Description Blobs

[Defluer]

So it's been discussed many many times. The "art" of working in descriptions of characters, when needed, over the course of the story. Hopefully the first part of the story is best, I guess. I am trying to do it that way, I feel it's more natural and preferred to me than the other way of just taking a paragraph and dropping the blob of description down about somebody.

THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT ONE BEING BETTER THAN THE OTHER!

What I want to know is... Is it jarring to you as a reader if you've come up with a mental image for the character, then all of a sudden a description is added by the author that differs?

Whether it's erotica or not, I never really "fill in the blanks" too much. As much description of characters as I put into my stories, I think is because of that, because I never conjure up somebody from real life to "play the role" of the character. So I put it down exactly how I "see" the character. Or however everybody else does it when reading. As I read the characters are usually just a blank that I add on the authors descriptive notes as I get them. So in a way the paragraph of description helps me because I get that all at once, in the beginning. The characters get drawn out. Then it's not just the plot that's pulling me along. (If it's erotica.) I never fill in notes if I'm not given them. I understand that they have the basic human anatomy but otherwise nothing.

That's my way of saying it doesn't throw me off usually, as a reader. When a new bit of info comes up about the character, my brain just draws in that detail. Detail that wasn't there before, it was blank, or blurry. I've had people tell me, "That actor looks exactly like I imagined!" but that doesn't happen to me. (I know if an actor is a good fit or not, but otherwise it's just the first time I'm getting the full download of information on the character.) So if an actor can look exactly like the character in a book that people imagine, I have to guess it is a flow Speed Bump to some readers, when suddenly there is a mustache or scar or big boobs or whatever. Right?

 

[jehoram]

Well, it's a thing, all right, but the cure to that is to describe your characters right up front, in the first couple of paragraphs, if appearance is important to the story or will become a plot point later.

When books become movies, a lot of people are disappointed when the actors don't look like the characters they imagined in the book. When I read Tolkien's stuff long ago, I had definite ideas of what Frodo, Sam, and Aragorn looked like, and it wasn't Elijah or Sean or Viggo. But now, when I re-read it, all I see are those three.

Similarly, the main characters in the movie The Godfather don't look much like the ones that Mario Puzo described in the book, but Coppola didn't really care, because he wanted those actors in the roles. And they nailed it.

 

[SimonDoom]

I can't recall this ever being an issue in a book. I think the way to deal with it is either a) remain vague about the characters' appearances throughout the book so the reader can fill in the details with their imagination, or b) give whatever details you're going to give early on, so the readers aren't surprised later. I think most authors do one of these two things.

Usually it doesn't bother me if the movie character is different from the way I picture the book character. LOTR is a good example. In the book, Frodo is in his early 50s, if I recall -- by Hobbit years, on the verge of middle age. In the movie, Elijah Wood was about 20, giving the character a totally different feel. I thought it was a good change, because it makes Frodo a bit more appealing.

The most ridiculous change I can think of is Jack Reacher. In the book he's supposed to be a huge hulk of a man, around 6 foot 5 or so, and in the movie he's played by 5 foot 7 Tom Cruise. I like Cruise, but I thought that didn't work at all. It's a totally different character.

 

[Voboy]

I usually release things gradually. But here's the thing (and it's something I've learned how to do over time): I don't usually release much at all.

You need to decide, as the writer, what appearance characteristics are REALLY important for you to impose on the reader. For me, it's often just two or three, and those usually serve more than one purpose in the story; like, if a character is very short, I'll use it as a running gag about taller people in general. I'll often mention hair texture/length and eye color, and leave the rest up to the reader other than very generalized descriptions like "she had a generous mouth" or whatever. And a reader is welcome to make a "generous" mouth any kind of mouth they wish.

If it's not an appearance characteristic that serves more than one purpose? Don't bother mentioning it. There's no need.

 

[Euphony]

I project my author tendencies onto works I am reading. It can be, problematic.

Stroke:
Far less interested in descriptors other than if they are critical to plot (say, disabled, minority, differently attractive, etc..) or category. It's a bigger gamble telling the reader what they *should* be imagining when there is less narrative material to work with. Traits can have outsized weight (for good or bad) v. in longer works.

I also struggle mightily to get past cliches, even more expected ones. Big asses in anal, lust filling bodies in incest, huge breasts to dial up a tit centric fetish, all require something to hold on to elsewhere or I start to pull away.

Longer:
I want to hear THEIR story. Give me quality characterization and my brain clicks into observer mode and I'm fine. Only disruptors I worry about are conflicting ones (girl with top tier female traits never being asked out, religious upbringing yet BDSM fish to water, etc.) and cliches.

Also, authors can play with traits outside the standards (breasts, butts, bulges, similar) adding shape and giving unique thinking material w/o running into someone's expectations/desires.

Build a character w/traits that support who and why the character is who she is and you can make me love her even cutting against my predilections hard.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

It's a solid question.

