The Main in the Mirror

Back in the day when I'd write fanfic or little short stories I ended up spending more time looking for the perfect character profile image than actually writing the piece. I guess that explains why I never properly finished anything.

This time around I'm also trying to focus (or not focus) on fleshing out the character as a person, in actions and dialogue and thoughts rather than their appearance. My plucky lead is not going to describe herself in the mirror in the first chapter or list her outfit for the day as mentioned in my Everywoman post, since that just makes me roll my eyes every single time I read it - even if a love of fashion is a perfectly fine character trait. (Stacey McGill of the Babysitter's Club, did you start this? That hideous sunflower print jumpsuit you described when you visited your dad in NYC will forever be imprinted on my imagination.)

If you're a writer, do you need to have a firm image in your mind of exactly what shade your main character's eyes are in order to write her effectively? Do readers need to know that she has brown hair with bangs sort of like Zooey Deschanel's and a slim body with a little beer-bulge tummy in order to embrace her properly?

I suppose it does help a little, but I'm just so scared of slipping down that Mary-Sue slide of silver hair and violet eyes (oh yes, I read a fantastic free ebook this week where the protagonist was thusly described, and her eyes were several times compared to pansies - I mean seriously). I guess if a character is written in first person (as mine is) they should probably have a relatively healthy or even slightly dismissive view of their appearance anyway. They're not going to call their own eyes 'sparkling sea green' and they aren't going to go on a sentence long description of how their autumn-coloured hair floats behind them, smelling slightly of cinnamon. If my character can catch her reflection in her greasy phone screen and think 'Damn girl, you really should do something about these caterpillars you call eyebrows,' does that make her a little more realistic and easier to empathise with? I'd like to think so.