Are illustrations an excuse for bad descriptions?

[CarburetorThompson]

Reading light novels recently, almost all with have at least a few illustration. I think thats a contributing reason as to why light novel character descriptions are so bare.

So, for you is it okay to have little to no character descriptions if it has included illustrations?

 

[Deleted member 84247]

Reading light novels recently, almost all with have at least a few illustration. I think thats a contributing reason as to why light novel character descriptions are so bare.

So, for you is it okay to have little to no character descriptions if it has included illustrations?

I like minimalist character descriptions. I can see why other people want detailed, but I don't. If something is not unique about the character, then I will be bored reading the description.

 

[Dark_Phoenix_Zaetyk]

Reading light novels recently, almost all with have at least a few illustration. I think thats a contributing reason as to why light novel character descriptions are so bare.

So, for you is it okay to have little to no character descriptions if it has included illustrations?

I don't think so.... illustration can help you to simply complex ideas and covey somethings easily but it depends because character description gives out more information about a character even their personalities

 

[Deleted member 76176]

Illustrations are not excuses for not including character descriptions. They are only the icing on the cake.

But it also depends on the novel and genre, I suppose. I won't be as upset if characters have little physical description in a detective mystery novel compared to a fantasy drama one. I also expect less description from an eastern-style web novel/light novel. That said, if your question was if I'd prefer illustrations over bad descriptions, then perhaps yes. However, the chances of reading that novel are similarly going to be lower.

 

[Jerynboe]

Hell no. Absolutely not. Nuh uh. Unless you go so hard with illustration that it’s basically a graphic novel, its best to write without assuming that people have internalized the illustration. At best, you can take the opportunity to focus more on aspects of them that are not shown by the image. The way they move, for example.

Note that this doesn’t mean you need to be hyper detailed in the first place, just include enough details to make them distinct. Hermione Granger was a main character for 7 books and her appearance was distinctive, consistent, and didn’t contain enough information to conclusively rule out her being black. I don’t think she was ever intended to be black, but any little girl with bushy brown hair and large buck teeth could qualify to play book one Hermione.

I generate AI art for my stories, and for me it’s as much an attempt to pin down what they look like in my own head so that I can write a better description as it is for the reader’s benefit.

 

[Deleted member 166076]

Illustrations don't always make it to other versions of the story like a PDF copy or other sites you cross-post to, so I don't recommend it as a crutch. However, I prefer to keep descriptions vague.

Unless there is a cultural significance to describing someone's looks, what does it matter? I don't need my swordsman to be a dark skinned short black haired brown eyed dude or a pale white skinned blonde haired blue eyed dude if describing him as a strong and capable team leader with a calm and easy going attitude suffices.

It's better to just let readers imagine the characters as they will rather than constantly breaking their immersion if they decide they want to identify with some random side character. Show not tell also means showing what kind of character they are through their actions should be more than enough.

Also, I can't tell you how many times I read a light novel and imagine characters one way only for the manga or anime version to portray them completely differently. My personal preferences clearly varied from the artist's interpretation of the characters, which is fine, but definitely leads to a different impression of the characters themselves.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

I'm using illustrations for my work, but I still include descriptions in my narrative. It's not always possible that I can upload images on the sites where I update, so it's an inevitable and indispensable part of my author career (the descriptions).

I've seen and encountered people who think images are just to make up for bad descriptions. I beg to differ; my few readers love the drawings I do and it enhances their immersion on the chapters I write.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

I don't like character descriptions beyond the bare minimum of sex, age, hair and maybe eye color and some optional unique thing that separates this person from another, unless a further description is necessary for the story.

 

[georgelee5786]

No, it doesn't excuse laziness

 

[RepresentingWrath]

No.

 

[kunic]

For me, I find that it can help elevate a well-described scene. I dabbled with this in a recent chapter for my story, and I like how it fits in. The entire first part of this section builds up to the character finding a tranquil location to set their mind at ease for casting their very first spell, and so once they get there, the illustration helps to further elevate it (or at least I think it does).

 

[TwistedRomcom]

There's no reason to mention much description when everyone you know has black hair and brown eyes. About the most you need is just something like, "MC-chan towered over his peers at a colossal 5'8". Also he was handsome. Really, really handsome. So handsome that he often got mistaken for a girl."

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

There's no reason to mention much description when everyone you know has black hair and brown eyes. About the most you need is just something like, "MC-chan towered over his peers at a colossal 5'8". Also he was handsome. Really, really handsome. So handsome that he often got mistaken for a girl."

Unless you're uploading in multiple sites, and some don't allow images. You'll definitely have to brush up your description by then.

 

[LilRora]

Personally I'd say illustrations are very good if the author has a specific idea for something (especially details of a design) that's very difficult to describe in words. Most people don't bother with them though. Instead it's possible to just write it's got a peculiar pattern, and in most cases it'll do just fine.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Yesn't

 

[Tsuru]

Reading light novels recently, almost all with have at least a few illustration. I think thats a contributing reason as to why light novel character descriptions are so bare.

So, for you is it okay to have little to no character descriptions if it has included illustrations?

(Angry react is against the industry, not the post)

You are wrong though, as its JP LN the fault about "the bareness"
I once checked a WN/LN jp and was quite surprised with how little words there are of the scene.
Its like a 10years old (some authors can truly be that young btw but its not a complaint) that wrote during break and write one jp WN chap.

Meanwhile that same reason why i prefer CN (and cough?cough CNs)
-
TLDR : Its just the writing of JAPAN

 

[3guanoff]

Illustrations should have alt-text. If authors abide by that rule, I do not mind.

 

[beast_regards]

Both are a good excuse to complain about on the Internet.

However, if you accidentally found a book that accidentally has good illustration and good descriptions, do not let it to dissuade you from complaining on the Internet either.