Writing q - Mirror scenes

[TheEarl]

Are they ever acceptable? I have a good reason for my character to be lookingi n a mirror and it seems a bit of a waste not to use the opportunity to describe her at the same time. Is it too much of a cliche?

The Earl

 

[impressive]

.....

 

[Guest]

I wrote one into someone else's story, trying to help her out. It seemed to fit and I don't think it comes off as gratuitous, nor is it used to describe her physical atributes. She had just gotten out of a hot bath and was toweling off. Seemed like a natural thing to do.

 

[Liar]

You can do anything, if you do it right. I used a mirror scene to point out some distingushing features in a character once. Not to run the whole shopping list, mind you, but there were some plot bearing elements to her looks (a huge scar in her cheek the most prominent, but also her height and some features hinting at her ethnicity), which I shared with the reader.

It's not here on Lit, since it's not erotic, based on a real character and story, and most important of all, not finished.

 

[McKenna]

If written well, I think clichés can be useful tools. It's when an entire story relies on cliché that it gets annoying. I actually like to see old clichés used in new ways. They are a part of our language, and language continually evolves. *shrug*

If it's plausible and convenient within your story, run with it. You can always edit it out later.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

There's nothing wrong with it as long as it's not used as hackneyed device.

Truth be told, there's something quite erotic about the narcissism involved in a mirror scene: a person looking at themselves and evaluating their own idea of their self. It can bring up all sorts of interesting emotions.

Where it's bad is when they look at themselves with that usual Lit version of smug satisfaction: "38-D breasts, long flowing red hair, piercing green eyes. Not bad for a __ __-year old". That kind of thing.

When you think of it, our relationship with the person in the mirror is one of the most interesting relationships we have. It's a shame to use it as a mere catalog of body parts.

 

[TheEarl]

Thank you all, especially those who talked about not having a smug mirror scene. I think I've just worked out a physical characteristic of one of my characters that I didn't know she had because of this thread.

Thanks.

The Earl

 

[BlackShanglan]

I hope I don't stun anyone to death, but I think that a mirror scene *can* be done well. I know Lady Jeanne did one that worked even for me, and I seem to recall that Cloudy did as well.

As Dr. M points out, it's all in what's said and how it's handled. The main problem I have with the mirror scene, other than its general ubiquity, is that it's so rarely done with any physchological realism or reason for existing. It's just a quick and expedient way to tell the reader what the author notices about the character rather than what the character notices about him/herself. If it's done with care, and with attention to what the character would see rather than what the eager author is interested in, then it's possible to avoid that smug, self-adoring feel that the scene so often generates.

The other thing I will say, though, is that it's very hard to make the mirror scene fresh. It's so common that the reader's defenses tend to be up. It's still possible, but it needs great care to bring something new and interesting to something that most readers have seen several times before. It's quite possible to bring new life to a common scene, but it's more difficult in proportion to the commonality of the scene and it needs careful attention. One of the things that impressed me very much in a draft work I've been reading was how nicely the author pulled off a "drinking together leading to sexual tension and eventual contact" scene, specifically because that sort of scene is quite common and therefore difficult to pull off with freshness and interest. A good author can to it, and it's something of triumph when it works because it's a tricky hurdle. But so long as you recognize that and plan accordingly, I think it can work.

That said, I simply can't bring myself to write one But that's just me. I'm not very visual and I often write in the first person, so some of my characters never even mention a hair color. I know generally what they look like, but I think it better not to mention than to force the description in where there's no logical place for it.

Shanglan

 

[Liar]

Where it's bad is when they look at themselves with that usual Lit version of smug satisfaction: "38-D breasts, long flowing red hair, piercing green eyes. Not bad for a __ __-year old". That kind of thing.

Unless it's "...not bad for a 84-year old." Then it kind of has a point.

 

[TheEarl]

But that's just me. I'm not very visual and I often write in the first person, so some of my characters never even mention a hair color.

I find it very difficult to work personal descriptions into 3rd person pieces, let alone 1st person. I'm well on the way to developing a cliche of my very own with sentences along the lines of "She brushed a lock of ____ hair out of her eyes" which generally turns up whenever I want to specify hair colour.

