Wait until it's relevant?

[tomlitilia]

I find that it often feels forced to add descriptions about physical attributes or what people are wearing unless it's relevant. But sometimes it's needed later in the story, either because it's later becomes relevant for the story, or because you want to paint a graphical image. Do you fear that the reader may have made up an image of what people look like that they then have to re-imagine if you add specific information later in the story?

 

[NotWise]

Do you fear that the reader may have made up an image of what people look like that they then have to re-imagine if you add specific information later in the story?

My approach has varied somewhat, but I generally try to give a general hint of a character's description near the beginning of a story and add details later when/if they become necessary.

It never occurred to me that readers might formulate a conflicting image, and no reader has ever told me that.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I find that it often feels forced to add descriptions about physical attributes or what people are wearing unless it's relevant. But sometimes it's needed later in the story, either because it's later becomes relevant for the story, or because you want to paint a graphical image. Do you fear that the reader may have made up an image of what people look like that they then have to re-imagine if you add specific information later in the story?

I slip it in here and there and largely let readers form their own image of how the character looks. I'll throw in hints and generalizations - but if I need that specific image for some reason I'll work it in somewhere earlier and maybe reinforce it here and there leading into wherever it's important.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I may mention eye color, hair color, skin tone, but I have never described a characters attributes in detail, unless I'm trying to make a point.

I let the reader form the character in their mind how they want them to look.

ETA: When I read a detailed description it throws me right out of the stories. I usually have formed a image in my mind by then and reading the description of the what the author wants them to look like just make me close the story and move on to the next one.

 

[SamScribble]

My 'rule' tends to be: Tell the reader what she needs to know when she needs to know it.

 

[PuckIt]

I think it depends.

I mean, jumping right in with "I am over six foot five and weigh 250 pounds with only .024% body fat and have a twenty-four inch penis" in the first paragraph is probably not the best idea.

However, if you think about television or movies or other visual media, the purveyor generally gets at least some rough idea of the physical characteristics of the character (unless there is a five minute narrator monologue set to a backdrop of limitless space).

Typically, if some tidbit is going to become salient later on, I try to give enough that the wrong perception isn't reached without going just too overboard. As an example, in "Thankful" I was trying to set up a non-traditional relationship between a scrawny little nerd guy and a tall, muscular power-lifter gal. So, in that event, it was important (I thought) to work in the descriptors of height and general body build as early as possible on introducing the characters.

However, I didn't work in a description of cock size until ... oh, ten or so lit screens in when the male pov protag dropped trou in front of her for the first time. Because, as you say, it just wasn't relevant until then.

 

[Handley_Page]

I find that it often feels forced to add descriptions about physical attributes or what people are wearing unless it's relevant. But sometimes it's needed later in the story, either because it's later becomes relevant for the story, or because you want to paint a graphical image. Do you fear that the reader may have made up an image of what people look like that they then have to re-imagine if you add specific information later in the story?

I understand that there ARE readers who need all the physical details fed to them, particularly in the matter of her rack ('she looked to be about a 36 C); personally, a handful is generally enough.

 

[SimonDoom]

That last question from the OP is a good one. I don't think most readers form a clear picture of characters right away such that you cannot reveal physical features gradually rather than right at the beginning. The important thing is to be consistent.

Generally speaking, I think it's better to reveal traits gradually as you go. The annoying but fairly common trait is to to give the measurement laundry list right up front: "Let me tell you about my hot wife. She's got 38EE, etc. etc."

Sometimes physical features can be an important element of the story, which case it makes more sense to go into more detail more quickly.

 

[yukonnights]

I too find the emphasis on specifics to be a real turn off. I assume it also really limits one's audience since we all have our own unique combination of physical preferences. The use of vague descriptors allows me, the reader, to imagine my own perfect "whatever". However, there is no doubt a need to sometimes outline the basics, especially if they imply the unique dynamic between characters. But even then, specific physical descriptions like bra sizes and cock sizes are a big turn off to me.

 

[KindofHere]

...................

 

[ElectricBlue]

My 'rule' tends to be: Tell the reader what she needs to know when she needs to know it.

