Do You Like Character Descriptions?

[mildlyaroused]

Hi guys,

I'm curious what other authors think about physical character descriptions - that is appearance specifically, not mannerisms or personality.

How into writing and/or reading character descriptions are others? As an author, do you find extensive descriptions help you craft stories? And as a reader, how important are they to your ability to visualise and enjoy a story? Where do we think the line is?

Because for me, when writing, I almost never actually describe people. Some of my characters are literally default Facebook avatars with no physical traits. This is particularly true for erotica, and less so my novels (because over an extensive period you're bound to mention a few physical traits as they come up). Sometimes I insert lines that give a general impression, but rarely describe specific physical traits.

Erotica isn't the same as porn; for me, I don't care what people look like. If porn is the visual extreme of sex then erotica is the other side of the coin. The story/scenario is what matters most.

More generally, I find people attractive in their small humans aspects - hands and knuckles, the crests of bones, the warmth of skin. These traits are almost always more general that how specific people look (and also a more general fondness for us funky humans).

Not really a question, just interested in what others thought if anyone wants to respond xx

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

Hi guys,

I'm curious what other authors think about physical character descriptions - that is appearance specifically, not mannerisms or personality.

How into writing and/or reading character descriptions are others? As an author, do you find extensive descriptions help you craft stories? And as a reader, how important are they to your ability to visualise and enjoy a story? Where do we think the line is?

Because for me, when writing, I almost never actually describe people. Some of my characters are literally default Facebook avatars with no physical traits. This is particularly true for erotica, and less so my novels (because over an extensive period you're bound to mention a few physical traits as they come up). Sometimes I insert lines that give a general impression, but rarely describe specific physical traits.

Erotica isn't the same as porn; for me, I don't care what people look like. If porn is the visual extreme of sex then erotica is the other side of the coin. The story/scenario is what matters most.

More generally, I find people attractive in their small humans aspects - hands and knuckles, the crests of bones, the warmth of skin. These traits are almost always more general that how specific people look (and also a more general fondness for us funky humans).

Not really a question, just interested in what others thought if anyone wants to respond xx

I really like character descriptions, even in erotica. It helps me to visualise those characters specifically, and sets that story apart from others which might be similar. Their appearance doesn't just need to be brown hair versus blonde hair, it could be any little detail which makes the character stand out in my mind.

On the other hand, I don't like it when authors compare characters to models/celebrities to give a basis, which just feels lazy. Nor do I like the 'Mary's D-cups looked so huge compared to Anna's C-cups' type approach which reduces female characters to only their physical appearance, and just anonymous aspects of that appearance like cup size anyway.

Overall, like all things, I suppose it comes down to personal preference. I try to give my characters some description because that's what I like. But I can understand why, especially in shorter stories/scenarios, it's not as important to others.

 

[vagrantx]

If it's written into the story, sure. "She cozied up on the couch and rested her head in my lap; I pounced at the chance to run my fingers through those dark frizzy curls of hers".

Vs

"Jenny was tall. She had perfect 58-12-64 measurements and if her cup sizes were grades then she'd been held back in school."

 

[StillStunned]

I tend to give the bare minimum: a character has a lean frame, spiky hair, long legs. I also try to describe features as part of the natural flow of the story. The POV character might focus on someone's hands or lips and imagine them on their body, or let their gaze be drawn to the plump buttocks walking ahead of them. This means that I rarely describe the POV character, because they're not likely to be thinking of their own physical description.

Except when the visual aspect is important, for example in a voyeur story. I think the longest description I have is where a massage therapist comes face to face with her new client and takes him in from head to toe.

 

[MissMaidenMinx]

I was discussing this recently with a writer recently. As a reader, I like the vaguest of descriptions. I like the opportunity to fill in the blanks. It actually fuels my imagination. I am not trying to make my imagination fit in the space the writer has assigned.

As a writer (just for myself thus far) I avoid even giving names unless necessary.

 

[StillStunned]

As a writer (just for myself thus far) I avoid even giving names unless necessary.

I agree. In Too Cold Not to Fuck and it's two sequels (third in the works), the narrator doesn't have a name. In Lust Demon's Orgy the narrator is referred to as "boss" (he gets a name in the sequel I'm working on). The narrator in Flesh for Fantasy and its sequel is nameless.

I even have two stories where the narrator's gender is never stated.

 

[vagrantx]

As a writer (just for myself thus far) I avoid even giving names unless necessary.

Thank you! I'd like to double-like this.

A recurring character of mine, even though she's a main antagonist, is just known as "the woman". Name's have power over perception, leaving them blank can be both stimulating, and unnerving.

