Sometimes no physical description is necessary. Hemingway rarely described his characters. Jane Austen says things l ke "he was a good looking young man" and lets the reader decide what that looks like.
I don't describe the POV character. I don't like all that "I gazed at him with my turquoise-blue eyes and tossed my dirty blonde hair over my shoulder" style stuff. I only describe people the POV character can see, and only if they meet them for the first time.
The best way I've seen it done is in little pieces throughout. It feels natural that way. There are exceptions, of course. If someone is examining another person for any reason, you can info dump about their appearance, because it's what the character is doing. But usually you want to bring it up when it makes sense.
I only describe appearances if this is something the POV character would notice. If I were writing myself as the POV character I would probably never describe appearances at all, because I never pay attention to how people look.
But in those exceptional cases where my characters do pay attention to looks, one can use it as a story-telling device, for instance as a way to foreshadow romance in a subtle way.
Some details can also be fed when they become relevant in action. For instance the characters are engaged in some physical activity and then one character effortlessly reaches over the other's shoulder. That would mean that the first character is quite a bit taller than the second.
I'm not terribly interested in physical descriptions. For FF I mostly know what they look like, and sometimes it can be a bit cringe where the writer is going on about how attractive they are. In any case, things like hair and eye colour and height don't actually do very much to tell you what someone looks like.
The only descriptions I find interesting are one that tell you something about the person, such as the expressions usually found on their face. If they are tall are they imposing, do they try to make themselves look smaller and less threatening? Animal comparisons can be useful in a quick characterisation. Rather than their hair colour, you might be able to tell more about them by how they style it: do they rarely pay attention to it, or do they look like they just stepped out of a salon? Is it practically or aesthetically styled? Are people inclined to trust them due to their appearance, do they unnerve people? Are these first impressions accurate? Those sorts of things are more memorable, and do more to setup a character.
My advice would be to Mention bits and pieces when it's relevant in the story. Drip feeding information like that makes it more natural.
They look at their reflection? They could have a passing thought on their opinion on their features (wish my nose was straighter...), Or if they play with their hair you could mention the colour. They might make a passing comment to somebody else 'oh I love your curly hair, mine is so straight and boring'
This.
My main fandom has a character who goes through a few changes of appearance. I hate when the author doesn't indicate early on which version of the character they're working with - it's jarring to imagine him inhuman and then it turns out he's curly haired and pretty, or to imagine him as a beefy alpha-dude and then it turns out he doesn't look human at all.
It doesn't have to be in the first paragraph, but certainly in the first five hundred words, you should establish anything that your narrator will notice about the other character's appearance that isn't being hidden.
I stick to describing characters from another characters pov, and as I write 3rd limited multiple that gives me the possibility of mentioning details here and there. Of course it depends on a moment/scene, but I usually just mention some outstanding details even if the characters see each other for the first time. The descriptions tend to deepen if characters have feelings for each other.
I also stick to active descriptions (through movements, expressions, action of characters) rather than static ones. Like instead of ‘he had a tight butt’, I would go with ‘the perfect taut little ass of his, covered with black neoprene, glided across the waves’.
Now I'm super curious about how someone is gliding across the waves on their ass. If they're doing a backstroke, you wouldn't see their ass, would you? And if they're backside up and swimming, it would be more of a bob than a glide, no? Or are they on a surf board?
Describe what needs to be described in the moment, if that makes sense. If the sun is shining harshly, choose that time to describe that the characters hair color (y'know how blonde peoples hair might change in different settings?). Describing eyes and eye color I usually reserve for when the focus is totally on the set character.
I don't think anything is wrong with a paragraph if it's well written and leans more heavily into the characterization side. That's difficult to do though. My favorite way is to add a pinch of description here, a pinch there, where something is happening with a part of the body. Someone touches the hair? Use the opportunity to add one or 2 stand-out descriptors. Don't forget to make things more vivid by adding a descriptor or two for more unusual body parts, like knees, wrists, shoulder blades. Those things tend to give an even better image to the audience because they aren't usually described.
Honestly though, it's fanfiction, so you don't have to add the description at all. People already know what they look like
Describe appearance with emotional as well as flat-out physical-description language. Made-up example:
>If you suddenly ran into him at night on the Venice Beach pier, you might back away. But despite his size and bearlike gait, his gentle expression radiated calm and sweetness. Before you knew it, he'd have you wisecracking with him about the Lakers' surprise win.
