That's the real reason to provide a description of a character—because it matters, either as a plot point or as a key to character.
Appearance is Everything (and I've Got Nothing)
- Thread starter MerriTudor
- Start date
Kudos! I don't have any problem with the MMC looking like a real person as long as he that certain something that makes him attractive, and in real life, that isn't always perfect good looks. In fact, it usually isn't! I had a friend once who took me aside and asked me why I was dating my then-current boyfriend. "You could so so much better!" And she was referring to his looks. Why was I dating him? Um...'cause he was funny, and kind, and smart as hell, and we understood one another like no one else did. Including my friend, who should have known me well enough to know why I was dating him! Eeeshhh!
Or to show sexual tension. If Heroine and Hero have just met, and he hasn't done anything just yet but you want to show that she's drawn to him, appearance is one way to go.
Of course, this can be wildly overdone, if she looks into his midnight-blue eyes and sees all the passion and pain hidden behind his dark cold exterior while he gazes into her green eyes and marvels at the courage she shows in holding his gaze. But adding an attractive feature at the start is a good hook to start hanging the sexual tension on.
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2011
- Messages
- 23,122
- Reaction score
- 10,882
- Location
- Where faults collide
- Website
- doggedlywriting.blogspot.com
I tend to prefer romances where the characters aren't stunningly attractive in a generic sense, where there are definite imperfections, even, but there's something that grows on one another with time. Sometimes it's a matter of a personal quirk--a way of smiling, or some other mannerism, that calls attention to a feature or personality trait that is compatible.
I tend to go for heroes (and heroines) who are dark of hair and eye, maybe because I am, and I hated the way people with brown hair and brown eyes (the most common combination in most parts of the world) are so underrepresented in fiction. But any hair/eye combo can be attractive. Hazel eyes are also underrepresented. Heroes tend to have eyes of blue, green or steely gray. Hazel is a pretty common eye color (if you look, most people with "blue," "green," or "gray" eyes really have hazel eyes) in European settings, but it's infinitely variable. And it's rarely represented in fiction.
Hair and eye color are only one part of a person's appearance, though, and sometimes I think writers bank too heavily on those traits instead of the thousands of other ways two people of the same coloring can differ.
I tend to go for heroes (and heroines) who are dark of hair and eye, maybe because I am, and I hated the way people with brown hair and brown eyes (the most common combination in most parts of the world) are so underrepresented in fiction. But any hair/eye combo can be attractive. Hazel eyes are also underrepresented. Heroes tend to have eyes of blue, green or steely gray. Hazel is a pretty common eye color (if you look, most people with "blue," "green," or "gray" eyes really have hazel eyes) in European settings, but it's infinitely variable. And it's rarely represented in fiction.
Hair and eye color are only one part of a person's appearance, though, and sometimes I think writers bank too heavily on those traits instead of the thousands of other ways two people of the same coloring can differ.
Last edited:
There is nothing wrong with having a character who looks like the routine, cookie-cutter heart-throb. But when you think of it, any descriptions will work if the reader is drawn deep enough into the story. When your FMC tells us how that guy over there is soooo handsome that her knees feel weak and she's on fire with emotions, if the reader is fully immersed in the moment, they will imagine a handsome MMC, even without a particular description. Because that's what suspension of disbelief is about, we believe what the characters tell us. FMC tells us this man is extremely handsome, then the reader imagines somebody who is extremely handsome in their own eyes.
Exactly! Which is why I was so panicked about being unable to come up with the goods. She meets him, there's only brief conversation, mostly with her best friend butting in, and so he has to be sufficiently intriguing in appearance to hook her into thinking about him once she's gone home.
I, too, have dark hair and eyes and would appreciate more heroines with the same. The ones I write tend to be brown-eyed girls, like the Van Morrison song of the same name! I'm probably going to have to change it up at some point just to avoid being repetitive.
I agree, to an extent. Whatever description you're given, whether cursory or detailed, will probably default to your own definition of extremely handsome. It's just that I'm finding it hard to get any clues as to why, if my FMC was in a room full of handsome men, what is it about the MMC's appearance alone that would make her gravitate to him in particular? Without one word exchanged between them. That one thing that for her that sets him apart, and elevates him above the others. If I could just get that, I'd be in business. I have to get her feeling it before the reader will. Grrr!
I like vague descriptions. For instance in my WIP I have one of the charactors describing how she views the main male lead. Going from memory she mentions how his jeans fit snug in all the right places etc. I don't describe his body in detail but anyone reading it will hopefully get the image of strong built man and because he's a contractor it makes sense. I'm married to a man with dark hair and blue eyes so for me I find that combo very attractive.
Really, it's an entire room full of handsome men?
Regardless, I can think of several ways the MMC's looks stand out even in a room full of handsome men. He's got unusual eyes (e.g. rare color, different colors). He wears glasses, and she's always found men with glasses sexy. He wears a monocle. He's got a scar or tattoo. He dresses differently from the rest - expensive brand names, or he deliberately flouts expectations and wears something bohemian or metrosexual. He uses a cane, though maybe not a pimp cane. A sword-stick, then?
