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To illustrate or not?

PeverelPoint 🚫

Dear Reader...I'd appreciate your thoughts.
Do illustrations improve the reading experience or not?
I recently posted a story titled 'Jason's Mum' which involves non-consensual sex. As an afterthought I decided to add illustrations.

But, here's the thing. Do they add or detract from the reading experience. For example, would it be better just to include a few introductory images which help the reader get an idea of the character? Or is it better to include more graphic sexual images? OR is it better to provide NO images at all and leave everything o the reader's imagination?
After all, the art of writing is about creating images in the mind of the reader.

The Outsider 🚫

@PeverelPoint

For me, they are a turn-off, but that's me…

Your mileage may vary… And I have no artistic talent, so my stories weren't illustrated.

Dominions Son 🚫
Updated:

@PeverelPoint

Do illustrations improve the reading experience or not?

My $0.02:

It depends on the nature of the story and the nature of the illustrations.

I see dead tree (commercially published by a major publisher) books all the time where the cover art does not match the descriptions in the text of the book of what are presumably the characters depicted in the cover art. I also see cover art where the scene depicted does not match any scene in the story. I find this to be a minor annoyance, especially when I bought a book because I liked the cover art.

How closely do the depictions of characters in the illustrations match descriptions of characters as given in the story text.

Does the illustration represent a scene from the story? If yes, how closely does it match the description of the scene in the story text?

Does the illustration of a scene appear in the same place as the story's description of that scene?

The better the illustrations track the story text, the more helpful/less distracting they are.

If there's a disconnect, the bigger the disconnect, the less helpful/more distracting the illustrations will be.

The quality of the illustrations also matters.

After all, the art of writing is about creating images in the mind of the reader.

As long as the illustrations are telling the same story as the written text, they don't bother me.

jimq2 🚫

@PeverelPoint

For some people, it is a cost factor for the extra data that must be downloaded to read the story. This is particularly true if you are reading on a phone or tablet through a cell connection.

awnlee jawking 🚫

@PeverelPoint

In the UK, text cannot be pornographic, so I was not happy at the Germans trying to restrict our stories to over-18s. But images can be, even if cartoons, and some of the young-looking illustrations provided with SOL stories could be problematic if the UK tries to exert extraterritorial jurisprudence like the Germans.

AJ

Replies:   PeverelPoint  Dinsdale
PeverelPoint 🚫

@awnlee jawking

AJ, I'm not sure where you get the information about pornographic text being banned in the UK?

Replies:   solitude
solitude 🚫

@PeverelPoint

I'm not sure where you get the information about pornographic text being banned in the UK?

I think AJ was saying that text-only stories cannot be the basis of a pornography charge.

However, having certain images on your computer or suchlike device can open you up to prosecution. Even if they're just in the browser cache.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking 🚫

@solitude

I think AJ was saying that text-only stories cannot be the basis of a pornography charge.

Correct, that's what I meant.

AJ

Dinsdale 🚫
Updated:

@awnlee jawking

like the Germans.

Like a handful of Germans, backed up by an invertebrate hosting company.

Paladin_HGWT 🚫

@PeverelPoint

I get that the discussion on this thread is, so far, about pornagraphic images.

But, I read the OP, and thought about Senic images, or maps.

While I have a pretty good imagination. Sometimes, an image may "tell a thousand words" and add quite a bit of information, that would require a lot of words to convey.

I believe that an image is better than a color for the "cover" of stories on SoL.

If you don't want to depict a person, perhaps a location, or a football player or cheerleader's jersey, or a suburban home, or a disreputable tavern. Something related to the story.

Eddie Davidson 🚫
Updated:

@PeverelPoint

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, and also don't judge a book by the cover - but who hasn't been in the book store, and saw a cool cover and decided to pick it up to read the jacket and scan the book before buying it.

Personally, I enjoy creating the pictures for my stories. I use many different AI tools to inpaint, upscale and use my own photoshop abilities and add a caption. I try not to go overboard and add too many.

I get that some people don't enjoy it, because it fills in the blanks on the character appearance.

By that logic, all movies should just be radio serials otherwise you'll ALWAYS imagine Aragorn looks exactly like the actor in the movie - (which at this point, I don't think I could do anything else when i hear his name. The actor was so iconic/perfect for the role).

Your idea of Darth Vader or Captain Kirk is colored by the actors who play the roles and how they are represented visually.

Some people are also concerned about NSFW appearing on their phone while accessing stories in public.

Those are real concerns though - and my understanding is that the Site Admin set a filter to suppress them. Everybody wins

Replies:   solitude
solitude 🚫
Updated:

@Eddie Davidson

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, and also don't judge e a book by the cover - but who hasn't been in the book store, and saw a cool cover and decided to pick it up to read the jacket and scan the book before buying it.

On SOL, you only see the cover if you've opened the book (by which time it it has already contributed to your count for the day). So if you want to attract readers, it's more important to spend time getting the blurb and tags right rather than getting a pretty cover.
(The cover will probably be visible in the library of your reader's chosen ebook reader, as a thumbnail, so if you are producing your own cover, bear it in mind that it should scale well.)

Covers are visible in bookapy, but that's a different matter.

Edited to add: I haven't tried it, but if you've downloaded a book in kindle format, are such covers visible when looking at your kindle account on a browser? If so, let's hope the covers are tasteful!

Replies:   Eddie Davidson
Eddie Davidson 🚫

@solitude

I think you missed my point. no one was asking if you have to decide between getting your blurb refined, or having a cool cover and can only do one, which should you pick.