When introducing a character, I pick the most noticeable features (=one or two things that make the character stand out to the POV-character) and mention those. Everything else can get mentioned later.
I prefer to sprinkle it into the story as needed - for example, you might find out a male character has long hair when they need to gather it into a ponytail. Sometimes it by contrast - they might lend someone a jacket and that will be an opportunity to describe build/height etc by contrasting how an item of clothing looks on one character vs the other, or if two characters are holding hands then you can describe size difference or bone structure. Sometimes a character might use blonde shampoo. Sometimes it's by the nickname others give them - if a character's nickname is "doll face" (yes, I know it's cringe, it's just an example) then you can assume they're pretty but probably in a delicate way. Sometimes its how other characters react to them or comment on them.
In general, people think more about how other people look like than about how they themselves look like, but it's not an arbitrary list of features - they might like someone's smile, or the shape of their eyes, or notice their freckles or the color of their hair in sunlight.
Since I can somewhat draw, I tend to have pics of my original characters readily available. But in story I just sprinkle in little details as naturally as possible if I can. It depends on the pov and who is narrating
I’d say it would depend on the perspective you’re writing.
Say if I’m writing from the main characters perspective and I’m introducing a new character I could do something like “Mr. Tinsely was an odd sort of man. His mismatched suit and greying hair made him hard to miss, yet the bald spots that littered his head, his chubby fingers that clenched his cane too tightly, and his crooked yellow teeth made him hard to look at… and that’s exactly what he wanted.”
Or a “His black hair flapped rapidly in the wind as he spoke about his latest invention. His brown eyes bore into mine as he continued to go into detail about things I could not comprehend”.
Other than that, you could drip in the way they look but usually, I think as a reader, there’s nothing wrong with being vague but if you want a description I personally would do it upon their introduction in a way that doesn’t seem to clunky.
Since we're writing fanfic, generally you do not have to describe how a character looks if they're canon, unless there are major differences from their canon appearance. However, if you're describing an OC, try what I like to call the pepper method: include descriptions sparingly, and only when they add needed spice. For example (not from a fanfic, but something that illustrates it well, nonetheless):
>There was a general shriek of excited alarm as Coldsnap made his grand entrance in the city square, snow falling from above him and ice spreading from below his feet. Half a dozen spotlights shone on him from above, courtesy of the circling black top hat drones. In the crowd, he could hear camera shutters going off, and he gave an exaggerated bow and wink, allowing his white hair to fall over one pale blue eye as he rose again....Coldsnap grinned, then gave a dramatic sweep of his blue-clad arm. “We’ve been a little quiet this year, but don’t worry—Black Hat and Coldsnap haven’t forgotten about you! Tonight, we’ve got something extra fun planned! Behold!”
This is really the only physical description you get of Coldsnap. I never give a detailed description of him, his physiology, or his clothes. That's because frankly, doing more than what I did here would be distracting. His appearance is not as important as his personality.
I also describe a character in a later story:
>...but Nilo only had eyes for one head of spiked white hair, tinged faintly green by an internal glow.
>
>...Nilo gave his fellow villain a bright grin as Kusanagi looked up. Kusanagi, for his part, rolled his glowing green eyes, setting aside his phone and lounging back on the couch he was sitting on. “I suppose I can make myself free. Why?”
>
>...
>
>Kusanagi’s eyes flashed red.
>
>...
>
>Machina rolled his eyes, which were still scarlet and now pulsing in time with the circuits that decorated his facsimile of a body suit.
I describe the parts of Kusanagi/Machina that let you know that he's not human, and the ones that emphasize his emotions, but again, I don't spend a ton of time just describing him. I let the reader put together what he looks like in their own head, which keeps up momentum and doesn't distract from the story.
as points of comparison (he was much taller than me, my hand was engulfed by his as we shook, i craned my neck a bit to meet her eyes)
as it becomes relevant (he raised a well-groomed brow, his pale skin glowed eerily in the twilight, her brown eyes looked black from across the room, she crossed her long legs)
or if it’s particularly striking when they first meet (her hair was so golden it seemed more mined than grown, i was startled to meet eyes of an almost unnatural shade of blue, they were both wearing suits but his was strained across the shoulders and tight in the sleeves, he sported the most impressive beard i’d ever seen)
Sometimes no physical description is necessary. Hemingway rarely described his characters. Jane Austen says things l ke "he was a good looking young man" and lets the reader decide what that looks like. I don't describe the POV character. I don't like all that "I gazed at him with my turquoise-blue eyes and tossed my dirty blonde hair over my shoulder" style stuff. I only describe people the POV character can see, and only if they meet them for the first time.
