The other day I got into a discussion with another author about eyes. She says she doesn't particularly notice a man's eye color and thinks romance writers overemphasize them in their character descriptions.
Really? My gosh, eyes are so important to me, in books and in real life! In fact, my husband's eyes were the first thing that drew my attention (closely followed by other body parts, but that's another story.) I thought he had the kindest blue eyes I'd ever seen. I still think so.
To me, eye color is just part of the picture. The expression, the brightness, the spirit that shines from a man's eyes say so much about him. I can't imagine not including my hero's eye color in my books. I know exactly what Captain Brody's eyes look like: charcoal-gray with little glints of silver. Psycho has brilliant, vibrant blue eyes. Chief Roman's are a deep dark color, somewhere between black and midnight blue. And so on.
But she definitely got me thinking. Am I overdoing my obsession with eyes? When you're reading a book, are the hero's eyes important to you or not? I'm really curious. Help me out here!
If it helps you imagine the character, great! But I find too many novels spend way too much time describing the hero's dreamy eyes. I'd rather hear about his actions and they show his character. Eye color is just genetics, after all. It's really NOT his soul. Just what eye color his mom and dad happened to have.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what the other author was saying! I agree that actions count much more than eye color. But still, I can't help noticing and enjoying ... ;-)
DeleteI think the eyes are so important. It's the first thing that grabs me and I believe you can tell a lot about a person from their eyes. When reading about a hero I want to know about the eyes. Do they twinkle, are they stern and serious. Helps me envision the character.
ReplyDeleteSo true! Occasionally I read a book where the hero's eyes aren't even mentioned, and I have such a hard time picturing him.
DeleteI also notice a man's eyes. And I think there's some truth to the saying, "The eyes are the window to the soul."
ReplyDeleteYep, I agree. Then again, I suppose eyes can be deceptive. Or maybe we see what we want to see. Very interesting!
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