Before I begin my spiel, I should start by informing everyone that I cut myself today while I was shaving. It was really bad, too. It hurt like heck, but by now I know myself well enough not to look until it stops bleeding. It was right on the back of my ankle. Quite possibly the worst spot for a shaving cut. I scrape myself on the shins all the time and I hardly notice, but I think the ankle back is horrible. It stings the worst out of any other place. Anyway, I guess that's what I get for using a dull razor.
So, about book characters: Why do they all have to be so perfect? At least the main characters, anyway. It's okay for the minor characters to have flaws in their appearance, but heaven forbid the main character be anyhting less than a Greek god. I'm absolutely NOT talking about Edward Cullen, either. I'm talking about the main characters of every book I've ever read. I used to be really bitter about that. I was always like, "Why does the author need me to be jealous of every freaking character???" I would still like a book if the characters were just a little more human. I mean, the authors certainly always make sure to include personality flaws. Look at Bella Swan, for instance; although, I don't think she was intentionally flawed.
Let me profile for you the basic main character's appearance. First of all, they're all always really thin. The girls always have medium length or long hair. It's usually a rather unique color, like "fire-engine-red", a "rather eye-catching shade of chestnut", or a "smooth, caramel blonde". Then, there are the eyes. Main characters never have just plain brown eyes. They have eyes that are "a pretty shade of green with little sunbursts of gold at the center" or "shockingly blue eyes" or even eyes that are "molten gold." Are you catching my drift here? What is it with these people?
That's what I thought, until I tried to write my own character. And then I finally understood what goes through an author's head when they're creating a main character's appearance. They want this person that they're putting so much effort into to be everything they think they're not. I didn't want my character to look like me. I wanted to make her "actually really pretty, but in such a way that she didn't stand out in a crowd," or "long and lean, with silky raven-black hair that reached past her shoulders." I wanted her to have "shockingly blue eyes," or something like that.
That's what I wanted, but only for the briefest of seconds, and then I thought, "You know what? She can be pretty, but I want her to be humanly pretty." None of this "green with little sunbursts of gold" stuff. She can have eyes that are navy blue, or forest green, sure, but I'm not feeding my readers all that other crap. I'm not going to stoop to that level. People are people. They're absolutely not perfect, and that includes looks. Besides, sometimes little things like an uneven mouth or a crooked nose or eyes that are too close together make a character more memorable.
In conclusion, you can stop reading this now.
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