: Re: How to make clear what a part-humanoid character looks like when they're quite common in their world? How can I describe an unconventionally part-humanoid character, so the reader knows clearly

@Lee1909368

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This may just be my style of reading, but whenever possible, I do prefer a straight break-the-fourth-wall description of the character's physical attributes if they are relevant, and for that to happen as soon as possible.

I disagree with the idea of slowly introducing your character's traits when they become relevant because that will cause mental dissonance, at least for me.

Imagination doesn’t work by bits; I can’t have a half-complete character on my mind. I will create a mental image the first time you quote it with the information provided. If something is not there, my mind will fill up the gaps however it sees fit.

Later on, if you add additional information that is consistent with my perceived image then I will incorporate it; otherwise I’ll just ignore it. If I can’t ignore the new information and I can’t incorporate it without contradiction, I will like the character and the story less. I don’t like my vision of the character to be changed after 3 chapters... I’ve already developed a bond with the guy and I don’t want to discover all of the sudden he doesn’t really exist and I need to bond with another character.

To me, and that’s personal, consistency is not as important as empathy from the reader, and your reader (at least for the moment) is always going to be human.

PS: as a note, your description did not produce the outcomes you described. I imagined essentially angels with tails, tall angels. Definitively not monsters or animals. I think the bit that produced that was “winged people”.

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