Descriptions of people...

hcass

Ok, so I am writing my novel but I am having a bit of an issue with descriptions...

Do you have to describe every significant character in the book as they are introduced? Like...

Mary walked in; she was tall, but not elegant like I'd expected, instead her gangly body seemed awkward, almost like it didn't fit her right.

I never really describe people unless they have a feature that adds to the story or that you need to know about. Is this bad? Is it ok to leave it to the reader's imagination sometimes?... All the times..?

Das Kitty

Whose point of view are you using? Only say what that character would notice.

Duckee

Sometimes I think it's better not to offer an elaborate description of what a character looks like. Most of the time when I'm reading I'll forget what the author said about their appearance anyway and fill in the gaps myself.

Imho the character typically comes out through dialogue and action and not through the way in which the author describes their appearance. That's not to say that it can never be important (e.g. we know Harry Potter by his glasses, we know Lisbeth Salander by her tattoos and this information adds to the characters themselves) but I think that in many cases it's not all that necessary.

If you feel that your descriptions of characters is too much, then it probably it too much. I recall being in a writing workshop years back and we were reading a short story by Hemingway (I think). The only physical description of any character was that the woman wore a hat.

echo beach

Personally I don't like a lot of description of people or places and tend to skim through it to get on with the action. It's back to 'show, don't tell'. Show us how Mary is awkward and we are more likely to remember it.
What you do need is enough detail so that characters can be easily distinguished from each other, especially if there a lot of characters but it doesn't have to be by physical descriptions. Authors often give different characters different styles of speaking, or have them act in different ways, say one cautious and one impulsive. This can be more effective than making one tall and one short.

Write it the way that seems best to you and when it is finished have a few people read it and ask them how they 'saw' the characters. If they weren't able to form a clear picture in their head, or if it is very different from how you want it, then you can add or subtract details at that stage. I wouldn't worry too much about it at the start or you will waste a lot of energy making sure Mary stays exactly 5 ft 8 ins all through.

Agent Weebley

I had her pictured at 5 foot 18 !

GalwayGuy2

That depends on the style of writing. Honestly, I don't think anybody can answer that for you.

But, Das Kitty's answer is probably the closest to the truth.

Some writers describe character as the viewpoint would describe them. Some do it to set a mood or fit the genre, others to comment on things that the viewpoint character does not notice, and some uses over description of characters to good effect. *



*One reason why I think Robert Jordan is so popular is because his description of characters create an 'adventure' mentality for the readers. Everything's new and fresh and lush and fun.

hcass

Yes, it's first person - that makes perfect sense Das Kitty. And thank you everyone else for your insights - thank god cos I hate all this descriptive nonsense!

And Weebley - thanks for making me laugh out loud. As always.

pickarooney

You could probably use a more precise verb to describe her entrance, obviating the need to specify, and repeat, that she was gangly/awkward/ill-fitting. That, or use a metaphor.

Mary walked in, more stork than swan.

Agent Weebley

I'm glad you got a chuckle, hcass. I'm not a very descriptive writer, myself. I do enjoy other people's descriptions, like pickarooney's above ^^. Yours was good too, but you have to make sure it isn't contrived sounding, not that it was.

Think Zeno of Elea - something paradoxical about the person. Maybe I should try being descriptive sometime.

My "5 foot 18" comment was brief, because I was waiting for some Genius to come back to continue to serve me at the bar. I typed it on my iPhone5.

Yes, I was at the Apple Store. I try to go in there as little as possible, because everyone seems so young and cool compared to little old me. I went in there one time because my ringer stopped working and I wanted a new phone under warranty. He put it on the diagnostic, then laughed as he suddenly realized my stupidity, and flipped the side switch back on.

Sitting at some holding area halfway down the store for 15 minutes into my set appointment at 3:50pm, a "Genius" came up to me, passing by just inside my comfort zone, tapped my shoulder lightly, and cupped his hand waving me me to follow as he walked.

"Follow me to the bar," he said with a pleasant smile and cords hanging out of various orifices and pockets.

"I'll have a large black, please," I said cheerfully as I followed, suddenly realizing he was a large black guy.

No response. Nothing.

Freaking out a little, but knowing I could scramble out of my faux pas easily, I said more loudly: "bar? large black coffee?" I added a wide grin so he could not take it any other way.

"Oh, I didn't hear you," he said. A few chuckles ensued.

Everything went well. Nerfy's iPhone4S had had a 4 foot drop 6 months ago and it had a growing blackness on the top left of the screen, so I had given her $200 towards an iPhone5S. I wanted to swap it out with a reconditioned one for $200 to have as a spare.