I could go on and on.
Maybe he rolls his eyes and she likes that. I personally love sarcasm, but I know it's not everyone's cuppa tea
I personally love sarcasm, but I know it's not everyone's cuppa tea
How about his hands? Can he do something with his hands that makes her take notice? Who doesn't like strong hands?
This is what I'm going to go for as far as his body type. Something about having been at sea since he was 16 - well, you can imagine that he's strong and in great shape. All done!
No, unluckily for her, it's not a room full of handsome men. It's actually a prison yard full of felons.
And, yes, he has a tattoo, but it's not where you can see it with his clothes on. So that's definitely going to be a distinguishing mark which will be revealed later on. But oh my, I do like your other suggestions! I'm leaning toward the unusual eye color thing...well, maybe not unusual, but striking in some way.
Maybe he rolls his eyes and she likes that.
I love sarcasm, too! But I think the FMC would be put off by it. And he's doing his best to get on her good side for his own ulterior motives.
Wow, don't you just hate that? I read an entire romance where everyone was smirking their asses off. I kept wondering if the writer had ever actually looked "smirk" up in a dictionary!
Bingo! That's the first and only thing I had come up with for him - hands! When she meets him, he touches her before she sees him. His hand on hers. That's the first zing between them. The only guy up to this point that her father allows her any contact with is from the upper class who, of course, doesn't work with his hands. But my MMC does and it's the touch and sight of his hand which is her first impression of his hand - the roughness, the strength - very unlike her father's or the upper-class dude's. And the fact that his hand lingers on hers. Yep. Got that much! But then she has to look up...and what does she see?
Still working on that part.
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2013
- Messages
- 8,582
- Reaction score
- 8,522
- Location
- The Seattle suburbs
- Website
- www.reneedominick.com
At sea since 16? Oh, he's got to have an earring. Or maybe a hole where he used to have an earring. 
Oh, Elaine, I've been SO tempted to give him an earring! I didn't know if it was over the top since he has a tattoo. I have to mull that one over.
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2013
- Messages
- 8,582
- Reaction score
- 8,522
- Location
- The Seattle suburbs
- Website
- www.reneedominick.com
I tried to scroll back to see the era here, and a little about your FMC, but no luck. If she's not been exposed to seamen (with an A!! ), just the hole where an earring might go might be pretty damn intriguing. So if him having the earring feels too much, that empty spot might do the trick of drawing the eye.
), just the hole where an earring might go might be pretty damn intriguing. So if him having the earring feels too much, that empty spot might do the trick of drawing the eye.
I was thinking the same thing!!!!! Maybe he does something that endears her to him. For instance in The Titanic, one thing that made me really like Jack was when he said to the little girl "Don't worry Cora you're still my girl" I LOVED that moment. Or in Braveheart when Mel is on his way to ask the girl he loves to dance with him and one of her friends steps up and says "Will you dance with me?" and he says "of course!", I LOVE that moment.
I love a kind man. A strong kind man.
I think I found him!
I'm glad you emphasized seaman with an "A" otherwise my FMC would succumb to the vapors if you were intimating she had been exposed to any other kind! Era is 1770s. Definitely doable in that time period.
Don't the strong, kind, gentle guys make you fall apart?! You know those pics of a rock solid man cradling some little helpless critter he rescued. Gets me every time.
Good news! I think I found what I was looking for! Hair/eyes combo. Perfect.
http://elisa-di-rivombrosa2.websnadno.cz/e-f/e-c/antonio/13.c7a_original.jpg
I'm glad you emphasized seaman with an "A" otherwise my FMC would succumb to the vapors if you were intimating she had been exposed to any other kind! Era is 1770s. Definitely doable in that time period.
Don't the strong, kind, gentle guys make you fall apart?! You know those pics of a rock solid man cradling some little helpless critter he rescued. Gets me every time.
Good news! I think I found what I was looking for! Hair/eyes combo. Perfect.
http://elisa-di-rivombrosa2.websnadno.cz/e-f/e-c/antonio/13.c7a_original.jpg
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2011
- Messages
- 23,122
- Reaction score
- 10,882
- Location
- Where faults collide
- Website
- doggedlywriting.blogspot.com
I remember a romance where the FMC noticed that the MMC was the only other person who looked like he was uncomfortable at that particular gathering. I remember another where the MMC overheard the FMC defending herself against some people who were being jerks to her, and he was impressed with her wit and spine. I read another where the FMC noticed the MMC because he was the only other person in the room wearing spectacles. I also remember a story that wasn't a romance, precisely, but it had a strong romantic subplot that was pretty important to the story, where the main character's eventual love interest was this guy who was hopelessly unfashionable (the story's protagonist was someone was a historian who researched the origin and history of fashion trends).
Sometimes that initial notice doesn't have to be because of how devastatingly handsome someone is. Looks can certainly be the basis, of course.
Ugh, no. And smirks are never attractive.
Sometimes that initial notice doesn't have to be because of how devastatingly handsome someone is. Looks can certainly be the basis, of course.
Ugh, no. And smirks are never attractive.
Last edited: