One of my favorite parts of reading is stretching my imagination and filling in gaps that the author doesn't describe with my own inventions. As such, I have been toying with the idea of not describing what my main MC looks like physically so that the reader can imagine her to look however they want. I was curious what other people thought about leaving the physical appearance of a character completely up to the imagination of the reader? Thanks everyone!
How much should be left to the reader's imagination?
- Thread starter kmccabe
- Start date
I don't see the problem with it. It's up to you stylistically really.
There's another thread on it here that you might find has some useful advice.
There's another thread on it here that you might find has some useful advice.
It will make the reader work for it, but if you want it, go ahead. Description will be filled in by the reader, but some rely on description because they either expect it or don't rely on their imagination that much.
As a reader, I have to say I don't think I'd like this. I like some of it being left to the imagination, but I wouldn't really want it to be all left up to me. A few vague clues would work though.
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2012
- Messages
- 1,045
- Reaction score
- 152
- Location
- In my head.
- Website
- www.amschilling.com
As a reader, I hate fully-described characters. Broad brushstrokes--maybe a mention of anything unique, or a passing reference to height or hair color or something--works best for me. If you give me too much detail, I revolt because it never matches my picture I've formed in my head.
So for me personally? The less the better. Go for it.
So for me personally? The less the better. Go for it.
Becca C.
Registered
Yeah, I prefer a few distinguishing details given to each character. I can build a picture in my mind out of that, but it's still enough to have some sense of being on the same page as the author.
I hate it when there's very little to no description for most of the book, and then near the end the author throws "her cascading red hair" at you.
I hate it when there's very little to no description for most of the book, and then near the end the author throws "her cascading red hair" at you.
A few vague clues would be appreciated, but it's not always necessary. I can think of a couple examples of characters I've seen as fully-realized people yet was never given specifics of their appearance. Besides, as a reader, I tend to "ignore" description that doesn't align with the vision in my head. For me, Harry Potter has blond hair. No one can tell me otherwise.
Just a few hints works. It does annoy me, and probably other readers as well, when an author gets super-detailed with description. I find myself glossing over the passage on the shape of someone's nose. I don't care about the nose! 
Well if you think of something like LOTR, Christopher Lee is right, Tolkien never describes in great detail what anyone really looks like. He leave it up to the reader to decide what these characters really look like with the meager-est bit of description. Aragorn being a weather beaten man in a very worn cloak doesn't tell us much about what this man really looks like. All we really know about hobbits is they have furry feet and big guts and Frodo is 50...A lot of information there. Anyway I think it's fun to fill in the blanks, just not too many of them, Lol.
It will definitely depend on the reader. Some people need a lot of details, others need very little or none at all. But I think both groups are large enough that regardless of how you do it, some people will bitch and others will love it.
It also depends on POV. In a first person or limited third POV story, the character describing themselves often seems weird unless they are very vain. However, some details will still give us hints. Doesn't grab a chair to reach the top shelf = tall. Hair blows into face even getting in mouth = long hair. There is no need to spell it out for the reader. Let context show it.
Even describing other characters rarely makes sense in these POVs. How often do you really notice what your mom looks like. Maybe if she's dressed for a holiday or has just gotten a haircut, but normally. We don't take notice of what's normal.
Even describing other characters rarely makes sense in these POVs. How often do you really notice what your mom looks like. Maybe if she's dressed for a holiday or has just gotten a haircut, but normally. We don't take notice of what's normal.
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2013
- Messages
- 54
- Reaction score
- 0
I suppose it's nice to leave things to the reader's imagination, but in moderation, otherwise you'll end up not writing anything. When you really think about it, you'll find that a lot of places/people in novels are very vaguely described. It seems to work most of the time, but you do want to give in some details like age, height, or something at the very least.
As a reader, I PAY YOU to give me a good story, this includes characters and their descriptions. Believe me, if I happen to not like your description of 'short, pudgy around the middle, likes wearing purple sweatpants and has curly red hair with one green eye and one brown eye' I will replace it with my own, but at least give it a shot, don't make me work for it or feel like I accidentally skipped over it. When writers don't offer any description at all I feel like the are afraid to, as if they've decided that no matter what they write, somewhere out there someone won't like it.
You are the creator of this character. Doesn't he or she look like something in your head? Why not share that with your readers?
You are the creator of this character. Doesn't he or she look like something in your head? Why not share that with your readers?
I agree with ellio and missesdash. It all depends on what you want to do as a writer (what's your style), the POV, and also, to an extent, who your reader is. I think some genres and POVs lend themselves to more description, etc., though obviously it's all up to the author.
(On a slightly unrelated note, I've heard that younger audiences [MG] prefer more description of characters. Not sure if that's a fact or not.)
There's also the thought that even if you describe your characters in detail, some readers will still just picture them in their heads however they want.
(On a slightly unrelated note, I've heard that younger audiences [MG] prefer more description of characters. Not sure if that's a fact or not.)
There's also the thought that even if you describe your characters in detail, some readers will still just picture them in their heads however they want.
I think from the books I grew up reading (BSC, Sweet Valley) they gave a lot of description about all the characters. I tend to make sure I to at least mention hair and eye color and possibly character height, as far as that goes. I personally like to know what a character looks like, how they've done their hair and what their world looks like. It's what drove me the maddest while reading Hunger Games, I still don't really know what the arena or what anyone really looked like.
I hated not knowing what the arena looked like too. The cornucopia looking structure was very difficult to picture, especially when Katniss and the other people were ontop of it, my brain had a hard time reconciling them not just slipping off of the spherical downward sloping curved thing I was seeing in my head. Same thing with "the glade" in The Maze Runner... Actually EVERYTHING in Maze Runner...
Anyway, that's a rant for a different thread LOL
Anyway, that's a rant for a different thread LOL
I'm into the description-as-relevant method. I think it's weird when writers drop in detailed physical descriptions of their characters (especially in first person) just because it seems like the kind of information to give upfront.
Consider Holden Caulfield. He says very little about himself physically, and what he says tends to be contradicted (he talks about how he looks older than he is, yet bartenders keep refusing to serve him). Yet we've all got a Holden Caulfield in our mind's eye. Mine may look different than yours, but it doesn't matter. It's a book. That's how books work. Don't worry about it.
Consider Holden Caulfield. He says very little about himself physically, and what he says tends to be contradicted (he talks about how he looks older than he is, yet bartenders keep refusing to serve him). Yet we've all got a Holden Caulfield in our mind's eye. Mine may look different than yours, but it doesn't matter. It's a book. That's how books work. Don't worry about it.