 

[mildlyaroused]

Their appearance doesn't just need to be brown hair versus blonde hair, it could be any little detail which makes the character stand out in my mind.

Yeah, that sort of fine-tuned descriptor that snaps an image into your mind I really like.

My editor used to say 'It's in the details', except more poetically and also in French. So it sounded less lame.

I guess it's a good rule of thumb for writing in general, not just characters. Description for the sake of description isn't always best (most of us are not blessed with the great authors' command of prose).

Glad to see all the responses so far and hear thoughts from others

 

[Bramblethorn]

I don't usually pay much attention to physical description when reading, nor put much in my own stories. The details I focus on are the ones which are important clues to personality in some way, e.g. a lawyer who has purple-dyed hair.

 

[HordHolm]

I'm very much in the 'light touch' school when it comes to character descriptions, both when reading and writing. I don't mind detail, but it has to feel natural to the story and be 'purposeful.' Thus, an infodump that stands outside the narration is something I'll either just skip over, or it will actually make me back space away and find something else.

A case in point: I've just re-read Snow Crash after a number of years, and I only really realised that the FMC is blonde this time around, and I only noticed when the character notes the fact of her 'blonde-ness' in relation to the way others look at her, and this is about 80% of the way through the book. Other than that, we only really know she is slim and young.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Appearances totally matter. Remember, this is erotica and how people look in your story really matters. If you're writing a police investigation, the main cop's physical description does not require detail, perhaps just some generic picture is all that you need to put the reader into the story, but this is erotica and erotica is very much about skin and bodies.

Detailed descriptions are all about immersing the reader into the scene and story, making them feel like the action is all around them, which connects them more emotionally to the words and keeps them engaged and makes it harder for them to put your story down. In erotica you have people and their bodies in close proximity to one another, in each other's space. In most cases you likely want to try to put the reader into that same space. You will almost certainly need physical descriptions.

Now we will often hear authors say something like "I like to leave the descriptions minimal so that the reader can plunk in their own ideals." That's a total cop-out. Should we leave the setting out too so that the reader can fill in their own setting? Do we skimp on dialogue and let the reader decide what he wants the characters to say? What is this? Fill in the blank? Multiple choice? Color-by-numbers?

Don't be lazy. Describe your characters physical appearances. You are the one telling the story, not the reader. Do your job and tell it all. Otherwise you're just taking a weak stab at trying to recite the reader's own fantasy back to him and not really making any serious attempt at writing an actual story.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I own the characters in my stories. I know all their characterizations intimately, but I don't reveal those. I reveal what the characters see in the others.

I try to let readers get immersed in the characters by how others perceive them, not how I alone envision them. This demonstrates more about the characterization of the person being viewed as well as those viewing them.

Take a mother, father, and daughter. Each would likely characterize the other two quite differently. Would the daughter share the same appreciation for her mother's physical attributes as her father, or the father the same appreciation for the daughter's hair as the mother? Finding out in each case tells the readers about the relationship dynamics as well as the characters' physical details.

 

[vagrantx]

Now we will often hear authors say something like "I like to leave the descriptions minimal so that the reader can plunk in their own ideals." That's a total cop-out

My mental image at full on descriptions is of me as a prison guard, and the reader chained to a chair. I've shoved a tube down their throat, my hands busy with förce feeding them shredded paper.

"THIS is what you should think at exactly this point! NO, don't get aroused yet, that's not due for another paragraph! STOP FUCKING FANTASIZING AND LISTEN TO ME, YOU CRETIN!"

There's a place for subtlelty, and there's a place flr brutishness.

Neither is wrong, neither is a "cop-out", all we have are preferences.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I like general indications of features which will be relevant - if someone's tall or short, or large or shrimpy, that's going to be relevant when they get together with someone and can lean their chin on the other's head or whatever. Age differences are a feature of my latest story, so it starts:

"So, Adrian, love? How does it feel, being forty-nine?"
A square number. Amazed I've lived this long, to be honest. [muses for a couple paragraphs about his life] Ten minutes later, this lanky blond guy called Dan turned up ... [bit more musing before he finally replies:]

"Fine. Still under fifty; still young, eh?" I tell him. I've still got a decent head of hair, even if 'sandy' gets lighter and lighter. I'm told the blue eyes and Irish accent are attractive, though I suspect it's being a right whore which lures guys to my lightweight body. I love [sex stuff]!

Dan laughs. He's ten years younger. Helps keep me young, I swear. "Any things you'd like to do to help celebrate?"

Later, he meets a fireman doing his work:
I can't see much of him under the uniform gear, but he's got nice brown eyes.

