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This is sort of an awkward question. How do you make a character hot? Is it different if average joe on the street wouldn't look twice, but the MC really really thinks they're hot? Thoughts?
Hotness?
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Write what you find attractive,
Not everyone is going to find the same thing hot, so don't even try go there.
I'm sure people will disagree with me though.
Not everyone is going to find the same thing hot, so don't even try go there.
I'm sure people will disagree with me though.
Hotness is subjective. A description of physical attributes, no matter how detailed, won't make readers see a character as being hot. Show the hotness through other characters' attitudes towards that character.
I agree with the fine Giraffe. You can never describe something for the reader in a more effective way than they can imagine it. Give them some key points to focus in on--brown hair, blue eyes, etc--and then show the freakish hotness by others' reaction to her/him. The reader will immediately imagine what they think is stupid-hawt. Make the reader's imagination do the work for you--they'll do it better than you can anyway.
Don't even try. You can't tell the reader a character is hot, all you can do is describe others' reaction to him/her.
It's all a matter of opinion. For instance, can you believe there are some mentalists out there who don't think Jared and Shannon Leto are the hottest guys on Earth?
I know; crazy, huh?
It just goes to show - different strokes an' all that...
It's all a matter of opinion. For instance, can you believe there are some mentalists out there who don't think Jared and Shannon Leto are the hottest guys on Earth?
I know; crazy, huh?
It just goes to show - different strokes an' all that...
I don't even know who Jared and Shannon Leto are, Scarlet. Seriously. I guess that makes me one of the mentalists? 
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I have to say, as long as you don't describe the character in a way that sounds ugly, you can make the reader think "hot."
I didn't even describe one of my characters at all spare the passing mention of his black hair, and I got the response that they imagined him being really hot.
Describe them in a way that sounds good, then show an attitude of hotness and let them be applealing to other characters and such. You will never get everyone to think "he's hot," but think of the sort of attitude you'd find attractive and try to portrey that.
I didn't even describe one of my characters at all spare the passing mention of his black hair, and I got the response that they imagined him being really hot.
Describe them in a way that sounds good, then show an attitude of hotness and let them be applealing to other characters and such. You will never get everyone to think "he's hot," but think of the sort of attitude you'd find attractive and try to portrey that.
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Of course, you can write someone your charas find hot, and I'm gonna get that charas do, but I won't necessarily agree.
Basically - is it important for you to have the readers lust over them, or the other characters do the lusting.
Ughh I'm not making sense, I guess.
Basically - is it important for you to have the readers lust over them, or the other characters do the lusting.
Ughh I'm not making sense, I guess.
First and foremost, do what others have suggested. Don't tell the reader about their physical features in an attempt to convey "hotness." Why not try something a little different. Convey to the reader the character's hotness not only by the reactions of others, but with the actions of that very character. Hotness is not all outward physical appearance. In fact, see if you can make the character attractive without saying a single thing about his/her hair, eyes, physical build, or any of the other things a person could get from a two-dimensional photograph.
Like others have said, attractive is a matter of personal taste. For God's sake, some women even think men with heavy black eyeliner are hot!
It seems to me that too many novels rely on a laundry list-type description of physical features. And when they do that, the women are model thin (with big breasts, or course) and Barbie doll facial features. And the men all have cut muscles with an eight-pack instead of the normal six, and, oh yeah, bulging biceps. And they all must be either rich, or one of them is secretly rich. And they seem to find a way to exotic places on the globe.
If you have to provide physical description, remember that physical beauty (hotness?) can be found in MidSizedTown, USA (or wherever you live). Observe and see what it is that makes people on the street seem attractive. Don't use the airbrushed photos in magazines as the standard.
Like others have said, attractive is a matter of personal taste. For God's sake, some women even think men with heavy black eyeliner are hot!
It seems to me that too many novels rely on a laundry list-type description of physical features. And when they do that, the women are model thin (with big breasts, or course) and Barbie doll facial features. And the men all have cut muscles with an eight-pack instead of the normal six, and, oh yeah, bulging biceps. And they all must be either rich, or one of them is secretly rich. And they seem to find a way to exotic places on the globe.
If you have to provide physical description, remember that physical beauty (hotness?) can be found in MidSizedTown, USA (or wherever you live). Observe and see what it is that makes people on the street seem attractive. Don't use the airbrushed photos in magazines as the standard.
NeuroFizz hit the nail on the head in his post. When I read paranormal romances, it isn't the author's description of the hero that makes me go "Oh, he's hot." It's how the heroine reacts to his looks and nearness. How he acts around her, and what his actions are overall.
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I feel right at home.
Let the piss-taking commence.
Oh. It's already started, you say?
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And dear god please don't constantly describe them as "perfect" unless that is meant to be very telling about the character who thinks them so. There could have been a time I might have found Edward from Twilight attractive, but after being told for the nth time how "perfect" he looked . . . yeah really not so much.
As the others have said. It isn't about them, but how they are perceived. Leaving out description allows for the reader to make him/her look exactly how he/she would want a "hot" person to look. And don't forget about personality. Personality alone can be very sexy.
As the others have said. It isn't about them, but how they are perceived. Leaving out description allows for the reader to make him/her look exactly how he/she would want a "hot" person to look. And don't forget about personality. Personality alone can be very sexy.
