Is this so wrong

ConcubusBunny

Chaotic lewd enby bunny. They/them
Joined
Feb 10, 2020
Messages
261
Points
83
images (5).jpeg

Hello enby pals, gals and guys

I've got a sorta dilemma regarding my character description dump.
I began contemplating if it's a good idea to keep it that way instead of spreading it out through out the story, which I don't want to do.
On one hand everyone gets a clear picture of what the character looks like and I don't forget something's about the character.
On the other hand the reader aren't exactly used to reading the characters description in a single paragraph.

But what's your thoughts on this?
 

Cipiteca396

Monarch of Despair 🐉🌺🪽🌊🪶🌑🐦‍🔥🌈
Joined
Jun 6, 2021
Messages
2,700
Points
153
That's what the glossary is for.

You should describe your character when you meet them, and spread introductions out a bit so they don't all appear at once. Other than that, everything goes in the glossary and you can link their entry if you think it's been long enough people may have forgotten who they are.
 

RepresentingWrath

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 7, 2020
Messages
13,554
Points
283
Just make a character list. Problem solved. You will no longer need to infodump in your story. In the meantime, you and those readers who don't want to wait will look at the character list.
 

CupcakeNinja

Pervert Supreme
Joined
Jan 1, 2019
Messages
3,152
Points
183
View attachment 10179
Hello enby pals, gals and guys

I've got a sorta dilemma regarding my character description dump.
I began contemplating if it's a good idea to keep it that way instead of spreading it out through out the story, which I don't want to do.
On one hand everyone gets a clear picture of what the character looks like and I don't forget something's about the character.
On the other hand the reader aren't exactly used to reading the characters description in a single paragraph.

But what's your thoughts on this?
Bruh your readers are lame as fuck if they get turned off from a single paragraph of descriptions.

Anyway keep a copy of it in a glossary cuz you may want to refer back to it and forget which chapter it's in and have to hunt it down. Put it in a glossary so you dont have to
 

Kilolo

I'm so kewl
Joined
Jul 1, 2019
Messages
419
Points
103
have you ever heard about theory of forms?

like when i tell you to imagine the shape of elephant, if you know what an elephant looks like you could picture it in your head.
but the question is, where the hell did you get the elephant image from? most people didn't remember where those elephant image originated from, they just imagine the form in their head and sure it's the right one.

human brains are work like that, all you need is to put the character impression to their head (inception), and their brain will do the rest of it.

there's no need for accuracy, honestly
 

ConcubusBunny

Chaotic lewd enby bunny. They/them
Joined
Feb 10, 2020
Messages
261
Points
83
have you ever heard about theory of forms?

like when i tell you to imagine the shape of elephant, if you know what an elephant looks like you could picture it in your head.
but the question is, where the hell did you get the elephant image from? most people didn't remember where those elephant image originated from, they just imagine the form in their head and sure it's the right one.

human brains are work like that, all you need is to put the character impression to their head (inception), and their brain will do the rest of it.

there's no need for accuracy, honestly
I know but the thing is that I want accuracy especially for an oc I made.
I want people to have a clear and non clouded image of the character, what's the point of creating something if you can't get the idea of what you created across how you intended.
People who say just give people an idea of the character and add bits when they become relevant, but the thing is I don't know when they will and people might not have the full picture or remember the other bits go put them together.
This statement is equal to getting puzzle bits of an image you've never seen before and asked to fill in the blanks
.
 

LadyIsak

Active member
Joined
Oct 27, 2021
Messages
22
Points
43
I shamelessly have long paragraphs of descriptions of characters, right in the main text, and I recommend other writers try it if character appearance is important to the story — or to the PoV character.
 

greyblob

"Staff Memeber" pleasr
Joined
Feb 6, 2021
Messages
2,745
Points
153
it's not about the paragraph of description, it's about how frequent it was. as far as I remember you introduced 3 characters in the first quarter of the chapter, and I think you were going to inttoduce 4 more but I stopped there.
 

ElijahRyne

A Hermit that’s NOT that Lazy, currentlycomplainen
Joined
Aug 12, 2021
Messages
1,823
Points
153
like when i tell you to imagine the shape of elephant, if you know what an elephant looks like you could picture it in your head.
First thing I thought of while reading this was a rotating perspective of an elephant with a narrator going. “Now imagine messing with your perspective of that elephant. What does it look like from above, from below, from the left, then the right, in the front, and in the back?”
 

Cipiteca396

Monarch of Despair 🐉🌺🪽🌊🪶🌑🐦‍🔥🌈
Joined
Jun 6, 2021
Messages
2,700
Points
153
First thing I thought of while reading this was a rotating perspective of an elephant with a narrator going. “Now imagine messing with your perspective of that elephant. What does it look like from above, from below, from the left, then the right, in the front, and in the back?”
First thing I thought of was the joke about the four blind people who all touched an elephant and thought it was four different animals. Which is an oddly appropriate metaphor for this topic, lol.
 
Joined
Jul 12, 2021
Messages
91
Points
18
Descriptions are fine. My preference is to write and read them as the MC experiences them, otherwise they're just jarring narrator dumps. Or fully commit to using the narrator voice. That said, my focus is always on how the words and paragraphs flow. If they flow, it's fine whatever you do, if not, rewrite.

And my biggest complaint about your descriptions is not their separation from the narative, but that they're entirely artless. I haven't reread your first chapter in a few days, but my general advice on everything probably still applies: get rid of -ing's wherever possible, use the active voice whenever possible, make sure you're using the correct tenses.
 
Top