As a Author and Reader, do you like describing Looks and reading Looks?

[OddLove]

QUESTION: How important is it to you as an author to describe what your characters look like, and how important is it to you that the authors describe what their characters look like?

I'm really curious where other people fall on this..

As far as where I fall...

Me The Reader: I'm often disappointed when I start reading a story and the woman or man is described as a super model. And I usually don't get through the story once it starts happening. If the way the characters look feel 'real' to me, then I quite enjoy reading about how they look.

But after reading a lot of stories that describe there characters like super models, I realized it effected how I write, and I just noticed it today lol.

I started writing a story like a month ago that has an inexperienced guy who meets up with an inexperienced dominatrix, then they kind of become friends and stuff.

I'm working on part 6 now, and when I read it back again to see where story wanted to go, I noticed something I use almost no details about looks. Maybe subconsciously trying to avoid the thing I run into often when reading erotica.

The only thing my story describes in detail with the main characters is the dudes penis size, the chicks hair color, and they're about the same age. And I kind of tell there ages cause I know there ages in my head, and in the story they both mention watching original Pokemon, which means they were kids in 90's and 00's, putting them at late twenties, mid thirties.

And since there's already 5 parts out, I don't think it would be wise to add looks-details now even if I wanted to, since anyone who read them already decided what they look like other aside from dudes wiener and ladies hair color.

Anywho, if you got opinions on this topic, feed them to me. nom nom nom

 

[HeyAll]

I think if you do describe looks, it should be as soon as possible. You can't have people imagining what they imagine, then telling them something different.

I also think describing body language, personality, actions are more important. If you tell someone that a character is a well dressed lawyer or housewife, people can imagine the rest from that alone.

 

[WCSGarland]

I describe my character's looks with hints to let the reader fill in the preponderance of details. I have trouble reading stories where the character is described to such detail that may or may not align with what I find attractive. If I cannot find the character attractive or titillating, I will often quit reading the story.

 

[HordHolm]

I'm pretty minimalist on looks. Something basic about hair colour, build and eye colour, and a mention of height for a man (and for a woman if its relevant). I also try to weave it into some internal monologue, or observation from another character, but I sometimes find it contrived. If I'm honest it's one of the things I find myself often going backwards and forwards with, and envying better authors' skill with it. I find it one of the best markers of a good author, to be able to feed in appearance descriptions both early and in a way that doesn't interrupt whatever is actually happening.

The one time recently I felt I did it well was describing a character (an undercover policeman), and using his frustration at having to let himself go as part of his undercover role to show that he was usually toned with a very short crop.

 

[ronde]

You should definitely describe the look of your characters, and do so at a time when the reader needs to know what that character looks like. What's important is to make those characters look like real people, i.e. the people you meet on the street or at work every day. What that involves is to "sketch" instead of "paint", and above all, do not use any physical measurements unless your narrator has a believable reason to know those dimensions. If you compare the number of movie and TV stars and supermodels to the population of even just the US, what you'll find is that over 99% of people range from just "OK' to not even on a bet.

It does no good to describe a character several scenes before that character appears. It's better to have the narrator describe the person as the narrator sees them, but use terms like, "slender", "muscular", "feminine", "well endowed" and other generic terms. That way the reader can draw their own picture of what that character looks like. That's especially important when you intend for the "look" to at least partially define the character. Some guy who's built like a rock is not likely to a pushover and a woman who has a great body probably knows it and won't try to hide it.

What you have to remember is that personalities are defined by a lot of things including how the person looks and how that person "thinks" they look.

Using activities that relate to particular time period is a good way to state age without stating age.

As far as changing what you've already written, if it's already published, don't worry about changing it. It's not likely anybody is going to re-read it. If it hasn't yet been published, go for it. It'll only make your story better.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

As a reader, I prefer minimal descriptions or descriptions done in a clever way that says something more about the character or the way the narrator sees a character.

 

[TheOtherTeacher]

I try to never describe looks, unless vital to the plot.

If I have multiple characters I might describe their hair colour (to make them easier to tell apart, or to infer personality {red head = kinky, natural brown hair = boring}.

Otherwise, I don't describe. I try to avoid height, body shape and ethnicity if possible.

Instead going for descriptions like "beautiful and she knew it" or "gym-obsessed".

Why? Because your imagination as a reader will be better than my description. So I try to feed your imagination, rather than limit it.

If I describe everything about a character, I've limited your imagination and forced you to follow my description.

If I was writing a commercially sold book, I'd have more descriptions. But I write porn.

 

[Bramblethorn]

As an author, I don't give much physical description beyond things that help establish character/etc. As a reader, I don't mind a bit more physical description but nor do I get much out of it. I can easily go a novel-length story without mentioning my protagonist's eye or hair colour, let alone their measurements.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

The way I do it depends on the story needs. And it usually happens twice, when a person appears, and again when they're naked, if they get naked. Like in what I just submitted yesterday. In the beginning there's a general she looks like this, and is wearing this, what everybody else sees in the bar. By the time shes fucking, you see the rest, like the guy she hooked up with.

