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How much description for characters?
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Addison
Dark Lord
When describing characters, main or minor, you don't want to do it as exposition; "He was tall with brown hair, blue eyes and too big clothes." The best way to describe a character is by their own thoughts "He could have mud in his hair and no one would know, it looked like mud no matter what", or how others react "I can not believe you wore that to this party. Everyone else is wearing dress pants and a tie." Or maybe from a far off narrative, "He stood out on the sidewalk, even among the hundreds of others. His puffy plaid jacket against their long, shiny trenchcoats, sports coats and furs."
Get the idea?
Get the idea?
Nameback
Lore Master
Eh, I think you can do it straight-up as well. The ways you mentioned are all good options though, too.
I think it depends on the importance of the character and how much effort you want to put into the prose of the description.
A. E. Lowan
Dark Lord
I tend to go with the "describe what stands out" rule. For example, my female MC has white hair. Not just old-lady white, but the color of fresh snow, complete with iridescent bluish highlights. Her eyes are the pale blue of glacial ice. Her parents imaginatively named her "Winter," and her older sisters called her "the lab rat." It's the first thing that most people notice, white hair on a slender young woman. It drives her to distraction, because it won't take dye and her eyebrows and eyelashes are also white, causing her to require light brown mascara or else have no distinctive facial features at all. It's a feature that effects and in many ways defines her character, as she is also known for being cool and reserved.
Another example is one of her daughters, who has red hair. Not just any red hair, but that vivid, fiery shade of Irish orange, with a wild curl that defies all attempts at taming it and complete with a heavy covering of orange-tinged freckles. She is short, stocky, with her father's midnight blue eyes - a trait that runs through his bloodline. She is a fire mage, with a temper to match. When she was a teenager, her younger brothers were watching a nature program and realized that her hair is the exact color of an orangutan. Her brothers, also mages, then replaced every single picture of her in the house with orangutans. Even with her parent's best efforts at finding and making the boys fix them all, some got missed and are found periodically throughout the series. They even went to the effort, when she went on a date to the city zoo, of smuggling a "Welcome Home Bridget" sign into the orangutan enclosure.
I like using description for added characterization, but not in a "bad guys wear black hats" kind of way. More in a "Yes, I'm heavy set and wear glasses. I look like a chubby hippy. I can also cast a spell that will set fire to your pants from 30 paces. Deal with it." Appearance can have a profound effect on character, and when it does, I make sure to note it. However, when it has no bearing on how a person sees themselves or their place in the world, I won't mention it.
Another example is one of her daughters, who has red hair. Not just any red hair, but that vivid, fiery shade of Irish orange, with a wild curl that defies all attempts at taming it and complete with a heavy covering of orange-tinged freckles. She is short, stocky, with her father's midnight blue eyes - a trait that runs through his bloodline. She is a fire mage, with a temper to match. When she was a teenager, her younger brothers were watching a nature program and realized that her hair is the exact color of an orangutan. Her brothers, also mages, then replaced every single picture of her in the house with orangutans. Even with her parent's best efforts at finding and making the boys fix them all, some got missed and are found periodically throughout the series. They even went to the effort, when she went on a date to the city zoo, of smuggling a "Welcome Home Bridget" sign into the orangutan enclosure.
I like using description for added characterization, but not in a "bad guys wear black hats" kind of way. More in a "Yes, I'm heavy set and wear glasses. I look like a chubby hippy. I can also cast a spell that will set fire to your pants from 30 paces. Deal with it." Appearance can have a profound effect on character, and when it does, I make sure to note it. However, when it has no bearing on how a person sees themselves or their place in the world, I won't mention it.
As a reader, I prefer to be an active participant in the story as much as possible. As such, I try to write in a way that involves the reader as well. Character description is just one of many tools that an author can employ to accomplish this goal.
If possible I try to use striking details that convey information about a character, while at the same time, making them distinct from other characters. The color of hair, or eyes, is often rather mundane. A pot belly or gnarled knuckles convey much more information.
Further, how many times while reading, have I pictured a character in a certain way just to realize later that my image doesn't match the author's vision? ....All the time. At that point, I'm stuck with the mental picture I've built...the author's description be damned. Because of this, I've chosen to give a couple of those striking details as a framework that conveys information while allowing the reader to fill in the rest of the picture from their own experiences.
If, for example, I'm trying to describe a bully, I may only use gnarled knuckles, and a crooked nose. The reader, who likely has meant a bully at some point in their lives, fills in the remaining details from their own experience (a bald-shaved head & no neck possibly)...a blend of my bully & theirs. Now the story, and characters, have a special identification for the reader. They are an active participant in character creation.
If possible I try to use striking details that convey information about a character, while at the same time, making them distinct from other characters. The color of hair, or eyes, is often rather mundane. A pot belly or gnarled knuckles convey much more information.
Further, how many times while reading, have I pictured a character in a certain way just to realize later that my image doesn't match the author's vision? ....All the time. At that point, I'm stuck with the mental picture I've built...the author's description be damned. Because of this, I've chosen to give a couple of those striking details as a framework that conveys information while allowing the reader to fill in the rest of the picture from their own experiences.
