Mmm. I hadn't ever thought about it that way. :-) I do create files on characters for novels (it's part of the Snowflake process...I probably wouldn't do it except for that), which keeps me from describing a character's hair as auburn in one scene and blonde in another (something I've done before...), but for short stories, I generally tend to have a minimum of character description...a lot of the time, I'm more likely to introduce a character by telling what emotions he calls out in my main character than his hair color, just because I don't think in terms of hair colors. I've heard some how-to authors really stress the fact that one of the worst things in the world is the "mirror description"--where one character looks at themselves in a mirror and we get a detailed description of hair color, eye color, etc.--but that's never been a problem for me, because I don't think that way.
Speaking of mirrors, I think the scripture is describing exactly what you're talking about, if we're thinking about the same one (whosoever heareth the word of God and doeth it not is like unto a man beholding his face in a glass, who, when he has gone away, immediately forgetteth what he looks like, rough quote); it doesn't do you any good to look in a mirror to see what you look like if you're going to immediately forget what you look like (the way I do, and the way you do); similarly, just *hearing* the Word does no good if you don't *do* it. (If, on the other hand, you're just looking in the mirror to see whether your shirt is on backwards, for example, the scripture is less applicable...unless you're going to turn around and forget whether or not your shirt is on backwards, but that's a different problem altogether.)
In other words, the scripture isn't saying "it's just as stupid to look in the mirror and forget what you look like as it is to hear the Word without doing it"; it's saying "there's no point in hearing the Word without also doing it, just as there's no point in looking in a mirror--to see what you look like--if you're one of those people who turns around and can't remember what you look like a second later."
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Date: 2007-08-30 09:43 pm (UTC)Speaking of mirrors, I think the scripture is describing exactly what you're talking about, if we're thinking about the same one (whosoever heareth the word of God and doeth it not is like unto a man beholding his face in a glass, who, when he has gone away, immediately forgetteth what he looks like, rough quote); it doesn't do you any good to look in a mirror to see what you look like if you're going to immediately forget what you look like (the way I do, and the way you do); similarly, just *hearing* the Word does no good if you don't *do* it. (If, on the other hand, you're just looking in the mirror to see whether your shirt is on backwards, for example, the scripture is less applicable...unless you're going to turn around and forget whether or not your shirt is on backwards, but that's a different problem altogether.)
In other words, the scripture isn't saying "it's just as stupid to look in the mirror and forget what you look like as it is to hear the Word without doing it"; it's saying "there's no point in hearing the Word without also doing it, just as there's no point in looking in a mirror--to see what you look like--if you're one of those people who turns around and can't remember what you look like a second later."
Umm...does that make sense? :-D