tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post8881940520845889370..comments2024-03-26T06:45:19.658-07:00Comments on TalkToYoUniverse: When do we need to know what a character looks like?Juliette Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-52028948322822598402012-01-27T10:11:05.355-08:002012-01-27T10:11:05.355-08:00No problem, Heidi!No problem, Heidi!Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-75154724088431471932012-01-27T10:10:45.259-08:002012-01-27T10:10:45.259-08:00You're welcome, Garrett, and thanks!You're welcome, Garrett, and thanks!Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-85439068142737317492012-01-27T10:01:03.589-08:002012-01-27T10:01:03.589-08:00Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my...Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question in such detail. You have really given me a lot to think about with my characters and how I will portray them.<br /><br />Happy writings,<br />GarrettGarrett Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05641822174529423228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-55545121344749477992012-01-25T19:42:52.468-08:002012-01-25T19:42:52.468-08:00Thanks, Juliette. I'll look for places to use ...Thanks, Juliette. I'll look for places to use techniques like those in my further works.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11865524260060421873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-91892161462054906682012-01-24T21:18:57.491-08:002012-01-24T21:18:57.491-08:00Heidi, your human-free context is one where you...Heidi, your human-free context is one where you're "fighting the normal," i.e. we don't tend to remark on what is normal. A drawing can help, but if you want to attack the problem in description, I recommend doing three things. First, pick out the features that an observer of the native species would notice, and let them notice them *and draw conclusions based on them*. Second, identify places where the basic information can be included as background to a more specific detail that has a particular social meaning. Third, let your alien species use metaphors for appearance and form that will have meaning for human readers and help them access models that will be meaningful. Thanks for sharing the story about your work!Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-63697257105185232102012-01-24T21:07:47.986-08:002012-01-24T21:07:47.986-08:00Great points, especially #5. We don't always n...Great points, especially #5. We don't always notice how many conclusions we draw based on appearance.<br /><br />I had a hard time getting a descriptive balance right for my first book. Since it's set in a completely human-free world, some readers got agitated at the lack of introductory descriptions for each race. They didn't see "claws" or "antennae" as a clue to the being's overall appearance -- they saw it as just a too-small amount of visual information.<br /><br />I was completely opposed to adding head-to-toe descriptions. My characters notice feather colour or relative height but they're generally accustomed to their local races. They don't feel a need to note every basic detail, in the same way we don't feel a need to specify that human characters walk on two legs and have hands with thumbs on them. Explaining the races for the benefit of a human reader would have destroyed the story's sense of immersion, and those explanations just wouldn't make sense in any of the characters' perspectives. I could have added a beginning preface describing the races, but I'm sure we all hate it when a fantasy book dumps a bunch of dry exposition at the beginning.<br /><br />So I added a brief preface with a line drawing of the three sentient species. A picture is worth a thousand words, after all, so it's a quick way to get a lot of specifics across. I'm not sure if it's a cheap cop-out for a novel to use a picture like that, but at least my readers have a starting mental image to use. There have been fewer complaints of confusion since I did that.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11865524260060421873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-57521858881357037172012-01-24T19:07:47.080-08:002012-01-24T19:07:47.080-08:00Chihuahua0, thanks for the rec! My only issue with...Chihuahua0, thanks for the rec! My only issue with not describing is that when you don't describe, you are relying on default values. That means your narrator's cultural identity needs to show through actions and judgments.Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-55030971031898091892012-01-24T14:22:28.473-08:002012-01-24T14:22:28.473-08:00In the novel I'm writing right now, I don'...In the novel I'm writing right now, I don't describe the narrator at all. There are only hints (he's not bad-looking, he's probably in good shape, he's one head taller than the co-protagonist, etc.) Basic stuff like hair color and race aren't even mentioned, and I don't have any plans to show any of these.<br /><br />What are your thoughts on this?