First Person description?

[ellenkushner]

Following the excellent leads of colleagues like Justine Larbalestier & kateelliott, I post a question about writing that someone recently sent me:

I am finishing a story for Friday and it's written in first person present tense. I just realized yesterday that my main character being an "I", I haven't described him physically at all. I know, it's the old same problem again, but how do you cope with that kind of problem? What do you actually do? Have him look into a mirror? Too obvious! Or something like: "You really are the way I imagined you." "Ah yes, what do you mean, my blond hair, big nose and small eyes?" I am just kidding, of course. :-)

Thanks so much for any quick tip.

My answer:
Why does it matter what the character looks like?

What's yours?

Comments

[idiomagic.livejournal.com]

I never really pay much attention to an author's description of characters...I develop a picture of them in my mind as I read that often has nothing to do with the author's vision.
For example, I am stubbornly convinced that Paul Atreides is a redhead. ;)

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

The amount that it matters to the character what s|he looks like, I think. If the character is squeezing into a tight space and he is small or large, that's something to mention. If the character has three tall, pretty sisters and is short and plain, and interacts with them in the course of the story, then it's going to matter to the character. If it doesn't matter to the character, and doesn't do anything for the story, who cares?

[casacorona.livejournal.com]

I answer you: "First person, present tense? Perhaps that is not not the easiest voice to do well." And it doesn't matter what I look like, unless of course it's very important to me. In which case, I'll be thinking and saying things all the way through that give the information. I will choose clothing and accessories to compliment my looks. I'll worry about how my hair looks. And whether my shoes are right. I'll notice that other people are taller or shorter than I am, or if it's hard to reach up to a cupboard.

[gxdm.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a reader, it never matters to me what the character looks like save for where it matters in the story. Trying to force the description in never reads well. (Further it usually leads to a bit of writing like you would see in a bad romance novel "her flaxen hair flowed over her curvaceous body... His muscled arms lifted her up...etc...")

If the story requires a description or parts of one, it will be flow into the story where it makes sense. If it doesn't, it won't and is unneeded.

[peregrinejohn.livejournal.com]

Indeed so. A passing "God, I hate my freckles" (if relevant) could be not only enough for a situation but also both intriguing and evocative, even if it's the only description in the whole tale.

Heck, our hostess here has written some right fine books about a city that as yet has no name in print. Judicious avoidance of description can be a virtue of its own.

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Readers have their own mental images of characters, and no matter how much description you put in, the two will never meet. If a description grows out of the writing, great. If not, don't worry too much. If the character's appearance is important to the plot or to characterisation (I have characters whose appearance is of at least some importance, for instance), it will probably work its way in.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Back when I was an editor reading slush, there were an awful lot of female characters pausing to admire their perfect breasts in mirrors.

As we so often do.

[gxdm.livejournal.com]

I bet there was.

Most of the women I know rant and rave at their curves in mirrors. (Normally in the "I really hate my body" sort of way.)

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Excellent advice from a Real Editor - thanks!

[thatwasjen]

I suspect that if the author hasn't felt a need to describe the character within the story, then description isn't necessary to the story and it should be left out. Assuming, of course, that the story is told well.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Strange that 90% of those manuscripts were written by men.

[gxdm.livejournal.com]

Why am I not surprised.

Another 2 cents

[otterdance.livejournal.com]

If there are details about the guy that are important to the story, he could get that across by commenting on himself. "God, I wanted her, but why would a babe like that look twice at a paunchy guy with a bad comb over?"

As far as mirrors go, people do look in them now and then, but it's best done in passing, rather than a full body scan on page one.

Re: Another 2 cents

[rosefox]

Unless it's a character trait and the narrator is always glancing at reflections in shop windows and elevator doors.

[aynatonal.livejournal.com]

It frets me a bit if I never get to know what the narrator looks like at all. As was said above, even a single mention of freckles gives me something to go on when creating a mental image. It doesn't have to be a grocery list, but I do like *something*.

[ellen-denham.livejournal.com]

If a physical detail is really important there are ways to get it out by the character's thoughts or reactions from other characters. If not, it's probably not important.

