Over doing descriptions?

[Tom]

Does it ever annoy you if the character doesn't describe characters in enough specific detail? Like while you're reading about the main character and the author makes no mention of their height, or eye color, or age?

To no end. I don't need a rundown of every facial feature, but details like eye color, hair color, and age help me flesh out the picture of the character in my head. I read one book where I literally could not picture the MC at all just because there was absolutely no mention of her appearance--even specific age, which was all I really needed.

This reminds me of another description problem--when the writer doesn't describe the character's appearance at all until a chapter near the middle or something. By that time, since I haven't been given anything to work with, I've created my own picture of what the character looks like. If the late-coming description contradicts mine, it jolts me out of the story because I have to completely redraw my mental picture of the character. If you're going to establish a character's appearance through description, establish it early in the story.

 

[Rufanacious]

For his skin, all you have to do is draw attention to it. "He scratched his arm, leaving white lines in the dark skin."

It can be tricky though - did you mean tan? or black? or anything in between. This has me thinking of the description "dark". One of my least favourite descriptions, when it's on its own, because sometimes it means dark-haired, sometimes it means dark-skinned. I never know which. (I feel 'dark' to mean dark-haired, ie. "tall, dark, and handsome", is more British?)

I'm pretty amazed more people on here don't seem bothered by a lack of character description. It's one of my all-time ultimate pet peeves!!! (Only a COMPLETE lack of description, I mean.) When I've finished reading a novel and NOWHERE in the whole book did it even mention the main character's hair colour, oooooh that annoys me. I feel like I'm floundering, if I don't at least have hair and age and such. Like you're reading through a ghost.

As for working in descriptions, I definitely agree they so often feel forced. But I figure the reader understands you have to have that in there - they'll forgive you the odd awkward adjective or convenient mirror, for the sake of that description. Because the alternative is what I ranted about above - not having any idea who you're reading!!

 

[Penpilot]

It can be tricky though - did you mean tan? or black? or anything in between. This has me thinking of the description "dark". One of my least favourite descriptions, when it's on its own, because sometimes it means dark-haired, sometimes it means dark-skinned. I never know which. (I feel 'dark' to mean dark-haired, ie. "tall, dark, and handsome", is more British?)

Well, it just an example. The original poster asked about getting across skin color. I mean obviously there's more to generating a internal picture of a character than one single detail. Every other detail that accompanies it fills out the picture and builds on the previous one.

Here's a more clear picture.

He scratched his arm, leaving white lines in his dark skin. The thick swarms of mosquitoes bit as hard the ones back home, a village just outside of Capetown. During the summer nights, his grandmother used to pinch the mosquitoes off his skin and tell stories about the days before Apartheid.

I'm pretty amazed more people on here don't seem bothered by a lack of character description. It's one of my all-time ultimate pet peeves!!! (Only a COMPLETE lack of description, I mean.) When I've finished reading a novel and NOWHERE in the whole book did it even mention the main character's hair colour, oooooh that annoys me. I feel like I'm floundering, if I don't at least have hair and age and such. Like you're reading through a ghost.

As for working in descriptions, I definitely agree they so often feel forced. But I figure the reader understands you have to have that in there - they'll forgive you the odd awkward adjective or convenient mirror, for the sake of that description. Because the alternative is what I ranted about above - not having any idea who you're reading!!

In American Gods, Gaiman completely underplayed the fact that the main character was black. He did it to the point where some people who read the book don't even pick up on it. There are obvious clues, but it's never stated clearly because his race didn't play any role in the story. It wasn't important so no serious attention was drawn to it.