Fleshing out characters

[PastMaster]

to me it depends on a lot of things. Firstly how important the character is in the story and also how important their description is - I keep a cheat cheat with the basics hair eyes height build tit and or cock size depending. That way when i reference them later in the work, there's no mistakes. I tend to try and drip feed descriptions too. there is nothing more annoying to me than to start to read a story and begin by getting a detailed description of a character.

 

[AlexBailey]

Let the reader fill in some blanks.

Poetry and song lyrics can appeal to more of the audience when they’re vague but familiar. People look for things they can recognize and relate to, broad strokes can make stories more accessible to reader imagination.

One of the most popular songs ever written is Yesterday by the Beatles, it’s a completely relatable feeling of regret but completely vague about details and the circumstances.

 

[dmallord]

"Some damn good stuff from this guys and girls," grunted the old hunched-back geezer with the balding head of shaggy hair. The bowed leg folded and pressed to the rusty-red brick wall, slid down to join the one aching leg that supported his weight as he scribbled. He did his best to form the words as legibly as possible, given he wrote them with a well-worn stubby pencil on a spiral pocket notebook he carried and now held in his war-damaged hand. The left one with the missing three fingers still gives him phantom pains even after fifty years. Pushing his scratched eyeglasses back in place on the bridge of his broad nose, he put the notebook in his old Army jacket and limped off. The kids he had eavesdropped on had pretty good thoughts on developing characters while writing their stories. He'd learned a few things listening in. Now if he could remember to transfer those scribbled words to a typewritten page when he got back to the old veterans' home, he'd be able to peck out a few more lines on the nightmares that kept his screaming nearly every damn night. Fuck, one day, he might even try to publish them.

 

[XerXesXu]

I’ve never gone in for detailed physical descriptions; in fiction as in real life, you are what you do and say (write and sing) so, by instinct rather than any conscious choice I let the characters walk their walk and talk their talk. I give very sketchy descriptions of appearance, they are what they do and say, but if it becomes necessary for them to have a specific physical attribute, I give it them.

I can find detailed porno descriptions of physical features comical rather than arousing, though for some people it seems it’s not.

I rather like dmallord at #28. It’s a skilful characterisation and a great opening paragraph. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Characters make or break a story for me. How should I become invested in what's happening if the participants are one-dimensional collection of curves/openings and things to cram into said openings? A decent description is the absolute baseline. Extra points for personality traits and even more if they are imperfect and built with flaws.

I have a record sheet for every major character I have ever written. Major equals "had a name and more than one sentence of screen time."

I'll write down the physical description, major likes and dislikes, occupation and proficiency level in said occupation plus any other skills they might have, mental state including positive and negative traits, sexual preferences, possessions, a short history and a brief summary of what they were doing in my stories.

Yes, it not only sounds like a bit of book keeping, it is. But it makes keeping characters consistent SO much easier. I've seen enough stories where even main characters had blonde hair and blue eyes in one story and auburn hair and green eyes in another. Or were called Jane in one place and Margaret a few dozen pages further in.

 

[KeithD]

The plot is the most important element of most of my stories and characters are only fleshed out in physical description to what's needed to serve the plot. I do a fair amount of developing the perspective character in thoughts and let the dialog and actions of the others reveal them.

 

[Duleigh]

How deeply do you flesh out your characters?

It totally depends on the character and what I'm going to use them for. If they're going to be around and advance the narrative I'll do everything it takes to flesh out the character including finding a photo of somebody or another character that reminds me of that person. If they're going to be the MC of a multi part story they may even get their own story that never quite gets posted (I'll use parts of that story in stories that get posted) just to set that character in my mind.

If they're a PITA that I'm going to use to make a plot point, I'll just outline that character enough so I get their actions/dialog right then toss them away. I never reuse characters, like Badguy #1 in this short would make a great Badguy in a different story with just a name change. Nope, it only works in comedies.

As for main characters, when I find myself falling in love with them, I know I've fleshed them out just right.

 

[SimonDoom]

Like Keith, I write stories that I see as being more plot-based, and I develop the characters as I see fit to further the story. But I'm a bit more likely to use visual details perhaps than some authors, because I like visual details. For me personally, they give the story a little extra erotic sizzle. I don't describe everything, but I'll often describe a character enough to give an overall visual impression.

