How important physical descriptions?

[TE999]

Mies van der Rohe said it most succinctly: "Less is more."

Picturing characters with a broad brush not a fine line pen has always served me well in my stories. I agree with others who've said giving breast and penis sizes in a story is sloppy and sophomoric.

These are sexual fantasies after all and allowing the reader to picture the characters in their own minds looking like a girl at the office or a guy in the park makes the story more personal IMHO.

I save descriptions for the setting or surroundings in which the characters interact.

 

[elsol]

Pretty much everyone is going to say something different.

Generally, I stick to a simple measure.

1. How many of the 'type' are in my story?

If there's only one female in the story, then I don't hit the reader over the head with it.

If there's ten females, then it's important that the reader be able to differentiate between them and there a vivid physical description helps the reader (especially to pick an early favorite).

 

[Tarakin]

When the the character's appearance is revealed by having him or her do a self-evaluation in front of a mirror, I stop reading.

Why? I think it can be good to point out a character. For example a girl can watch herself in shyness, revealing herself bit by bit, worrying what the man of her dreams would think about her. The description would be just a means to an end in this way.

 

[rgraham666]

When the the character's appearance is revealed by having him or her do a self-evaluation in front of a mirror, I stop reading.

I had a whole sex scene take place in front of a mirror.

 

[Guest]

I had a whole sex scene take place in front of a mirror.

They're discussing writing, not real life, Rob.

 

[rgraham666]

They're discussing writing, not real life, Rob.

So was I.

Damn it!

 

[Weird Harold]

Originally Posted by shereads
When the the character's appearance is revealed by having him or her do a self-evaluation in front of a mirror, I stop reading.

Why? I think it can be good to point out a character.

Self-evaluation in a mirror is an annoyingly overused device in amateur fiction (not just erotica) and should be avoided at all costs -- even when you gain a lot of experience and skill at writing, it's aploy readers will see as a cliche typical of bad writing.

Mirror scenes rank right alongside "Reward Poster" descriptions where every possible detail about a character is dumped into one breathless paragraph (often one breathless sentence.)

I have long toyed with the idea of writing the adventuires of a young live-at-home college girl whose mother makes her fill out a literal reward poster and pose for a current picture every time she leaves the house. Theproblem is there are just tooo many ways to take such a story and I can't pin down the one I want to write -- I don't like writing sequels or serials and the concept almost demands a multi-chapter approach.

(The above concept is available to Survivor Contestants as a Chain Story concept.)

 

[sr71plt]

I had a whole sex scene take place in front of a mirror.

So did I (one of the chapters of "Getting Educated . . ."), but it wasn't the highly cliched (which responds to Tarakin's "why not?") device of a character describing him/herself by telling what they see in the mirror.

A recognized device you can use if you really, really want to give measurements or say a character is the spitting image of Rita Hayworth is to pick out one of your crassest characters and let him/her say it in appropriate context. It will get the information out, be part of the development of that character, and avoid narration "telling." You will still have folks on Lit. saying you did it wrong--but they would be wrong.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

Why? I think it can be good to point out a character. For example a girl can watch herself in shyness, revealing herself bit by bit, worrying what the man of her dreams would think about her. The description would be just a means to an end in this way.

Indeed, context is everything.

You can write about her 40 DD chest and get away with it if you are writing in the context of her shopping in the bra department, or a guy who's 7 feet tall. "That sign says you have to be under 6'5, I'm 7 feet. Argh." That kind of thing. Other than that it's your ass in your hands when the critics come a'readin'.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Self-evaluation in a mirror is an annoyingly overused device in amateur fiction (not just erotica) and should be avoided at all costs -- even when you gain a lot of experience and skill at writing, it's aploy readers will see as a cliche typical of bad writing.

Mirror scenes rank right alongside "Reward Poster" descriptions where every possible detail about a character is dumped into one breathless paragraph (often one breathless sentence.)

I have long toyed with the idea of writing the adventuires of a young live-at-home college girl whose mother makes her fill out a literal reward poster and pose for a current picture every time she leaves the house. Theproblem is there are just tooo many ways to take such a story and I can't pin down the one I want to write -- I don't like writing sequels or serials and the concept almost demands a multi-chapter approach.

(The above concept is available to Survivor Contestants as a Chain Story concept.)

I'm thinking of multiple actors, like the movie about Bob Dylan; "I'm Not There."
Each wanted poster describes a slightly different person...

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

I enjoy reading descriptions that are subtle and precise. As long as they aren't insipid and dull, I'm easily hooked.

 

[bronzeage]

I write physical descriptions through the eyes of other characters. If a woman has large breasts or a man is tall, its because someone else noticed it.

A lot of body description rarely advances the story line. Eye and hair color are important because that is what a person alway notices. What a character notices about another shapes the reader's image of both.

 

[Edward Teach]

I’m writing a story where the female protagonist is a college professor dressing for a faculty costume party. I needed for her to notice that her borrowed cheerleader outfit is a bit skimpy, flashes the briefs stretched tight across her ass, and sure to offend some of her colleagues, a fact she relishes, while at the same time gets her aroused thinking about how her husband would jump her on sight if he were home. I couldn’t think of a better or shorter vehicle for communicating all that than for her to give herself a quick check in the mirror and I used it knowing that it was a cliché.

I can even envision sometime needing to say that Betty Jean is a small blonde who wears a size 34DD Bali.

Clichés aren’t always bad and rules can sometimes be broken.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I’m writing a story where the female protagonist is a college professor dressing for a faculty costume party. I needed for her to notice that her borrowed cheerleader outfit is a bit skimpy, flashes the briefs stretched tight across her ass, and sure to offend some of her colleagues, a fact she relishes, while at the same time gets her aroused thinking about how her husband would jump her on sight if he were home. I couldn’t think of a better or shorter vehicle for communicating all that than for her to give herself a quick check in the mirror and I used it knowing that it was a cliché.

