working in character descriptions...

Practice. I am sorry if that sounds flippant, but really, the more you write, the easier I think it gets. POV comes into this, of course, because if you are inside the characters head, its strange to describe the pretty girl with the big blue eyes, unless she looks in a mirror. Or have another character looking at them.

Then again, how incredibly important is it? Some will say you don't have to at all, but personally, when I read a book, I like having an idea what the characters look like, so as a writer, I like to sprinkle in things that give you an idea, like having a girl brush her long, red hair. I have one character that the only description I give of him is that he has sandy hair, and that is because where he lives, mostly everyone has black or dark brown hair. You don't need to go into super detail, just sprinkle in a few here and there. You never need to give a freckle by freckle rundown, even if you know all that.

The main characters need to be described, but not all at once, although it is sometimes necessary to focus on a part of the description needed for immediate impact, I'm struggling to think of an example: an enormously strong man, able to lift a car off a trapped accident victim. Sorry, if it's a tame example.

Some minor characters hardly need describing at all; the police officer issuing a parking ticket is just that, an anonymous man in a uniform, completing a boring task. It doesn't matter whether he has a big nose, or big feet, no one is interested.

But when your protagonist walks into a room and immediately attracts attention from all the men present, because she is a tall, willowy blonde, with dreamy eyes and long, tanned legs, then that needs the necessary description, either there and then, or when she gets dressed that morning.

An amount of quirkiness is always helpful (for main characters), such as a slight and engaging stammer of an otherwise tough world champion boxer. Or the tantalising backward glance of the blonde model, parading her best part for the camera.

(That's the trouble with using the word blonde, it leads to helpless word association).

'as he took her hand in his she remebered how his big, strong hands had once seemed to offer protection, now they seemed clumsy and heavy and restricting.'

not the best thing ive writen today but i think i want to show how chr description can be used to show other aspects of a story.

Remember that you don't necessarily have to have the description immediately, upon first introduction of the character. It can be a little later. Nor does it have to be the traditional hair, eye color. Sometimes it's helpful to pick something that makes the character stand out and stop. Or, if the POV knows the other person, you can describe something that's changed (character chopped off their hair; looks like they're going to an interview, etc.).

Some effective methods of description I've observed in books:

Through dialogue: The most effective line of dialogue that described a character came from a simple line of dialogue in one of J.A. Konrath's books. In Vince Flynn's books, the hot tempered main character points to a scar on his face and explains how he got it.

Backstory: In one of the early Laurell K. Hamilton's books, there's a scene where two characters discuss the main character's looks. All of it ends up tied into the backstory of the MC's mother's death and growing up looking like she was adopted.

With a bit of humor: Sue Grafton sometimes does a quick one liner that has a wry, humorous point. Hers are interesting to look at because, though she hits all the usual areas, she often brings something different into them. Though I'd suggest the early books, not her most recent ones.

For some thriller authors, they give a mini-biography of the character in place of description. This works well in omniscient viewpoint, but would be problematic in other viewpoints.

I sprinkle a bit of character description in through the story, though not too much. I think it's more important to focus on character personality than looks, anyone can imagine a face in their head with a little nudge.

If you are going to describe in detail I would do it sooner rather than later. I dislike having the image of a character shattered half way through a story.

If my POV Is describing other people, I'll just have her say what she sees and how she feels about it. "The cute boy with curly blond hair she'd kill for." If it's my POV being described, I try to blend it in with what's she doing or thinking. "The cute boy with curly blond hair that put her own boring brown mess to shame." (but hopefully better than those quick examples)

I think putting it in your POV's perspective makes it feel less like a list of details and more like someone noticing something and remarking on it.

Linda Adams said:

Remember that you don't necessarily have to have the description immediately, upon first introduction of the character. It can be a little later.

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If you're talking about physical description I'd have to disagree.

I personally don't think that in-depth physical description is often necessary, but if you're going to have it, then have it on first meeting a character.
Readers will visualise a character as they want to see them, which is fine, preferable even, but if down the line you start telling them that the tall blonde protag of their imagination bangs his bald head on the corner of table, then you've got problems.

If having hair or not having hair ( or whatever the descriptive detail is) is important to the story then by all means mention it, otherwise -who cares - let him be bald or hairy as the reader chooses.

