#im practicing with my characterisation and im not sure if i wrote these two well enough

[pxningfo0l]

It's a reoccurring pattern with Steve, getting come out to and then instantly shitting on the person's taste in people.

Robin comes out to him and tells him she liked Tammy 'The Muppet' Thompson and Steve immediately jumps onto making fun of her because obviously, he will. She sounds like a goddamn muppet! Robin may deny it, but he knows she knows he's right. And he never lets her forget it.

After the Byers family moves back to Hawkins, Steve gets closer to the Byer-Hopper twins (Not blood related twins, but with how similar they are they might as well be). He takes note of the way Will carries himself, the way he stares at Micheal Asshole Wheeler of all people when he thinks no one is looking.

The kid doesn't come out that quickly, so with Robin's advice, Steve takes his time, making it known how okay he was with Will's sexuality, even if he did have standards low enough to beat Robin's terrible Tammy Thompson taste (He says this to her and she reacts as predictably as ever- by throwing something at him).

When Will does come out to him, Steve makes sure he only freezes for a literal second, not wanting the kid to panic like he'd seen Robin do back then. Of course, as soon as he's done comforting and reassuring the kid that he's completely fine with him being gay, he immediately jumps onto making fun of his terrible crush on Mike, finding great joy in the bright blush burning the teen's face.

The next time someone comes out to him, he's more caught off guard than he was with Robin.

Not because he was shocked that Eddie liked guys, no. He might be stereotyping a little, but no straight guy goes that close to another man and calls him Big Boy all low and seductively, a teasing grin curling his lips, a glint in his eyes-

You get the point.

The reason why he's shocked is because Eddie comes out to him, and when Steve asks about crushes, Eddie says,

"Oh, I had the worst crush on you in high school."

Steve sits there, his jaw practically on the ground. The way Eddie says it, all casual, not caring about the consequences or the effect it has on Steve.

"Wh- I- Me?" He stammered out, incredulous. "Dude, I was the biggest asshole back then!"

Eddie chuckles at that, a low sound that sends further heat into Steve's already flushed body. "The me back then did not give a shit, let me tell you that man." He turns to Steve then, giving him a slow look, a gaze more like, and smirks. "I certainly understood why the ladies were so desperate for you and your gorgeous locks."

His heart is pounding like crazy, an audible thump in his ears. Thoughts race in his head, one after the other, all jumbled up until what comes out of Steve's mouth next is,

"So what, you've got a thing for douchebags? Seriously?"

Eddie shoots him another look, more confused than ever. "What?"

"You heard me," Steve says, feeling the next words come out of his mouth like a waterfall. "I was a huge asshole in high school dude. How the hell did you have a crush on me back then? Did you seriously have no standards? You'd really stoop that low just because I had nice hair? I have good hair, and I'm nice now! What's stopping you from-"

Steve cuts himself off with an audible clack of his teeth, a sound that most often comes from Robin when she shuts herself up.

Goddamnit Robin.

Eddie is staring at him with wide eyes, the cigarette between his fingers burning away. Steve wants to watch the smoke curl away, but he's too transfixed on Eddie's doe-like gaze.

Then Eddie's features smooth over, a terrible, terrible grin curling its way onto his lips, deepening that dimple on his cheeks. He leans forward eyes lidded just slightly, and says,

"What's stopping me from what, sweetheart?"

[writinggeisha]

Chapter 3: Reader Question : Description

Hey guys, (just a heads up, for a quick summary of tips you can just skip to the end of the chapter!)

In chapter three of 'oh my gods I can't believe you're actually reading something I once wrote when seriously sleep deprived' we are going to discuss how you can make descriptions work for you. I got this nifty question right here from a guest named Celeste :

First off im kind of making a 'crack' ship of two of my OCs. My problems are like when should I stop describing them? I tend to go on and on about it. Ive already decided to leave out some characters and have a bit of a storyline. Its just I need to know when to stop.

Also, terribly sorry Celeste but seeing as how you were on guest I couldn't really reach you other than posting a new chapter in this guide. I really do hope that you'll see this eventually.

Okay, so I can hear you thinking : weren't you like, the person who told us that excessive descriptions are bad? Well yeah, I was but I was mostly talking about wardrobe (and I'm also an idiot who does very little physical description in her own work but hush). Doesn't mean you can't make it work for you. If you are a bit of description nut it can be hard to kick the habit. Instead of going cold turkey you can use the stuff you are describing to show how your characters function, something which works great when working with Original Characters. I'm going to be level with you all, usually I describe my characters as little as possible. I mean, I drop clues every once in a while but I'm all about the action and plot. This doesn't mean I can't help you however.

The first thing what you do is know what your character looks like, something which Celeste has already done. Then you decide which elements are important and how you will introduce them. Note that the how is very important here because some tropes have been done so often they get boring. The trope you'll really want to avoid when describing characters is your character describing themselves. You know what I mean, they'll be looking in the mirror and start listing of traits.

Stop.

The problem with this is that it will practically always push you in two categories of characters. The vain or the I'm actually pretty but I don't see it myself.

