How important physical descriptions?

[sirsemega]

In the stories I write I try to keep physical descriptions to a minimum. I figure everyone has their own taste so trying to tell an erotic story to someone who is not turned on by the specific type of woman or man that I describe might not have the same impact as if I keep their attributes vague and leave it up to the readers imagination.

Do you find that works better as a reader or do you want more descriptions of their physical attributes?

I find the 36-24-36 blonde, looks like Britney Spears description kinda boring and as a reader I tend to skip over that, preferring to scatter my descriptions throughout the story when needed.

 

[Recidiva]

I don't think they're important in order for a character to be perfect and idealized. I think they're important to be specific, to make a character unique.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I used to think that less is more. But I have changed my mind on that one. It feels like I am being lazy as a writer when I don't include detailed descriptions of everything going on around my characters. My job as a writer is to tell the people reading what is going on, not to let them picture their own world, but to see the one that I am creating. If they want to picture their own world they can write their own story

 

[rgraham666]

I usually describe my characters well. Never use numbers and never compare them to a 'celebrity'. Otherwise they lose their uniqueness.

 

[Stella_Omega]

On the other hand, most women will tell you that the physical description is hardly important-- it's the emotions that the sex acts engender that get us off. That's what we want described for us.

"36-24-36 blonde, looks like Britney Spears" is more than kinda boring-- it's the mark of either a brand-new and inexperienced writer, or else an execrably lazy one. (men aren't the only ones who do this, plenty of fan-fiction writers rest on an already known character to get around having to create someone new)

I like to choose a few physical characteristics for a character, and remind my readers of them once in a while. She's taller than he is-- so he tips his head up to wink at her, she rests her chin on his shoulder. You'll notice there are no numbers in that bit of characterisation. His skin is very pale, and he sunburns easily. She loves the way his hand looks against her dark skin. Her eyes look like cinnamon in the light, and his are so blue they surprise her, every time she sees him.

I probably don't tell my readers that his dick is ten inches long-- but he might tell his girlfriend that, in his own words. She might laugh at him for being such a boy-- or such a liar...

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

There are two roads to take.

Write what you want and your audience will find you. Or try and create rapport with a larger pool of readers. Some authors try one road and then the other.

 

[glynndah]

I rarely describe my characters in detail. I can't decide if I'm kinda lazy or very enigmatic.

 

[sirsemega]

Thanks!

I mostly try to do what you are saying:

"She's taller than he is-- so he tips his head up to wink at her, she rests her chin on his shoulder. You'll notice there are no numbers in that bit of characterisation. His skin is very pale, and he sunburns easily. She loves the way his hand looks against her dark skin. Her eyes look like cinnamon in the light, and his are so blue they surprise her, every time she sees him."

I use color of eyes sometimes but only when describing an emotion, so most of my main male characters have blue eyes, I have blue eyes in real life, go figure, but one thing I use in describing the eyes is an emotion. So his eyes were a cold blue , or soft blue, etc.

I did like the use of height you used!
I just gloss over the standard descriptions most the time while reading, but as a writer I try to be aware if I am just being lazy in not describing their characteristics or if I try to leave that to the readers imagination!

 

[Stella_Omega]

heh, I've gotten feedback that talks about how clear the room was in the reader's mind, and how good I was at descriptions. But really, I never talked about the room at all. One character sat in 'his favorite chair.' At one point someone takes a box off of the shelf and sits down on the leather sofa to roll a joint. I know what my leather sofa looks like, but whatever room my reader was seeing was drawn by her own memories.

 

[cloudy]

I rarely describe my characters in more detail than "dark-haired," or "tall." I'm writing a story, and that implies action or thoughts, not static information.

I haven't had any complaints.

 

[Weird Harold]

I don't need to be able to pick your characters out of the crowd at the Mall or a police lineup, but I do want to know more about them than their gender.

I prefer to find out about literary characters in much the same way I find out about real people -- a borad general stereotype refined one bit of information at a time as it becomes accesible or relevant (to the storyline.)

