This week: Character Details - A Description Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Romance/Love Newsletter by Dawn
This is a random from my brain thought about the way writers consider details of appearance for characters when creating a romance story. |
A character description can either be an important factor or could put a block for a reader, it all can vary.
I'm not the most descriptive writer but there are times when aspects of how a character looks can be an important detail when writing a story. Romance in some ways includes a physical connection. When someone sees the love of their life on the other side of the bar, bazaar or flower shop, what they see stands out. This also means that the appearance of the love interest can be important because we want to know what the main character sees. There is a detail or something about that other person that draws the character in and creates that connection.
However, certain ways of describing a person can also distance a reader. After a while, the perfect guy who you can see their abs through their shirt, somehow, with the piercing blue eyes... Yeah, that can be boring. Same with the woman who has the amazing hour glass figure with the perfect hips but isn't overweight with her kind eyes, ruby red lips (that is probably a lip stain but men might not know this details) and the perfect skis... again, not always going to be the case.
That means that while it can be important at times, there are also ways that doing a description might make someone be less interested in the story.
What makes the love interest someone to notice? What little quirk can make them stand out? How can you describe the main character without them having to stand in front of the mirror? To the last one, it helps if you can write duel POV where different chapters are written from each main character's point of view. But if you are just doing one main character point of view and first person, there can be a challenge in how that character looks along with their description of the person.
While we like to think that love is something beyond the superficial aspects of how a character looks, the reality is that appearance is still a factor for people in real life. It's also just a factor for readers, which means it's something that writers have to consider. It is your choice as to how much detail you put into the characters with the manner of dress, the shape of bodies, the fitness levels and everything else. What you write will become what someone reads, so we again consider the details. And if this is confusing, I"m sorry. This is a stream of thought newsletter and I hope that it gives you something to think about.
One last question: How does this newsletter look? Does it have the write body shape?  |
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How do you describe the main character or the love interest?
Prompt: Enter the weekly quickie contest and make sure to describe one of the main character's with an interesting, but different feature.
"The Weekly Quickie Contest" [18+]
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Romance/Love: December 10, 2025 Issue [#13487]
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