I'm currently trying to weed that one out.

The Earl

 

[Guest]

I find it very difficult to work personal descriptions into 3rd person pieces, let alone 1st person. I'm well on the way to developing a cliche of my very own with sentences along the lines of "She brushed a lock of ____ hair out of her eyes" which generally turns up whenever I want to specify hair colour.

I'm currently trying to weed that one out.

The Earl

So what's wrong with, "She brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes" ?

 

[TheEarl]

So what's wrong with, "She brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes" ?

Cause I use it in every single story just as a mechanism to introduce the hair colour! First few times up, it's okay. But today I actually caught myself using it twice in one chapter when introducing two different characters.

The Earl

 

[BlackShanglan]

*nods* I think the Earl is right in trying to weed out that device. Anything that is transparently a device - in this case, a detail added not because POV or characterization makes it essential, but just to get it in somehow - I think a thing to be avoided.

 

[Guest]

Cause I use it in every single story just as a mechanism to introduce the hair colour! First few times up, it's okay. But today I actually caught myself using it twice in one chapter when introducing two different characters.

The Earl

WHat I'm saying is to just use the line without a color. Use it just the way I typed it. It's a normal action and adds realism to the character without detailing the description.

 

[CharleyH]

Are they ever acceptable? I have a good reason for my character to be lookingi n a mirror and it seems a bit of a waste not to use the opportunity to describe her at the same time. Is it too much of a cliche?

The Earl

Not a cliche, yet a very specific image about how a woman sees herself But I don't look at a mirror scene in the same 'vain' as some do. I disagree with Doc, and as per usual to some degree. Yes there is something sexy in it, and it is submissive, and if you like it, shoot. I wholly disagee about when it is bad though. Women gain power from the cliche'.

I agree with Shanglan that is hard not to make it cliche', the only way, and I have not read those stories ... is to reverse. The mirror is very Freudian, afterall. Silly Freudians. How can a mirror scene NOT MAKE a woman inspect herself? (Thats to Shanglan) And do men have the same problem? In the mirror?

 

[BlackShanglan]

I agree with Shanglan that is hard not to make it cliche', the only way, and I have not read those stories ... is to reverse. The mirror is very Freudian, afterall. Silly Freudians. How can a mirror scene NOT MAKE a woman inspect herself? (Thats to Shanglan) And do men have the same problem? In the mirror?

Oh, I agree entirely. My point is not that it cannot be done well; my point is that it rarely is. As a result, anyone trying to do it well is laboring not only with the writing of the scene itself, but with the reader resistance built up from a thousand stories in which the lead looks in the mirror and smugly rattles off a description of the author's ideal physical type, laced with the self-congratulatory-sounding admiration that is really the author's reaction to the character and not the character's own realistic reaction to him or herself. Most humans I know, when looking in a mirror, are indeed inspecting - as opposed to admiring. They are a great deal less likely to be thinking "great tits, thank God I work out every day, I love my strawberry blonde hair and I easily look ten years younger than I am" than they are to be thinking "oh, dear God, is that a zit?"

Shanglan

 

[CharleyH]

Oh, I agree entirely. My point is not that it cannot be done well; my point is that it rarely is. As a result, anyone trying to do it well is laboring not only with the writing of the scene itself, but with the reader resistance built up from a thousand stories in which the lead looks in the mirror and smugly rattles off a description of the author's ideal physical type, laced with the self-congratulatory-sounding admiration that is really the author's reaction to the character and not the character's own realistic reaction to him or herself. Most humans I know, when looking in a mirror, are indeed inspecting - as opposed to admiring. They are a great deal less likely to be thinking "great tits, thank God I work out every day, I love my strawberry blonde hair and I easily look ten years younger than I am" than they are to be thinking "oh, dear God, is that a zit?"

Shanglan

It can be done. DAMN, where IS my essay (memory at this age is ... sketchy at best .. think I am am pre- meno YIKES) I agree, though.