 

[StillStunned]

I like to keep it to a minimum, and provide it early on. A rough outline for the reader to fill in the details. For a first-person narrator, I generally don't provide any detail at all. Sometimes not even a name, and in one or two cases not even their gender.

Personally I think that the more freedom you give your reader to paint a picture in their mind, the more likely they are to feel engaged with the story and the characters. In their head, they're co-authors. They own the characters as much as you do, even if they don't realise it explicitly. The more you tell them, the less input they have, and the less ownership they'll feel.

 

[HordHolm]

The way I do it depends on the story needs. And it usually happens twice, when a person appears, and again when they're naked, if they get naked. Like in what I just submitted yesterday. In the beginning there's a general she looks like this, and is wearing this, what everybody else sees in the bar. By the time shes fucking, you see the rest, like the guy she hooked up with.

I've just done the same in a WIP. The first time there are some general details, but later her husband gets the full picture in the ambient light from the road outside when she pulls off a short nightdress.

 

[nice90sguy]

I can easily go a novel-length story without mentioning my protagonist's eye or hair colour, let alone their measurements.

I usually start my illustrated stories with a dramatis personae including pics of the protagonists.

 

[HordHolm]

I should add that sometimes I like to add an unusual detail. For example, in a current work the wife is fascinated by a scar the husband got in the First World War (the story is set in 1931). From her POV his skin is unusually smooth, and she wonders how he stood the pain, but from his POV he knows that when she starts gently probing the flesh around his scar she is randy as all hell. From the character description angle, this detail also tells us his rough age - the war finished thirteen years earlier, he was in it at, presumably, least 18 years old, so that tells us he is in his thirties, minimum (he is actually ten years older).

 

[Madxgirl]

I’d love to read a book that describes the features of an old man—maybe someone with a grandfatherly presence. Can anyone recommend one?

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

I enjoy writing and reading descriptions of people, even if the description is by the character and isn't fair to them (Onehitwanda did a good job of this in her recent Damselfly story in Lesbian Sex, where the main character didn't think she was attractive and described herself that way, until her love interest told her she was one of the most beautiful women she'd ever seen and why - it was sweet).

I do my best to not go with "he looked like a super model" because, well, honestly, super models are fucking weird looking. If you like your women absurdly tall with no breasts and weird angular faces that are made weirder by makeup, that's fine, but I think most people would rather hear a description as to what about them makes them look so good that they could BE a model.

Here's one of my recent descriptions, which I enjoyed writing. Part of the fun of doing this is being able to mold and sculpt characters in my head like I'm making a statue or painting a portrait, two things I absolutely can't do in real life, but totally can in my writing.

"I stood in front of them, naked as the day I was born. I'd grown considerably since then, however, and I was taller than each of the girls, although with Avery it was a close-run thing. She was very tall for a woman, and I was only about half a hand taller than she was. I towered over Eva, though, as I did most people.

I ran a hand through my dirty blonde hair, and I realized it was shaggier than I liked, and I made a mental note to visit the barber in the hotel this afternoon. I had most of Sunday to myself, as I knew the girls would want plenty of time to get ready for Mom's bachelorette party tonight. I figured I could make a day of it, taking care of all of my grooming, getting a good workout in and maybe some time down on the gun range in the subbasement.

I needed the workout, because my primary form of exercise since I graduated was sex, and while that was good for cardio, it wasn't good for my muscle tone. My broad chest, sculpted pecs and flat stomach were not going to stay that way if I didn't get my ass to the gym. I recalled with wistfulness the days of my six-pack abs, but they had started to fade as soon as I stopped working out daily after getting kicked off the baseball team last January. I made another mental note to fix that, if I could, once I got a routine set over at the Oasis.

Make no mistake -- I still looked good. Damn good, in my opinion. I mean, I'd fuck me. But the Jack Fisher that had won awards as a porn star was a different Jack Fisher than the girls were looking at right now. I hope that didn't bother them. I realized it was starting to bother me.

One thing hadn't changed though, and that was my cock. Besides my mouth and my brain, my cock was the one part of me that saw almost daily use, and I was still proud of it. I wasn't the biggest guy on the planet, nor was I as big as some of the porn stars and sex workers here in the Elysium, and I certainly wasn't as big as Sol Sinclair, but I was well above average, and I would humbly assert that I knew how to use it.

And I was going to use it on my girlfriends. Both of them. Right now."

Now, I could have just written: "I'm Jack. I am so hot I could be a supermodel" but what's the fun in that?

