Describing characters... necessary?

[Valentina93]

I am writing a story about Gorean slavery, and I was wondering... should I provide detailed descriptions of my characters? I've read that its not recommended, and should be avoided to allow the readers to picture the characters as they wish. What should I do?

[MistressLynn]

Write it the way you want to. There are readers who like descriptions and readers who prefer to apply their own details to characters. If your story warrants descriptions, then give them. If you want to leave them in a more generic form, then do it. There isn't a rule telling you what is the right or wrong way. It's a matter of personal preference.

However, that doesn't mean you can ignore descriptions altogether. You'll need to include enough details about the characters that readers can picture them. For example, I don't know anything about Gorean slaves, how they dress, how they wear their hair, etc. Without that information, I couldn't picture them at all.

[kbate]

I once read a Gor novel on request from one of the posters here at Lit. It was bad, but I can understand the love of the 16-24 year old boys for a world where women can be beaten and not only can't they do anything about it, but they absolutely adore the men for doing it.

That bit aside, describing a character should be done only as much as the description of the character is important to the story. If the story dies if your slave does not have '36DDD boobs' then by all means tell us that she has 36DDD boobs. I have never seen a story where 'large' 'nice' or 'small' was not adequate, but it could be possible to write one where we must know the exact cup size.

If red hair is important, then by all means tell me about red hair - but don't just say it because redheads are hot to you and you think we should think so as well.

If small or tall or fat or thin or any other physical attribute will somehow make a character - then use it. "Fat Ollie" would not be the character he is if he were tall and thin.

The ubiquitous paragraph which TELLS me what the character looks like - is boring. You can SHOW me during the rest of the story, "Her raven tresses blended well with the sleen's coat as it ate her."

and so on.

[MichaelWest]

Depends. You will read a number of different opinions in the professional guides. Details add realism and help with the visualization you want readers to form, yet they can trap the reader into a single version of the reality and detract because their imagination is being detoured by your descriptions.

Some writers do not describe the main point of view character because they want the reader to be able to step into that character, this can go for the love interest, they opine to let the descriptions be vague enough that it can be anyone a reader wants.

I personally add detailed description only when necessary or logical but try to avoid it. I also try to use vague terms like taller, shorter, etc. when possible, or use terms that people might think of, "she was beautiful," or "he has a voice that moves me," as opinions they hold. I hope this lets the reader imagine those qualties, whatever they may be to them, as being there all along.

I put detail into supporting characters because they are scenery essentially. Here I think you should be specific. But the story is yours, tell it as you want it told.

[PennLady]

As MistressLynn says, provide the detail you want to provide. Many readers (on this site, anyway) have said they like a basic framework of height, hair and eye color, things like that. Others I'm sure like more details, and more details may be what the story calls for.

I myself do not describe characters too much b/c in large part I don't think I'm very good at it. I don't really know how to describe faces, for example, so I prefer to keep things more vague and general. Sometimes I'll provide a bit more but I suppose to me it also doesn't matter -- if there is chemistry between the characters, that's what I'm interested in, and not what they look like.

And there are ways to imply what someone looks like -- a woman could wear a dress that hugs her curves; a man can wear a shirt or suit that emphasizes his shoulders, that sort of thing.

[kbate]

"Hey look at the earth woman."

"Ha ha ha - no hair on her legs! what a freak!"

"Nobody will buy her with her sex bits hairless".

"she doesn't even have hair under her arms!"

Six weeks later she did have hair and a master bought her, kicked her arse a few times and then sold her as improved.

The end.

I hope you liked it. More to come.

[Valentina93]

Thank you everyone. I think I'll try to mix both methods; using some descriptions, but not as detailed or constricting.

[Valentina93]

Ok forget about Gor. That was never the point. Anyway, I appreciate the comments. Thank you.

[kbate]

Originally Posted by Valentina93

Ok forget about Gor. That was never the point. Anyway, I appreciate the comments. Thank you.

Nothing. . .

I simply found Gor a bit offensive, as in it is the sexist dream of an immature jackoff who couldn't get laid despite having a 9 inch cock and 3 pound balls on his 6 foot 3 inch hundred eighty pound athletic body even if he went with a winning lottery ticket into a whorehouse.

[PennLady]

Originally Posted by kbate

Nothing. . .

I simply found Gor a bit offensive, as in it is the sexist dream of an immature jackoff who couldn't get laid despite having a 9 inch cock and 3 pound balls on his 6 foot 3 inch hundred eighty pound athletic body even if he went with a winning lottery ticket into a whorehouse.

Hehehe. I don't know anything about the author, but that pretty much sums up how I felt about Gor. I read a couple of them years ago.

[lovecraft68]

Originally Posted by kbate

Nothing. . .

