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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 24, 2014 13:16:43 GMT -5
Do you only describe characters' teeth if there's something unusual about them? (I didn't come up with this question. If you think for two seconds, I'll bet you'll guess who did.) I searched my WIP and found only one description of human(oid) teeth: "When I reached the car, I glanced back. Sturluson was standing in the door of her cute little house, smiling widely and waving. Her teeth were yellowed — not surprising in an elderly tea-drinker." All my other teeth descriptions have to do with animals. What other features of your characters are "invisible" in your descriptions? |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2014 13:28:43 GMT -5
I never thought about it. I suppose yes, if there is something unusual about it. I personally prefer very little description in books, so I can fill it in myself, but it does help to have specifics on things which also tell you about their personality.
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 24, 2014 14:05:08 GMT -5
I never thought about it. I suppose yes, if there is something unusual about it. I personally prefer very little description in books, so I can fill it in myself, but it does help to have specifics on things which also tell you about their personality. Maybe that's the thing about teeth -- they don't necessarily tell you a lot about personality unless there's something unusual about them (blinding white veneers, sharpened to points, whatever). They can tell you a lot about socio-economic status, but there are plenty of other ways to get across a character's wealth or poverty or middle-class-ness or whatever. |
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Post by Suzy on Mar 24, 2014 14:24:22 GMT -5
I use teeth in descriptions quite often. Not to describe socio-economic status, but to convey an image of a person's looks. I can do a-too-clicheed character by saying he had a row of perfect, gleaming teeth, or an endearing hero with uneven but white teeth. Or have a heroine with a slight overbite or with small but perfect teeth. There are lots of ways you can use teeth to describe looks.
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 24, 2014 14:32:04 GMT -5
I use teeth in descriptions quite often. Not to describe socio-economic status, but to convey an image of a person's looks. I can do a-too-clicheed character by saying he had a row of perfect, gleaming teeth, or an endearing hero with uneven but white teeth. Or have a heroine with a slight overbite or with small but perfect teeth. There are lots of ways you can use teeth to describe looks. Sounds like teeth can be used to insert a small, endearing flaw into an otherwise very attractive person? The kind of flaw that makes them even more attractive because they're not plastic? |
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Post by Suzy on Mar 24, 2014 14:39:37 GMT -5
Exactly.
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Post by whdean on Mar 24, 2014 21:20:00 GMT -5
A little gruesome, but...a character nicknamed "Saw-teeth" got his name after his ex-girlfriend smashed him in the mouth with a Jack Daniel's bottle. He liked to brag to the rest of the gang that her nickname was “No-teeth” after that night.
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 24, 2014 23:41:30 GMT -5
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Post by vrabinec on Mar 25, 2014 11:24:44 GMT -5
A little gruesome, but...a character nicknamed "Saw-teeth" got his name after his ex-girlfriend smashed him in the mouth with a Jack Daniel's bottle. He liked to brag to the rest of the gang that her nickname was “No-teeth” after that night.  Anyway, I need to give the teeth in my WIP some thought, I think. I think Suzie's onto something. |
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Post by Suzy on Mar 25, 2014 11:45:40 GMT -5
Teeth are important.
You can describe how a person smiles too. Some people only kind of half-smile and don't show their teeth, in a pinched kind of way and then some have big, wide smile.
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Post by scdaffron on Mar 25, 2014 16:02:23 GMT -5
I like Becca's take on it: >>Sounds like teeth can be used to insert a small, endearing flaw into an otherwise very attractive person? The kind of flaw that makes them even more attractive because they're not plastic?<< I'm pretty sure I've never put a toothy description in, but I think Suzy is right. It's a good idea. I may have to throw in a chipped tooth somewhere  |
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Post by removinglimbs on Mar 25, 2014 16:44:02 GMT -5
Hey everyone. Been gone because I had another kid, back again thanks to David's reminder coinciding with my return to a writer's life. (Kid is now 9 months old. Time flies.)
I talk about teeth in my stories, but only in certain genres. I mention them all the time when I do steamy romance. But they rarely get noticed in horror or thriller, unless they're unusual (crooked, missing, brown).
The funny thing about it is that I never notice people's teeth in real life. I have a friend who ALWAYS notices teeth, and will only date chicks with a decent set of chompers. Bad teeth = no second date. But I could be talking to someone with nicotine stains and a couple of missing molars, and I won't notice at all.
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Post by Suzy on Mar 25, 2014 16:49:25 GMT -5
Hi Limbsy! How wonderful to see you here! How are you? And how's the baby? I saw a photo of him and all of you on David's FB page.
I notice teeth too, I'm afraid. Not crooked ones but bad ones and then I wonder why they don't take care of them.
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Post by removinglimbs on Mar 25, 2014 17:29:26 GMT -5
We're all good here! Healthy and happy, which is the important thing. The kid just does not sleep, though. I am up 5-7 times a night with him. Between him and the other two (5-years-old and 3-years-old), time to write is a precious commodity. I'm shooting for 500-1,000 words a day, but I don't always make it.
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 25, 2014 17:43:36 GMT -5
RL! Great to see you back! I can't believe your "new" baby is 9 months old. That seems impossible to me. Holy cow. Good for you for getting any writing done at all with such fragmented sleep. I know how hard it is to function when you're not getting good chunks of snooze at night. I nearly went mad before ours started sleeping better. |
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Post by whdean on Mar 25, 2014 22:55:58 GMT -5
We're all good here! Healthy and happy, which is the important thing. The kid just does not sleep, though. I am up 5-7 times a night with him. Between him and the other two (5-years-old and 3-years-old), time to write is a precious commodity. I'm shooting for 500-1,000 words a day, but I don't always make it. As you know, children suck the life force from their parents. I feel your pain. |
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Post by vrabinec on Mar 26, 2014 8:21:30 GMT -5
We're all good here! Healthy and happy, which is the important thing. The kid just does not sleep, though. I am up 5-7 times a night with him. Between him and the other two (5-years-old and 3-years-old), time to write is a precious commodity. I'm shooting for 500-1,000 words a day, but I don't always make it. As you know, children suck the life force from their parents. I feel your pain. As well as sucking the money from their bank accounts. My girls were experts at that. Welcome back, limbsy. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 26, 2014 10:20:14 GMT -5
As you know, children suck the life force from their parents. I feel your pain. As well as sucking the money from their bank accounts. My girls were experts at that. OMG, yes. That huge black hole at the center of every galaxy is clearly the galaxy's kid. All the stars are the coins being sucked inwards out of the pockets of the cosmos. |
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