Bisky's Twitterling's Scribbles! discussion

Do you find that your MCs have traits about their looks that just end up being similar?

I've realised that my main females always seem to have green eyes. As unusual as it is, my best friend has them and they are amazing. My boyfriend also has amber eyes, inside they look brown but they glow golden orange when the sun hits them, which is a main trait of my shapeshifter characters because it looks so magical. And all my strong male characters have icy blue eyes like my grandad did, because he was a very strong person :3

I tend to base characters around what I know, what I get inspired by, which are usually the amazing people around me :3

Do you have a similar approach, or are all your MC's completely different?

In fiction, red haired women seem to always have green eyes. When I read "green eyes" in print, I always picture a true green... and yet, I've never seen a pair of truly green eyes... So I struggle to visualise it, in all honesty. And yet.. it seems to be every one's dream eye colour, cos it sure is common in fiction!

I really do try to mix it up with each novel I write, though I find that I do tend to lean toward my MC's having light eyes. I realized the other day that I don't have one MC with brown eyes! It probably has to do with the fact that I have dark brown eyes and I've always wanted light. ;)

And I know what you mean about loving green, Bisky! I have a friend that has nearly grass green eyes (no joke!).

@Deb I know!I was thinking about it the other day, its so common in fiction but I only write it in because I know people with green eyes, my best friend and my dad has one green eye and one blue :3

@Hogan grass green is amazing! As I said I do have brown eyes, but they are more golden in my books. Its strange how we lean towards colours :] None of my characters have sea blue eyes like I do :3

@Bisky That must be some amazing eyes! Are you sure your boyfriend isn't a shifter? :)

To answer your question, I cannot honestly say since I only wrote one book so far. (The other in the series is written but not published yet.)
My male protagonist is an alien whose eyes' color change with his mood, and most colors are not what you'd see in humans anyway: lime-green, silver, purple, etc. (I guess I couldn't decide so I went the easy way?!)
My female protagonist is a red-hair but she has dark eyes, almost black.
I don't know anyone with eyes like them in real life as everyone in my family (and hubby's) have either blue, grey or greenish colored eyes.
I'll have to wait and see what happens when I start a new series.

@G.G I dunno he can smell like a pig sometimes! :P

I'm interested to know if your next characters match! :D

I must confess something; i have some issues with the description of my WIP heroine's hair; since she wears wigs (as a sideeffect of a powerfull mahic spell she became bald)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who gives characters unique eye-colors. :3


I try to give variety to my characters.

In my old story, my female lead has cherry red hair (it looks dyed, but it's maybe natural because of 'experiments' done to her as a child, and her eyes are violet. Her colors I stole from an anime character years ago because I liked the red and violet combo. Plus red's my favorite color. The male lead has blonde hair and maroon/red eyes because of 'experiments."

In my current story the female lead has blonde hair with blue bangs, and emerald green eyes. I like that combo because yellow, green, and blue are beside each other on the color spectrum. Some girls in my stories have amber eyes and black hair--because I knew a gal from work with the same features.

Inspiration for characters just come randomly to me. The female lead from my old story, I've known her since 2007-2006--not sure what sparked the red hair--maybe using a red ball point pen to color her hair in ancient drawings. xD

@Kamil LOl you have no idea how much you just made me want to read your work :p

@Josh I hope your going to let me beta read with all those lovely colours ;__;

@Kamil - Does she wear different wigs? :3
@Biksy - I'll let you beta read. That would be great! :D Plus the main character's into fashion, and I have a third person narrative, so she really pays attention to what people wear and makes a conclusion--so lots and lots of color. :D She isn't shallow--just has the mind of an artist. :3 (This all happened because one guy on the school paper a while ago said I should be a fashion designer o.O )

I've always had an interest in colors. xD

@Josh that just makes me want to read it mooooooore :x

#AlmostBeautyBlogger :p

:3

You could incorporate that into something about character description. :3

Well, for about 10 minutes I actually considered the fashion designer idea. I've actually bought a couple used books about fashion, but they are hidden deep in my dorm.

Fashion has always fasinated me, well, mostly because I am in to everything arty! :D Its a hard field as much as everything else. I just thought about blogging makeup for a while before I got the courage to promote my writing :P

I'm more comfertable with my face than what comes out of my mouth/mind xP

@Josh, yes different wigs and some made of rare materials like unicorn's mane or a firebird's feather

:O!

@Bisky: Yes, they're so pretty! But she doesn't like green eyes. Go figure. :p I would have to say that I now envy you, knowing you have sea blue eyes. Haha! :)

All these uniquely colorful characters are making me feel very bland! I only have two characters with strange features (both males): one with stark white hair and violet eyes, and the other with bright, fire engine red hair and eyes of cobalt. :)

Pretty much all of my books are set in medieval time periods, so I suppose that's why all of my people look ordinary.

I remember a post from this forum a while ago in which someone said something about traits of most people in certain regions. If certain 'ordinary' traits are dominant in the area that holds your setting, then it's O.K. But you have the power to influence how traits can change. :3

Its making me want to dye my hair this thread :p

I've noticed that in each novel I write, at least one character ends up with a rose tattoo, which is weird because I don't have one myself (yet :P). I also write mostly tall characters, but that's because I'm a fairly tall person.

All the men in my books are tall! I think its because I'm taller than viking :x

He likes his women Amazon style. To tower over me a guy has to be atleast 6'7 like my brother :p

@Ethan - The redhead gal from my old book has a rose tattoo--she's part of a group/whatever called The Dark Roses. :3

@Bisky - I'm only 5'10"-ish. *looks up* Good morning/afternoon up there, Bisky. x3 I thought I was tall until I started working at fast food, and many working there were taller than me. lol

Most of my characters are tall, too, except for my protagonist's buddy from my current story. She wonders why my character wears heels when she's already tall.

