What character feature, if any, do you tend to focus on?

Jehhillenberg · Aug 8, 2012

I have a slight obsession with hair (anywhere). That's one I mention in a heartbeat. Thick, curly, long, short, dark, copper, bushy etc.

Height's pretty important to me since I'm tall...which most of my characters are.

I also have a thing for eyes, particularly green ones; *swoon* don't know why.

Bufty · Aug 8, 2012

Not sure I follow you here, CJ.

I assume by 'your character' you mean the POV character.

Apart from initially mentioning the eyes are blue or twinkling or striking in some way how can you 'focus' on your character's eyes?

There's only so much you can say about the eyes and even less if you're in your character's POV.

Just curious.

CJ.Wolfe said:
I have a thing for eyes....

If there is any feature that will be noted in my character it is the eyes. I could omit everything else.

I think this is because when I meet someone, the first thing I always notice is their eyes. It's my favourite feature on a person.

Anyways, what features of your character do you tend to focus on?

scarletpeaches · Aug 8, 2012

The only time I describe anything physical, it's because that feature stands out. I don't give a damn if your character has brown hair, clear skin or dark eyes. Plenty of people do. So what?

It's more important what characters do, than what they look like.

CJ.Wolfe · Aug 8, 2012

Bufty said:
Not sure I follow you here, CJ.

I assume by 'your character' you mean the POV character.

Apart from initially mentioning the eyes are blue or twinkling or striking in some way how can you 'focus' on your character's eyes?

There's only so much you can say about the eyes and even less if you're in your character's POV.

Just curious.

I meant, when first introducing a character, any character, what is the feature you'll be more likely to show the reader... whether you write out description blocks or give it out bit by bit, which, to you is a defining feature of that character.

For me, I tend to focus on eyes with my character's. What I mean by that is, when I introduce them, one of the first things I mention is eyes. Also, I give a lot of description to eyes throughout the story in general when characters are feeling strong emotions.

Stuff like that... am I explaining this very well? Because it doesn't feel like it,

scarletpeaches · Aug 8, 2012

There really isn't a pattern. It's best to describe only that which is relevant, or that which stands out from the norm, otherwise there's a danger of your descriptions sounding like laundry lists.

Flicka · Aug 8, 2012

Personally, I almost neve notice eye colour IRL, but YMMV, of course.

For my writing, what I focus on depends both on the character described and the POV character. If I took my MC, for example, and asked 5 of the others to describe him, I'd have 5 completely different descriptions and yet, they would all be accurate.

NeuroFizz · Aug 8, 2012

First appearance, usually actions/reactions. Long haul, intellect. It's such a target-rich environment for a writer.

angeliz2k · Aug 8, 2012

As far as physical descriptions, this depends on the character. If they have a stand-out feature, it's mentioned here and there. For instance, every so often Harry pushes his spectacles up his nose, or his hair looks "oxblood red" in the low light. Ellen[FONT=&quot] "looked like a fine china ornament for the mantelpiece". On a few occasions, the MC noticed Everett's clear blue eyes. Sometimes the clothing stands out: I describe Uriah wearing his usual brown jacket and Augustine wearing his favorite, battered old top hat.
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But in general, I use body language and facial expressions to show who characters are. Things like smiling crookedly, or picking up someone's gloves and handing them back as if to say "don't worry, I still love you even though you lost the race" . . . these give a much better idea of a character than hair or eye color.

Sometimes, I'm plain old vague. I introduce June this way: "Both men turned to see a fine-boned, plain girl with an apron on." That's about as much description as she gets.

All of the above is from my current WIP, which has a much stronger romantic element. My previous WIP was very sparse with physical descriptions; it was pretty much all facial expression and body language. I wouldn't use so much physical description in another type of story.

RainbowBunnyofDoom · Aug 8, 2012

Hair. For some odd reason, it's always the hair.

I can't stand reading through pages and pages of character description, so I try to keep that to a minimum. One sentence, if it's possible. That one sentence usually focuses mainly on hair. I love hair.

OpheliaRevived · Aug 8, 2012

I write in first person exclusively. (Just a thing.) So each story is different. I try to "notice" what the narrator would notice, what would be in step with their character's behavior and thought patterns. I think in one book was an eye book. The next was a mannerism book. The third is more of a quality of voice book.

zahra · Aug 8, 2012

Hmmm...No, I don't really focus on physical characteristics unless they're important. If my MC is in love with someone, you'll get more 'scrips of what they're wearing and how their eyes shine from behind their bottle-top glasses etc, because I write in close third.

If I have an ensemble like in my WIP, I will just touch on what differentiates each from the others, usually about clothes, but one of my women is very athletic and it has a bearing on the story later so I chuck that in - again, with the MC observing.

Tepelus · Aug 8, 2012

Well, I write historical fantasy, which lends itself to more description anyway, so I tend to give an overall description to my characters, and focus more on the historical characters looks than the non-historical ones. It also depends on which character's point of view I'm in, too. Some characters are more observant than others. My MC is the main POV in my story, and he is usually pretty observant, to a point. Sometimes he's dumb as a box of rocks.

Mandiloo322 · Aug 8, 2012

ArachnePhobia said:
I try to think of what I'd notice first if I sat next to the character in a waiting room. Like, if she has a skinned knee and keeps picking the scab. Or he's so tall, he shifts in the seat because it's uncomfortable. I don't go further than one or two specific details, normally.