 

[Baztrachian]

I describe my character's looks with hints to let the reader fill in the preponderance of details. I have trouble reading stories where the character is described to such detail that may or may not align with what I find attractive. If I cannot find the character attractive or titillating, I will often quit reading the story.

This.

 

[AlexIce]

I'm a stickler for describing my characters and, sometimes, even what they're wearing. It's mostly out of habit since some of the stories I read the description about characters are vague at best and it drives my ADD crazy.

 

[AG31]

QUESTION: How important is it to you as an author to describe what your characters look like, and how important is it to you that the authors describe what their characters look like?

I'm really curious where other people fall on this..

As far as where I fall...

Me The Reader: I'm often disappointed when I start reading a story and the woman or man is described as a super model. And I usually don't get through the story once it starts happening. If the way the characters look feel 'real' to me, then I quite enjoy reading about how they look.

But after reading a lot of stories that describe there characters like super models, I realized it effected how I write, and I just noticed it today lol.

I started writing a story like a month ago that has an inexperienced guy who meets up with an inexperienced dominatrix, then they kind of become friends and stuff.

I'm working on part 6 now, and when I read it back again to see where story wanted to go, I noticed something I use almost no details about looks. Maybe subconsciously trying to avoid the thing I run into often when reading erotica.

The only thing my story describes in detail with the main characters is the dudes penis size, the chicks hair color, and they're about the same age. And I kind of tell there ages cause I know there ages in my head, and in the story they both mention watching original Pokemon, which means they were kids in 90's and 00's, putting them at late twenties, mid thirties.

And since there's already 5 parts out, I don't think it would be wise to add looks-details now even if I wanted to, since anyone who read them already decided what they look like other aside from dudes wiener and ladies hair color.

Anywho, if you got opinions on this topic, feed them to me. nom nom nom

I really want to know whether or not they're good looking. If they're not, that's OK, but I want to know in what way they're not. I think I put them in different reading categories. I do require a lot of character description, regardless. Beyond that, I don't care about the details.

This controls my writing also. Since I only write erotica, all my MCs are good looking, but I just devote a line or two to this, or sometimes just let my readers assume it.

 

[TheLobster]

I do my best to not go with "he looked like a super model" because, well, honestly, super models are fucking weird looking. If you like your women absurdly tall with no breasts and weird angular faces that are made weirder by makeup, that's fine, but I think most people would rather hear a description as to what about them makes them look so good that they could BE a model.

The supermodel trope isn't literally about the current haute couture. It comes from the turn of the century, when a handful of famous models enjoyed a kind of celebrity status that was comparable to TV actresses and some signers. Some of them were actresses on the side, too, though usually in minor roles and mostly as fanservice and eye candy.

I'm talking about models like Naomi Campbell, Leatitia Casta, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, etc. They are still the sex symbols for many older readers, as they were decidedly on the more feminine and voluptuous side than the contemporary walking hangers.

 

[Britva415]

QUESTION: How important is it to you as an author to describe what your characters look like, and how important is it to you that the authors describe what their characters look like?

I don’t need or even really want anything beyond really basic traits, unless it becomes specifically relevant to plot somehow. I wouldn’t even really call it “description” at all, at the level I’m talking about.

I would also rather infer (as the reader) or imply (as the writer) as much as possible instead of just being given a fact.

 

[Melody_Lightdraft2]

QUESTION: How important is it to you as an author to describe what your characters look like, and how important is it to you that the authors describe what their characters look like?

I'm really curious where other people fall on this..

As far as where I fall...

Me The Reader: I'm often disappointed when I start reading a story and the woman or man is described as a super model. And I usually don't get through the story once it starts happening. If the way the characters look feel 'real' to me, then I quite enjoy reading about how they look.

But after reading a lot of stories that describe there characters like super models, I realized it effected how I write, and I just noticed it today lol.

I started writing a story like a month ago that has an inexperienced guy who meets up with an inexperienced dominatrix, then they kind of become friends and stuff.

I'm working on part 6 now, and when I read it back again to see where story wanted to go, I noticed something I use almost no details about looks. Maybe subconsciously trying to avoid the thing I run into often when reading erotica.

The only thing my story describes in detail with the main characters is the dudes penis size, the chicks hair color, and they're about the same age. And I kind of tell there ages cause I know there ages in my head, and in the story they both mention watching original Pokemon, which means they were kids in 90's and 00's, putting them at late twenties, mid thirties.

And since there's already 5 parts out, I don't think it would be wise to add looks-details now even if I wanted to, since anyone who read them already decided what they look like other aside from dudes wiener and ladies hair color.