For example (and I'm not claiming these are good examples, just the first things to fly from my fingers):

I'm taller than John, and I know he doesn't like it. When we go out, I have to resist the temptation to slouch.

Or:

Marcie sighed. "Well, you would say that, being blonde."

In either case, of course, being tall or being blonde should be an important detail in the context of the story.

The kind of stuff I hate in first person is: He gazed at my auburn curls and then his gaze moved down to my burgundy sweatshirt, lingering on my silver bracelet..."

For one thing, she knows what color her hair is so has no reason for her as the pov character to specifically mention it in that context. For another, it's almost a point of view violation. Sure, she might know that his eyes move from her hair to her bracelet, but perhaps he was looking over her head out the window and then wanted to see if she was wearing a watch before asking her the time. And if the burgundy sweatshirt isn't significant, what is it doing taking up space?

[ewein2412]

hmmm, I've been writing mainly 3rd person limited p.o.v. lately, but I run into the same problem a lot--the character isn't vain and what he looks like is difficult to make relevant in the text. he looks like his father, so sometimes I just describe his father. At one point he wonders if his baby sister will look like him... which then becomes an opportunity to describe the baby's potential coloring. Hmmm. Now that I think about this, I do this a lot--describe a character by describing a close relation and pointing out the similarity. It doesn't even have to be done in the same context.

If there's something unusual about the character's looks, that can always be used against them--"Look at your horrible scar" "Don't you know those blue eyes can curse you" (one of these sentences has NOT been used to describe any character I've ever made up, guess which one)

[vschanoes.livejournal.com]

I don't bother with a character description, mostly, either as a reader or a writer. If it matters to the story, it'll come up organically over the course of the story ("I always knew this would happen: my father left my mother, my grandfather left my grandmother, and now my husband is leaving his dark-haired, big-nosed Jewish wife for a blonde shiksa"), and if it doesn't, it probably doesn't matter. One of my favorite first-person narrators, McIlvaine in Doctorow's The Waterworks never describes himself--he doesn't even tell you his name until 1/4 of the way through the book.

[rustica.livejournal.com]

Character descriptions have to arise from within the plot and from within the character. If they come naturally from those, you've got a winner. Otherwise it'll be out of place and just plain wrong.

In first-person, the details have to be the ones the character would notice about themselves, OR which are commented on to that person by others. So if the guy is a warrior, he might notice muscle tone, injuries, relative size/weight of opponents etc. He's not likely to worry about his hair. In chick lit, the character might worry about whether her skin tone suits her lipstick. In other words, how does your character's appearance reflect their internal priorities? Does your character *care* what they look like? If not, why are you describing it?

Does your character's appearance reflect anything about their external world or circumstances? Technology - your chicklit character may be worried how she appears on a webcam, whereas your warrier may have only seen his reflection in water. What about aging? Any time that a character's body is changing rapidly, they will be more aware of it. Adolescence, obv, but also older people, pregnancy, and people recovering from a long illness, etc, etc.

Plus, the eternal rules. Less is usually more, and Show, don't tell.

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

As others said, it's only something to worry over if the character's appearance is actually important in some way. Usually only certain details about the character's appearance are particularly relevant - like if they're particularly pale, or particularly tall, and if those things are important they usually come up pretty naturally in the narrative. (I once conveyed the generalities of a tall and skinny woman's appearance by having her feel awkward and fragile around a woman who was shorter, muscular and curvy; I think I handled it somewhat awkwardly but had the right idea, since it naturally conveyed a lot about the character's personality at the same time as her appearance.)

[katieupsidedown.livejournal.com]

I don't describe my character if I'm writing in the first person. I describe his family, friends, and everyone else around him. I know what he looks like to me, but as a reader I've pictured characters many times only to find they don't resemble the author's description. I'd rather leave it up to the reader to decide what they look like.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Good answer.

Why do we need a physical presence for such a tightly locked POV?

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Well said.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Innnnnteresting . . . .

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

"Who are you who are so wise in the ways of science?"