 

[christabelll]

since coming here I have changed how I describe things betwixt the genders.
I used to "think" physical description was all important.
I have learned that if I point instead of show it works better.
"She peeped over his shoulder, marveling at how far from the ground she really was as he held her cradled close to his chest."

ugh that sucks but you get the idea.... it implies that she is tiny and/or short and that he had broad shoulders and strength to match.

Anyway - I find that simple decriptions like how light glinted on hair or fury burned the fog from his grey green eyes, leaving them a livid emerald ... works better for me as a writer.

Seems the readers like it too...

 

[Liar]

I think it's important as a writer to ask oneself, over and over, "why am I writing this?". Is what your characters look like relevant to the story? Naturally, if you write erotic stories, having characters who are physically appealing is often useful. But maybe it's sometimes better to describe that in a more general way. If you first call your heroine beautiful, and then say she looks like Britney Spears, you'll have some readers think "but Britney Spears is a fugly skank". And their reading experience is ruined.

 

[shereads]

As a reader, I don't think it's as much about the degree of physical description as it is the relevance to a character's presence: imposing build, grace of movement. When body parts are described in sex scenes, it's not the size and shape that intereset me but the pulsing veins, the puckered nipples - the visible and tactile evidence of arousal.



A basic description is fine - hair color etc. - but don't spring these things on me late in the game when my imagination has already cast the key roles in your story.

 

[Tarakin]

I'd advice against using something like 34C. I'm currently burned for using this in my contest entry for Nude Day.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I'd advice against using something like 34C. I'm currently burned for using this in my contest entry for Nude Day.

*lights a match*

The best way to use measurements as a descriptor, is in dialogue. Then it becomes part of the characterisation-- your guy is a dweeb.

(Do you catch the corollary there?)

 

[keeblercrumb]

Rocket? No... just glad to see ya!

I rarely describe my characters in more detail than "dark-haired," or "tall." I'm writing a story, and that implies action or thoughts, not static information.

I haven't had any complaints.

Maybe because all the short, blonde people are intimidated by your characters and quit reading. Now me... I like tall, dark-haired women.....too.

I do think that since we are, typically, discussing sex, physical characterizations are rather important. Measurements turn me off because I never see a woman and think... "36C" or something but that rarely happens here.....

Descriptions of big tits and cocks and so on do get boring because they do not seem particularly realistic anymore than Playboy centerfolds are.... And I want to believe a sex story for it to turn me on.

And in some genre's, of course, BDSM, non-consent, Loving wives, incest, etc... the physical characterizations are almost irrelevant.... and are clearly not important. Well maybe the size of the paddle is important.. But I will let the Sweetsub one answer that....



-KC

 

[sr71plt]

I use as little physical description as I think is needed to serve the storyline, especially for the principle protagonists, as I want the reader to relate to that character as much as possible. And, when I can, I show rather than tell the description.

A major device I often explore is to try to make a physical attribute the centerpiece of the whole story without once referring to or describing it directly (e.g., my "Long John Silverman").

 

[sirsemega]

What I try to do is come up with another way to describe an attribute in a way that gives an emotional meaning to it like when describing someone's cock:

"Some use their cock as a weapon, to slay and conquer, to inflict pain and to take pleasure. Others use it as a tool, to manipulate and fix. Others use it as an extension of themselves, putting their very essence and being, their soul into it. Sir Jon thought of his as a weapon."

Here I don't think you need to know how big or veined or colored he is, only the intent in whihc he uses it. I guess everyone could come up with some sort of image and no one would be wrong...

 

[rgraham666]

Just remember Voltaire's advice. "All styles are good, except the boring."

 

[carsonshepherd]

I do use physical descriptions, because I think that physical characteristics make an impact on the observer - it's a big part of physical attraction. Those little things about a person that stay with you when you see them, the gold strands of hair that gleam in the sun, the quiet light in his dark eyes, the way he looks at you deeply when he thinks you won't notice - I notice those things over and over, even in a person I know well, so I mention them in my stories more than once, reinforcing the attraction between the characters, and not just in one throwaway general description. I try to reinforce how the person's looks effect the emotions of the observer in the story, to give it more resonance.

