Query re physical descriptions of the MC?

There was a discussion on this recently, and my thoughts were that if you're going to have a physical description of a character it's best to do it pretty much as soon as we meet them. The longer you leave it the more likely your take on a character's physical appearance is likely to contradict the image the reader has built up on their own.

But more importantly is it necessary to have a description at all? As long as there's nothing physically exceptional that is integral to the story, then a physical description may not be needed at all.

Some authors give in depth physical description of characters, others can give very little or none. Either way can work.

Of course, the quick and easy solution is to have your MC look in a mirror, which gives you opportunity to describe him. I've seen this method in a lot of books. But it's never really made sense to me, TBH. I know that when I look in a mirror, I'm not noticing the shade of my hair and eyes, how tall I am, etc.

You could gracefully drop a few appearance details into the first few thousand words as and when it's appropriate, but I wouldn't suggest doing it beyond 15-20k. As was said above me, by that point the reader will have their own image in mind.

First off -you must know what your main character looks like because it's your character and your story. But before jumping into descriptions of the character think carefully if it is necessary at all for you to describe the character, and the extent to which that description is necessary for the reader to enjoy the story.

If hair and eye colour is not of any importance to the story then leave them out. That way if the reader likes blue-eyed blondes that will be the reader's imagined character, or if a bald, brown-eyed man is preferred they can imagine that.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so don't assume your detailed description of a wonderful character is going to match that of all readers.

Describe to the extent necessary to make the character believable in their role in the story. If a particular trait or attribute is involved in the development of the story -refer to that - otherwise it ain't necessary to go overboard with a police indentikit of shoes, clothes, height, weight, hair,eye and skin colour, race etc... (Unless it's required by Private Detective Dick Dimwit )

Once you know what particular facet of description it is you have to get across - show some action or give some dialogue that refers or relates to that 'thing' or 'handicap' or whatever, and the reader will put two and two together.

And please don't have your character look in a mirror simply to enable you to describe them from top to bottom.

Also try not to 'describe everybody' as soon as your POV character meets them. It is not necessary, and in any event one doesn't 'describe' everybody as one meets them in real life. Don't think writing a novel is simply transferring the movie you see in your head to paper -it's not. In a film you can 'see' everybody in detail but in a novel you have to accept your readers have imaginations at least as good as yours.

Don't treat the readers as dumbos.

What is important is the initial impression given by someone the POV character meets for the first time. 'Mrs X levered herself out of the chair and waddled across...' says just as much about Mrs X as any ten line description. And if she is simply a walk-on character who cares about her description?


Good luck.

And I couldn't resist posting this - once. My 5 month old grandson, Thomas, showing it's never too early to enjoy a good read!

lisamarie84x said:

Of course, the quick and easy solution is to have your MC look in a mirror, which gives you opportunity to describe him. I've seen this method in a lot of books. But it's never really made sense to me, TBH. I know that when I look in a mirror, I'm not noticing the shade of my hair and eyes, how tall I am, etc.

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Which is why we often tell folks "Don't do this!"


Hints about how the MC looks can be hidden within the narrative. For example, "Fat raindrops hit the windshield, and Glory stifled a groan. So much for looking presentable at her meeting today. Her short, brown hair frizzed out if she even looked at water."

justwondering said:

I've written about 20K of my first attempt at a novel and have just realised that at no point have I provided a physical description of the MC.

All the other characters have descriptions as this seems to occur automatically with my third person limited POV as they enter the narrative.

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Good. Fabulous. Perfect! If the story is told from within your main character's head, would he really sit around thinking about his physical appearance? Would he notice what familiar surroundings or people look like (to more than a mild degree)? Or would he only pay attention when someone or something new and unfamiliar shows up?

How vital is it to the story that your character be physically described? If he has some physical trait that makes him better able to achieve his goal, or makes him more vulnerable to his enemies, then describe those aspects of him. If his physical appearance really doesn't matter worth a hill of beans, then why bother?

That's my philosophy, anyway, for whatever it's worth.

Your instincts are good. Go with them.

Libbie said:

Good. Fabulous. Perfect! If the story is told from within your main character's head, would he really sit around thinking about his physical appearance? Would he notice what familiar surroundings or people look like (to more than a mild degree)? Or would he only pay attention when someone or something new and unfamiliar shows up?

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I agree with this. I'm about 10k into a 1st person POV story and all we know about "me" is that I have blonde hair, am female and am caucasian and I only let the hair color slip out because I overheard other characters talking about me in Spanish and I knew what "guera" meant. I think I've come too far to add any more without it being overly glaring or contrived. It has no bearing on the story in any event.

justwondering said:

How does one discreetly insert a physical description of the MC in 3rd person limited? How do you it?

