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Q&A Should I repeat character descriptions if a character reappears the second time too far into the story?

I wouldn't repeat them, but there's nothing wrong with referring to the description to remind the reader (though there's a good chance this is what you meant - apologies if so). If your character ...

posted 7y ago by ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T08:08:55Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/33798
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere‭ · 2019-12-08T08:08:55Z (about 5 years ago)
I wouldn't repeat them, but there's nothing wrong with referring to the description to remind the reader (though there's a good chance this is what you meant - apologies if so).

If your character has hair which is - in the earlier section - "so grey that it was almost white", when he reappears this can become "the shockingly silver hair that made him unforgettable".

You're right that some readers will have remembered and others won't, so referring to the earlier description without using the same words should let those who have remembered feel they are learning something new, and those who had forgotten will be reminded of details they might earlier have missed.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-02-26T08:25:45Z (almost 7 years ago)
Original score: 13