: Re: Creating character imagery without describing their physical looks This is more for my own curiosity than anything else but I was wondering if when reading about a character with no specified

@Sue2132873

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I tend to be sparing of physical descriptions of characters in that readers will create an image of said character based on who they think they are.

I have a character who, initially, I introduced using only her surname. In the third paragraph, I used the feminine possessive pronoun and this guy I was reading it to said ‘Where’d the girl come from?’.

Now, I know that my secondary protag is of Irish descent, her family leaving Ireland during the Troubles and moving to the beautiful country of Columbia. I know that she saw dark things, was shaped by her experiences and set down the path she trod in part out of love for a dead sibling, in part to destroy those who hurt her family. The reader, from what I have in the book, can imagine a fierce Latina who chose a cool code name. I mention that she is beautiful, but never describe even the colour of her hair.

Description of a character’s physical appearance is only important when it is of important things. I have characters that I never describe - their name, thoughts and actions tell the reader who they are. The reader can choose what they look like.

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