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I don't. It doesn't matter one iota how my characters look. What's important is what they do.

I sprinkle in details through the observations of other characters but that's it. If they wouldn't notice it, I don't write it.

I love physical descriptions when they're done right.

James Lee Burke is a master. His physical descriptions usually come right when a character appears. But they are way more than physical, they tell the reader a lot about the person's character. That, to me, makes a great description.

In the case of third person limited, which Burke uses, the descriptions sometimes tell us about the person doing the observing in a scene (in his latest book, "Swan Peak," PI Clete Purcel is eyeing up a guy who's about to threaten him, so the description has subtle shades of Clete's POV in it.)

To append to what Peaches just said, if you're 20,000 words along, and only now has it occurred to you to describe the character, how important can that description be to your story?

caw

justwondering said:

Does it matter if you don't describe your MC early?

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You should describe your main character early if you describe him/her at all. But if you never describe you main character the Fiction Police won't come and take you off to Prose-Narrative Jail. There isn't any law.

Your readers will supply a description that works for them. (That's why you describe early if at all: If you describe later and the description contradicts the picture the reader has already made (that, by definition, works for them), then the reader will have to retroactively re-create the story-to-date. Some of them might prefer throwing your book across the room.)

I have this problem too, in my new novel. My MC is a young woman and the narrative is third person from her POV. I would like to get across the idea that she is good looking, attractive to men of the opposite sex, but I don't know how. There are not too many opportunities to go into that sort of thing in the early chapters. I mean, if I fail to mention this fact, the reader might assume she's horrible looking. Later on, at various points in the book, she will attract a lot of men. Maybe this will be enough?

euclid said:

I would like to get across the idea that she is good looking, attractive to men of the opposite sex, but I don't know how.

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If the opposite sex is attracted to her, any reader will fill in the blank and know that she's good-looking and attractive.

caw

euclid said:

I have this problem too, in my new novel. My MC is a young woman and the narrative is third person from her POV. I would like to get across the idea that she is good looking, attractive to men of the opposite sex, but I don't know how. There are not too many opportunities to go into that sort of thing in the early chapters. I mean, if I fail to mention this fact, the reader might assume she's horrible looking. Later on, at various points in the book, she will attract a lot of men. Maybe this will be enough?

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if you haven't actively done anything to suggest otherwise, I think readers will probably make the assumption that she's at least average-looking, and probably above average. I think it's just human nature that if we're going to spend any amount of time with someone, we'll choose them to be half-decent looking if we've got any say in it.
As a slight paradox to this, I imagine readers can often feel alienated from a character if we're told too emphatically how attractive this person is from the outset. We want to come that conclusion organically.

blacbird said:

If the opposite sex is attracted to her, any reader will fill in the blank and know that she's good-looking and attractive.

caw

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And if the same sex is attracted to her, her name's probably Angelina.

In my recently finished WIP, I never once mention what my MC looks like. His character is well-defined. He is an average, likeable Joe whose witch of a wife just left him for her best friend. I would prefer my readers come up with their own idea. When he meets his new girlfriend, I mentioned she has blonde hair, blue eyes (The tale is in his POV, so of course he would notice) and naturally pink non-lipsticked lips, but that's it. Everything else is up to the reader.

I never really thought about it until now, but I think I've got one mention of a physical detail in 20,000 words of WIP.

It's 1st person POV and the character in question is speaking to another girl with a similar name. She says they can use her nickname so no one will confuse them and the POV character wonders how anyone could mix up a tall pale blonde with a not so tall brunette with a head full of curls.

I seem to describe character's hands more than their faces. (this probably says something deeply weird about me)

But it was very satisfying that a reader of something I was working on was (rather presumptiously) postulating on who might be cast as one of the minor characters in the film version. She said it would need to be somebody like Jonny Depp, as the character was so good looking. This was satisfying, as I'd never given any significant physical description of the man. He was good looking in my mind, and conducting himself accordingly, but it was never directly spoken of within the text.

Checking up on myself, I see that in the first chapter I give MC#1's approximate age, drop a clue that he is short, and hint broadly that he is undernourished. In chapters 6 & 7 we get a glimpse of him through the eyes of another character, and find that the pore lil runt has black hair and big, dark eyes (and is sexually mature). Not long after, his nose makes an appearance. Not much is added after that. Since he is out of the scene through chapter 3 and part of 4, I don't think I'm skimping too badly.

Although he has plenty of opportunities to see himself in pools, he doesn't. No way I was going to fall into that one. Just once he checks out a new tattoo on his face in a bowl of water. All he is interested in is the tattoo, which is very important to him.

MC#2 is self-conscious about his scanty beard growth. It's the only part of him we "see" from his POV. MC#1 adds a few vague details in his thoughts.