Do you like it better if a character is described in detail, or if it's kept open?

[hylas_]

In general, the details are what makes a story really click for me, most of the times. So I'd say it's best to be really detailed when it comes to describing the characters in your story: skin colour, hair colour, body type, and so on.

But then it got me thinking. People have really different prefernces. Some like blondes, some like gingers, or brunettes, or dark-haired. Some like big people, some like them skinny, and so on.

Does it make sense to leave things a little open sometimes, so readers can fill out the blanks with their own preferences? Of course I don't want to stay completely vague, but I feel a story might be more inclusive if the descriptions don't get too detailed. Maybe it's better to be detailed with the things that happen in the story, but not necessarily with how the characters look?

I also sometimes feel a bit ambivalent if the characters in the fantasies that I'm trying to put into words look like clichés. I feel what I feel and I like what I like, and of course I don't want to neuter my writing by being super politically correct; but I also don't want to be yet another person hammering home clichéd beauty standards.

Am I making sense? Have you ever thought about this, and how do you deal with it?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I write to suit me, cuz I wanna attract readers who enjoy what I write NOT go hunting for readers in the dark.

 

[TxRad]

Unless it has a great deal to do with the plot, I try to keep the details to the vague side so the reader can fill in the blanks so to speak. Short, tall, skinny, athletic, round, full figured. I do add hair color and sometimes eye color if they are looking into each others eyes.

Use just what you need to tell the story. With one or two characters you can be more vague than you can with a group sex scene with a dozen people. It helps tell who the players are without using a lot of names.

 

[R. Richard]

IMNTHO, the correct amount of description is what's necessary for the reader to understand a particular character. If hair color never enters into the story, why describe it? If the story hinges on the race of a character, then by all means. Similarly, if a story depends upon the training of a character, then yes, else why bother?

 

[StrangeLife]

Depends on how it's done...

 

[dirtyfantasies]

I don't think there's any need to bog the reader down with needless detail but at the same time you don't want to leave them with a completely blank canvas. I guess ultimately you have to judge what level of detail is required for a particular story.

 

[CeasarBoobage]

Since stories are supposed to build a 'movie' in the mind of the reader, I think it works best to use just as much detail as needed to set the baseline. After that, the reader can add the rest as their fantasy sees fit.

The feedback I've received on this topic is that many people prefer to build THEIR picture of the characters. The whole "one man's trash is another man's treasure" kind of thing, everyone has their preference.

Personally I think getting too descriptive in a tale detracts from it.

 

[PennLady]

Unless it has a great deal to do with the plot, I try to keep the details to the vague side so the reader can fill in the blanks so to speak. Short, tall, skinny, athletic, round, full figured. I do add hair color and sometimes eye color if they are looking into each others eyes.

I agree here. And I would, because I often *forget* to describe characters. I find the physical details, like Tx says, are useful only if they are important to the character or plot or both. I'm far more interested in what the characters are doing than in what they look like.

I also tend, when I don't forget , to keep my details fairly vague -- hair color, eye color, rough description of height, things like that. But I never get into fine detail. It's not something I'm good at, and I don't think it adds anything.

FWIW, I've never had a complaint about this in my writing. No one has ever said, "I wish you'd described him/her more." And just going by anecdotes, forum posts, etc., readers seem largely to at least not mind this approach and many prefer it.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

I have dialed down the amount of detail I provide. I used to be quite specific, but now I pretty much just go with body type, hair color, eye color, and sometimes skin tone. I also use race and age--especially age. A particular decision or action has different meaning when performed by a 22 year old, a 42 year old, or a 62 year old. If the story requires more, I'll add more. If a character has particular biases or preferences, I'll mention whether other characters fit or defy those biases. I'm not a big fan of the fill-in-your-own-blanks style of writing, but on the other hand, details that do not help to propel the story forward just get in the way.

 

[johneb87]

In terms of character appearance, I do try to describe it in detail. I want people to fully visualize my story in their minds, so I find those descriptions important. One one exception I have made in my New Life series is the protagonist's best friend. I left a visual description out because I wanted my readers to imagine their own best friends in his place.

 

[Weird Harold]

Does it make sense to leave things a little open sometimes, so readers can fill out the blanks with their own preferences? Of course I don't want to stay completely vague, but I feel a story might be more inclusive if the descriptions don't get too detailed. Maybe it's better to be detailed with the things that happen in the story, but not necessarily with how the characters look?