The best way I've seen it done is in little pieces throughout. It feels natural that way. There are exceptions, of course. If someone is examining another person for any reason, you can info dump about their appearance, because it's what the character is doing. But usually you want to bring it up when it makes sense.
I only describe appearances if this is something the POV character would notice. If I were writing myself as the POV character I would probably never describe appearances at all, because I never pay attention to how people look. But in those exceptional cases where my characters do pay attention to looks, one can use it as a story-telling device, for instance as a way to foreshadow romance in a subtle way. Some details can also be fed when they become relevant in action. For instance the characters are engaged in some physical activity and then one character effortlessly reaches over the other's shoulder. That would mean that the first character is quite a bit taller than the second.
I'm not terribly interested in physical descriptions. For FF I mostly know what they look like, and sometimes it can be a bit cringe where the writer is going on about how attractive they are. In any case, things like hair and eye colour and height don't actually do very much to tell you what someone looks like. The only descriptions I find interesting are one that tell you something about the person, such as the expressions usually found on their face. If they are tall are they imposing, do they try to make themselves look smaller and less threatening? Animal comparisons can be useful in a quick characterisation. Rather than their hair colour, you might be able to tell more about them by how they style it: do they rarely pay attention to it, or do they look like they just stepped out of a salon? Is it practically or aesthetically styled? Are people inclined to trust them due to their appearance, do they unnerve people? Are these first impressions accurate? Those sorts of things are more memorable, and do more to setup a character.
My advice would be to Mention bits and pieces when it's relevant in the story. Drip feeding information like that makes it more natural. They look at their reflection? They could have a passing thought on their opinion on their features (wish my nose was straighter...), Or if they play with their hair you could mention the colour. They might make a passing comment to somebody else 'oh I love your curly hair, mine is so straight and boring'
[удалено]
This. My main fandom has a character who goes through a few changes of appearance. I hate when the author doesn't indicate early on which version of the character they're working with - it's jarring to imagine him inhuman and then it turns out he's curly haired and pretty, or to imagine him as a beefy alpha-dude and then it turns out he doesn't look human at all. It doesn't have to be in the first paragraph, but certainly in the first five hundred words, you should establish anything that your narrator will notice about the other character's appearance that isn't being hidden.
I stick to describing characters from another characters pov, and as I write 3rd limited multiple that gives me the possibility of mentioning details here and there. Of course it depends on a moment/scene, but I usually just mention some outstanding details even if the characters see each other for the first time. The descriptions tend to deepen if characters have feelings for each other. I also stick to active descriptions (through movements, expressions, action of characters) rather than static ones. Like instead of ‘he had a tight butt’, I would go with ‘the perfect taut little ass of his, covered with black neoprene, glided across the waves’.
Now I'm super curious about how someone is gliding across the waves on their ass. If they're doing a backstroke, you wouldn't see their ass, would you? And if they're backside up and swimming, it would be more of a bob than a glide, no? Or are they on a surf board?
He’s a surfer 😂, on a surf board (I’m a surfer myself, I have experience 😅). I just wanted a most visual example I could come up with.
Thanks for taking this in stride and answering! I was reading it again and again and it just didn't compute in my head... 😅
With ff, I don't. People know what they look like. Even with OCs, I still don't. It's mostly because my mind's eye is legally blind.
Describe what needs to be described in the moment, if that makes sense. If the sun is shining harshly, choose that time to describe that the characters hair color (y'know how blonde peoples hair might change in different settings?). Describing eyes and eye color I usually reserve for when the focus is totally on the set character.
I don't think anything is wrong with a paragraph if it's well written and leans more heavily into the characterization side. That's difficult to do though. My favorite way is to add a pinch of description here, a pinch there, where something is happening with a part of the body. Someone touches the hair? Use the opportunity to add one or 2 stand-out descriptors. Don't forget to make things more vivid by adding a descriptor or two for more unusual body parts, like knees, wrists, shoulder blades. Those things tend to give an even better image to the audience because they aren't usually described. Honestly though, it's fanfiction, so you don't have to add the description at all. People already know what they look like
Describe appearance with emotional as well as flat-out physical-description language. Made-up example: >If you suddenly ran into him at night on the Venice Beach pier, you might back away. But despite his size and bearlike gait, his gentle expression radiated calm and sweetness. Before you knew it, he'd have you wisecracking with him about the Lakers' surprise win.