I simply found Gor a bit offensive, as in it is the sexist dream of an immature jackoff who couldn't get laid despite having a 9 inch cock and 3 pound balls on his 6 foot 3 inch hundred eighty pound athletic body even if he went with a winning lottery ticket into a whorehouse.

Noman would have made a nice "living" here in Loving wives.

[sr71plt]

Originally Posted by kbate

describing a character should be done only as much as the description of the character is important to the story.

I'm mostly a minimalist writer, so this is what I go with.

[i_would]

Originally Posted by Valentina93

I am writing a story about Gorean slavery, and I was wondering... should I provide detailed descriptions of my characters? I've read that its not recommended, and should be avoided to allow the readers to picture the characters as they wish. What should I do?

One of the how-to's on this site about character description recommends to limit yourself to no more than four features of a character's body. Features that stand out, which for everyone is different.
That can be anything like hair colour/length/shape, eye colour, shape of face, facial hair (for males), general physique, remarkably tall/short/stocky/skinny, breast size (for females), clothing, legs, waist/belly, whatever. Something that stands out and makes a character recognisable. And if the character has no name (yet) it's also something you use to identify them.

The rest of the description (if necessary) may appear bit by bit in the story, by being referred to.

[CWatson]

I would keep the details to a minimum for another reason, one that nobody has brought up.

Picture for me, if you will, Helen of Troy, allegedly the most beautiful woman who ever lived. What does she look like? Size, shape, hair color, hair style, facial features, eye color, blablablah. How much of her can you describe? And how much of it can you count on The Reader agreeing with? "Yes, yes, that is what the face that launched a thousand ships looked like!" Yeah, that's what I thought.

Now, everyone has qualities they like, even if they don't fit their "ideal woman". My Helen has pale skin and dark hair, tied together by deep blue eyes... but my first love was blonde, and of course redheads are hot too and I've always wanted to date one. I like women who are less-endowed, but my most recent lover was a C-cup, decent handfuls, and I know I'll miss them. You can't have it all, not on one woman, and as such people have more than one "ideal" they go for. But I digress.

Because every Reader has qualities they like, you can allow them to fill in the blanks. When I say, "Shaina was heavy-hipped, with a clear roll to her stride, and a curtain of gold hair she liked to toss over her shoulder with a practiced motion," the woman you are seeing in your mind is not the same as the one I am seeing in mine. But the one you're seeing is more attractive to you, just like the one I'm seeing is more attractive to me. I've provided just enough information (if I've done my job right ) to engage the thing that every author wants to: your imagination. And if I succeed, then it--your imagination--will do a much better job of creating an attractive-looking character than I ever could. I mean, of course it is!--why on earth should it be the other way around?

So, that is my advice. Don't describe the character very much: create just enough of a coathanger that The Reader can take it and run with it. Let their imagination do the rest. Helen of Troy looks different in every single person's mind. Let her.

[sr71plt]

Originally Posted by i_would

One of the how-to's on this site about character description recommends to limit yourself to no more than four features of a character's body. Features that stand out, which for everyone is different.
That can be anything like hair colour/length/shape, eye colour, shape of face, facial hair (for males), general physique, remarkably tall/short/stocky/skinny, breast size (for females), clothing, legs, waist/belly, whatever. Something that stands out and makes a character recognisable. And if the character has no name (yet) it's also something you use to identify them.

The rest of the description (if necessary) may appear bit by bit in the story, by being referred to.

Oh, I wouldn't recommend such an artificially limited formula as that.

[Bramblethorn]

Originally Posted by PennLady

Hehehe. I don't know anything about the author, but that pretty much sums up how I felt about Gor. I read a couple of them years ago.

Believe it or not, he's a philosophy professor at Queens o.O

[kbate]

Some other things:

If you are going to describe a character. Do it soon after introducing the character. In a detective story, this is usually done for nearly ever character of import using the "detective's eye" gimmick as the means. "As I sat in the dark car watching, I understood exactly why Sam cheated on his wife, a tired withered shrew of a woman. Emily Watson, his alleged mistress, is a stunningly attractive blue-eyed blonde, her long legs drew my eye and her figure held it with the hope of seeing more."

In your Gor story, because anyone who has become familiar with the setting knows that all Gorean women are perfect specimens of beauty and all Masters are formed with the bodies of Greek Gods, there is little need to tell us the dimensions of their awesomeness. Instead concentrate on their feelings and emotions and actions. It is enough to allow the reader to put their own perfect person in the story. Large breasts is enough to tell the reader they are big boobs. Do not use, "Grapefruit sized" or "melons" in science fiction unless those items exist in the world and are common.