<br /><br />Oh, had you read Divergent? Personally, it uses the mirror cliche well, since in the narrator's family, she rarely sees a mirror.Chihuahua0http://www.youngaspiringwriter.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-45666251764290131482012-01-23T14:37:52.551-08:002012-01-23T14:37:52.551-08:00LOL, David. Well, you'll notice that my charac...LOL, David. Well, you'll notice that my character looks in the mirror in the example above. The similarity between the two is that each character looks into the mirror with a purpose - yours, to assess the damage, mine, to make sure he can paint his caste-mark properly. In both cases, the overall appearance of the character is immaterial. It's what is seen in the mirror, i.e. the injuries and the way my character has to paint the mark on his face as he gets dressed, that is the point.Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-23639083978370680242012-01-23T14:27:14.683-08:002012-01-23T14:27:14.683-08:00I'm currently writing a super hero short story...I'm currently writing a super hero short story that may end up as a chapter in a novel.<br /><br />In this story, the character does look into a mirror. Cliche, you cry? The character is not doing this to describe her eye colour/hair colour/skin colour or lack thereof to the reader. <br /><br />The only physical description is of her injuries (two black eyes and a possibly-broken nose) and how the hell is she going to explain that when she takes off her mask and resumes her secret identity.<br /><br />No other description of her appearance is needed.David Marshallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-38090408176953193872012-01-23T14:00:35.327-08:002012-01-23T14:00:35.327-08:00John, thanks for commenting and providing us with ...John, thanks for commenting and providing us with such good examples! <br /><br />E. Arroyo, thanks. "Bald" is quite a distinctive characteristic, so I'm sure it worked... :)<br /><br />Leah, interesting example. I'm glad you liked my post. Thanks for commenting!Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-41277834045307620662012-01-23T13:10:38.880-08:002012-01-23T13:10:38.880-08:00This is such a good point. People often don't ...This is such a good point. People often don't realize how much character description readers pick up from a character's traits or the setting itself. <br /><br />I once had someone compliment me on how well I did with the character description of my main character, how well they could picture him. They were surprised when I pointed out that the only thing I'd specified was that he lived in a grimy slum in Mexico City. <br /><br />That's a great breakdown of how much the genre affects how much and what type of character description is needed.Leah Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668989627100455974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-27526132449799007492012-01-23T12:33:35.555-08:002012-01-23T12:33:35.555-08:00Great post. In my short I didn't describe my m...Great post. In my short I didn't describe my main character except that she was bald and human. I did describe her husband who was alien. I didn't think about why at the time. This post puts it in perspective. =)E. Arroyohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06634213563563094173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-79767020583280694852012-01-23T11:16:06.681-08:002012-01-23T11:16:06.681-08:00Juliette, this post reminded me of Glen Cook's...Juliette, this post reminded me of Glen Cook's Black Company books, where Croaker, the narrator, is never described, although he is very much a participant in the story. So the reader knows absolutely nothing about the way Croaker looks, and still the books work. <br /><br />Adding description would be incoherent, because Croaker maintains the annals of the Black Company, and you're actually reading "his" work, not Glen Cook's. Croaker sometimes interjects very brief descriptions of his fellow mercenaries.<br /><br />A similar situation occurs with Severian from Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. Again, the reader is provided with Severian's account of his life and deeds, so there's precious little about Severian's physical traits. <br /><br />Still, because there's a wealth of detail (linguistics, tactics, sociology, philosophy, politics, economy, you name it) to be gleaned from these narratives, the stories do not suffer as a result. <br /><br />Somehow the dearth of physical description turns these characters into these shells that the reader can inhabit. With Croaker and Severian, it's attitude that counts, not looks. <br /><br />Not being given a physical description might actually free the reader's imagination. You relate to the character's voice, not their bodies. You and the author wind up creating the character together.<br /><br />It's one hell of a rabbit to pull out of your hat, but if you can do it, hey, it pays off.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11113482909499600834noreply@blogger.com