This is one of those questions that have no real answer. How much detail you provide is as much a matter of style as it is a matter of relevance. The POV of the story, relevance to plot or ambiance, author preference/style, genre cliches, all factor into how much detail you should provide and how you provide it.

The bottom line is, use however much detail your story and how you want to tell it require.

 

[JulieArt]

But, as many other "how to's" have pointed out, when you insert descriptions, do so as part of the action

he ran his hands through her long red hair...
Linda got hotter when she saw Susan's large nipples...
His seven inches caused his pants leg to bulge....

 

[jehoram]

Unless it has a great deal to do with the plot, I try to keep the details to the vague side so the reader can fill in the blanks so to speak. Short, tall, skinny, athletic, round, full figured. I do add hair color and sometimes eye color if they are looking into each others eyes.

That's my take on it, too. It's absurd to have a character say, "That stranger by the hot dog stand was a knockout, with her 36DDs and 28 inch waist." What did he do, bring a tape measure to the beach? I'd prefer to just describe her as full-breasted, unless there as a specific, remarkable feature that stood out from the crowd and caught his attention, such as saucer-sized aeroles or green eyes.

Otherwise, it's better to let the reader use his or her imagination to fill in the details. I find it better to concentrate on what my characters are saying or doing than what they look like. Forget the precise size of her knockers. What I want to know is: is she laughing? Is she pissed? Is she dismissive? Is she horny? Is she challenging? What's her reaction to what's going on around her? That's what drives the plot.

 

[StrangeLife]

But, as many other "how to's" have pointed out, when you insert descriptions, do so as part of the action

he ran his hands through her long red hair...
Linda got hotter when she saw Susan's large nipples...
His seven inches caused his pants leg to bulge....

"With a pipe wrench he unhooked her bra and her 88DDD's crashed through the floor and took out the TV in the flat below..."

"I'm writing on a new book," he whispered. "The title is 'Twenty Inches of Joy - A Memoir'..."


I agree. That's a viable way of doing it.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

"With a pipe wrench he unhooked her bra and her 88DDD's crashed through the floor and took out the TV in the flat below..."

"I'm writing on a new book," he whispered. "The title is 'Twenty Inches of Joy - A Memoir'..."


I agree. That's a viable way of doing it.

Wow! I wanna copy!

 

[StrangeLife]

Wow! I wanna copy!

Well, if you want the first print you'll have to order the hard-back edition...

 

[MSTarot]

Over describing is 'okay' I would rather put my own 'face' to a character but I can deal with it.

But what I can't stand is the police sketch artist paragraph that so many writer want to put in the first hundred words of their story.



Turning around on the couch, at the sound behind me, I see my mom come walking in carrying a bowl of popcorn. My mom is.....



and I swear you get a 20 sentence paragraph giving her every stat like she's a D&D character.

When it gets bad though is when you also get her life history at the same time. In the same paragraph as you just learned that she's 42 but looks 18, has breasts that can be seen from space, you also learn she was valedictorian and went to Yale on a "I BLEW the DEAN" scholarship.

When I click on a story and the first two paragraphs are like that... I'm done.


I will use movie references at times.

"She looked like Carrie Fisher would if she was a bleach-white blond."

 

[SamScribble]

I think whether you need to describe a character in detail or whether you can leave it to the reader’s imagination depends very much on the story. I have written stories in which the main character doesn’t even have a name, let alone a bra size.

However, if you are going to spell out the details, please do it well. Please make it a part of the story. I long ago lost count of the number of stories I stopped reading when, in the first or second paragraph, the narrator says:

‘My mother, who is 42 but could easily pass for 35, stands five foot three, weighs 102 pounds, has a sweet oval face, bright green eyes with long eye lashes, full red lips, silky red hair down to her waist, a stunning pair of 42DDs, and an ass to die for.’

Oh, really? You forgot to mention what sort of car she drives.

 

[MSTarot]

However, if you are going to spell out the details, please do it well. Please make it a part of the story. I long ago lost count of the number of stories I stopped reading when, in the first or second paragraph, the narrator says:

‘My mother, who is 42 but could easily pass for 35, stands five foot three, weighs 102 pounds, has a sweet oval face, bright green eyes with long eye lashes, full red lips, silky red hair down to her waist, a stunning pair of 42DDs, and an ass to die for.’

Oh, really? You forgot to mention what sort of car she drives.

Exactly.

 

[HeyAll]

To me, it depends.

What I normally like to do now is to let the reader imagine their own details of the character, but I guide them to it.

