Introduction description of the MC

[psychotick]

Hi,

I agree. If you're going to do it, do it early. But if you want your MC to be an everyman, you're probably better off not doing it at all, or only in the vaguest terms.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Reilith]

I agree that over-describing can become boring and tedious, but I actually like to have a good description to know how to base a character image in my mind. I've decided to go with the different POV descriptions for other characters, keeping it short when it comes to actual looks and a big longer for personality and history descriptions.

 

[FatCat]

Every time you add a description of your characaters, please ask why. Why is that description vital to your story? How does it further your plot? If you tell me your character is pale, provide a counterpoint to way being pale matters. One big thing I've discovered with writing is that there is no room for the superfluous. Every word has to work towards your main/secondary theme. Descriptions only matter if they matter to your character.

 

[Chessie]

Every time you add a description of your characaters, please ask why. Why is that description vital to your story? How does it further your plot? If you tell me your character is pale, provide a counterpoint to way being pale matters. One big thing I've discovered with writing is that there is no room for the superfluous. Every word has to work towards your main/secondary theme. Descriptions only matter if they matter to your character.

Well, that's a valid question I've asked myself a lot as I write. My answer is that, while the description may seem useless far as the story goes, it's something that readers appreciate.

Describing a character is the same as describing any piece of setting. And given that your characters are truly the reason why people read your book, doesn't it make sense to throw them a tasty bone?

It doesn't need to go super in depth. This is something I still struggle/play with constantly. At this point, I provide a short burst of character description at the beginning (soon as it makes sense but somewhere in the first two pages). I then leave little pockets of description throughout the story about characters, mostly regarding their personalities.

I can't recall who said this or if I read it somewhere, but I recall a piece of advice that went something to the effect of: readers will draw up their own image of the mc mostly from personality clues.

So in a way, we can argue that character descriptions are part of the story because the characters are a vital piece of the whole thing. If you keep descriptions out, readers are left with not much to go on which could be part of your plan anyway. But as a reader, I enjoy it and keep that in mind as I write.

 

[Caged Maiden]

Exactly! I changed my opening paragraph to this:

Raisa sat at a table of liars. A loan shark disguised as a banker, a sailor who transported weapons for warlords, a masked assassin who posed as a thief, and a woman who led every man she kissed to believe he was the only one in the world. And despite the mansion being full to brimming with false faces and lying lips, Raisa was quite sure that none of them came close to matching her faculty for fakery. Her bust was padded, her waist girdled, and a wig of lush auburn curls concealed her shorn head. She was the queen of frauds, with a secret she could never tell.

This was the first time I actually tried to describe her in the opening of this book, and it's really pertinent to her situation. Usually, I don't describe characters at all, but like I said, I'm trying to embrace that as something readers want...