ETA- yes, I think I did misunderstand you, John. Posting altered.

john barnes on toast said:

If you're talking about physical description I'd have to disagree.

I personally don't think that in-depth physical description is often necessary, but if you're going to have it, then have it on first meeting a character.
Readers will visualise a character as they want to see them, which is fine, preferable even, but if down the line you start telling them that the tall blonde protag of their imagination bangs his bald head on the corner of table, then you've got problems.

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Danthia said:

If my POV Is describing other people, I'll just have her say what she sees and how she feels about it. "The cute boy with curly blond hair she'd kill for." If it's my POV being described, I try to blend it in with what's she doing or thinking. "The cute boy with curly blond hair that put her own boring brown mess to shame." (but hopefully better than those quick examples)

I think putting it in your POV's perspective makes it feel less like a list of details and more like someone noticing something and remarking on it.

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This is what I do (or try to do). It works especially well if they're just meeting someone. When I did first person, I tried to sneak in descriptions of the MC in subtle ways, through things other people said to her, mainly. I would do a general overview of characters' appearences early on so the reader isn't making their own, incorrect visualization, but I don't think you need to describe them down to the last scar all in one place.

Usually I wait to describe a character until another character currently acting as POV meets them for the first time. The primary MC of my current novel doesn't get described until Chapter 6, when a secondary MC meets him. The MC's father gets his first description in the same chapter, as that secondary MC compares him to his son.

A POV character who knows the describee will probably only bother to describe her if there's something unusual about her appearance. Unless, of course, the POV character is obsessed with the describee's appearance for some reason.

Genres differ. In chick lits, you can get away with describing everyone's clothes and hairstyles and makeup -- the POV character can even describe herself. It's part of the charm of the genre. SF and fantasy often employ outsider POV characters, who will have a good reason to describe all the weird things they observe in the new worlds around them.

Just be careful with 1st person POV.

I hate it when someone writes a line like "I twirled a piece of my chocolate brown hair around my finger." Who thinks of their hair like that in normal thought process?

Or even worse.

"My honey colored eyes fixed on some obscure thing in the distance I only mentioned so I could tell you my eye color." In 1st person, the POV character can't see their own eyes unless they're looking at a reflective surface, so mentioning the color that way is awkward.

Mirror descriptions are generally a no-go, too. They're boring. The only time I can remember using a mirror to give a physical description is for a character who was altering her appearance to match a photograph - she had to look in the mirror to do it. "The fate of the world rests on a pair of $0.99 sunglasses and a bad dye-job."

I agree - there's no real need to throw in much description unless there's a call for it. Otherwise, sprinkle it in if you think it's necessary. At this point in my WIP, the only person who has any sort of description (other than the mandatory male/female) is one of the minor characters and all he's gotten so far is the fact that he has a bum knee. And this is only because it plays into the plot.

You don't necessarily have to describe every detail about the characters. Unless it's important to the story or the character's development for us to know that he wears red polo shirts all the time, it should not be in there. Jenny have a big nose? Only necessary if we absolutely have to know. Otherwise, it's just superfluous information.

Bufty said:

ETA- yes, I think I did misunderstand you,

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story of my life

john barnes on toast said:

If you're talking about physical description I'd have to disagree.

I personally don't think that in-depth physical description is often necessary, but if you're going to have it, then have it on first meeting a character.
Readers will visualise a character as they want to see them, which is fine, preferable even, but if down the line you start telling them that the tall blonde protag of their imagination bangs his bald head on the corner of table, then you've got problems.

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I have seen books where it does come a little later--if the author tried to put it in up front, it would have distracted or interrupted the scene. In one published book, it occurs in chapter 3, though the character does appear in chapter 1 (not chapter 2). And I agree with it because it would have interrupted what was happening in Chapter 1, not to mention being inappropriate in the middle of an action scene.

I've also critted pieces where the author tries to shoehorn it in right away, and the description clearly doesn't fit right there.

Linda Adams said:

I have seen books where it does come a little later--if the author tried to put it in up front, it would have distracted or interrupted the scene. In one published book, it occurs in chapter 3, though the character does appear in chapter 1 (not chapter 2). And I agree with it because it would have interrupted what was happening in Chapter 1, not to mention being inappropriate in the middle of an action scene.