If, for example, I'm trying to describe a bully, I may only use gnarled knuckles, and a crooked nose. The reader, who likely has meant a bully at some point in their lives, fills in the remaining details from their own experience (a bald-shaved head & no neck possibly)...a blend of my bully & theirs. Now the story, and characters, have a special identification for the reader. They are an active participant in character creation.
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I'm with the majority on this one -- I only give descriptions where relevant to the story or if something in particular stands out about a character. I often describe characters indirectly as well. Here's a favorite snippet from a WIP:
(for context: Randy spent the night at Davin's house after being injured, and asked to borrow some clean clothes as his were all bloody and torn)
I like this because it establishes several things at once, especially within the context of the story. One, that there's a substantial height difference between the characters. Two, that Randy (who happens to be gay) cares quite a bit more about fashion than Davin (who's mostly bi-curious) and also that he's always ready with a quip.
Character description like this leaks out all over the narrative, wherever it makes sense, but I never get into specifics.
(for context: Randy spent the night at Davin's house after being injured, and asked to borrow some clean clothes as his were all bloody and torn)
I like this because it establishes several things at once, especially within the context of the story. One, that there's a substantial height difference between the characters. Two, that Randy (who happens to be gay) cares quite a bit more about fashion than Davin (who's mostly bi-curious) and also that he's always ready with a quip.
Character description like this leaks out all over the narrative, wherever it makes sense, but I never get into specifics.
Truepinkas
Journeyman
I enjoyed reading through this thread, as it was the exact question on my mind this morning. I'm more of the 'Only as much as needed, develop over time' type.
The pro is that readers will imagine characters they like in a way that is appealing to them, which is helpful.
The con is if they are imagining a character as a 'tall dark and handsome' type and I later mention that he is only of average height and a little on the pale side, it can be jarring.
But I've found as a reader that when this happens unless a physical description is absolutely integral to the plot I just keep imagining the character the way I did before out of preference. It's kind of like name pronunciations in that regard, if I can't figure out how to pronounce it easily, I'll just make up something sort of similar and move on.
There is a place and time for everything though I suppose, and no single best way to go about doing things.
The pro is that readers will imagine characters they like in a way that is appealing to them, which is helpful.
The con is if they are imagining a character as a 'tall dark and handsome' type and I later mention that he is only of average height and a little on the pale side, it can be jarring.
But I've found as a reader that when this happens unless a physical description is absolutely integral to the plot I just keep imagining the character the way I did before out of preference. It's kind of like name pronunciations in that regard, if I can't figure out how to pronounce it easily, I'll just make up something sort of similar and move on.
There is a place and time for everything though I suppose, and no single best way to go about doing things.
Guru Coyote
Shadow Lord
I think you mentioned a key point there. "If it is not integral to the plot" - I think that's the measurement of when description needs to be given and when not.
As a reader and a writer, I hate it when I need to correct false assumptions that might have been made simply because things haven't been mentioned before.
If I do not mention certain physical attributes of a character while introducing them... the reader will form their own image... and that might be just as it should. But if there is something about the character that I will want to use later in the story, I had better lay down the fundamentals early (size, strenght, clothing style). If I do not do that, I will have to leave it open allways. It's a kind of continuity. If I don't mention that the girl has yellow eyes... I better not do that later and have it be important.
Truepinkas
Journeyman
Great point! I think this is where editing and beta readers can certainly help out as well, sometimes you need to go back and make sure you set things up.
Weaver
Mystagogue
I'll always leave out any detail that it feels appropriate to leave out, such as something the PoV character in the scene wouldn't notice. If I went in for stereotyping, I'd say that a male PoV would not notice, for example, that a woman is wearing designer shoes.
I prefer that the reader gets some visual tag for any character who is going to get a lot of "screen time," but I dislike writing that stops the action to give a character-sheet-with-stats description of every character who enters the story, including a detailed account of what they're wearing. ( I'm not saying that I never want to know what they're wearing -- makes my little forays into fan art ever so much easier when the author gives details of that, although I do wish I could trust their terminology a bit more... *mutters something about doublets*) It's usually enough to mention one or two details: that this character is tall and red-haired, or walks like a dancer, or is wearing a fun, quirky tie with a very 'stuffy banker' looking suit...
That said, sometimes visual description does matter. I've got one MC who is a green-eyed redhead in a setting where the large majority of people have black or brown hair and brown eyes. He stands out. Other characters notice him because of his 'exotic' looks. It would have been inappropriate for me not to describe this character's appearance in detail.
Nameback
Lore Master
Gonna post some more of my stuff here just as counterpoints to the minimalist crowd (not that there's anything wrong with minimal--I just want people reading this thread to know that there are other options!).
