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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44960
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44960
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

It'll depend pretty heavily on what type of story you're telling and what type of readership you're aiming for. Generic sex appeal does different things in different context:

- In a romance, they can help a love interest feel more appealing -- but, if it's poorly done, the whole romance might feel cookie-cutter and forced by the author.
- In erotica, you're generally assuming the reader is looking for sexiness, and pretty often the characters are mostly reader-inserts and wish-fulfillment -- so sexiness is pretty much a given.
- In mass-market thrillers, good looks are often part of a larger parcel meant to signal competence, heroism, an uncomplicated adventure.
- In literary melodrama, those same tropes may be a source of horror or trauma, or the tropes may be deconstructed into something entirely different.

So there's no one answer; you need to understand what conventions you're working within, what goals you're working towards, and what reader expectations you're up against.

But I will say this: if you _don't_ feel that good, Greek-god looks are what's right for _your_ story, then I wouldn't try to force them in. If your feeling is "Argggh, okay, _fine_, I guess he's pretty sexy, _are you happy now_" -- and it well might be! -- that'll probably come across in your writing, and it's hard to imagine how that can be a good thing :P

Original score: 18