From: julie@pascal.org   
      
   On Saturday, October 25, 2014 9:16:04 PM UTC-6, William Vetter wrote:   
   > On Sunday, October 5, 2014 8:53:55 PM UTC-4, J.Pascal wrote:   
   > > On Sunday, October 5, 2014 5:45:42 PM UTC-6, William Vetter wrote:   
   > > > On Sunday, October 5, 2014 3:18:46 PM UTC-4, J.Pascal wrote:   
   > > >    
   > > (...)   
   > > >    
   > > > > Saying "You can't use weather to indicate mood" is like saying "no   
   more using short words and sentences to heighten a sense of urgency."   
   > > >    
   > > > >    
   > > >    
   > > > There is another one they say universally...the character can't look in   
   a mirror and describe herself.   
   > > >    
   > > > The other day I was thinking about that, that there used to be a TV show   
   named "Quantum Leap" involving Scott Bakula, where he looked in the mirror at   
   the beginning of every episode.   
   > >    
   > >    
   > > Of course that worked really well in "Quantum Leap" where Bakula ran   
   around looking just like Bakula but for the story was actually in other   
   people's bodies so we got to see in a reflection what he looked like to   
   everyone else.  Sort of like if there    
   are vampires there's at least one instance of non-reflection required. :)   
   > >    
   > > But anyhow, the mirror description thing....   
   > >    
   > > Honest, I think that was a solution to a non-existent problem.  Someone or   
   other decided that a "good" writer in a single POV 3rd person narrative or 1st   
   person never let anything on the page that their POV character wouldn't   
   actually think.  So    
   since I already know that I have blond hair and blue eyes and am 5 feet tall I   
   would never think about my blond hair and blue eyes.  I might think about my   
   height if the author asked me to get a bowl from a high shelf but in order to   
   think about my *hair*   
    I need to be looking in a mirror fixing it.   
   >    
   > I dunno.  Women say, "I hate my hair" all the time.  It's pretty much   
   universal.  And black women have an even bigger thing about the hair relaxer.   
   > >    
   > > Other solutions could be to have someone else say something like...   
   "Julie, I sure do envy your beautiful blond hair... it flows like   
   sunshine..."  *Gak*  And besides, this has to happen at the beginning of the   
   story, and giving me a love-sick    
   stalker just to describe my looks is even sillier than having me walk past a   
   mirror.   
   >    
   > A stalker needs to appear frequently in the manuscript, be almost   
   inescapable, or the stalker is not a stalker, just an annoyance.   
   > >    
   > > And I imagine that people started to notice that "the mirror trick" seemed   
   forced, too, and frequently applied...   
   > >    
   > > ...to a wholly made-up problem.  Just describe your POV character and get   
   it over with.  If a mirror is *appropriate* then use a mirror.  If a love-lorn   
   stalker is *appropriate* use a love-lorn stalker.  If it doesn't really matter   
   what your POV    
   character looks like, or what specie they are, or sex... then leave it out.     
   >    
   > I think you really need to let reader know if the POV character is an alien   
   quickly.  And probably the gender.  If they think the author is playing games   
   with them, like intentionally hiding that the POV character is a female   
   physician or a male nurse    
   to prove the reader is a sexist, they'll feel their intelligence is being   
   insulted.   
      
   I prefer to get a physical description when I'm reading a book because I tend   
   to have a mind-picture of the characters.  And that's all good until sometime   
   around, oh, A Civil Campaign I suddenly shout... WHAT DO YOU MEAN IVAN HAS   
   BLACK HAIR!  (That wasn'   
   t Bujold's fault, of course, I just have this association of "Ivan" with "big   
   blond" that is about as strong as the sky being blue.)   
      
   But lots of readers like a visual so skipping descriptions is tricky...   
   delaying descriptions is tricker.  If you get a good cover, that's probably   
   the best.   
      
   And yeah, if you don't let on early that a POV character isn't human or are   
   too coy about their identity a certain number of readers are going to think   
   you lied to them.   
      
   -Julie   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)