 Fantasy: January 22, 2025 Issue [#12945] |
This week: The Random Details Create Character Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Fantasy Newsletter by Dawn
Sometimes to show a character or object, you only need to give a tiny or strange detail to make them stand out or seem real. |
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While writing descriptions and details aren't my strongest skill, it is something important to consider when writing speculative fiction. In order to make things seem realistic or bring the reader into the fantasy world, having some details to show them characters and the world is very helpful. On the other hand, if there is too much detail, readers get bored and start skipping sections or might move on to reading something else. I have found with the help of a sit-com that at times it only takes a little detail to make a big impact.
The Example
In the tv show Big Bang Theory, during one of the earlier seasons, the main guys are arguing over the species of a cricket. To solve the argument between Howard and Sheldon, they seek the help of the bug specialist at the university. They happen to arrive right as the guy is starting to pack because the university cut his department so he wasn't going to be there for long and he wasn't happy about losing his job. During the discussion he mentions that his wife had cheated on him while he was out discovering a new dung beetle. When he mentions the situation, he gives two details about the other guy. He was a "two-bit" ornithologist, which implies that he was lesser or not as ideal in the career field, by his opinion. Then he added that the guy liked to wear boot cut jeans. Who notices the type of jeans a guy wears? That one sentence and details makes quite the impact for something so small.
This is also something I've noticed as a reader in different books. While some writers create full paragraphs in describing characters, often it's the minor details done in just a couple of sentences that really show things. In one of the romance books I'm reading, the main character can't see color so he doesn't see the details most notice when it comes to the love interest. What he does notice is the freckles. It's kinda cute how he focuses in on them when he look at the other man, though awkward in the beginning because the other guy is a detective and the main character found his business rival dead by falling on him, getting covered in his blood in the process.
What is that little detail that is specific to the character? What little detail about a building will provide the biggest impact for the reader?
These little things can and will make a big impact for it's not only tv shows and published books that I've come across this successful act of showing with a small amount of words. I've seen it in items I've reviewed here on WDC too. So, some of us are doing it already and I'm sure others are capable whether you know it or not. It's something to consider when writing or editing.
In the next story you write, take this as a challenge. You want to describe something in the story, whether it's a building, a character or the style of magic. Challenge yourself to provide just a couple of small, different details. Be as creative with which option you choose for the description as possible. Keep it minimal. Then, read it later on after taking a break and see how you feel about the description. Is it enough? You can add more if it doesn't work out but the small detail or two might be what is needed for the reader to see the story element.
Have fun considering what details you will use in a story and keep writing! |
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Do any of your characters have a particular detail or notice anything of interest that make them realistic?
Last month, we looked at the non-magical characters in a fantasy world that includes magic. Here are a couple of comments sent over the topic:
Comment by BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  :
I know that in my Dungeons and Monsters Interactive (which is over on another site), humans playing the game tend to play as characters who don't have their own form of magic, as humans don't have the ability to use it. However, magic-based items can be found, so while fighters and barbarians might be stuck swinging swords and axes, they have the ability to shoot lightning and set things on fire.
Comment by brom21   :
Rather than magic, I assign the mighty power of God. So instead of a magic staff, it could be a holy relic with supernataral
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