I tend to be lax with physical descriptions for some reason, particularly for POV characters.
It's really hard to describe a POV character--especially in first POV--without it seeming clunky. Either you have to them look in the mirror and describe themselves or it has to be something like "a piece of my corkscrew curly, blonde hair fluttered across my brown eyes"--both of which are baaaaaad ways to go about character descriptions.
Try to think in real-world situations where your physical description comes into play. For example, I look a lot like my mom, only I'm paler and have red hair. Every time I go to the hospital or meet one of her friends, I *always* get "You look so much like your mom!" So, if this was a story, I'd fine some way to describe my mom early on in the novel, then at some point run into one of her friends and have them say "You look so much like your mom--except for your hair! I love your red hair!" (I get the red hair comment from strangers all. the. time.) and the audience would know, "Oh, so-and-so looks like their mom, but with red hair. Got it." It's slightly less clunky and forced then if I described myself from looking the mirror.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 05:50 pm (UTC)It's really hard to describe a POV character--especially in first POV--without it seeming clunky. Either you have to them look in the mirror and describe themselves or it has to be something like "a piece of my corkscrew curly, blonde hair fluttered across my brown eyes"--both of which are baaaaaad ways to go about character descriptions.
Try to think in real-world situations where your physical description comes into play. For example, I look a lot like my mom, only I'm paler and have red hair. Every time I go to the hospital or meet one of her friends, I *always* get "You look so much like your mom!" So, if this was a story, I'd fine some way to describe my mom early on in the novel, then at some point run into one of her friends and have them say "You look so much like your mom--except for your hair! I love your red hair!" (I get the red hair comment from strangers all. the. time.) and the audience would know, "Oh, so-and-so looks like their mom, but with red hair. Got it." It's slightly less clunky and forced then if I described myself from looking the mirror.