The point of the matter is that I want to try being descriptive here.

Nerfy's phone had been lying in a drawer for 6 months, so the battery was dead. He couldn't put it on the diagnostic, so he had to charge it up.

Then he left to do some multitasking elsewhere while it climbed to 5%.

After checking out echo beach's comment, and replying, I became transfixed by the Genius next door. This particular Genius seemed very knowledgeable, and the lady being served was embarrassed by the dirty screen on the MacBookPro she was presenting.

I wasn't sure if the Genius was a boy, girl, man or woman. The hair was short and curled up at the back with a wavyish side parting, the fringe dangling down below the eyebrows, so I couldn't tell if there had been any eyebrow action performed, and the voice . . . it was neither low nor high. A kind of mid-range voice like it's finally breaking, but . . . not yet.

I check out the chest area. No help there. I thought I may have seen the beginnings of breasts, but even now, I have absolutely no idea what side of the fence this MetroSexual person was sitting on.

The Genius did seem to enjoy cleaning the lady's screen and keyboard with the Apple Approved Cleaner a little too much. Stroking the damp microfibre back and forth with such purpose while gazing lovingly into the lady's eyes, leading me to believe this Genius was more MetroSensual than any worrying about some label or other . . . who cares! Hot is hot.

And that is why I voted for GalwayGuy2 yesterday.

hcass

Oh I don't mind if it sounded contrived - it was contrived! It's not in my novel - I just thought up a sentence on the spot as to demonstrate what I meant - there are no descriptions of persons in me buke yet. But maybe that'll change... don't think so though.

Again, loved your post and story about Apple Store and feeling inferior - kinda the way I feel when I walk into Brown Thomas wearing a tracksuit with holes in the knees.

Hrududu

hcass wrote: »

Ok, so I am writing my novel but I am having a bit of an issue with descriptions...

Do you have to describe every significant character in the book as they are introduced? Like...

Mary walked in; she was tall, but not elegant like I'd expected, instead her gangly body seemed awkward, almost like it didn't fit her right.

I never really describe people unless they have a feature that adds to the story or that you need to know about. Is this bad? Is it ok to leave it to the reader's imagination sometimes?... All the times..?

I'm happy to not get descriptions. My brain fills in the gaps and I get free reign over how to decide what they look like.

However if an author doesn't describe a character as soon as they are introduced then I hate it when they drop in a detail a few chapters later. If I picture a character a certain way only to find out later that they're blonde, or ridiculously tall or something else then I get annoyed. I can never really shake the original picture I had of them so this new information jars me and takes me out of the story.

Duckee

Hrududu wrote: »

I'm happy to not get descriptions. My brain fills in the gaps and I get free reign over how to decide what they look like.

However if an author doesn't describe a character as soon as they are introduced then I hate it when they drop in a detail a few chapters later. If I picture a character a certain way only to find out later that they're blonde, or ridiculously tall or something else then I get annoyed. I can never really shake the original picture I had of them so this new information jars me and takes me out of the story.

That's an interesting take on things. Would you go so far as to say it ruins the story for you if your own image conflicts with what you're told by the author?

Thinking about it, I'm not sure it matters much to me the physical side of any one character as I distinguish them more in terms of their personality and relationships to other characters. Later descriptions wouldn't bother me too much because of this.

I'm curious, though, about how vivid a picture you get of the characters themselves and how that impacts your reading experience.

Das Kitty

That can annoy me too, however, I normally just default back to my own head picture, unless it's some trait that's important to the story.

Hrududu

Duckee wrote: »

That's an interesting take on things. Would you go so far as to say it ruins the story for you if your own image conflicts with what you're told by the author?

Thinking about it, I'm not sure it matters much to me the physical side of any one character as I distinguish them more in terms of their personality and relationships to other characters. Later descriptions wouldn't bother me too much because of this.

I'm curious, though, about how vivid a picture you get of the characters themselves and how that impacts your reading experience.

It doesn't ruin the story. Like Das Kitty I end up defaulting back to my original picture. But if it comes up again like if someone comments on that blonde hair again ill be jarred out of the flow.

I have a pretty good mental picture going. When I read its like I'm watching a film rather than seeing the words, if you know what I mean. So anytime something like that happens it snaps me back to reading the words again. Takes a couple of sentences then to flip back into watching mode.

But this is only when the description comes long after the character is introduced. If you tell me that they're blonde when they're introduced then that's grand.

But like you were saying what they look like isn't really important to me. But damnit if they have a squint and a limp tell me early