I'll be honest, with the title of this thread I thought this was about me Here is my advice, write exactly what you feel and leave the interpretation up to the reader. If it is critical to you that it be conveyed there are no homosexual feelings surrounding the statement, try using a different term instead of handsome. Hmm, are you sure this thread is not about me?
jwatson, it really isn't a big deal. . . I can understand where you're coming from, though, and with that in mind. . . what is your target demographic? If you're writing for adults, don't write for the immature. Write for adults. George Martin's "A Game of Thrones" included a sex scene involving a thirteen-year-old girl. I'm sure that made a few readers uncomfortable, but it certainly didn't stop him from writing what he wanted to. And I'm so glad he didn't censor himself. Far too many writers do, I think. . .
My conclusions on the thief. the sort of looks thieves have, in my mind, are under the "mystery" shelf. your going to want angular features, the sort that are accentuated by the shadow of say, a hood. If he is to be a theif. lips that stretch long across and wide jaw. Dark hair and recessed eyes. the above represents both a problem and a selling point. It is a problem because it is a cliche'. And because it is cliche' it is also a selling point. Add some eccentricity to the character that don't directly inhibit his accessibility to the reader. Good luck, Kizahn
I think you could for sure indicate that the character he was inspecting was handsome without sounding homosexual. It's not hard to tell if someone is butt ugly, or a good looking person. I just wouldn't add any real tone of admiration, or sincere interest.
No, that's reader service, not writing. No matter what you type, and I mean no matter what so ever you type, there's gonna be a person on the planet who dislikes it. **** the bozos! You don't wanna care about that, because the only alternative is to never write a single word. Yes! This is exactly how you should feel about your writing, too. Take a look at all the most memorable, dramatic and jarring stories ever written. They were all written by people who weren't afraid of taking risks or simply do their own thing. If you try to make your writing blend in, then that's exactly what will happen -- it'll blend in with the masses of bland, uninteresting, middle-of-the-road, politically correct vanilla entertainment endorsed by (but never read by) soccer moms. If your male character wasn't able to aknowledge another man's physical features, then he'd either be blind or just totally detached from the world, or so wrapped up in selfdenial and homophobia that he'd be a walking timebomb.
it's a beautiful ring, indeed, jw! hm-mmm... what led you to that conclusion?... my non-nonsense style, or what?... and how did you square that impression with my username and my actual name, that are decidedly maternal and feminine?
My first question surrounds the use of the word 'undeniably'. This would, on some level, suggest that someone else had already commented on Mr. X's appearance and James, upon seeing the sketch, finds that he agrees with the original assessment. That being the case, there is really no problem with use of the word 'handsome' as it is merely an echo of someone else's opinion. If, on the other hand, there has been no allusion to Mr. X's appearance previously and James, of his own design, assigns the word 'handsome' to the face in the sketch, there could be a problem. If James is arguing that no one would dare deny Mr. X is handsome ... that bespeaks first person opinion. It is James' determination, independant of any other, that the man in the sketch is inarguably handsome "And I dare anyone to disagree!" It is okay to use the word 'handsome' in describing the man, just be careful how you couch it. And, I don't think 'ruggedly handsome' fills the bill either. That suggests something of the appearance of the person in the sketch but does nothing to alter the sensibilities of the person percieving the sketch (or our opinions of his take on the man in the sketch). Alluding to the fact that others before him have described the man as handsome eases the 'burden' on James and helps to remove him from a first person determination of another man as handsome, ergo, distancing him from any possible latent homosexual inclinations. Can you tell from a sketch? What? That the man in the sketch is nice looking? Depends on the skills of the artist. Some renderings look like they belong on Mommy's refrigerator while others can be quite lifelike. And, with the advent of CG, those artist's renderings can become incredibly human and, yes, even seductively realistic. Pick your poison. The choice is up to you!
