[stylist] Question for fiction writers

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Alan,

First, I'm a firm believer that descriptions don't necessarily have to
be visual if that's not one's first-hand experience. In my experience, I
have heard many writers who have been blind since birth, or most of
their life, have problems describing people and places visually. It's
all about perspective though. Sensory descriptions can, if done well,
provide an entire world of sensory stimulation an not just visual.

Those of us, however, who can either describe things visually or once
had the ability to understand things on a visual level, can work to
create descriptions adding to the atmosphere of a story as well as
characterize.

Personally, I don't like a list of physical attributes; there is no real
artistry in describing this way. I like to incorporate visual
descriptions as they come along, appearing organic to the plot and
timing. I try to fuse descriptions into the particular moment in which
I'm writing. For example:

Jake stood, his lanky frame towering above Amy. She twirled her long
blonde tresses around her slim fingers as she blushed, gazing into his
amber eyes. Jake ruffled his dark brown hair before speaking in his low,
sultry register.

Not the greatest example, but I hope it makes my point clear.

I usually have a good idea of how characters look in my head once I have
an idea for a story. A good exercise to do is to create lists about each
character noting everything from appearance to personality including
quirks to employment to relationships to type of car they drive, etc.
You may not include all the info you list, but you need to know the
character as if they were a real person in order to breathe life into
them.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 13
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:59:45 -0500
From: "Alan Wheeler" <awheeler65 at windstream.net>
To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [stylist] Question for fiction writers.
Message-ID: <2FB4C56F3FBC4794A09754608B055735 at OwnerPC>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"

Hi,
Big question for the fiction writers among us.
What kind of process do you use when creating characters and describing
what they look like? For the book I am attempting to write, I have two
doctor characters, and I am trying to picture what they look like in my
mind's eye, for one thing, and how to describe those looks.

For anyone with enough vision, the one doctor character is, actually
based on an actor who played a doctor in the 80's TV series St.
Elsewhere. If you remember Dr. Craig (a.k.a William Daniels the voice of
K.I.T.T from Knight Rider), he would look and kind of talk like him. Can
anyone help? "The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of
work that you need most to do and that the world most needs to have
done.The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness
and the world's  deep hunger meet."
- Frederick Buechner's definition of "vocation" in his little book
"Wishful Thinking" Psalms 33:3 Psalms 150:5


Alan Wheeler