The colour isn't important, the nice eyes is, though brown contrasts with the first characters.

Ricky pulls off his face covering, to look more friendly. He claws his hand through glossy black curls. Turns out he's a good-looking guy, his warm brown skin and stocky physique proving at least one of his grandparents, probably two or three, came over on the Windrush.

"Shall we?" I lead him into the front office

The Windrush Generation were those who came after WW2 to fill job vacancies in the UK, mostly from the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent (some of them via East Africa), the Windrush ship itself was from the Caribbean.

Basically he's a mixed-race black guy who looks like many lads his age in south London, and good-looking. He and his black mate get together and with the former two guys, so technically it's an interracial story but it's actually about age and language, which are more relevant in this context.

 

[mildlyaroused]

Don't be lazy. Describe your characters physical appearances. You are the one telling the story, not the reader. Do your job and tell it all. Otherwise you're just taking a weak stab at trying to recite the reader's own fantasy back to him and not really making any serious attempt at writing an actual story.

I have to fundamentally disagree. There are no 'cop-outs' to one writing style or the other (unless you employ a literal Hollywood style cop-out).

I've read a fair bit of erotica. I couldn't for the life of me recount a single physical character description, even in those stories which have stuck with me and I've revisited. I couldn't recount a single physical character description from any of my favourite authors' works: Anthony Doerr, Kazuo Ishiguro, Harukai Mirukami, etc.

It's true that erotica is meant to be personal. Bodies on top of bodies; sex and dopamine and shallow breaths on our necks. I still don't think that renders physical descriptions a necessity. You have 5+ senses. Physical, emotional, olfactory details to me are more immersive than visual ones.

There's a lot of nuance here. The reality is that most people will not get through a dense story with an accurate visual interpretation of your characters. That's why so many people refuse to watch new adaptations of their favourite books; they imagined things differently, and don't want that magic spoiled. Let your reader breathe, and trust their intelligence and ability to draw on their own experiences.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I have to fundamentally disagree. There are no 'cop-outs' to one writing style or the other (unless you employ a literal Hollywood style cop-out).

Then why did you even bother starting the thread if you already have the answer to your own question sussed?

 

[mildlyaroused]

Then why did you even bother starting the thread if you already have the answer to your own question sussed?

I will refer you to my original comment:

Not really a question, just interested in what others thought if anyone wants to respond xx

I'm not attacking you. It's within your right to think physical description is a necessity, and I don't want to persuade you otherwise, I'm just absorbing other perspectives and discussing. A Big Horny Sponge.

 

[oneagainst]

I pondered this a lot....

...catching myself in the mirror. I look pretty good for my age, firm in all the right places, with dark brown hair and kindly eyes.

...uh what I meant was: just enough to be able to sketch them in, but not so much as to overrule the reader's mental image. The only exception I make is for some of the main characters, who have a particular trait. For example, the thirty-something woman with expensively-styled blonde hair, or the tall, angular, gawky man, or the girl with emerald-green eyes. The fun is putting them into the background of another scene or an entire new story, and the readers who know them can pick them out of the crowd. You see the green eyes and you know there is a world of hurt coming for someone.

 

[Bazzle]

I have the habit of using the cliché of the protagonist looking in the mirror. Some like it, others get a little bit upset at the use of the cliché!

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I've read tons of stories here with great lack of physical descriptions. There are so many problems with this.

1 - Women are fairly often described rather well and men rarely are. This is because the story is not much more than someone's male fantasy and guys want to see the hot chick, but hearing about the hot guy is either completely unimportant to the fantasy - or it triggers the no-homo response. So great, all the straight female readers here hardly get any hot guys just because horny straight guys don't give a fuck about other guys or even give them much of a thought.

2 - In stories with multiple characters all you get is a bag of names and no faces nor figures to put them to. It becomes very difficult to keep track of everyone. This is poor lazy writing. I know one specific unnamed example where this problem really held back an otherwise very strong novella plot.

3 - When you read and get no description early in the story, you end up putting your own face to the name just to keep things straight. Then three-quarters of the way through the author finally mentions shaved head and red beard and this looks absolutely nothing like the face that you've been putting to this character all along. This is not a pleasant experience for most readers. They have to go back and reimagine all the scenes so far with the new face. Would you watch a movie where one or more of the actors had their face blurred out for part of all of the movie? Of course not. Think about it: "loved the movie but I really would have preferred the female lead to have been blonde and had bigger tits because that's my ideal fantasy". Never. You're perfectly fine with what Selma Hayek or Megan Fox or Zooey Deschanel looks like in the movie. You never question it and you never try to insert the girl that you want into the movie. You just sit back and enjoy the movie. So why should you expect to do it in a story? When you write, the reader will build a picture from what you tell them. You need to give them an accurate picture so the readers can sit back and enjoy picturing the story that you paint for them. As a writer this is your job. I repeat: this is your job.