Agree this. Ease out sufficient detail for the scene in question, sow little seeds, little snippets. So what if the reader has their own image in their mind as they read. As an erotica writer, I reckon we should be conjuring with words, not writing an assembly manual.

Some folk do want manuals though, so if they're your audience, "Constructa Pornstar" might be necessary...

 

[HisArpy]

It depends on the story but physical descriptions are generally given when the reader needs them. And then only enough to convey the necessary physical traits and no more. Like this:



Grant looked out the window as the girl walked by with quick sharp steps. She was about medium height with long copper hair held back by a scrunchy. She had angry green eyes which mirrored her determined stride. On impulse, he quickly threw down enough cash to cover the lunch bill and darted out the door of the diner after her.

Resisting the bad idea to just catch up and try talk to her, he ran past and around the nearest corner before stopping just out of sight. Waiting and watching, he stepped back around the corner and directly into her path.

"Oh. Sorry."

He held out his hands to steady her if she needed it after they bumped into one another. She looked at him in surprise for a moment before a tiny smile twitched across her lips, erasing the stiffness he'd seen there earlier.

"Couldn't catch up?"

Grant shook his head ruefully no and apologized again while holding out his hand.

"Sorry about running into you like that. I'm Grant."

"Stephanie." She lightly touched his fingers with hers.



That's enough to give the reader a glimpse of what Stephanie looked like. From there, the reader's imagination fills in the blanks without any need for the storyteller to flesh it out any more. Things like; does Stephanie have freckles? A straight nose? Any makeup? What color was the scrunchy?

Those things are visualized by the reader without narrative UNLESS it's important for later in the work. I once wrote a story where 1 character had a pink and black plaid shirt that kept coming back into the story line. So when I originally described the character I described the shirt too because it was necessary. In this case, if the color of the scrunchy becomes important because the green contrasts with Grant's balls when Stephanie wraps it around his cock, I'd mention it then AND in the original description.

I read too much of the "I'm a 6 foot, 200 lb, brawny stud with a 15 inch cock..." type of description that never goes anywhere else in the entire plot. It's extremely poor writing and yet it's prevalent here. We aren't writing unsolicited PM's, we're writing a STORY. So write the story and not a data dump character description.

 

[Weird Harold]

I find that it often feels forced to add descriptions about physical attributes or what people are wearing unless it's relevant. But sometimes it's needed later in the story, either because it's later becomes relevant for the story, or because you want to paint a graphical image. Do you fear that the reader may have made up an image of what people look like that they then have to re-imagine if you add specific information later in the story?

A mentor once told me, "introduce characteristics the way people learn about them in real life."

What he meant is that nobody notices everything about someone else right away, and some people remain oblivious forever.

Reveal descriptive details as your POV character notices them. If the POV is detail oriented, describe details; if the POV is oblivious, describe next to nothing. This doubles up the character building in your writing by revealing something about your POV character and about the character you're describing.

 

[Hypoxia]

It depends on how important appearance is at any moment. If told first-person or third-limited, the MC sees what they see. That may lead to a genteel data-dump, or to details teased out through the text, or generalities left to the reader to fill in. Whatever works.

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

Haven't read the replies yet but here are my thoughts...

I usually toss in details here and there throughout the story, and that's mostly because I hate a huge info dump at the beginning.
This is what I just wrote in a story I've been working on. It's in the first chapter but a few paragraphs in.
'I go over to one of the sinks and splash water on my face. I dry off and then look at myself in the mirror for a minute. Am I really that ugly...that hideous, that people need to make fun of me? Be cruel to me? I never thought I was that ugly.
Boring straight brown hair that's getting long and probably needs trimmed. My glasses are forever sliding down to the end of my nose. Maybe I should get contacts?
I don't think my body is that bad. I could maybe stand to lose five pounds, or tone up, or something.
Nothing horrible about me except that I am so damn plain.'

So now the reader has a basic idea of what the main person looks like and they can add in their own aspects too.

But on the latest story I submitted here I did get a complaint that they would have liked at least a thumbnail of what the characters looked like from the beginning, so really who knows when and how you should do it.

 

[HeyAll]

I try to set it up right away, or else the reader will paint there own image (which is great), but the words on the story will contradict it.