Bonus points if the author first mentions a specific trait, physical build, or whatever else halfway through the novel and totally fucks up my mental image.
I don’t expect a biology model description for each character, but write me something brief and evocative of how they should look, you fucking dork author. I don’t even know how tall she should be, her hair colour, anything. Why are you like this, author?
Because it’s awkward and easily done in ways that can come off problematic. If you’re describing an attractive character you end up coming off horny, if you describe an unattractive character you come off mean. If you’re describing an attractive character of another race then you come off horny and fetishistic. So I guess a lot of author just opt for being vague on details.
Sorta sounds like a skill issue to me? I’m not asking for stats on the roundness of pert buttcheeks either though…
Whaaaaaat? You don’t want a sci fi author to be like “this is Eric; he has black hair and is tall, this is his buddy Paul, he’s muscular but of average height, this is Alice, she is also tall with almond eyes and has gigantic gazongas”
The thing I like in her book is HILFs (Humanoid intelligent life forms) are generally all referred to as men/women/humans etc (especially given everyone shares a common Hainish ancestor). Like in the Word for World is forest the people of the colonized planets are basically green furred monkey hobbits, but they’re written about with the same dignity and respect as Terran humans.
Very similar to the Culture series by Iain Banks: had the same reaction to almost the same description of a character having a layer of fur a good way into the book.
To be fair, I didn’t know that in the Culture most “humanoid” beings are just referred to as pan-human with a few aliens as exceptions like the 11ft tall, 3 legged, armored Idirans.
I don’t care for a person’s biological appearance, but care a lot about how they dress and their idiosyncrasies.
Some of it, at least when it’s about the protagonist, is that it’s easier for readers to imagine themselves in their shoes. Which is why, even with drawn fiction, the protagonist has a generic/formulaic appearance.
Many books also lack detail in dress and idiosyncracy terms =)
Uh does that really work though? Do people actually "he just like me fr fr " and project for the whole runtime? Is self-insert protagonist a big thing in written fiction??
I cannot imagine this being real…
Well, obviously, it’s because the writers intend the audience to find him easy to relate to.
I’ve always thought this blank-slate approach was really pointless, because whatever traits you give your blank slate will alienate someone in the audience. Kind of like a statement “YOU MUST BE THIS CISGENDER, HETEROSEXUAL, WHITE AND NEUROTYPICAL TO RIDE”, you know? I also just cannot imagine trying to project myself over what is ostensibly a character with in universe autonomy though…
Do people actually "he just like me fr fr " and project for the whole runtime? Is self-insert protagonist a big thing in written fiction??
I used to think this was utterly lame when I was younger, then I began to notice not many of the characters I read had particularly strong personalities. I much prefer characters I can’t see myself in because just like in real life you’ll have people who are majorly different to you especially in motive.
This has always bothered me.
Bonus points if the author first mentions a specific trait, physical build, or whatever else halfway through the novel and totally fucks up my mental image.
This really gets my goat
because it usually isn’t necessary for the story
Death to America
