: Re: Is a lack of character descriptions a problem? I have written a novel in which none of the characters are ever described. It started out by accident (3 chapters in when I realized). Question:

@Annie587

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If their appearance doesn't matter to the story, then there's no need to bring it up. But if it does matter, the story can be confusing if you don't explain, and it can seem like cheating if you don't bring it up until the instant when it becomes relevant.

For example, if you never describe George physically, and then half way through the book you suddenly say that George was able to crawl through the ventilation duct when no one else could because he is a midget and very thin, (a) Assuming there was no clue about this before, the reader likely imagined him as average height and build. Now suddenly the reader finds that the way he has pictured every scene up to this point is wrong, and he has to re-imagine the whole story. (b) A reader is likely to think, Oh come on, suddenly the author needs to explain why only this character can get into the locked room, and so he just makes something up to make it work.

But if you picture a character in your mind as, say, having a broad nose and a dark sun tan, but this never comes up anywhere in the story and is never relevant, then sure, just don't mention it.

If you don't give a description, the reader will generally assume that the character is like themself, or that he is typical for the setting. Like if I read a story set in Japan and where all the characters have Japanese-sounding names, I'd assume they all look Japanese unless you tell me otherwise.

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