“Shall I describe it to you, or would you like me to find you a box?”

― Legolas to Gimli in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Movie)

I copped out a little this week. This isn’t actually the quote I wanted to discuss, but the one I do isn’t a fantasy quote, so I figured the above classic would do as a lead-in.

The following came up in my Facebook feed yesterday:

“When reading, we don’t fall in love with the characters’ appearance. We fall in love with their words, their thoughts, and their hearts. We fall in love with their souls.” -Anonymous

This caught my eye because it matches up pretty well with my philosophy on description in my own writing. I think it’s important for a character to have a salient feature or two so they can be easily identified: Baz has his hat and brand, Rox is giant and has a nasty weapon, Leanna has purple eyes, etc.

But beyond that, I tend to go light on description, not just for characters, but setting as well. As a reader, I tend to gloss over extended descriptions and let my imagination paint a scene, using the words on the page as vague guidelines rather than strict rules.

As an author, a find writing descriptions tedious, which partially explains my writing’s general lack of fine details. But the larger reason is that I believe appearances should be left largely to the reader’s imagination, or at least the text should leave open that possibility.

It’s easy to forget that the images we subconsciously conjure in our own minds are based largely on our own life experiences, biases, and what we’re generally most comfortable with. I’m not saying that’s a problem (at least not in the context of exercising your imagination as you read a novel). But as an author writing for a large audience, I don’t want to alienate others by forcing my imagined appearances onto others except when it’s necessary to the story I’m telling.

For instance, it’s important that Baz has a dragon branded to his forehead, as it identifies him as a Speaker/slave and also serves as a constant reminder of the cruelty he’s fighting against. However, the exact color of Baz’s hair, or the shape of his nose, or even the shade of his skin doesn’t matter to the story, so I see no need to dwell on those details. You–the reader–can fill them in however you like.

At the end of the day, I don’t necessarily write to create specific images in my readers’ minds. Rather, what most interests me are the interactions between characters; the complex, and often difficult, questions and conflicts that arise when people who don’t like one another are forced together, or when those who care for each other are driven apart by circumstance. I write to create emotions, both on the page and in the hearts and minds of my readers, and I leave it to my readers to imagine the characters experiencing those feelings in whatever manner works best for them.

What do you think? Do you like my way of doing things, or do you prefer intricate descriptions of every character and setting? I don’t think there’s a write or wrong answer, but I am curious what others think. Email me, dtkane@dtkane.com.