Details - Take 2

[SamScribble]

Further to the recent discussion: What’s your philosophy on details? … I thought this piece in The Paris Review was quite interesting.

http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/08/14/what-we-see-when-we-read/

 

[SikFuk]

This kind of description creates a more vivid image than height, weight, bust size, etc.

She looked as if she had been poured into her clothes and had forgotten to say "when."

 

[3113]

I have to question this pretty unscientific study...

Further to the recent discussion: What’s your philosophy on details? … I thought this piece in The Paris Review was quite interesting.

It is interesting, but I think there are some problems with this study. For example, even with people we actually know (like our mothers) we don't usually remember EVERYTHING about how they look. I can blink and see my mother's face, but if you asked me to describe her ears, I probably couldn't do it. Nose, eye, shape of face, yes. But ears?

So why the surprise if a person can't necessarily remember or envision EVERY part of a character they've read about? Aren't they more likely to remember one important aspect over all the others anyway? Like Sherlock Holme's distinctive nose and the fact that he's tall and thin?

Next, I'm not sure all authors' descriptions can create solid images. Some writers are very good at getting a picture into a reader's mind. Some not so good. Cheating it might be, but if I described some woman as Winston Churchill in drag...wouldn't you know what she looked like? This as compared to discussing her doughy face and wide mouth..." etc.?

Last of all, just because writers know how to express themselves when describing people doesn't mean that the readers do. I know how to say things like "Romanesque nose, cupid-bow's lips, high cheekbones, heart-shaped face..." But that doesn't mean readers do. Exactly how are these readers to articulate what they see if they don't have the vocabulary for it?

And is it really a fair study if they put people on the spot with Anna K. as their one example? Have them read a modern story with a modern character description and then give them a police artist to draw up their descriptions. THAT's what will say whether they are seeing the full face and body of these characters or really missing pieces.

 

[49greg]

I'm not good. I've done the easy way in some of my stories, height, weight, cup size, hair color etc. Reads like a police report. I probably mentioned it in an earlier thread. Not good.

Recently I have wanted to do it more subtly. That study is interesting, but I have to admit I never read the book. But it made me think about another literary description - from a poem I had to learn in school.

From "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes:

"But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord’s daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair."

and later:

"But he loved the landlord’s daughter,
The landlord’s red-lipped daughter."

I think that's a pretty good description, and gives me a good picture.

Another description in the poem is equally (to me) descriptive:

"Where Tim the ostler listened. His face was white and peaked.
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
...
...
Dumb as a dog he listened, ...—"

That not only gives a physical description, but also tells about his character.

Pretty damn good IMHO. I know I'm not good enough to do anything like the Highwayman, or Anna K, but I can always try.

 

[Hypoxia]

Are more to details than human descriptions. Places, rooms, tools, goodies - some describe cars or weapons or audio/video gear or whatever. How much detail is too much? Good question.

 

[oggbashan]

Details of a character's appearance can be overdone.

If you leave the reader to build some of those details by themselves, working from the character's actions and interactions, the reader will choose physical attributes that suit their own perceptions of the hero, the heroine, the villain.

If you have a slim, athletic brunette, and you describe her in loving detail, you might deter a reader who really wants her to be tall, more rounded, and a freckle-faced redhead.

Movies made from popular books often disappoint those who love the books. They have made their own version of what the characters look like, and their tall rugged hero would not have to stand on a wooden box to kiss the heroine.