From: djheydt@kithrup.com   
      
   In article ,   
   Anson Carmichael   wrote:   
   >Matthew Graybosch wrote:   
   >> On Tue, 18 Sep 2018 14:07:57 -0500   
   >> Capuchin  wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> My preferred method is no physical descriptions. It always backfires.   
   >>> If I try to make a character sexy by saying she's a tall, well-endowed   
   >>> blonde, the readers will all have a fetish for bald dwarves with   
   >>> boyish figures.   
   >>   
   >> I've found that the more specific one gets about a character's physical   
   >> appearance, the harder it gets for readers to identify with them. But   
   >> you can't please everybody, and all you can really do about it is   
   >> allude to "Death of the Author" and say, "This was how *I* saw the   
   >> character."   
   >>   
   >   
   >Has anyone here read "How Fiction Works"? The title is a bit   
   >self-explanatory, but there was a chapter where it was noted that a good   
   >way to write a character description is by creating a sentence or two   
   >that captures the character's most important qualities. An example given   
   >was something along the lines of "He walked with the demeanor of a man   
   >who always first through a door." or something along those lines. It   
   >doesn't overburden the reader with details, but also gives the reader   
   >the cues needed to imagine a character according to the reader's life   
   >experience. Don't know if that resonates in any way with the   
   >conversation, but it seemed a relevant point...   
      
   I tend to do one or two sentences describing a character's   
   appearance at the moment s/he makes an appearance, preferably   
   as seen by another character (or the camera's eye).  I also tend   
   to begin a story with what filmmakers call an "establishing   
   shot," three or four sentences describing the scene in which the   
   characters appear.  YMMV.   
      
   --   
   Dorothy J. Heydt   
   Vallejo, California   
   djheydt at gmail dot com   
   www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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