I can even envision sometime needing to say that Betty Jean is a small blonde who wears a size 34DD Bali.

Clichés aren’t always bad and rules can sometimes be broken.

The exception that proves the rule...

Your woman is looking in the mirror for a perfectly good reason, and one that advances the plot. It establishes that she's about to do something a little bit different, that will lead, the reader is perfectly aware, to the secks. Mostly, you've described her emotional state. Your description of her body is incidental-- she has an ass worth looking at. What are the numbers? Who cares?

I can imagine a 'voiced' narrator saying "Betty Jean was a a little blond who wore a size 34D Bali."

But I can't imagine it in 'invisible' narration.

I can imagine it coming up in dialogue;

"Betty Jean? Who's that?"

"She's that little blond, wears a size 34D Bali."

"How do you know she wears Bali?"

"I saw the tag when I unhooked it, of course."

"Omigod, you are such an asshole!"

"Why? What did I say?"

 

[Weird Harold]

I'm thinking of multiple actors, like the movie about Bob Dylan; "I'm Not There."
Each wanted poster describes a slightly different person...

For a chain story, A girls' dorm where the girls have to pose for two pictures (front and profile) on a weight scale in front of a height scale before they leave the dorm every day would be a likely starting point -- then detail the adventures of one dorm resident that caused a missing person reward poster to be sent out.

 

[Stella_Omega]

For a chain story, A girls' dorm where the girls have to pose for two pictures (front and profile) on a weight scale in front of a height scale before they leave the dorm every day would be a likely starting point -- then detail the adventures of one dorm resident that caused a missing person reward poster to be sent out.

No, I was thinking that each time it's described, the same girl's 'wanted' poster would read a little bit differently.

Sounds a little Ray Bradbury-ish, when I put it that way... Hmm.

 

[Guest]

I used the mirror cliche' once, but it worked.

It was a husband and wife using anal plugs on each other. They were going out to dinner wearing them and she was checking to see if the plug base showed through the back of her tight skirt.

I didn't go into great detail about her appearance, but I felt it necessary to the story.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

And of course the mirror is a good plot device when the character wakes up in someone else's body or is stuck with a face they don't recognize.

^^^^ the above was meant as a joke.

 

[Weird Harold]

No, I was thinking that each time it's described, the same girl's 'wanted' poster would read a little bit differently.

Sounds a little Ray Bradbury-ish, when I put it that way... Hmm.

The same wanted person but different people describing her? That would work for a serial, but it'd be a bit tough for a chain story. Chain stories work best when each author can develop their own characters -- more of shared universe than different viewpoints of the same person.

Meh -- either would work as long as the chain authors could agree on the common character(s).

 

[NoJo]

When the the character's appearance is revealed by having him or her do a self-evaluation in front of a mirror, I stop reading.

I've used this device for comic effect -- but it's the character's vanity that gets revealed in my stories. All my stories are about personalities, never about sex.

That's because sex is never about sex.

(Except on those occasions when it's ONLY about sex, which makes a dull read for me).

 

[NoJo]

And of course the mirror is a good plot device when the character wakes up in someone else's body or is stuck with a face they don't recognize.

^^^^ the above was meant as a joke.

That's when I used it.

 

[Stella_Omega]

And of course the mirror is a good plot device when the character wakes up in someone else's body or is stuck with a face they don't recognize.

^^^^ the above was meant as a joke.

Well, it does work that way... And when someone wakes up as the opposite sex, they are going to go into some serious looking!

But again, that ought to be about the actions, and the emotions, far more than the cup size of the new body.

 

[Minx_of_Orgasms]

In the stories I write I try to keep physical descriptions to a minimum. I figure everyone has their own taste so trying to tell an erotic story to someone who is not turned on by the specific type of woman or man that I describe might not have the same impact as if I keep their attributes vague and leave it up to the readers imagination.

Do you find that works better as a reader or do you want more descriptions of their physical attributes?

I find the 36-24-36 blonde, looks like Britney Spears description kinda boring and as a reader I tend to skip over that, preferring to scatter my descriptions throughout the story when needed.

I have always wondered about this too. In my stories, I give some physical description of characters. But, I never go into great detail because I thought it was better to allow the reader to use his/her imagination as well. I think it just depends on who you talk with about the topic.

 

[starrkers]

I tend to under-describe my characters. I have a clear picture in my head of what they look like (usually ), but I don't deliberately set out to describe them to the reader - I let the other characters do that, if I think it's necessary, otherwise the reader can slot in whatever features they like.

 

[Darkniciad]

I tend to go on the easy side with physical descriptions. Hair color/style, eye color, a basic body type, and perhaps a salient feature or two in order to differentiate between two characters that are a little too close in appearance. I usually lean on different ways of speaking in dialogue more than the physical descriptions to keep characters separate.

It all depends upon the tone of the story, though. Humor pieces often require a bit more description, as many of the characters in my humor/quirky tales are -- shall we say -- unique specimens. Usually their physical appearance is critical to the humor of the story. I usually linger on descriptions in a stroke story as well.

I do tend to keep around a police bulletin description, though. I usually have at least one request for that in feedback with every couple of new stories ( more if I forget to email one of my readers with the stat sheets before I post the story *laugh* )

Working in a fantasy world helps as well. I have noble titles and things like warrior, soldier, witch, wizard, cleric, illusionist, Archmage, etc. to help differentiate between two attractive redheads in the same scene.