories unless we are describing doppelgängers, twins, athletes or otherwise? I would say not.

I also like the idea of allowing the reader to build their own mental image of what the characters look like.

OP, you can create whatever descriptions you want for your characters, but I’d say the most effective way to do this is to have it be the opinion of another character. If you describe your character in the third omniscient it often comes across as self-gratification, but have another character describe someone is powerful, yes even if they are sexist, or rude, or full of lust or whatever - that’s what people are like in real life, have fun with that aspect of allowing the reader to get inside your characters heads.

 

[Queshire]

I typically have a mental image of my characters, but I'm bad at actually describing them in the story. Those mental images are basically always inspired by anime or manga. Rarely I'll use a particular character from a manga for inspiration. For example, I used Neferpitou from Hunter x Hunter as the starting point for one character and Saber from Fate/Stay Night for another.

I'm not sure if describing a character in text in a similar method to how fans talk about such characters is a good idea. It's not about offending people. I just think they would achieve two different things.