I've read a couple of people saying Instant Description throws them off, but I think that anything one does will do that for some people.

I think Chekov's Rifle is still valid - put in just what is necessary. I will include details of a woman's nail polish and makeup if it will enhance the story or have some relevance, even if only to show the effort she is making for a first date. Otherwise, an appropriate level (which might be none) of makeup is assumed and the reader can make up their own mind.

I will usually give a short description as characters appear and add details later as required. Again, the reader can take what I provide and build on it.

It's up to the author and what matters most is ensuring that the reader can form an image in their mind.

 

[Djmac1031]

I've definitely moved away from those "she was 5 foot five with long blonde hair, blue eyes, 34D breasts and great ass" description blurbs in my stories.

To me, yes, they take me out, not because they're bad descriptions per say or that I wish to form my own visuals (readers will create their own visuals regardless of description if they really want to) but because they're not worked in naturally.

So I try not to describe specific looks or body parts until necessary.

Just a for instance:

"Bob was 6 foot 2 with a muscular build and long, thick nine inch cock."

Great. But did we need to know his dick size just then? Or wait until he was actually doing something with it?

I drop descriptive details where I feel their needed. Sometimes I'm more specific, other times far less so. It really depends on the story.

My only suggestion is simply try not to overdo it in either direction.

A completely blank canvas of a character does little to get anyone excited or interested either.

 

[NakedNymph]

My take for stories with a viewpoint character is to follow the eye of that character, focusing on what they notice and perceive. This helps descriptions do double duty at helping us learn about the viewpoint character, as well as how the other characters present themselves. That's what feels most natural to me, at least.

It's like, for example, I know my height, and I can tell how tall people are relative to me and each other. Absolute heights don't matter so much. It's similar with things like cup size or penis size: I'd never know for sure without taking measurements, so it throws me off to see that kind of precision in a description.

You can also learn about the protagonist(s) this way like, maybe the protagonist is some pervert dude who can't keep his eyes up there. Or maybe the protagonist is really enraptured by their romantic partner's face by focusing or not focusing on different body parts, what's communicated by the text can be very different even for the exact same body.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I always, always, have a very strong image of my protagonists, either because they are someone I know, or someone I've seen in real life, and that informs how I describe them, their gestures; but I don't think I've ever written overt description, for description's sake.

Characters portray themselves over the course of a story, when needed and when necessary. By the end of a story, I think readers would have a good solid image in their mind, but whether it's the same as mine, I don't know.

I did an experiment once, with my beta reader, where I said, "Send me a photo of someone, who you think the character looks like," and I was astonished - the photo they sent was almost identical to the main reference photo I had. Almost the same pose, the same look. So maybe the image in my head does come across through my words.

 

[Djmac1031]

I always, always, have a very strong image of my protagonists, either because they are someone I know, or someone I've seen in real life, and that informs how I describe them, their gestures; but I don't think I've ever written overt description, for description's sake.

Characters portray themselves over the course of a story, when needed and when necessary. By the end of a story, I think readers would have a good solid image in their mind, but whether it's the same as mine, I don't know.

I did an experiment once, with my beta reader, where I said, "Send me a photo of someone, who you think the character looks like," and I was astonished - the photo they sent was almost identical to the main reference photo I had. Almost the same pose, the same look. So maybe the image in my head does come across through my words.

Not long after I published one of my earliest stories, I received a message from a reader who'd created a piece of computer generated fan art based on the descriptions I gave of my female character.

To my amazement, he captured her perfectly. Just as I'd seen her in my head.

Just shows if we do our jobs right, the readers will pick up on it.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Yeah, it feels good, doesn’t it? I had an artist pick up on a mermaid story I’d written and post illustrations on Deviant Art. Blew me away!

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I prefer minimal description, ideally when it's integrated into telling my about the character. I've got one guy described as "that arrogant dickhead with stupid piercings and long ginger hair", another who gets to a sex scene and narrates, "My cock is distinctly average, but I've made my peace with that. It's mine and it works."

Or a narrator describes her girlfriend as having stunning cheekbones and telling her on an early date she should be a Hollywood actress. 'Ali gestured at her spiky bleached-blonde hair. "I'd be cast as the villain, though. Probably Russian.

I don't really care how authors do it as long as it's a tad more subtle than a pure info-dump (my reaction to 'Let me tell you about myself' is 'please don't!'), or that it isn't contradictory. Your petite 100lb heroine isn't also going to be 5'10 and a 36DDD; a 200lb woman is fat but not to the point of immobility or not fitting in plane seats or theatres. If someone's eyes are bright blue or green yet their skin is brown then that's something people are going to notice and comment on, because it's unexpected. Etc.