Of course the challenge is to do this smoothly and naturally while avoiding the dreaded info-dump. It's not always easy. It depends on the nature and the length of your story and how it all fits into the style and I'm sure a myriad of other factors. It's not necessarily supposed to be easy. Anyone who just wants to write easy hobby stuff, that's cool - there's nothing wrong with singing in the shower - but you'll never really improve and certainly never be great by making weak excuses to cop-out on physical character descriptions in your erotica.

 

[vagrantx]

Would you watch a movie where one or more of the actors had their face blurred out for part of all of the movie? Of course not.

Judge Dredd, the man in the iron mask, v for vendetta, the mandalorian... ANY horror film, just think about how boring the monster becomes once it is revealed, the focus then shifts from the fear of the monster and onto the actions of the other characters.

The SAW movies; the threat of Jigsaws machinations is so much worse than watching the actors trying to act out having their ribs broken. An exception to this is Toni Colette in Hereditary.... can we get her an oscar, please?

The unknown is thrilling, nothing is as scary or as tantalizing as our own imagination.

You need to give them an accurate picture so the readers can sit back and enjoy picturing the story that you paint for them. As a writer this is your job. I repeat: this is your job.

There is a place for this, when the descriptions are the onus of the fantasy. I spend a lot of time describing whatever bondage rigs or devices I use, since their execution and look are integral to the story.

If you're writing a fetish story about redheads I expect to hear about every errant lock of hair.

But if you're sharing a fantasy where the appearances of a person or a scene has no bearing on the story, then coax the reader into making their own image.

Describe their routine, they might be flatironing their hair in the morning. Maybe they're happy about how their latest pedicure turned out, But you don't need to add hair color, nail color, skin color.

Just be consequent.

 

[mildlyaroused]

Judge Dredd, the man in the iron mask, v for vendetta, the mandalorian... ANY horror film, just think about how boring the monster becomes once it is revealed, the focus then shifts from the fear of the monster and onto the actions of the other characters.

The SAW movies; the threat of Jigsaws machinations is so much worse than watching the actors trying to act out having their ribs broken. An exception to this is Toni Colette in Hereditary.... can we get her an oscar, please?

The unknown is thrilling, nothing is as scary or as tantalizing as our own imagination.


There is a place for this, when the descriptions are the onus of the fantasy. I spend a lot of time describing whatever bondage rigs or devices I use, since their execution and look are integral to the story.

If you're writing a fetish story about redheads I expect to hear about every errant lock of hair.

But if you're sharing a fantasy where the appearances of a person or a scene has no bearing on the story, then coax the reader into making their own image.

Describe their routine, they might be flatironing their hair in the morning. Maybe they're happy about how their latest pedicure turned out, But you don't need to add hair color, nail color, skin color.

Just be consequent.

I couldn't have said any of this better myself.

Don't be a stormtrooper: shoot less, but make it count. Use details like nuts and bolts to build the story, but don't drill holes in the story for the sake of more details.

Ernest Hemingway sets a good example. In 'Hills Like White Elephants' we never really get any descriptors other than 'American' and 'girl.' And still, in five pages, we know them so well.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

There is no universally good or bad way when it comes to physical descriptions (or pretty much any other aspect of writing)
While I do believe that giving exact metric measurements of a person isn't a good approach unless it is somehow important to the plot, I also think that giving only some scarce physical description or giving no description at all doesn't work everywhere. This is an erotic site and physical appearance might be important to many readers. Some will like just the vaguest of descriptions so they can insert their own desires and imagination, some will want details. I remember a commenter saying he had given me a bad score just because I didn't describe the woman's pussy in detail.

All of this is subject to taste, and that is my whole point. You can be descriptive and detailed, but if so, do it properly; use the description to convey something erotic, use comparisons; don't give inches, feet, and centimeters. You can also be vague if it works within the plot and the tone of the story, but it won't work always; it won't work in every story.

It is not a good approach to think there are some universally good or universally bad ways to write anything. Literature would be much poorer if everyone adhered to the exact same rules.
Only a Sith deals in absolutes!

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Only a Sith deals in absolutes!

Star Wars reference, dangerous, prone to thread hijacking, it is...

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Star Wars reference, dangerous, prone to thread hijacking, it is...

I would never...