Oh god, yes. Listen to Toothpaste!
Godlike Edward with his 'scintillating arms'...how the hell do arms scintillate? WHUT? His angel's face, his crooked smile, his ever-changing eye colour...
BLARG.
Godlike Edward with his 'scintillating arms'...how the hell do arms scintillate? WHUT? His angel's face, his crooked smile, his ever-changing eye colour...
BLARG.
Depending on what your narrative voice is, you can describe their ojective qualities through your narrator's subjective bias, which helps the reader form a picture of what the character actually looks like, while giving a sense of how we're supposed to feel about that (hot/not hot).
For example, for me, personality really influences how hot I perceive a person to be, and if they come across as a jerk, I think they're ugly no matter how many modeling agencies want to sign them. I have never been attracted to Tom Cruise, for example. So I might say something like "Tom's face had the kind of white-toothed classic symmetry that could make any personality stagnate in its development." I dunno.. not quite there.. but I worked in some details you can picture (white teeth, symmetrical face - which generally is associated with what we perceive as beauty) along with some description of how I interpret those details.
So the same thing with hotness: paint a few concrete details and then describe why those details would make the character hot.
For example, for me, personality really influences how hot I perceive a person to be, and if they come across as a jerk, I think they're ugly no matter how many modeling agencies want to sign them. I have never been attracted to Tom Cruise, for example. So I might say something like "Tom's face had the kind of white-toothed classic symmetry that could make any personality stagnate in its development." I dunno.. not quite there.. but I worked in some details you can picture (white teeth, symmetrical face - which generally is associated with what we perceive as beauty) along with some description of how I interpret those details.
So the same thing with hotness: paint a few concrete details and then describe why those details would make the character hot.
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I agree with FennelGiraffe that it's something you shouldn't really try to convey to the reader, so much as just let the attracted character's reactions prove how "hot" the character in question is. I don't intend most of my characters to be hot, but they end up being hot to me personally. ^_^; But since my own POV isn't part of the story, this isn't conveyed.
I have one MC who gets crushes now and then and I just use her reactions and thoughts to show how "hot" the other character is to her. Whether this character is hot to the reader or not doesn't matter. It's how the other characters react and feel. Some people will stare at somebody stupidly if they're attracted. Some giggle a lot. My MC in this case tends to get clumsy, say stupid things, and turn bright red. So when she starts doing those things, you know she's met a "hot" character.
If the reader doesn't agree that this character she's attracted to is hot, I don't care, since that's not the point of the story. It might be different in erotica, say, where you might want the reader to be attracted to a character, but even there I use the characters' reactions to each other to convey such things. If one of the characters finds somebody really attractive, and their reactions express this, I'll find that more interesting than if the writer had tried to describe somebody as being "hot."
Describing a "hot" character is far too subjective. Showing other characters' reactions goes much further than mere physical description.
I have one MC who gets crushes now and then and I just use her reactions and thoughts to show how "hot" the other character is to her. Whether this character is hot to the reader or not doesn't matter. It's how the other characters react and feel. Some people will stare at somebody stupidly if they're attracted. Some giggle a lot. My MC in this case tends to get clumsy, say stupid things, and turn bright red. So when she starts doing those things, you know she's met a "hot" character.
If the reader doesn't agree that this character she's attracted to is hot, I don't care, since that's not the point of the story. It might be different in erotica, say, where you might want the reader to be attracted to a character, but even there I use the characters' reactions to each other to convey such things. If one of the characters finds somebody really attractive, and their reactions express this, I'll find that more interesting than if the writer had tried to describe somebody as being "hot."
Describing a "hot" character is far too subjective. Showing other characters' reactions goes much further than mere physical description.
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I also agree you can't make the reader see a character as being hot, but it's not important. The reader doesn't participate in the stories. Your other characters do; they are the ones who should be attracted to your character.
I think Mad Queen makes a really good point there and I believe this is one of those things that's easier to deal with in first person, as I'm now discovering.
It's taken as read that anything you write in first person is the opinion of the narrator, who is also one of your characters.
In third, you would have to be more objective. Show other characters' reactions, etc, as has already been mentioned. In first, you can get away with the occasional, "ZOMG HE'S SO HOT!!!!11!!! WTF LOL!!!" although obviously written a tad more eloquently than that.
I think you can tell more in first person as you're inside someone's head, although I still prefer showing to telling.
Like MQ says, your characters have to think this guy is hot, not the readers.
It's taken as read that anything you write in first person is the opinion of the narrator, who is also one of your characters.
In third, you would have to be more objective. Show other characters' reactions, etc, as has already been mentioned. In first, you can get away with the occasional, "ZOMG HE'S SO HOT!!!!11!!! WTF LOL!!!" although obviously written a tad more eloquently than that.
I think you can tell more in first person as you're inside someone's head, although I still prefer showing to telling.
Like MQ says, your characters have to think this guy is hot, not the readers.
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I think metaphors work fairly well - He has the grace of a cat, hair the color of chocolate, a voice like silk...
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well, not these metaphors, they're a wee bit over-used, but yeah I think a good metaphor can elicit the right feeling in your reader.
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