Nameless65
Just finished reading Time’s Eye by A. Clarke and S. Baxter. I liked it even though I’ve never been that fond of Baxter’s stuff—I always found his stories lacking in the character development department.
Anyway, I was very surprised that a secondary character wasn’t described until page 98. Ninety-eight! Now, keep in mind that there are a lot of characters in this book and, as I said, this character wasn’t a primary character, but he was a POV character early in the book. Then one-third of the way through the book the authors throw in some very detailed descriptions—his nose, posture, hair, etc—and it kind of threw me off.
Any preferences on when a character should be described? What about how much detail? Do you, as a reader, need to know his/her hair color, height, etc? Does the character feel incomplete without them?
Anyway, I was very surprised that a secondary character wasn’t described until page 98. Ninety-eight! Now, keep in mind that there are a lot of characters in this book and, as I said, this character wasn’t a primary character, but he was a POV character early in the book. Then one-third of the way through the book the authors throw in some very detailed descriptions—his nose, posture, hair, etc—and it kind of threw me off.
Any preferences on when a character should be described? What about how much detail? Do you, as a reader, need to know his/her hair color, height, etc? Does the character feel incomplete without them?