I wouldn't actually think of a real person when you said that. It wouldn't take me out of the story, because the girl next door is a look. Looking like an actor makes you think of a specific type not a person.
Cinematic (aka objective) present tense, so it's going to throw the reader out of the story each time for a moment. That's okay because I want each reader to construct their own vision of the characters.
ETA: It's Cyberpunk with a flavor of LitRPG. LitRPG already has a tolerance for intrusions in the narrative with the game statistics, so I think what I want to do will slide by.
For 'reasons' I want to use character descriptions that reference the reader's life experience.
'She looks like that girl who lived across the street from you.'
'He looks like a young version of your favorite actor.'
I know that will throw the reader out of the story at that moment, but I'm willing to take the risk.
Has anyone seen this done in examples of fiction that you can point to?
...
"'He looks like a young version of your favorite actor.'"
And if my favorite actor happens to be Hispanic, Asian, or African-American, does that actually jive with the story?
...
Yeah, 'girl next door' is too close to a cliche. How about: "She looks like that substitute teacher you liked so much."
That is actually accomplishing the very thing I'm trying to achieve - add diversity to the cast of characters without invoking the 'default to white' assumption by the reader.
Yeah, 'girl next door' is too close to a cliche. How about: "She looks like that substitute teacher you liked so much."
What if there wasn't one? :icon_think:
Yeah, 'girl next door' is too close to a cliche. How about: "She looks like that substitute teacher you liked so much."
What if there wasn't one? :icon_think:
Did you still create an image in your mind's eye?
...
"'He looks like a young version of your favorite actor.'"
And if my favorite actor happens to be Hispanic, Asian, or African-American, does that actually jive with the story?
...
That is actually accomplishing the very thing I'm trying to achieve - add diversity to the cast of characters without invoking the 'default to white' assumption by the reader.
Yeah, 'girl next door' is too close to a cliche. How about: "She looks like that substitute teacher you liked so much."
There are any number of ways to do this, I'll experiment.
I don't mind if this throws the reader out of the story for a moment, that's the goal for this - to help them picture a relatable character that lives in their own memories.
Yeah, 'girl next door' is too close to a cliche. How about: "She looks like that substitute teacher you liked so much."
What if there wasn't one? :icon_think:
Did you still create an image in your mind's eye?
No.
Yeah, 'girl next door' is too close to a cliche. How about: "She looks like that substitute teacher you liked so much."
What if there wasn't one? :icon_think:
Did you still create an image in your mind's eye?