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Jennifer reads your lips...
Being hard of hearing, I do a lot of lip reading. I never
really noticed how much, though, until I started writing. Suddenly, I had to
describe the physical characteristics of my characters.
Okay, I can describe their hair—brown, blond or red; curly,
wavy or straight; thick or thinning; bangs or spikes; texture. No problem.
I can describe their bodies—fat, thin or somewhere in
between; muscular or soft; tall or short and if short, how short;
broad-shouldered, long-legged, well-endowed or flat-chested.
But eyes? Brown, blue or grey. And then what? I have no
idea. I can’t repeat the same color continuously, but I have no idea how to
describe someone’s eyes.
Why?
Because I spend most of my time staring at their lips to
read them. I can describe mouths very well. Thin-lips or full; the shapes they
make when they speak; whether they’re bitten or chewed when the character is
nervous.
But for the eyes I have to look at pictures or movie clips
and study how they change with emotion. I can’t picture it in my head so I need
a real-life sample on which to base my descriptions.
I can’t always answer the question, “Who would you pick to
play your characters in a movie,” because my characters are not always based on
real people. But the eyes? I can tell you every time who’s eyes they are.
Interesting post, Jen, especially as I have a hearing problem too (and wear hearing aids). I also tend to read lips, but I read eyes too. Not sure how I do it at the same time, but there are many times when the eyes are saying far more than the mouth!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm still learning to do both (although the hearing aid makes it easier)--habit, though...
DeleteI don't pay attention enough to facial expressions. I more listen for inflections in voices, and meanings behind words.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Ana, if you could watch me while I'm writing, you'd see me screwing up my face in all kinds of expressions, to work out whether a character would give a wry smile, wince, narrow eyes, raise eyebrows etc etc etc. That's because I think facial expression has to reflect the words and the tone of voice - and vice versa.
DeleteI do that too, Ana, but those are hard to convey when writing.
DeleteAnd Paula, I'd pay to see that. ;)
ReplyDeleteNo chance! LOL!!
DeleteI am resourceful...
DeleteMight try a selfie one day - but on second thoughts, maybe not :-)
DeleteYep...we're definitely going to need to see that selfie! LOL
DeleteI am definitely a people-watching, but I do try to do it without getting caught staring (Which is just embarrassing!), so eyes are probably one of the things I observe the least.
ReplyDeleteAlthough my characters are made up, I usually do give my cover artist a 'famous person' reference for my covers. I find my characters come out much more accurate in how I'm picturing them when I do.
That's interesting, Debra. I guess everyone needs a model to base things off of.
Delete