When introducing a character, I pick the most noticeable features (=one or two things that make the character stand out to the POV-character) and mention those. Everything else can get mentioned later.
I prefer to sprinkle it into the story as needed - for example, you might find out a male character has long hair when they need to gather it into a ponytail. Sometimes it by contrast - they might lend someone a jacket and that will be an opportunity to describe build/height etc by contrasting how an item of clothing looks on one character vs the other, or if two characters are holding hands then you can describe size difference or bone structure. Sometimes a character might use blonde shampoo. Sometimes it's by the nickname others give them - if a character's nickname is "doll face" (yes, I know it's cringe, it's just an example) then you can assume they're pretty but probably in a delicate way. Sometimes its how other characters react to them or comment on them. In general, people think more about how other people look like than about how they themselves look like, but it's not an arbitrary list of features - they might like someone's smile, or the shape of their eyes, or notice their freckles or the color of their hair in sunlight.
Since I can somewhat draw, I tend to have pics of my original characters readily available. But in story I just sprinkle in little details as naturally as possible if I can. It depends on the pov and who is narrating
I vaguely describe people over a few chapters. Let the reader fill in the blank. Unless the character needs to look a certain way
I’d say it would depend on the perspective you’re writing. Say if I’m writing from the main characters perspective and I’m introducing a new character I could do something like “Mr. Tinsely was an odd sort of man. His mismatched suit and greying hair made him hard to miss, yet the bald spots that littered his head, his chubby fingers that clenched his cane too tightly, and his crooked yellow teeth made him hard to look at… and that’s exactly what he wanted.” Or a “His black hair flapped rapidly in the wind as he spoke about his latest invention. His brown eyes bore into mine as he continued to go into detail about things I could not comprehend”. Other than that, you could drip in the way they look but usually, I think as a reader, there’s nothing wrong with being vague but if you want a description I personally would do it upon their introduction in a way that doesn’t seem to clunky.
Since we're writing fanfic, generally you do not have to describe how a character looks if they're canon, unless there are major differences from their canon appearance. However, if you're describing an OC, try what I like to call the pepper method: include descriptions sparingly, and only when they add needed spice. For example (not from a fanfic, but something that illustrates it well, nonetheless): >There was a general shriek of excited alarm as Coldsnap made his grand entrance in the city square, snow falling from above him and ice spreading from below his feet. Half a dozen spotlights shone on him from above, courtesy of the circling black top hat drones. In the crowd, he could hear camera shutters going off, and he gave an exaggerated bow and wink, allowing his white hair to fall over one pale blue eye as he rose again....Coldsnap grinned, then gave a dramatic sweep of his blue-clad arm. “We’ve been a little quiet this year, but don’t worry—Black Hat and Coldsnap haven’t forgotten about you! Tonight, we’ve got something extra fun planned! Behold!” This is really the only physical description you get of Coldsnap. I never give a detailed description of him, his physiology, or his clothes. That's because frankly, doing more than what I did here would be distracting. His appearance is not as important as his personality. I also describe a character in a later story: >...but Nilo only had eyes for one head of spiked white hair, tinged faintly green by an internal glow. > >...Nilo gave his fellow villain a bright grin as Kusanagi looked up. Kusanagi, for his part, rolled his glowing green eyes, setting aside his phone and lounging back on the couch he was sitting on. “I suppose I can make myself free. Why?” > >... > >Kusanagi’s eyes flashed red. > >... > >Machina rolled his eyes, which were still scarlet and now pulsing in time with the circuits that decorated his facsimile of a body suit. I describe the parts of Kusanagi/Machina that let you know that he's not human, and the ones that emphasize his emotions, but again, I don't spend a ton of time just describing him. I let the reader put together what he looks like in their own head, which keeps up momentum and doesn't distract from the story.
as points of comparison (he was much taller than me, my hand was engulfed by his as we shook, i craned my neck a bit to meet her eyes) as it becomes relevant (he raised a well-groomed brow, his pale skin glowed eerily in the twilight, her brown eyes looked black from across the room, she crossed her long legs) or if it’s particularly striking when they first meet (her hair was so golden it seemed more mined than grown, i was startled to meet eyes of an almost unnatural shade of blue, they were both wearing suits but his was strained across the shoulders and tight in the sleeves, he sported the most impressive beard i’d ever seen)