What I can't stand is the constant overuse of adjectives: His strong hands and his broad chest and her soft lips and her gleaming eyes and blah-blah-blah.

Physical descriptions are important because they help the reader see the characters through the eyes of the protagonist, what makes them attractive. Not just descriptions for the sake of the reader knowing what that character looks like, but what makes them unique and desirable.

 

[shereads]

When the the character's appearance is revealed by having him or her do a self-evaluation in front of a mirror, I stop reading.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

A quick sketch, not too much detail. Sometimes contrasting "types" add eroticm, so I try to convey that. But I don't want to get in the way of the reader's imagination providing the details. Like staging a radio play vs. a teleplay - let the audience's imagination fill in the blanks.

 

[WRJames]

I will do physical descriptions sometimes, if I think it's important. But I try to make it somewhat indirect. An example of one of my most detailed:

It was strange to know, finally, what she looked like. Of course, in his mind, he had filled in all of the missing details. Over time, he had carefully mapped out the terra incognita of her nipples, her groin. But his imagination had betrayed him. Her body, revealed at last, was not at all what he had expected. Her breasts were larger than he had thought, almost out of proportion, and sharper, thrusting out defiantly even without a bra. The white outline of a bikini top clothed her still with its contrast to the smooth golden brown of the rest of her skin. It had never occurred to him that she might have a tan line. Above those muscular thighs, her hips were fuller than he had thought, perhaps softer. A thin strip of black hair on her lower belly pointed, almost like an arrow, to the cleft of her lower lips. The rest of groin was silky smooth, waxed or shaved to perfection, and creamy white where it had been shielded from the sun.

The thing that astonished him most was how tiny she was, without the high heels.

and another

She gave Maria a look that was almost predatory. There was an aura of wealth and power that was very seductive. Maria had never done an older woman. All her clients had been men. But suddenly she was wondering what it would be like. The reporter was tall, at least half a foot taller, closer to a foot. Taller that Izzy. Tall, and still very beautiful in that fine boned way that had made her a top model earlier in her career. Dazzling. But those breasts, cleavage coyly peeking through her power suit, were they still soft and full, or had they hardened, turned into muscle by too many years of aerobics? Were they even real? And what about her arms? Were they stringy, or had they retained some hint of femininity? Either way would be exciting – woman or half man. And her skin -- what would her skin be like? Tanned into roughness? Or soft still, embalmed by potions and poultices.

As for "looks like Britney Spears" -- I wouldn't use that in a novel, but I do find it useful when talking to Terrie about what the characters should look like on the cover. Sometimes it can be in reverse. When I was out in Chicago for my daughter's seminary graduation, we were killing some time in the hotel between morning and afternoon programs, and the best thing on television was women's softball. The pitcher for the USA team was a perfect physical prototype for Sarah, the heroine of the Eden series. I just looked at her with astonishment. It turns out that she is quite a celebrity, but somehow I had never stumbled onto her, or if I had, it had not registered.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I will do physical descriptions sometimes, if I think it's important. But I try to make it somewhat indirect. An example of one of my most detailed:



and another



As for "looks like Britney Spears" -- I wouldn't use that in a novel, but I do find it useful when talking to Terrie about what the characters should look like on the cover. Sometimes it can be in reverse. When I was out in Chicago for my daughter's seminary graduation, we were killing some time in the hotel between morning and afternoon programs, and the best thing on television was women's softball. The pitcher for the USA team was a perfect physical prototype for Sarah, the heroine of the Eden series. I just looked at her with astonishment. It turns out that she is quite a celebrity, but somehow I had never stumbled onto her, or if I had, it had not registered.

In my first stories I used a lot of physical description and got caned for it. The last two I wrote were much less detailed and people loved them. Was it the change in the emphasis or just that I'm getting a little better at writing? Go figure.