For instance, if the woman is professional, I'd say she was a lawyer or a real estate agent. Then I'd note that she's sharply dressed. Without knowing anything else, the reader has an image in the mind of their ideal professional woman.

If the woman is older, I'd describe sagging breasts and so forth.

I always describe the size & shape of her breasts, along with the nipple color. To me, those things are important to read.

Depending on the character, I'll sometimes to into more detail for appearance.

For instance, I'm currently writing a story about a Princess, and it's important to me that she look a certain way. So from the beginning, I noted that she has blond hair the color of the sun, and pale white skin. I also describe her as being petite.

If the character is a model, I'll make sure to describe her athletic body and so forth.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

What I think is beautiful or handsome, is not what my readers think is beautiful or handsome. So, yes I leave the description of characters vague. I may mention hair color and/or eye color, and sometimes maybe even skin color if relevant. Height and weight might be mentioned, but basically I leave the filling in of the blanks to what the reader thinks is beauty.

 

[hylas_]

Reading all the posts here is really interesting and thought provoking!
In the first story I published here, I'm really specific about how my characters look. But in the second one (which right now is submitted but still "pending") I wanted to experiemnt with that aspect a little and intentionally stayed so vague that one of the main characters doesn't even have a specified gender, and one can read the story as either gay or straight. I guess it really depends and I just want to hear everybody's thoughts on it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

In general, the details are what makes a story really click for me, most of the times. So I'd say it's best to be really detailed when it comes to describing the characters in your story: skin colour, hair colour, body type, and so on.

But then it got me thinking. People have really different prefernces. Some like blondes, some like gingers, or brunettes, or dark-haired. Some like big people, some like them skinny, and so on.

I like it when characters are "well described", but... have you thought about the fact that all of the descriptors you mention here are physical ones, and specifically visual ones?

For me, those are usually the least important parts of description. I don't visualise characters in my head but I'm very interested in personalities, backgrounds, motivations. I want description that tells me about that side of things.

When a story kicks off with a paragraph of "identikit plus bra size" description, I'll usually stop reading right there. It almost guarantees that the author is going to focus on things that aren't terribly interesting to me, at the expense of those that are.

I'm not saying physical traits have no place in a story, but IMHO they work better when used as a hook to give more depth. A 25-year-old woman who has a crew-cut and a muscular physique, the 50-year-old whose black hair shows grey roots, the 80-year-old with a prison tattoo - all those tell me a lot about the person behind the body. "Blonde with big breasts", not so much.

Even if you're using physical description to establish a character as attractive (at least, to the subset of readers who share your turn-ons), don't focus entirely on looks. There are four other senses that are all important to attraction... though one of them isn't likely to come up in the first five minutes.

(I also find description works better when integrated into the flow of the story, rather than being given as an abrupt info-dump.)

 

[Stella_Omega]

I have indulged myself in describing characters. One was a complicated interracial story, where she was a white girl-- but her red hair was a dye job.

He was black-- but he was very lightskinned, and conscious of how much lighter he was than the rest of his family, and how his cousin looked so much MORE like his dad than he did... he was quite angst-ridden about it all.

Even so, the single line I got the most kudos for was;
"She kissed his little-boy chin, his Chinese eyebrows."

What the fuck is that supposed to mean, really? But readers said they could see him plain as day. The words express a mood-- what he looks like through the eyes of someone who loves him.

the most important part of someone's looks is how they make other people feel when they are seen, how they make other people react by their presence. Someone who goes all out to describe a busty blond is hoping that by some alchemy, his readers will feel the exact same way that he does about busty blonds.

 

[patientlee]

I think whether you need to describe a character in detail or whether you can leave it to the reader’s imagination depends very much on the story. I have written stories in which the main character doesn’t even have a name, let alone a bra size.

However, if you are going to spell out the details, please do it well. Please make it a part of the story. I long ago lost count of the number of stories I stopped reading when, in the first or second paragraph, the narrator says:

‘My mother, who is 42 but could easily pass for 35, stands five foot three, weighs 102 pounds, has a sweet oval face, bright green eyes with long eye lashes, full red lips, silky red hair down to her waist, a stunning pair of 42DDs, and an ass to die for.’

Oh, really? You forgot to mention what sort of car she drives.

I'm more likely to mention what she drives. Or what music she listens to. Or which alcoholic beverage she chooses. When I read, these are the kinds of details that make me connect to a character.

I care less about the appearance when I read, so I care less about it when I write. I'm working on that though.