All the girls are in my stories are kind of New York City-fashionista-ish. (I'm trying to break from the habit.) They can't dress casually/normal, they always have to dress up with heels and such. And then all the guys tend to wear brown and black jackets, and everyone has to have a certain necklace. Maybe it's because I live in the Great Plains and everyone dresses so boringly here. I don't know. :3

I have the habit of clothing my MC with hooded cloths, regardless of the genre I'm writing in.

@Josh *pats on the head* :P

I think its anime! No one dresses badly there :p

I have an extremely attractive family/friend base. Its abit strange since we are all so dorky and like nerdy things (it doesnt stop us from getting bullied the shit out of at school haha) So I feel like Im being stereotypical when I make all my MC's gorgeous but I just base it off my friends and family :p my best friend is gonna be on the cover of my book :3 Viking is upset that I haven't chosen him, but I dont want a bare chest on it like all the other Urban Fantasys :P

@Kamil I keep having to write out the trenchcoats...

@Bisky, someone's a Weadonite?

Shiny.

It probably is anime x3

There's nothing wrong with gorgeous people in our stories. :3 I bet your friend's excited! :D lol maybe Viking can be on the picture printed on the title page inside the book. xD

Ahh he got to be on the chapter draft lol he can deal with that. I kinda stole her picture off her facebook and was like "so... about that pic I like" :p

haha! Assertive! lol :3

Its alright she has her revenge when she teaches me to sing in her language... it will be on youtube eventually ;_;

Oh well, at least you get a good cover out of the deal! :3

I cant wait to show everyone :D

Cover releases are exciting :3

That's true about the traits differing in certain regions. I suppose I like the more ordinary looks, though. ;D

On the cover subject: It's always so exciting to get an awesome cover finished!

I'm attached to certain traits in my writing, too.

I wrote a book that I finished over 4 years ago and have a cover made 4 years ago for it, and it was pretty exciting. x3 If you have it made before you're finished with the story, it motivates you--it's like you want to get a really really nice (but still rough) draft done, so you can have a hard copy book made with the cover on it--and then you do the edits inside the book. :3

:)

Yeah, that's true! I've never gotten a hard copy of any of my books, though. If everything works out, I should be finished with my current book within a couple weeks and get some copies made. I'm really looking forward to that!

:3 It's not as overwhelming editing a book-sized manuscript rather than a packet of standard-sized printer paper. :D

I bet it's a nice change! For the first time in my life, I can hardly wait to mark up a book's pages with notes. haha

Got this from Twitter today. It might help us!
http://blog.lettersandlight.org/post/...

haha! I love that binder!

Maybe its a nice thing for blogs? :D

Interesting thread. I lean to the Hemingway method--little or no description. But F&SF readers and editors want to know what everybody looks like. *sigh*

" But F&SF readers and editors want to know what everybody looks like. *sigh* "

I've noticed that in the little feedback I've gotten back. Its abit strange, no one is ever going to have the exact same image you have in your head unless you draw it. Since everyone has their own interpretation anyway. I couldn't get into A Casual Vacancy by Rowling because I was getting fed up with hearing what everyone looked like down to the shape of their bellies lol

I find that I use blonde/brown hair and blue/green eyes a lot, but that makes sense I guess because those are common. I think it's a fallacy that every character must have a truly distinctive appearance. Most people are just people, and we all have variations on the same traits.

I have fun creating my character's colors, but I won't make a habit of reminding the reader in every scene that my character has blonde hair and really pink lips or something. Or when a character's wearing different clothes, I throw in a sentence or two because my limited third person narrator follows my protagonist, and she's interested in fashion, so she'll pay attention to people's clothes. Within the page of a character's debut, I paint a pithy picture of them of two sentences tops, not a thick paragraph. I've read that writers need to trust their readers to remember things.

Most of my males have blonde and brown hair. And the two main girls in my current story have green and blue eyes. xD Maybe just state a description that distinguishes them from the person nearby. Her hair's a lot brighter than his.

Sorry, I'm babbling. lol

I like babbling its alright lol

I do make mention of their clothes, I think it makes a difference, like you won't expect a actionpacked scene to start when everyones in their pjs so its a surprise.

Well... Thats how my mind works anyway hahaha

Clothes can tell a lot about a person in a way. And my inner fashion-designer likes describing them. xD

If you have an epic gun battle in our footy-pajamas, please make note of that! :3

I have a bunny onesie. Epic.

That I'd like to see, Ann.

I chose *violet* eyes for one of my main characters. Then I found out that true violet eyes are found only in albinos and had to make them deep deep blue instead.

But my characters all tend to look different because with each one, I have in mind someone I know or have seen.

My Beta-reader told me I put too much enphasis on the description of clothes... Her wording was " so... Freya's jacket is lacking a botton? I don't give a f..."

I have actors in mind for a lot of characters, but they all have unique looks (usually in terms of hair, height and/or dress-sense.) I tend to avoid too much description because I like the idea of "open casting" but I think I'm successful enough in that other people will fan-cast my work and it'll be perfect.

I also usually follow my character "over-the-shoulder" so there isn't really an opportunity to talk looks except when someone is introduced. But I found a few ways of making exceptions: one character meets her mother and it gave me the opportunity to talk about how alike they are. And there's another scene where that same character meets two other main characters at a funeral, and her brain goes to "I don't know who these are, what's going on?" so it gave me a chance to talk about how they look.