Character Descriptions in Stories

[hanaskyegurl]

I'm one of this people who actually like it when the characters are described well. But it seems lately that all the female characters are one generic model.

 

[LWulf]

Some writers try to describe as little of a character to allow a person to develop what they think the character looks like. Other writers are very thorough and denote each dot and twiddle about a character.

Though I don't know of many stories of the latter.

it might help if you describe a particular trait you are looking for (e.g. fat, anorexic, muscular, tall, short, bald, long hair, blah blah blah)

 

[Everyday_Man]

Generic Model ...

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/52821897.jpg

 

[hashtag45]

that must be LJ_Reloaded's pic., lol

 

[QuidProQuo77]

I like good descriptions

I'm one of this people who actually like it when the characters are described well. But it seems lately that all the female characters are one generic model.

But I don't like them piled on all at once - "Rocky was 6' tall with red hair, green eyes,glasses and a limp much like his ancestors who came from Scotland on a boat in 1862 with three pieces of luggage."

I like to paint the picture slowly as the story unfolds, mentioning a woman's turned up nose as I describe her facial expression, or her breast size in a description of her shape as she danced across the floor, etc.

Having no preference to body type - except pregnant ones - I try to create female characters of many sizes and shapes.

 

[_Lynn_]

Because it seems the OP's intent is to discuss characters and their descriptions, I've moved this thread to the AH.

 

[Hypoxia]

If I throw in a data dump to describe a player's appearance, it's usually as part of the narrative -- not the authorial voice, but the 1st person POVs describe themselves or others. But that may be quite a few paragraphs into the episode. In other stories I may let the physical description trickle in along with the characterization. In others I'll avoid direct descriptions and use other factors (name, speech, actions, reactions, etc) suggest their appearance.

 

[Handley_Page]

For me, it's not necessary to detail every little thing about a character.

I don't like it when some bird is described as having 36DD breasts or the hero has a 9 inch dick. To my mind, that her boobs are of interest only to her lover is sufficient, or that his dick filled her up till she screamed [or whatever].

Now, if her physical attributes are left sufficiently vague for the reader to fill in the blanks ('her breasts were a nice handful' or similar) we can get on with the story quite well, I think.

Of course, descriptions of any physical handicaps or particulars are possibly important (think of his walking with a limp), particularly if their eventual joining is decided by some serious help (injured soldier from foreign service?)

 

[Weird Harold]

I'm one of this people who actually like it when the characters are described well. But it seems lately that all the female characters are one generic model.

How do you define "well described?"

I consider "well defined" as learning everything I need to know without being bombarded by things I don't need to know.

 

[TxRad]

For me, it's not necessary to detail every little thing about a character.

I don't like it when some bird is described as having 36DD breasts or the hero has a 9 inch dick. To my mind, that her boobs are of interest only to her lover is sufficient, or that his dick filled her up till she screamed [or whatever].

Now, if her physical attributes are left sufficiently vague for the reader to fill in the blanks ('her breasts were a nice handful' or similar) we can get on with the story quite well, I think.

Of course, descriptions of any physical handicaps or particulars are possibly important (think of his walking with a limp), particularly if their eventual joining is decided by some serious help (injured soldier from foreign service?)

Funny you said the part about wounded soldiers. I have a story in the works about a young woman wounded in Iraq. A bad leg wound that shortened one leg. The male lead was stomped by a bull at a rodeo and has a stiff knee. Both details play well in the story. Other than that I left the details of how both look vague. Only details that were needed.

 

[redzinger]

Hey, I ensured my latest had large, perky tits and a firm, round arse. As I knew it would annoy some. Hehe.

 

[SamThorne]

As an editor (and previous beta for fanfic writers) I can't tell you how many times I've seen a physical description that reads like a laundry list of 'beautiful features'. Bleaugh. The absolute worst is phrases like "I tossed back my long red hair and..."

When I see this in first-person manuscripts intended for publications, I gently point out to clients that if they wouldn't say this in anecdotal conversation, do not put it in writing. It seems to get the point across...

I like to see a few physical features that give the impression of the rest of the body. Phrases like "Disney-waisted wankeress" can say a lot about build and personality in one go, lol.

