Wow the character hate in writing support groups is bizarre. Why wouldn’t you want to know what the characters look like? I get excruciating detail is too much (and I may be guilty of this), but knowing hair and eye color? That’s… That’s amateur? Help?

I know exactly what my characters look like and it’s strange for me to think any author has zero idea about their character’s appearance. Is this a character vs plot driven thing?

Am I wrong for describing my characters? I couldn’t dream of telling my story without readers knowing who’s lives their following as that’s the kind of thing I like reading myself.

That goes back to my Setting rant. Why is detail amateurish? There’s setting the mood and ruining it with too much info but I keep reading these posts and people just want words on a page and to form their own details. So… Write your own story? They want a plot and nothing else. No character descriptions, no setting details, nothing. Is that normal? Because if so I’m failing as a writer.

Here’s the “Simple Plot” to Eternity’s Irys:

Small town man Jeron Miles believes there’s nothing more to life than toiling it away to atone for a childhood tragedy until he meets an alien being named Sylus Synclaire who accidentally embroils him in an ancient conflict between the ominous Void and mortal kind.

That’s it. That’s the book. That’s all you get. No details. Enjoy!

Ah crap I used an adjective. Better burn me at the stake.

Adendum:

Bring up Chekhov’s Gun and suddenly these writing groups are all “details are important and don’t necessarily have to be plot devices!”

Yes. Exactly. Not every detail has to serve a purpose. I’m so glad you realized that.