If Your Character’s Looks Don’t Push the Plot, Don’t Describe Them
It gets my goat, and he’s growing surly.
One thing I find both fascinating and dismaying is the endless effort some authors put into the descriptions of the characters they write.
“Her sturdy frame, skin as alabaster and rose-red lips pouting furiously, strode through the doorway. Her hair, dappled with the morning dew of the ivy she passed on her way in, swayed in the air…”
Written on the fly, that one isn’t too shabby compared to some of the ways people describe the looks and bodies of the inhabitants of their creations.
Some authors go out of their way to dedicate hundreds of words into the swaying breasts, the size of their calves and posteriors, and every other body part imaginable. They do all of that while avoiding actually getting to the plot.
And don’t get me started on the “pouting breasts” and other nonsense along those lines. Breasts don’t pout, dude. Sure, they sway. They jiggle. They might even bounce jauntily.
What they are not are creatures with emotions.
You know, like your character is supposed to be?
Of course, then there’s the endless amounts of authors who dedicate pages to describing people of any color…