Tig xxxx

 

[robertreams]

I think the idea is to judge a character by his actions. How does he/she behave. To directly say she is suffering from ptsd is way different than to show the suffering, then connect it. Show us don't tall us!

 

[robertreams]

What on earth does Disney-waisted wankeress mean? Dumbo's waist? Who in Disney wanks? Ido not think hat is a very evocative image!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

It is hot and stuffy in the train. The air is oppressive with tobacco smoke; the boisterous talk of the men playing cards near by annoys me. I turn to the window. The gust of perfumed air, laden with the rich aroma of fresh-mown hay, is soothingly invigorating. Green woods and yellow fields circle in the distance, whirl nearer, close, then rush by, giving place to other circling fields and woods. The country looks young and alluring in the early morning sunshine. But my thoughts are busy with Homestead.

Berkman, Alexander (2011-03-30). Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist (p. 2). . Kindle Edition.

On any given day I read from 6 books, and note exceptional writing, like the above sample.

 

[DreamCloud]

It is hot and stuffy in the train. The air is oppressive with tobacco smoke; the boisterous talk of the men playing cards near by annoys me. I turn to the window. The gust of perfumed air, laden with the rich aroma of fresh-mown hay, is soothingly invigorating. Green woods and yellow fields circle in the distance, whirl nearer, close, then rush by, giving place to other circling fields and woods. The country looks young and alluring in the early morning sunshine. But my thoughts are busy with Homestead.

Berkman, Alexander (2011-03-30). Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist (p. 2). . Kindle Edition.

On any given day I read from 6 books, and note exceptional writing, like the above sample.

The word circle and its cousin circling make no sense to me. The rest is beautiful imagery.

 

[oggbashan]

What on earth does Disney-waisted wankeress mean? Dumbo's waist? Who in Disney wanks? Ido not think hat is a very evocative image!

You haven't found Disney porn yet?

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I don't describe a character except to possibly mention hair color or a general description of how pleasing she is to the eye. I would tend to let the reader fill in things with his/her current crush or secretary or the firefighter that helped her last week, etc.

 

[redzinger]

'Disney-waisted' immediately brings to mind the hourglass-shaped, long-haired, enormous-eyed, snub-nosed beauties featured as heroines.
'Wankeress' implies either female wanker (bit of a hussy) or wank material. A lady of easy virtue.

That's the way I would interpret it, anyway. I like it, too.

 

[DeYaKen]

It all depends on whether it is relevant or not. If a character's appearance is central to the focus of the story then you have to put it in. A great example of this comes in "Notes on a Scandal" two pages are taken up with one person describing another. However, the reason this is done is because it tells you as much about the describer's character, as it does about the describee's appearance.

Features that make a character self-conscious need to be described as they are part of the reason the character is the way they are. Likewise with features that they are proud of.

Detailed descriptions can be self-defeating especially if they reflect the authors taste when it comes to the opposite sex. The readers taste may be entirely different.

If the author gives a detailed description of a woman and then goes on to say that she turns every male head in the room, there will be readers asking "why" If the description is less detailed the reader takes the second part and fills in the gaps using their ideal person.

I tend to skip over detailed descriptions in the same way that I skip over life histories. If it is important feed it to me in the story.

Which would you rather read?
1) A Motorcycle accident in his youth had left John with a right leg shorter than the left. He walked with a slight limp, but the pain had long since subsided, Except when the weather was bad, then it was a source of both pain and embarrassment.

2) He felt the pain as he rolled away from her. The stiffness and the pain in his hip told him that the weather had changed. He swung his legs out of bed.
'Shit' he thought. 'Not only will I have to walk to work in the rain, but I'll also have to deal with the questions from the well-meaning people sayng things like,"'I see you're limping today. Have you hurt your foot?"

 

[MatthewVett]

I can't find it now, but I remember reading once a collection of the physical descriptions of famous characters, and you'd be surprised how sparse so many of them are. Obviously, I think erotica places more emphasis on physical appearance than, say, Anna Karenina, but I think that people can easily over-do physical descriptions, too. I've been trying to describe people's appearances a bit less lately.