In general, if the physical attributes of a character are important enough (as with my 'emily watson' - who is about to become a dual love interest or more for exactly her physical appearance and little more (at the beginning), it is important to the passage that the reason she draws my detective's eye is clear to the reader.

In the Gor example - you have a fantasy world on which naked beautiful women are commonplace and cheap. Why tell me more than the hair colour and if she is more or less beautiful than the narrator (or others if she is the narrator).

[i_would]

Originally Posted by sr71plt

Oh, I wouldn't recommend such an artificially limited formula as that.

It's absolutely not meant to be a hard limit, it's merely a guideline - the point is to not write a whole essay describing someone, but to keep it short and to the point. When I describe a character for the first time it may even have less info than that. Or a little more, but usually not.

When in real life you see someone for the first time, you will probably notice some specific features about them. And only later, when you get to know them better, the details are getting filled in in your memories.

[PennLady]

In the last story I posted, when I was finished, I realized I'd never described the male lead, who was the narrator. No one seemed to care.

[MichaelWest]

Although I may not describe a character in detail, I normally have a very specific image in my mind to work from. It helps keep details from drifting as I write. One thing that I do find helpful is to pick an actress or model I see most like the character physically. I can get many details, such as measurements, weight, height, dress and shoe size. Then I keep that in the back of my head as I write. If the character goes in to buy shoes, I have a size for example. I suppose you could draw from an actor's roles if you need inspiration for mannerisms, speech or personality. That might help as you develop characters or populate an entire world.

[BonnevilleFlats]

Here is my rule of thumb.

Idiosyncratic detail is what makes descriptions really shine and the descriptions should also help in the characterization. This is the sort of craft that separates the beginners from the pros. In first person erotica the descriptions can help develop both the narrator and the character he/she is describing.

Here is description from a highly rated story by one of the best writers on this site, Alwayswantedto. The story is called " Brushing Mom's Hair".

"Cliff, you said you would," Mom complained. "It has to be brushed out tonight or it won't be right for tomorrow." Mom shook her heavy mane of hair, the red highlights glinting against the background of her rich brown locks.

"I know, Emily," Dad acknowledged, "but I have to get this done for tomorrow morning." Dad waved the papers in his hand at Mom, finishing with a sweeping gesture toward the stack occupying the coffee table in front of him. "Bill had to go to LA and this got dumped on me. I can't help it."

"That's just great. You know what my hair is like. I'll look like a flathead, and it's the biggest fundraiser of the year. Not that you care."

.......

I nodded at the two mugs left on the tray.

"Good boy. Look, can you do me a favor and brush her hair for her. You know how she is about her hair."

"Sure Dad."

"Great. Thanks son."

I walked carefully across the room and up the stairs, trying not to spill the hot chocolate. I knew about Mom and her hair, that's for sure. Because of the red highlights, Mom's long, thick and full-bodied head of hair was especially beautiful in the sunlight but if it wasn't brushed it lost its shine and hung flat. This had a dramatic effect on the way Mom felt about herself, especially because her hair compensated for a lack of prominent assets in the chest area. She did have very nice legs, at least my dad was always saying so, but she thought they were too thin and was convinced his compliments simply confirmed that he thought her breasts were too small. So Dad had learned not to say anything. Thankfully, I wasn't expected to say.

The descriptive passages do several things. First, the idiosyncratic details like the red highlights "glinting against the background of her rich brown locks" and "if it wasn't brushed right it lost its shine and hung flat" give us a better picture of this woman and her hair than if the author had simply said, "Mother had brown hair with red highlights." Second, the description of the mother's body does more than say "Mom was thin and had small breasts." The author uses the description not only to give a picture of the mother but to show how she feels about the way she looks. Mother believes that her hair is her best asset and maintaining it is what helps her feel attractive and sexy. This is characterization. Third, the mother is described in such a way that it sets up the reader's expectations for the rest of the story: that the son, by brushing his mother's hair, will help her feel sexy and this will foster an atmosphere of intimacy between the two of them. All of this is done on the first page.

[MichaelWest]

Originally Posted by BonnevilleFlats

In first person erotica the descriptions can help develop both the narrator and the character he/she is describing.

I would agree that you can also reveal a lot about a character by the details they notice and how they notice them. Sherlock Holmes noticed little things and it spoke to how he saw the world and how he thought. Using such things should elevate the writing so that any character described begins in the writer's imagination and ends in the reader's (Stephen King said this I believe).

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

People are what they do. Hannibal Lecter

[MichaelWest]

Originally Posted by JAMESBJOHNSON

People are what they do. Hannibal Lecter

Would he not have found "you are what you eat" a more apropos?

[kbate]

Originally Posted by MichaelWest

Would he not have found "you are what you eat" a more apropos?

No and were he real, Lecter would probably kill and eat your liver for thinking he would say such a thing.