This is a good idea - I'll have to try it.

sadbeautifultragic · Aug 8, 2012

I think it depends on my characters. In one of my WIPs right now, my MC is always going on about people's smiles. For him, it's because smiles remind him of his boyfriend (who is just the smiliest character I have ever written). In another my MC focuses a lot on height, because he's about 5'4 and he's 17 so he obviously has many insecurities about that part of him.

So yeah, it depends on the characters for me.

quicklime · Aug 8, 2012

CJ.Wolfe said:
I have a thing for eyes....

If there is any feature that will be noted in my character it is the eyes. I could omit everything else.

I think this is because when I meet someone, the first thing I always notice is their eyes. It's my favourite feature on a person.

Anyways, what features of your character do you tend to focus on?

whatever is relevant.

read the very first Anita Blake book, "Guilty Pleasures" and see if you still want to focus on eyes/hair as much. Not saying you have a problem, but saying to me, she does....see if it strikes you as annoying, and then see how much you do by comparison.

WeaselFire · Aug 8, 2012

CJ.Wolfe said:
Anyways, what features of your character do you tend to focus on?

Their goal, and what drives them to reach it.

I tend not to focus on physical attributes much, except where they're part of the story.

Jeff

WeaselFire · Aug 8, 2012

CJ.Wolfe said:
I meant, when first introducing a character, any character, what is the feature you'll be more likely to show the reader...

Mannerisms. Speech. Actions. I still usually don't focus on a physical aspect unless it's relevant. A woman who stops traffic for instance. I don't need to describe any specifics beyond the fact that she is pretty enough to stop traffic. Beyond that I concentrate on whether she's aware of the reaction to her, whether it matters to her and how she uses it. That may involve physical description, such as "...she spices up her already long legs with six-inch stilettos, making it hard not to watch her walk. Men just watch, women wonder how she hasn't broken an ankle."

Jeff

Lhipenwhe · Aug 8, 2012

I give a physical description upon the characters introduction and make occasional references to it if it's relevant (it rarely is). My focus is on the stuff that's most pertinent: For example, one of my characters has had the right side of his body aged to decrepit-ness and uses a cane. I'll mention his limp, how he sits down, his difficulty getting on a horse, ect ect.

rwm4768 · Aug 8, 2012

Now that I think about it, I usually mention hair color, even of minor characters, to give the reader one visual reference.

CJ.Wolfe · Aug 11, 2012

thanks, it's really interesting to see what people prefer to do. I like to write the features that and out most in my mind, which is normally the eyes, and maybe one or two other features.
I just wanted to see what others preferred

wannabe writing · Aug 11, 2012

Some combination of Hair Color, Build, Height, Eyes and then any distinguishing features.

NyxAustin · Aug 11, 2012

For physical features mostly eyes or hair. It depends what I see as the most defining feature of that person. One of my characters for example has a distinctive smile.

Its what I would point out about the person if I were interacting with them. Minor characters get less detail as I interact with them less.

Most of the time spent on features comes through in how they act though. How they speak, interact with the other characters, what actions they take.

grover4232 · Aug 11, 2012

Hair! My current main character spends a lot of time fixing her ponytail.

kkbe · Aug 12, 2012

CJ.Wolfe: What features of your character do you tend to focus on?

Physical attributes? Never! I focus on intellect the long fingers of his right hand impatiently drummed against the light blue denim stretched across his right thigh and quirkiness I was a decent-enough looking guy with shoulder-length, dark brown hair, even features, and hazel eyes and long dark lashes, just like my mother’s. . .

Quicklime: . . .read the very first Anita Blake book, "Guilty Pleasures" and see if you still want to focus on eyes/hair as much.

I would never be so shallow as to focus on a physical attribute like eyes his gunmetal blues looking into my hazels or, God help me, hair. . . It was sandy blond and gently layered, parted slightly off-center, chin length and casually tucked behind his ears, with a lazy sweep across the forehead, and a balance of highlights and lowlights to give it a richness and depth so perfect that one might suspect it came from a bottle—a bunch of bottles—although I didn’t think so, especially when I noticed the same, soft colors in the shadows of his day-old beard and mustache: sandy blond, with subtle hints of platinum and ash, and unexpected dashes of honey and caramel, and delicate suggestions of butterscotch and wheat.

I wanted to touch it.

CJ.Wolfe · Aug 12, 2012

kkbe said:
Physical attributes? Never! I focus on intellect the long fingers of his right hand impatiently drummed against the light blue denim stretched across his right thigh and quirkiness I was a decent-enough looking guy with shoulder-length, dark brown hair, even features, and hazel eyes and long dark lashes, just like my mother’s. . .
I would never be so shallow as to focus on a physical attribute like eyes his gunmetal blues looking into my hazels or, God help me, hair. . . It was sandy blond and gently layered, parted slightly off-center, chin length and casually tucked behind his ears, with a lazy sweep across the forehead, and a balance of highlights and lowlights to give it a richness and depth so perfect that one might suspect it came from a bottle—a bunch of bottles—although I didn’t think so, especially when I noticed the same, soft colors in the shadows of his day-old beard and mustache: sandy blond, with subtle hints of platinum and ash, and unexpected dashes of honey and caramel, and delicate suggestions of butterscotch and wheat.

I wanted to touch it.

I have to know, was that one the spot or from a project? I can't tell whether or not you're being serious or taking the mickey

What character feature, if any, do you tend to focus on?

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