Anywho, if you got opinions on this topic, feed them to me. nom nom nom

I tend to use a graphic as a header in my short stories, saves a lot of words and sets the scene.
Be advised that the word, "Pokemon," is both Trademark and Copyright protected.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

This is a complex question with no straight answer. Of course, we should give physical descriptions in accordance with their necessity. Obviously, some stories require more detailed descriptions, others not so much, but let's not forget that this is erotica, so ALL of our stories here will tend to be in the high necessity end of the spectrum. In fact, half of the stories (or more) on lit are straight up porn, which puts them in the 98th percentile of needing descriptions.

No, not all stories need high detailed physical descriptions, but more often than not the argument 'let the reader fill in the gaps with what they want' is just a cop out.

Do we let the reader fill in the setting? The exact shade of eggshell tint of the walls of the room, sure, but are we in a basement? A penthouse? a cottage by the lake? A medieval castle? It's our imagination that provides that. that's our job.

How much plot do we let the reader fill in? None. That's our job.

How much dialogue do we let the reader fill in? None. Because dialogue is fun! We scoop the fun bits. But descriptions can be a chore so often, "uhh, why don't I just let the reader fill in the blanks? yeah, that's it," gets thrown onto the reader.

Who's imagination is this? Ours or theirs? It's the writer's job to convey his imagination and in an erotic (or porn) story, far more often than not, physical shapes and tones are intrinsic to the piece. They come from the writer's imagination and it is his job to convey those descriptions to the reader. This is not choose your own adventure, or choose your own unicorn. What does she look like? Iunno, what do you want, brunette, blonde, redhead or goth black? - you pick. What kind of tits does she have? Whatever you like, big gazongas, nice soft melons, little chi-chis? Meh, you go ahead and pick. Is she wearing stilettos? Yeah, what the hell, sure! Who's writing this, the writer or the reader? That's pretty lazy. At some point there's a line that's crossed where the reader might as well just write his own story and there are many many stories and writers here that have no regard for that line.

So not all stories require heavy detailed descriptions, but on lit, yeah most of them do.

Now let the hate mail roll in. This is one that just might drop my scores because it has in the past.

 

[Erozetta]

Does the description matter to the story?

If not, keep it basic enough to get a feel of a character even if you don't know their actual height and weight ratio.

If it does, slip the detail in as needed and where needed. Your super short protag girl can't reach the thing high up on a shelf her love interest can grab with ease? There ya go, heights established without numbers and while moving the interaction/plot forward.

I tend to go basic with character descriptions because they don't usually matter in my stories. The emotions and personality of a character is more important to my plot and story, those get focus.

The moment a story starts with "I was twenty-six, with a baseball bat for a cock and hit a nightly home run with my wife, Peggy. When we met she was nineteen. She had breasts and a waist measurement that would make anyone not a figment of my imagination topple over and be unable to get back up without snapping her spine in half, but damn did they jiggle when I plowed her virgin-like pussy -- because she's only ever been with one miniscule dicked guy before me and my polished Louisville Slugger -- every day." I'm not reading it unless I'm forced to by my friend for a story review.

And sometimes I even like the story after forcing myself through that part. But in most cases I'm not even gonna give it a chance because, frankly, I don't give a fuck what characters look like. My attraction and arousal is fully rooted in their personality, relationship, and interactions.

Body worship stories need ample physical description, a cute romance between co-workers really doesn't.

 

[Dearelliot]

I do, but maybe I shouldn't, or at least, less of it after reading the responses.. I have this idea of what they look like and I used to think it was important.

 

[yowser]

This is a complex question with no straight answer. Of course, we should give physical descriptions in accordance with their necessity. Obviously, some stories require more detailed descriptions, others not so much, but let's not forget that this is erotica, so ALL of our stories here will tend to be in the high necessity end of the spectrum. In fact, half of the stories (or more) on lit are straight up porn, which puts them in the 98th percentile of needing descriptions.

No, not all stories need high detailed physical descriptions, but more often than not the argument 'let the reader fill in the gaps with what they want' is just a cop out.

Do we let the reader fill in the setting? The exact shade of eggshell tint of the walls of the room, sure, but are we in a basement? A penthouse? a cottage by the lake? A medieval castle? It's our imagination that provides that. that's our job.

How much plot do we let the reader fill in? None. That's our job.
...
Now let the hate mail roll in. This is one that just might drop my scores because it has in the past.

I almost like the idea that this prompts, a new creative story challenge.

As kids we used to play Mad Libs, a story with lots of empty 'fill in the blanks' and you would prompt others, who had no idea what the plot was, to supply, say, an adjective, or a noun, whatever and then read out the outlandish story so created.

Let's go with this:

I stared hungrily at her, those luscious ___ that reminded me of ___. Her ____ hair, those ____ eyes, daring me to gaze more ____ at her defiantly abbreviated shorts. I felt my ____ ____ stir beneath my briefs, knowing that soon my ____ would be ____ into her ___ creating ____ amounts of ____ and that her ___ would squeeze with ____ pleasure and her ___ of ecstasy would reverberate about the ___.