Are You Ever Surprised When People Describe Your Characters?

AnneMarble · May 19, 2007

I was once startled when someone told me he envisioned one of my characters (a lord in a fantasy novel) as looking and sounding like James Mason. Yet when I thought about it, this made sense. Like my character, James Mason had a tremendous physical presence. And the voice could fit as my character was a lord, after all, even if he tended to stick to the his isolated castle.

So have you ever been surprised when someone described what they thought your character looked like? When you think of it, do their descriptions make sense after all? Or have they ever made you think "Oh darn it, how do I rewrite the description to make sure no one thinks my character looks like that?!"
:roll:

Sage · May 19, 2007

I have had a beta reader look at a pic I made with photoshop of a character (one I thought looked the most like how I had envisioned/described him) & say, "That's not what he looks like." She also compared another character (of the same race as the first & almost all the other characters) to a character from Star Wars... from a race that didn't look anything the race in my novel. The personality was close, though, so maybe that's why.

My favorite off-description, though, was of an action taken, not a person. In his head, the character flew towards the other guy, did a flip in mid-air, & sliced the other guy in two. In my description, the character (a teenage boy with little fighting training), flew at the guy & stuck the sword in his shoulder. :ROFL:

I am horrible at describing people, but this move was definitely described in detail.

justpat · May 19, 2007

Always, because I'm not one for going into great detail when it comes to describing them, I'd rather let the reader's imagination handle it. So, everyone always has a different idea. It makes it more fun that way.

BardSkye · May 19, 2007

I've never had anyone describe them to me.

I think it would be interesting to find out how others see them.

Legionsynch · May 19, 2007

My roommate swears that all but one of the main cast of my WIP are spot on. She swears that the one that's wrong looks nothing like what she envisioned the character as.

It's funny, because he was the first character I was sure on, and knew the actor in question could pull off the character's personality (even though I've never seen him in a role like that).

aliajohnson · May 19, 2007

My agent told me she saw my villian as a middle-aged man when I'd written him as someone in his mid to late twenties. I was really surpised. I had a very clear picture in my head of what he looked like, and it was nothing like the picture she had in hers.

After a long discussion about my options, I took her suggestion to rewrite him as older. And let me tell you, that was a whole pile of work. I had to change his background, give him a family, mess with his physical appearance and amend every reference to his age made in the book. In the end, though, it was worth it. He really does play better as an older guy.

blacbird · May 19, 2007

As people never read about my characters . . . no.

caw

Chasing the Horizon · May 19, 2007

Yes, once, but that was my own fault for having the description screwy (I fixed it, of course). I'm pretty detailed in my character descriptions, so most people have the same basic impression.

I did argue with one of beta's when he said my action heroine looked like Wonder Woman, but then he showed me a picture of Wonder Woman, and she actually does look like Rose, LOL.

swvaughn · May 19, 2007

I am constantly surprised when people talk about my characters. It amazes me that they're "real" enough for others to discuss.

People have "cast my movie" for me. That was fun.

LisaHy · May 19, 2007

I based a character's physical appearence off Whoopie Goldburg, but didn't tell any of my beta readers about it. So it was a double surprise when one of them commented he'd like to turn the novel into a screenplay and then give the part to Whoopie. :hooray:

Cheers, Lisa.

Pagey's_Girl · May 19, 2007

On another writing board, someone, after seeing a picture of me, exclaimed, "That's EXACTLY how I pictured your MC looking!" Only thing is, my MC is supposed to be pretty, so - oh well....

akiwiguy · May 19, 2007

justpat said:
Always, because I'm not one for going into great detail when it comes to describing them, I'd rather let the reader's imagination handle it. So, everyone always has a different idea. It makes it more fun that way.

A couple of us touched on this on another thread recently, and I tend to give very little physical description of characters. I've often been surprised when readers have made comments like "I was absolutely in there as I read it, I could see everything" etc, when there has been almost no description. And often looking back at my own old dabblings, the work with which I am quite pleased is like that. If a story is well told then the reader tends to paint their own picture I think. But with one proviso... not to suddenly dump a detail halfway through that jars with the impression they've already formed.

Are You Ever Surprised When People Describe Your Characters?

AnneMarble

Nefarious Ghost Fan

Sage

Our Lady of Parentheticals

justpat

QueryTracker

BardSkye

Barbershoppin' Harmony Whore

Legionsynch

aliajohnson

blacbird

Chasing the Horizon

Blowing in the Wind

swvaughn

adrift

LisaHy

It's probably a tumour

Pagey's_Girl

Still plays with dolls

akiwiguy

AW Inmate #90976