" Avayasta, Daughter of Fire, strode across her desolate realm. The goddess was robustly built, an obsidian woman of curvaceous form that was perfect in all angles and ratios. Naked, she walked her world in a body that had changed over millennia to match her evolving tastes; the form she had been born into had never been to her liking, and she readily adopted shapes varied and beautiful, but always shining with the luster of her internal heat. Crimson hair poured from her scalp in waves, washing over high, full breasts and round hips that displayed an exaggerated conception of mortal sexuality—a stylized costume like the colorful mask of an actor. She was a woman who painted with flesh and bone and skin like it was rouge and kohl. Unquestionably, she was divine.
Her midnight skin reflected the light of a gargantuan sun—the hot blue star occupied a third of the black, airless sky as it began to set. Her slender feet found purchase on the ancient blue-black stone of her world. She walked down craters and over just-cooled flows of molten rock that erupted ceaselessly from mountains three times the height of anything human eyes had ever seen. She always walked, never stopping to sleep or rest. Days passed. Months passed. Years. Her time was not spent in isolation, though, for the raging sun and the planet’s swirling, erupting core spoke to her in the language of fire. Symphonic conversations that spanned decades and centuries, spoken in white-hot flames.
Avayasta laughed. No sound came out of the throat that glowed like forge-heated iron—no air on her world to carry what was, on mortal soil, a sonorous, melodic sound. Full, black lips parted across a sharp, red-toothed smile as her body shook with mirth. That was the truth of the Fire Daughter. A wide, pleasing mouth that concealed serrated ruby fangs and a throat lit from within by undying embers."
" Avayasta, Daughter of Fire, strode across her desolate realm. The goddess was robustly built, an obsidian woman of curvaceous form that was perfect in all angles and ratios. Naked, she walked her world in a body that had changed over millennia to match her evolving tastes; the form she had been born into had never been to her liking, and she readily adopted shapes varied and beautiful, but always shining with the luster of her internal heat. Crimson hair poured from her scalp in waves, washing over high, full breasts and round hips that displayed an exaggerated conception of mortal sexuality—a stylized costume like the colorful mask of an actor. She was a woman who painted with flesh and bone and skin like it was rouge and kohl. Unquestionably, she was divine.
Her midnight skin reflected the light of a gargantuan sun—the hot blue star occupied a third of the black, airless sky as it began to set. Her slender feet found purchase on the ancient blue-black stone of her world. She walked down craters and over just-cooled flows of molten rock that erupted ceaselessly from mountains three times the height of anything human eyes had ever seen. She always walked, never stopping to sleep or rest. Days passed. Months passed. Years. Her time was not spent in isolation, though, for the raging sun and the planet’s swirling, erupting core spoke to her in the language of fire. Symphonic conversations that spanned decades and centuries, spoken in white-hot flames.
Avayasta laughed. No sound came out of the throat that glowed like forge-heated iron—no air on her world to carry what was, on mortal soil, a sonorous, melodic sound. Full, black lips parted across a sharp, red-toothed smile as her body shook with mirth. That was the truth of the Fire Daughter. A wide, pleasing mouth that concealed serrated ruby fangs and a throat lit from within by undying embers."
Nameback
Lore Master
"Despite being an Uppad himself, Tannan eschewed the light linen skirts and tunics of his people. His khassat, a thick woolen robe, was dyed a rich indigo. Its long sleeves hid Tannan’s massive hands when they were at his side. Beneath it, he wore a shirt of bronze scale, and over it, a tunic of rawhide lamellar armor down to the mid-thigh. The weight of summer’s heat was crushing on the island of Pes, but not a bead of sweat could be found anywhere on the hulking therion.
Tannan walked softly down the slavers’ track, barefoot and steady. The only sound that accompanied him was the jangling of his many earrings and his quiet breathing. Within half an hour, just past midday, he reached the tall mud-and-brick walls of Menalion. The camp still kept the name of the Colturik village it replaced after the Uppads conquered Pes, as did most towns and cities on the island."
Tannan walked softly down the slavers’ track, barefoot and steady. The only sound that accompanied him was the jangling of his many earrings and his quiet breathing. Within half an hour, just past midday, he reached the tall mud-and-brick walls of Menalion. The camp still kept the name of the Colturik village it replaced after the Uppads conquered Pes, as did most towns and cities on the island."
Jabrosky
Banned
^ I'm guessing Tannan and his people are your setting's equivalent to ancient Egyptians? At least that was the impression I got when I was reading through your draft.
...and that's Enar.
He's the main character and I wanted the reader to get an impression of him as soon as possible. The above is the second paragraph of the book. My main purpose here isn't to give the reader a description of Enar, but rather an impression. I probably won't be describing him in any more detail than that.
The above is enough to get the reader's imagination started and adding further details to it would just disturb their view of him.
The exceptions are things that most people are unlikely to actually think about. I'm fairly certain most of you would not have thought about how hairy Enar's feet are, but it's something that gets mentioned in the second chapter, long after the reader has gotten used to their idea of Enar.
Nameback
Lore Master
Yeah pretty much. And, as I'm sure will please you, they're depicted as black people, not tan white people.
Jabrosky
Banned
That was actually one of the clues along with the linen clothing.