spider8

How important is is for characters to be good looking? When I'm creating characters I feel the need to make them attractive to the reader before they get to know them. I worry that if the character isn't good looking, the reader will be less likely to be curious or attracted. I see it in life all the time. People just aren't as curious towards opposite sexes if there's no attraction. Without sexual attraction (i.e. between two hetero men) most people only feel curious or attracted after they get to know someone, learn their SOH, passions/interests etc. I even see more respect/admiration given to good lookers. But when I write I feel like I'm cheating by making a character good looking. But if he's not handsome then I have to make him tall, if he's short then I make sure he's handsome, etc. Making them attractive by their personality is page-consuming and good looks still could add that extra 10 per cent. I want my characters to be attractive to other characters, sexually also. To be a person that people want to know intimately, a person of value, admired from a distance, catching peoples attention. My morals rebel at labelling a looker as such because we all know this is superficial but...a reader is a reader. Normally, from what I see in books, characters that aren't good looking tend to be caricatures or small parters. I'd be interested to know peoples thoughts. Is the use of looks a technique we are all trapped in or can the rules be broken?

Lote-Tree

Human beings have always been fascinated with beauty. That is why we spend millions on cinema tickets to see body beautiful in action. And many millions more on cosmetics to look beautiful
Power of Beauty it unsettles us, it inspires us and it entrances us. There is no escaping. It turns our gaze again and again. Beauty is Truth and Truth Beauty as Keats wrote but whatever it is it is indeed very powerful because it inspires love...

__________________
I sent my Soul through the Invisible,
Some letter of that After-life to spell:
And by and by my Soul return'd to me,
And answer'd "I Myself am Heav'n and Hell :"

Lote's Tales and Poetry

Mr Sci Fi

Why should looks matter in novels? It's not Hollywood, and it's unrealistic.

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"The writer you envy today will probably have reason to envy you tomorrow." - Orson Scott Card

MisterJack

Character do not need to be physically attractive unless the story requires it, which is unlikely for the most part. Readers want someone they can connect with in some way so the characters personality is paramount. If your looking at Jilly Cooper studs or Airport lounge beauty and this is what you want to write, then it will be important to the story. If not, the character needs to be fleshed out based on their actions and intentions. The reader wants to feel something for the character, not have wet dreams about them, so in a nutshell, looks aren't all that important.

Plain Janes and Bland Barry's can carry well through a good story

hope this helps

Jack

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If it claims to be God, eat it.

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Amara-J

If you sift through the Internet, you'll find many a rant about unrealistic characters in fantasy stories (the prime genre for a bashing, it seems). One of the commonly cited criteria? The apparent need for the authors to make the characters perfect - especially in the looks department. Flawless skin, raven black hair, etc etc etc... you get the idea.

It's hard for readers to identify with a too-good-to-be-true character. Of course, you could argue that the inclusion of beauty as an all-round characteristic depends on what kind of story you're writing. But as a general rule, having everyone look like supermodels is unrealistic.

Also consider that rather than physical perfection, the odd trait may add to your character, and that lack of beauty can be utilized as an actual contribution to the story.

One of my favorite fanfics has this line. (It's a story about a female captain in wartime; this is told from the POV of someone under her command, who later becomes her lover.)

"She wasn't beautiful. It was probably just as well. The last few weeks would have squashed beauty flat anyway."

I like this, because it makes the subject human, adds realism to the story, and makes me nod in agreement with the narrator.

So I'd encourage you to try and think of the alternatives, rather than opting for your characters to have that sheen of perfection (but probably losing something in the process).

Happy writing!

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Any moron can
write haiku. Just stop at the
seventeenth syllab

~ Reader's Digest, Nov. 2002 Joke

spider8

Thanks all, for your thoughts. I agreed with them all. Especially Lote-Tree...a bit depressing but true, I feel. I suppose we will always judge partly on what nature gives a character, as well as what the character has earned.

WriterDude

Since when did looks have something to do with it? If your theory were true, why would I care at all about a novel or movie with a male main character? Sure I like Arnold Swarzenegger in movies like Predator and Conan, but it's not his body I'm looking at. Likewise, I love the Red Sonja movie, but again it's not her body that's important.

If the story requires the main character to be good looking, then by all means. But if it does, I prefer the characters to be realistic. There's enough "plastic fantastic" in Hollywood movies, so there's no need to bring them into book worlds. Besides, when I read a book, I tend to picture how the characters look. And last, what's physically attractive to you isn't necessary attractive to me.

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Loulou

Unless you're Danielle Steel, or you're writing porn/fantasy, I think it's not particularly relevent. Beauty is personal choice anyway. Why alienate readers? I could give two shiny shites whether the MC has rippling muscles or flowing golden locks. I'm way more interested in what makes them tick, what their faults are, their weaknesses.

Flawed, quirky characters are much more fascinating. By all means give a character an 'appealing' physical trait (pert breasts are univerally agreeable) as long they have a some sort of imperfection.

Even Scarlett O'Hara wasn't beautiful....

Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.

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WriterDude

Besides, although mostly in horror, what about stories where the whole family are the main characters? And say what you want about The Shining (movie), but those people aren't exactly good looking.

Or to quote someone (forgot who): "AC/DC proves even ugly people can be stars."

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Mr Sci Fi

I usually leave my character's looks up to the audience. If they envision Brad Pitt as my character, that's just as fine as if they envisioned George Burns.

__________________
"The writer you envy today will probably have reason to envy you tomorrow." - Orson Scott Card

duston

There's no need to even be explicit about what they look like.
Readers will empathise with the character, not how they look. They'll paint a picture of how they want to see them based off their actions. If you wrote a story about James Bond but never mentioned that he's handsome, the reader would imagine him to be anyway.

Unless their physicality is actually a plot point, like giving them a hare-lip so they become slightly ostracised by society, you don't really need explicit detail.

WriterDude

I agree with you two, but at the same time, there's nothing wrong with a loose description either. Give the reader a basic idea what the characters look like and leave the rest up for the reader.

In one story, a woman is introduced driving a Lambourghini as a really high speed and being chased by the cops. She drove the car off a cliff and jumped into the water (it was a convertible), and is described as wearing a bulletproof west and helmet. She is described as well as a criminal who focus on stealing cars. All this should give you a decent idea what she looks like. I seriously doubt someone will picture Sanda Bullock or Meg Ryan. (she's in fact directly inspired by Gina Gershon in Bound).

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duston

Yeah. I didn't mean "don't give any physical description of the character at all," but rather that you shouldn't worry about being overly explicit about what a character looks like.

Lote-Tree

Don't be depressed. Beauty without intelligence is dull and boring
Beauty with intelligence is a powerful combination

Nature has designed us to admire beauty

__________________
I sent my Soul through the Invisible,
Some letter of that After-life to spell:
And by and by my Soul return'd to me,
And answer'd "I Myself am Heav'n and Hell :"

Lote's Tales and Poetry

WriterDude

What about intelligence without beauty? (my last hope, hehe)

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