I enjoy the creativity of the visual medium, and feel pictures can tell stories of their own. Some don't - my point was do what is best for you since the website has filters.

Replies:   solitude
solitude 🚫
Updated:

@Eddie Davidson

ED, you said "...who hasn't been in the book store, and saw a cool cover and decided to pick it up to read the jacket... ?". I was pointing out that on SOL, FS etc things are reversed: that you see the blurb and click through before you see the cover!

ETA... (That's assuming you are using the mobile version of the site; I haven't explored the desktop version for ages.)

Replies:   jimq2
jimq2 🚫

@solitude

Desktop is the same. No picture in the lists. Not until you open the story.

The Outsider 🚫

@PeverelPoint

Having read the other responses, I realize I may have misinterpreted the original question.

My stories didn't have illustrations in the text, although they did occasionally have maps to help readers understand where the story was. ("A Charmed Life" had a map of the towns where Jeff grew up as if they weren't submerged by the Quabbin Reservoir...)

Replies:   Dinsdale
Dinsdale 🚫

@The Outsider

I consider maps to be "a good thing" when reading stories set in strange (aka non-existent) places.

irvmull 🚫

@PeverelPoint

I've not read any where the images add anything to the story.
Some detract, since people in the imagination are usually better looking than the ones created by stable diffusion, Daz or Poser.

Mushroom 🚫

@PeverelPoint

Do illustrations improve the reading experience or not?

I completely avoid them.

Myself, I find the greatest enjoyment is in the mind, I do not need pictures to make that clear if the author did a good job describing things.

Lion13 🚫

@PeverelPoint

As a long time reader here, I find illustrations to be annoying and distracting. Those traits waste my limited free time. I avoid authors who now use illustrations, though admit I'm struggling through one story that scores above 8.0, but it suffers by being soooo disjointed by these mental interruptions.

I have plenty of classic comic books from the 1940's into the early 70's if I want to look at pictures. I do so enjoy Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko's work! Far better than any of the ugly "illustrations" being included in stories here.

I now deduct voting points based on how much the pictures disrupt reading the story. I have yet to increase a score for any included illustration. Just my opinion.

Replies:   Crumbly Writer  DBActive
Crumbly Writer 🚫

@Lion13

I often find them detracting too, yet as a one-time visual designer, I'm more focused in my approach. So rather than showcasing what I think the characters look like, I instead will focus on the overall mood, establishing the emotional feel of the story, rather than any single element of it.

It's a different perspective, and with any story, we all picture what we prefer the characters look like. So I'm much more judicious concerning how I use images and what I choose to illustrate.

However, we don't have many visual designer/authors here—for obvious reasons—as I as no longer draw or illustrate them myself, but instead use stock-art images which best fit the overall story.

I remember one particular novel, where the concluding chapter featured an image of a man's hand holding a whisky glass. Not many would use something as esoteric as that, yet it fit both the overall story and the final chapter.

And for something like that, the added distance from the subject and art typically works best all around. So not having to cover those myself is, in a strange way, somewhat freeing too. As a visual artist, I painted with paints or pen and ink, yet as an author, I paint with words, and it's hard filling both roles at the same time.

And too often, new authors think giving AI clues on what you want doesn't always produce the best images, as usually, they're close yet never quite right (color differences between background and foregrounds images, inconsistent focus and contract or just plain bad cutting and pasting jobs and their after effects—which again, also applies to AI, as they're even worse than a human author is at it.

They do follow prompts well, yet those attempts are, at best, rather ham-fisted rather than, believable.

DBActive 🚫

@Lion13

Completely agree.

Dicrostonyx 🚫

@PeverelPoint

I'd compare this to the question of whether or not (and how) to include explicit sex in a story.

There are stories that have a single sex scene seemingly thrown in only because the story is on SOL, and they'd usually be better without it, but there are plenty of stories with one one sex scene that work fine.

There are stories that are all sex with no story that go on chapter after chapter and get boring fast, but there are others where the story is about the sex and they're great.

The point is that it is not the inclusion or exclusion of sex scenes, or even how they are written, which determines whether they add to or detract from a story. What matters is whether they fit into the overall story while also leaving room for the story. And this often comes down to whether the story was originally planned around including sex or not.

Illustrations are like that. If the story is planned around the illustrations and they form an integral part of how you tell the story, then great! But if not, you're likely to end up with something which either feels like the illustrations are completely unnecessary or, worse, a "story" that has no plot or characters arcs, just a bit of random text framing a few images.

irvmull 🚫
Updated:

@PeverelPoint

Unfortunately, most of the illustrations here just lack class, and don't really seem to tie in with the story in a meaningful way. The pictures should tell a story too, you know. It's not even difficult:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l5TNPD2akW4gIp3fQopwMchZEgZ7t7Kv/view?usp=sharing
(Safe for work)

What is difficult (at this point) is getting consistent characters, so an illustrated novel or even a decent comic book isn't something any of us are likely to produce. Someday, perhaps.

Replies:   Dicrostonyx
Dicrostonyx 🚫

@irvmull

I know that's probably AI generated art, but is the guy wearing a massive ring or is there something seriously wrong with his hand?

Replies:   irvmull
irvmull 🚫

@Dicrostonyx

AI doesn't do hands very well. It's getting better, but still not quite there. Obviously, if you are going to use such an image in a story, you'd do some editing.

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