 

[fifty5]

You can do anything, if you do it right.

The previous sentence is true!

 

[Colleen Thomas]

You can do one well. It dosen't have to be cliche'. And it dosen't have to be bad.

Women look in mirrors, sometimes several times a day. I use them occasionally, but my rule is to have a reason for her to be there and usually, she is looking for something specific. For example, if I am dressed to go out and my date gives me a hot hot hot kiss, I will probably check myself in the mirror before leaving the house.

It's like any cliche or any no no. It's all in how you do it. All in how you approach it. All in how you take the cliche' and make it yours.

 

[Weird Harold]

Are they ever acceptable? I have a good reason for my character to be lookingi n a mirror and it seems a bit of a waste not to use the opportunity to describe her at the same time. Is it too much of a cliche?

I think the "solution" to mirror scenes is verysimilar to the "solution" to "reward poster description" -- spread things out.

The problem with most mirror scenes is that the character essentially gives a "reward poster description" of themselves and that runs into the TMI at once problem.

A character who notices a grey hair in amongst the brown isn't going to focus on much more than checking for other signs of aging and probably won't consider much more than the face and hair at that point.

The same character, might later pass by another mirror and check for signs of aging in the fit of their clothes.

People get to know other people in small, digestible bits and notice individual features at different times. If you can duplicate that incremental process for your readers to get to know your characters, it makes your characters feel more "natural" to the reader.

It doesn't matter whether you use a mirror, a picture, or an grand entrance cliche to introduce your characters' descriptions, as long as you don't dump the entire package on the reader at once.

Another point, is that a "mirror scene" is most often done in the bathroom -- where looking in the mirror is a natural part of the process -- but there are usually other things in a bathroom that can provide part of the descriptions that aren't cliche's:

If a character's weight is important, most bathrooms have scales and someone who is watching their weight would normall wieghthemsleves naked before or after they bathe.

Hair brushes collect hair and most people naturally inspect the amount and condition of the hair before pulling it out of the brush and disposing of it -- a woman will often check the state of her dye-job and decie whether she needs a touch-up and think about hair color at that point.

Anyone who is thinking of using a "mirror scene" should take a critical look at their own bathroom routine and/or that of their spouse to determine what kinds of self-evaluation you go through as part of your bath-routine and what you notice or think about during your daily routine.

 

[SeaCat]

Shaking her head as she watched her reflection adjust the bandana tied over her head she thought back to the road which had led here. She had survived the trials of the past year and was glad to be able to see herself and just as importantly criticize(sp) her appearance. She did wish her hair had grown back enough to cover the scars from the accident and the operations which followed. Sighing she turned away from the mirror and rolled towards the door while hoping her date didn't judge her too harshly because of her appearance.

Earl, something like this works but as others said the shopping list description, (of which I'm guilty,) can be a turn off.

Cat

 

[variable Xy]

I use them occasionally, but my rule is to have a reason for her to be there and usually, she is looking for something specific.

exactly. has to be reason and this goes for anything that is there. i think such devices are great plants to use those items later on in the story. example being, describing a tattoo a charcter has at the beginning then later having another character identifying said tattooed one in a police line up or on a slab in the morgue.

 

[gauchecritic]

Plug plug

Ooh ooh, I've got one, I've got one.

Walking through the kitchen door I stopped in front of the mirror to examine my bukake face. Well maybe not bukake exactly, only one lot of spunk, but I did enjoy the sight; hair highlighted with glistening strands and rivulets of spunk from my eyes, cheekbone and chin. I adore how much a young man has to give. I tasted it again.

Glad you started this thread The I've just re-read "Panties from wrapping paper: Chapter two" which is where the paragraph above comes from.

In the story I use the mirror three times all for different purposes and as it happens one of them is noticing gray hair as per WH. Now you don't have to read it but it is rather good in an "aren't I great and very literary" kind of way, whilst giving decent examples of mirror scenes that aren't used for a list/descriptions.

You can stop reading when she gets to the orgasm. (But the next scene is pretty good dialogue only.) Then it's only another hundred or so words to the end.