The problem with a vain character is fairly simple. As people we generally don't tend to like others who are too self-absorbed. If a person looks in a mirror and all they see is how perfect the arch of their lips is and how their cheekbones catch the light so beautifully, we'll roll our eyes and be like 'sure babe'. On the other side of the spectrum is the character that is actually quite pretty but they themselves don't notice it. You would think this is a personality upgrade, and in some ways it is. But seriously? This trope again? Not to mention this is also the kind of person who deflects every compliment aimed at them. This reeks of false modesty, and there is no shame in admitting someone is at least decent to look at. You'll want to aim for a middle ground, and truth be told, it's very hard to hit the sweet spot. I suggest staying away from mirrors on the whole. (not you as a person of course. I mean, I check the mirror as well to see if my hair is in place or if I managed to spill sauce over my clothes. That's what they are for. That and checking my eyebrow game. But I digress.)

Avoid the information dump. That is where you get aaaaaaall of the information about a character in one paragraph. It's age and height and weight and color preferences and food preferences and what sort of people they like, but also their clothing preference and... do you get tired from imagining having to say all of that the first time you meet someone? I probably mentioned this before but try spreading information out in the story by mixing it in with your narrative. And instead of giving exact heights, give their height relevant to other characters (though it doesn't hurt to know the exact measurements yourself, your audience just doesn't need to know).

Honestly speaking, Celeste, we never stop giving information about our characters. The point is to do it subtly. There is also a difference between describing them and characterisation (something which quite often gets confused).

When you say you can't stop describing your characters, I imagine you're talking about the clothes and their physical appearance. Which raises the question, how peculiar looking are they? Let's take a look at one of the more popular books of our time, good ol' Harry Potter (belonging to JK Rowling). This is how Harry is first described in the books.

"Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright-green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Sellotape, " [book 1, chapter 2]

If you think that is sparse, try on Ron for size. "He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose." [book 1, chapter 6] (they're not even mentioning that he's a redhead!)

And to finish up, here's Hermione.

She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth. [book 1, chapter 6]

These are the primary descriptions, something for your audience to hold on to while they are waiting for more information. During the story we get to know more about them but this is the first introduction. During a first introduction you want to give the audience what an average person would see when someone passes by on the street. When someone walks by we'll usually notice these things : color of clothing or lack of color and any distinct facial characteristics like beards or tattoos or whatever. After that, on closer inspection comes eyebrows and the like, maybe shoes. And only after that comes the really detailed stuff, like a weird ring or an odd button on their coat. Their conversation partner might only notice those things while they're having a cup of coffee two hours later. Which is good, because those details also signify new things about the other character. That punk rock fan might be wearing a Hello Kitty wrist watch, but you only see it from a certain angle. The serious looking secretary actually has multiple ear piercings, but the way she wears her hair makes it so you can only see it when it's in an updo.

What you do want to do is making sure you're giving the information at an appropriate time. When two people are discussing politics it doesn't make much sense for the conversation partner to suddenly compliment someone on their shoes (thanks, they're new!), but they will notice when someone else is wearing a pride badge or something like that (omg I just said something insulting and now I probably pissed them off). When two teens are talking they're most likely to notice things that signify common interests (I totally love that band and you're wearing their t-shirt?).

When your characters have known each other for a longer time, they'll notice other things about each other. A character can comment on a difference in looks or the lack of difference (this is the first time I've ever seen you wear an orange shirt! Why are you wearing cargo pants in this weather? You're wearing that Puka shirt again?) . When they're observing the other character they might think stuff like 'I wish my hair was so curly! or If there's one guy who manages to make unwashed shirts look cool it's him'.

You know what a really cool trick is? Characterisation through description.

By now you know your characters. I mean, like really know them. A is pretty uptight and prissy while B never gets enough sleep but does know how to cook really well. Just like how you can tell a lot about people by how they dress (or at least you think you can) you can do the same for characters. The uptight character might have a preference for fancy sweaters and there's hardly ever a crinkle in them, which shows others that she takes good care of them. Character B is often seen with a mug of coffee and food stains on his pants because he always forgets to put on an apron. The secretary has fiery red nails, which could be an indicator of her personality. The girl who wears her hair in a messy bun might either be a real fashionista (have you ever tried it? I fail every time T.T) or she's always in a hurry because she's a chronic oversleeper, meaning she doesn't have the time for anything fancy. The boy with the bag full of books obviously likes reading while the bandaids on his fingers indicate he's a bit of a klutz. The jock who's an ace at basketball is never seen without a lollipop, indicating quite the sweet tooth. Her girlfriend on the other hand is usually seen with remnants of flour in her hair because she bakes cookies every day.

What I'm trying to say is, you can keep adding description to your characters. But don't dump all the info on your readers in one go, and don't mention things that wouldn't make sense in the context. If you feel like taking it to the next level you can add details to hint at character traits that aren't mentioned straight out.

Quick cheat sheet :

Information dumps = big no no Character describing themselves should be avoided if possible Character description and details vary by conversation partners and situation. Different people notice different things Use details to hint at character traits (bandaids could mean klutzy, but also just good at sports or they often defend friends from bullies)

If there's any other questions you may have, or if you'd like a reference excerpt, just ask ^^ I'm happy if this helps even one person.

Also, remember that this is just my own way of doing things. Some of it may not work for you, and that's okay. Writers all grow in different ways and at different paces. Only you can write like you were meant to do.