Tag Archives: characters

Are You Looking at Me?

staring-at-kids-with-special-needs-Love-That-Max
Writers should not have to tell you every time a character looks at something or somebody. If the writer is doing his or her job, then the “looking” will be obvious.

It’s okay to let the readers fill in some of the blanks. Books are not paintings. They are a whole different form of art.

With a book, you are not the only one controlling the paint brush. Not every character needs to be described from head-to-toe. The reader should be able to form his or her own opinion of the characters’ appearances based off of their actions and dialogue.

They don’t need to know every character description unless it’s important to the plot. They don’t need to know that the character is looking at the other character. Odds are, if they’re having a conversation, then they’re looking at each other.

If you treat your readers like idiots, they will know and lose interest in your work. Don’t hand-feed it all to them. Make them work for it.

Let them have some fun with it, because that’s what reading is supposed to be: fun. It shouldn’t feel like reading a technical manual. It shouldn’t feel like reading at all.