 

[ofbuttons]

I like to introduce some basic stats kind of early. I avoid 'blob' writing and will instead try to just slip in mention of hair colour, height, skin tone in between other observations. I feel like this gives people enough to work with so that future description additions aren't too jarring - eye colour emerges during a moment of intense eye contact, breast size when he's touching her, vague cock average when she's taking him out of his pants, etc. Those don't need to happen immediately, but when they become relevant.

I also avoid measurements, it means nothing to me visually.

 

[HopelessDreams]

For me, writing is largely a form of self-expression. If there's an aspect of a character's appearance (or any other detail in my story) that matters to me, I'll mention it instead of leaving it to our respective imaginations.

Of course, I don't disregard my readers entirely. There have been times when I pushed myself to think up physical details that I wasn't initially inclined to think about but that I thought readers would expect to be included. Through the process of brainstorming, I often realized that there was a particular physical concept that I preferred above all others. Then, describing it in my story becomes another way to express my tastes.

 

[nice90sguy]

The side-topic in this thread, about the discrepancy between characters as we've visualised them while reading, and their portrayal in movies, is to me a fascinating one, which in my opinion deserves a thread on its own, which I'll start, because I don't recall seeing one before (I've been lurking here for many years).

Defleur, you posted two ways of describing characters

working in descriptions of characters, when needed, over the course of the story

vs

taking a paragraph and dropping the blob of description down about somebody.

and I think most people assumed, (correctly) that you meant, basically, visual descriptions. But the best authors I've read sometimes have almost no visual description of their main character (although a quick description might be provided for side characters). And yet we, as readers, will often accord closely in our view of the characters. How is that done?

So, if Jack coughs loudly into his silk handkerchief and stuffs it untidily into his breast pocket , gulps his four fingers of rum slowly and places his empty glass carefully in the exact center of his coaster, we start to "see Jack".
If later, he rises unsteadily and doffs his hat with a flourish and bids the bartender adieu, we might revise, or solidify our image.

This sort of thing can be done in a sentence or paragraph, or over the course of an entire work, i.e. in either of your ways, in a "blob" or more gradually.

But the key is to engage the reader's visualisation, to make the reading experience a more active one.

 

[Defluer]

My take for stories with a viewpoint character is to follow the eye of that character, focusing on what they notice and perceive. This helps descriptions do double duty at helping us learn about the viewpoint character, as well as how the other characters present themselves. That's what feels most natural to me, at least.

It's like, for example, I know my height, and I can tell how tall people are relative to me and each other. Absolute heights don't matter so much. It's similar with things like cup size or penis size: I'd never know for sure without taking measurements, so it throws me off to see that kind of precision in a description.

You can also learn about the protagonist(s) this way like, maybe the protagonist is some pervert dude who can't keep his eyes up there. Or maybe the protagonist is really enraptured by their romantic partner's face by focusing or not focusing on different body parts, what's communicated by the text can be very different even for the exact same body.

I think I have been moving slowly to that, because a lot of the time I try not to give exact cups or measurements or whatever, if the character doesn't know. A lot of the times, I don't know. I have looked at the bra cup/size chart about a bajillion times and that information just doesn't stick. Besides the basics of course. But it might be more conscious of a thing now, thanks for the tip!

"Bob was 6 foot 2 with a muscular build and long, thick nine inch cock."

Great. But did we need to know his dick size just then? Or wait until he was actually doing something with it?

Yes! I think this is what really knocks people out of the flow when the get a Description Blob. She's got a landing strip? How or why are you (the main character) thinking of that now?

So, if Jack coughs loudly into his silk handkerchief and stuffs it untidily into his breast pocket , gulps his four fingers of rum slowly and places his empty glass carefully in the exact center of his coaster, we start to "see Jack".
If later, he rises unsteadily and doffs his hat with a flourish and bids the bartender adieu, we might revise, or solidify our image.

This sort of thing can be done in a sentence or paragraph, or over the course of an entire work, i.e. in either of your ways, in a "blob" or more gradually.

But the key is to engage the reader's visualisation, to make the reading experience a more active one.

Yeah, I understand where you going there. If I had this kind of power I'd probably be a professional author. Especially doing it time and time again for the shorter experiences that Literotica stories tend to be.

 

[Defluer]

But I guess what most everyone is saying, is that they don't really experience any headshake WTF moments when going through a story and a detail is dropped later that you didn't piece together. That's interesting, that's good. Tells me a lot.

The only time this really happened to me is when I thought a characters in a story was black. It was a fantasy from a bit back, so (sadly) I probably should have know better, but even after my friend and I had a long back and forth about that character, I still didn't stop thinking he was black. I liked the character better that way and I guess, to prove that the reader fills in the details and doesn't stop, I kept going as I pleased.

 

[Djmac1031]

liked the character better that way and I guess, to prove that the reader fills in the details and doesn't stop, I kept going as I pleased.

Sometimes it doesn't matter how we authors describe a character, the reader will still interpret them however they wish.

And there's nothing wrong with that. Unless the reader then tries to tell the author why the author is wrong lol.