 

[SomaSlave]

"Some damn good stuff from this guys and girls," grunted the old hunched-back geezer with the balding head of shaggy hair. The bowed leg folded and pressed to the rusty-red brick wall, slid down to join the one aching leg that supported his weight as he scribbled. He did his best to form the words as legibly as possible, given he wrote them with a well-worn stubby pencil on a spiral pocket notebook he carried and now held in his war-damaged hand. The left one with the missing three fingers still gives him phantom pains even after fifty years. Pushing his scratched eyeglasses back in place on the bridge of his broad nose, he put the notebook in his old Army jacket and limped off. The kids he had eavesdropped on had pretty good thoughts on developing characters while writing their stories. He'd learned a few things listening in. Now if he could remember to transfer those scribbled words to a typewritten page when he got back to the old veterans' home, he'd be able to peck out a few more lines on the nightmares that kept his screaming nearly every damn night. Fuck, one day, he might even try to publish them.

You didn't tell us what his glasses frames look like. How can you expect us to understand your character when you omit such critical information?

From the Slippery Slope of Detailed Descriptions Department

 

[SomaSlave]

I'm not overly concerned by the physical appearance of my characters, except to provide just enough detail to let the reader know they're ordinary folks with mostly ordinary looks. If I need to highlight a particular aspect of a character, I want it to be expressed by another character and in such a way that it becomes a clue to the nature of the person providing the characterization.

My primary goal in writing is to explore the inner struggles of the main character and their subsequent transformation. As a believer in "show, don't tell," I try to achieve that through dialog and through their own actions. Sometimes, that means the character behaves in ways that don't make sense to the reader at first glance. However, by the end of the story, I hope the reader is able to look back and say, "Oh, that's why they acted that way."

In real life, people's true motivations are mostly unknown to those around them, and even, many times, to themselves. When I do into detail, it will be about matters such as cultural references and body language. I leave it to the reader to put the pieces together. Usually, the last line of my stories provides the key (The Last Time We Met was inspired by the last line). The challenge is holding the readers' interest to that point.

 

[AlexBailey]

"Some damn good stuff from this guys and girls," grunted the old hunched-back geezer with the balding head of shaggy hair. The bowed leg folded and pressed to the rusty-red brick wall, slid down to join the one aching leg that supported his weight as he scribbled. He did his best to form the words as legibly as possible, given he wrote them with a well-worn stubby pencil on a spiral pocket notebook he carried and now held in his war-damaged hand. The left one with the missing three fingers still gives him phantom pains even after fifty years. Pushing his scratched eyeglasses back in place on the bridge of his broad nose, he put the notebook in his old Army jacket and limped off. The kids he had eavesdropped on had pretty good thoughts on developing characters while writing their stories. He'd learned a few things listening in. Now if he could remember to transfer those scribbled words to a typewritten page when he got back to the old veterans' home, he'd be able to peck out a few more lines on the nightmares that kept his screaming nearly every damn night. Fuck, one day, he might even try to publish them.

You didn't tell us what his glasses frames look like. How can you expect us to understand your character when you omit such critical information?

From the Slippery Slope of Detailed Descriptions Department

Are you kidding me? This is one creepy old codger! Going around stark naked save for a pair of glasses and an old army jacket?



Really though, I can’t Imagine anyone wouldn’t have clothed him in their imaginations.

 

[ronde]

In my experience, most readers want to mold a character into their own image of who that character is and not read a great detail about physical appearance. Doing so makes the character "real" in their mind and being able to "see" the character draws the reader into the story. That means the writer needs to give the reader enough detail to draw their own picture. Believing a character could be real is one of the things that draws a reader into a story.

I always get a good laugh when I read descriptions like, "I saw her walk by and she had 46DD breasts" or "He had a twelve inch cock". I don't have X-ray vision, so there's no way I could read her bra size without actually seeing her bra. Personally, I've never had a woman measure my cock, but maybe I just haven't met her yet.

 

[SomaSlave]

I always get a good laugh when I read descriptions like, "I saw her walk by and she had 46DD breasts" or "He had a twelve inch cock". I don't have X-ray vision, so there's no way I could read her bra size without actually seeing her bra. Personally, I've never had a woman measure my cock, but maybe I just haven't met her yet.

You don't need X-ray vision. Everyone who reads porn knows that all men have at least a 12" endowment and all women have at least 46DDD breasts that never droop or sag. Maybe in my next story, the protagonist will wear skin-tight jeans and a belt buckle that says "12" Who knows? That could develop into a whole line of belts for manly men.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Don't be afraid to give your characters firm opinions, quirks and flaws. It's tempting to write flawless über-beings so there's no friction in getting to the sex, but I often find those small conflicts turn a mediocre story interesting. Not every tale needs dramatic, world-ending drama, but something simple as Her not wanting to swallow or resisting the urge to write every female as inherently bi-curious can add life to a tale. Also, it can foster creativity on the author's part on how to deal with said opinions or quirks.

 

[Zootonius]

What I've tended to do of late is to describe a character through eyes of the other person with a fair amount of subjectivity, and within some bounds such as age, etc. As the OP put it, let the reader use their imagination.