Archive for September 18th, 2010

Sep 18 2010

Please Don’t Flood Readers with Mundane Visual Details

We provide advice about how to write novels, comic books and graphic novels. Most of my content applies to fiction-writing in general, but we also provide articles specifically about superhero stories.

1. Everything in your story should advance the plot and/or develop something important about a character. Please don’t stall the story with irrelevant details.

 

2. 99% of the time, it doesn’t really matter whether a character’s eyes are blue or green or whether her hair is brown or blonde. However, such details could be used to create an impression that does affect the plot and/or characterization. For example, if you wanted to suggest that a character looked mysterious and perhaps a bit dangerous, maybe you’d say that her eyes were a smoky blue, whereas the villain’s eyes might be a sickly or poisonous green. Or you could use some aspect of a character’s appearance to create a mood for a particular scene.  In such cases, I would recommend introducing these details only as soon as they contribute something and not because you think readers are wondering what color the character’s eyes are. (Trust me, they aren’t*).

*Of all the hundreds or thousands of characters you’ve ever read about, how many have eye colors you can remember? Any?

Continue Reading »

41 responses so far