I've also critted pieces where the author tries to shoehorn it in right away, and the description clearly doesn't fit right there.

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I'm not saying it's the law.
But if you want to dictate to your reader what a character looks like, it's damn risky to do it after you've already given a reader the thinking space to formulate their own image. If you contradict that image it's likely to really disappoint the reader.

Where i'd say it is non-negotiable is where a character has a physical distinction that later becomes crucial to the plot.
eg. if your hero's 7ft tall, you better mention that up front, and not at the point where it's really really important that he can he reach that honey jar on the top shelf.

On another point, I wouldn't use the fact whether an idea or device has made it into print, as the barometer of whether it's 'good'.
Plenty of total crap makes it on to the printed page. We shouldn't take that as justification for lowering the bar.
Find things that are great, and aspire to them.

I appreciate this doesn't all relate to your point, but I'm talking generally.

john barnes on toast said:

I'm not saying it's the law.
But if you want to dictate to your reader what a character looks like, it's damn risky to do it after you've already given a reader the thinking space to formulate their own image. If you contradict that image it's likely to really disappoint the reader.

Where i'd say it is non-negotiable is where a character has a physical distinction that later becomes crucial to the plot.
eg. if your hero's 7ft tall, you better mention that up front, and not at the point where it's really really important that he can he reach that honey jar on the top shelf.

On another point, I wouldn't use the fact whether an idea or device has made it into print, as the barometer of whether it's 'good'.
Plenty of total crap makes it on to the printed page. We shouldn't take that as justification for lowering the bar.
Find things that are great, and aspire to them.

I appreciate this doesn't all relate to your point, but I'm talking generally.

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In Robert Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, the main character Mannie Davis (Manuel Garcia O'Kelly Davis) is a dark-skinned, bi-racial man. However, it is not revealed until much later. His race becomes an important plot element later in the story.

I'm certain Heinlein did it for a reason. To show, perhaps the reader's unconcious biases or to show how unimportant race would be in a future society on the Moon. However, I always find this jarring, and it's the one thing I don't like about the book.

But sometimes a good simile can give a general impression without a lot of description. The first line of Heinlein's The Menace From Earth:

"My name is Holly Jones and I'm fifteen. I'm very intelligent but it doesn't show, because I look like an underdone angel. Insipid."

That line pack a lot of information about the character in just two sentences.

ccarver30 said:

DO NOT HAVE THEM LOOK IN A MIRROR!!!!!!!!!

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I do agree in large part.

I think the mirror is acceptable (on occasion) if the character has an express purpose in doing so. And only if it puts some action into the scene. Preparing for a date. Putting on a disguise. Fretting over the effects of age/stress/recent plastic surgery.

The morning once-over just doesn't work. Even if it's post-hangover. Although waking up and discovering that someone has written something on your face (or that you have a new, inexplicable tattoo) would be acceptable.

Even these should be kept to a minimum though. Less is more for description, in my opinion. The Heinlein example is perfect. Letting the reader supply most of the details in their own preconceptions is my preference.

Just remember, if you describe a character at all, do it as soon as that information is necessary, especially if it's not expected. Don't tell me the character is 5' tall and has red hair on page 168 when I've already decided the character is about my height and is a brunette.

Also, you can add details to how the character acts and how others react to him/her. If your character is obese, for example. You don't necessarily have to give us a detail medical exam.

ccarver30 said:

DO NOT HAVE THEM LOOK IN A MIRROR!!!!!!!!!

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I did this with my first published short story. I look back on that part and kick myself. (see the link below and laugh )

Hey, Nell--important question: what's your favorite book? preferably one that you own or have access to.

This is a pretty rough one. I've been struggling with it, I'm probably going to go back through what I'm writing later on and try and surgically add details. I question how important it is, though.

The personality of a person says a lot more than their appearance, a lot of the time. I can think of a lot of characters who are bigger-than-life but are never described or described very, very briefly (think Ford Prefect in HHGTTG).

I think it's very genre-specific, too. If your focus is on dialogue and plot, it really doesn't matter. If you're writing romance, on the other hand, it's pretty much obligatory to describe everyone so you can relate how sexy they are.