RS, Author, Novelist on Nostr: #WritersCoffeeClub Ch 3 Nbr 30 — How much detail do you put into character ...
#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 3 Nbr 30 — How much detail do you put into character descriptions? Discuss.
[/I did a lot of thinking about something I do reflexively, "codifying" what follows. Mind the first sentence. —RS/]
I write in 1st person POV, where only what the character experiences or knows can be reported. What detail I put into a description depends on the character's importance, and it all revolves around the I-POV's experience and opinions. I am always aware of Chekov's Gun in these circumstances. I ensure I have a clear reason for all details in a description so as not to create a red herring that will annoy the reader. My red shirts and background characters merit the least description. I take time during revision to remove the tons of extraneous character (and scene) description I add during composition. This often reduces my word count by 10%.
I see my POV character as the reader's reality conduit, and in that they serve as an unreliable narrator. No real person confesses everything. The POV is not necessarily lying, though if they do I ensure their circumlocutions are detectable to the reader, otherwise why make them lie? This type of POV describes what interests them. They will not describe things they don't wish to share.
My I-POV notes very little about themself (unless they're a fashionista or vain). In shorter stories, I may never let you discover the POV's name—or gender! This can even be despite sexual situations. If it isn't germane to the story, it isn't germane. Yeah, I've written a story with a sex scene without revealing a gender. Such a choice says a lot more than what it doesn't say. I write romance; I don't write erotic fiction. I may describe a POV's clothes and hair style as it reflects about how (and why) they want to present themself. Think about this: if you are playing with your long hair, you may think about the length, but would you think about its red color? No. Red is assumed and doesn't cross your mind; stating "Red" may imply to reader /reasons/ for doing so. Do you have other color hair somewhere on your head—or body? Why is that interesting /now?/ I am more likely to have a friend or a stranger describe the POV character via their comments than to have the POV do it. If self-description is necessary for plot or character development, I'll instead describe something like selecting clothes, hairdressers, critiquing a personal photo, or, gasp, frowning into a mirror.
"Vague" is good. I feel that the less physical detail I provide a character, the more the reader may be able to put themself in the POV's place.
I describe the POV's history when the POV needs to explain their past to explain their present. I describe a POV's strengths and abilities as the POV plans or justifies their actions in the story, and through how they act and their explanation as to why they acted. See my fight scene discussion on the 28th for a sense of character description via action: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/111490626338222994
In a similar fashion, I'll have the I-POV describe what they know about other characters as they encounter them, or as they become interesting, important to their agenda, attractive, or dangerous. In this, the POV can reveal and self-describe their desires, their limitations, and their prejudices—as well as expose what they don't know. I think that describing holes in a POV's knowledge and the workarounds they've tried allow the reader to intuit "negative space" in a character.
From all this, plot must flow. I use what the POV notices—how they describe their thoughts and experiences for the reader—to foreshadow events and move the story along. In this I very much rely on the character's agenda, which as an author I sometimes tweak to make the story work.
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