5. Scatter physical descriptions throughout the prose. You don’t have to give all your description of a character when he or she first arrives on the scene. Instead, scatter brief descriptions throughout multiple scenes. No doubt many of your favorite writers do this. 6. Describe actions that reveal physical characteristics.
Here is a list of examples of brilliant character descriptions to give you an idea and help you come up with your own: ... Use this as an example of how physical appearances aren’t always the most important thing.) 51. James Lee Burke, ... Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * 30 comments. Chris says: June 6, 2018 at 3:47 am ...
Here are a few common concepts about physical traits that you can use to piece together the puzzle that is your characters’ appearances. 1. Hair: Hair is actually arguably one of the most immediate indicators of personality in literature, so a good description can help establish your characters’ inner qualities very quickly. For example, it ...
For one thing, that would take too long, but for another thing, descriptions are based on more than just the character’s physical appearance—their personality plays a part too. Contents hide. 1 Tips for Describing a Character ... For example, describing a character’s hair as springy or bouncy could indicate the character is upbeat and ...
You can also show how characters react to another character’s appearance. For example, “Heads turned as she walked in, her bright red dress catching everyone’s attention.” But even in these instances, it remains more effective to bring attention to important details and not focus on describing every aspect of the character’s appearance.
3 Character Descriptions from Other Professional Authors. Check out these other physical description examples from some of my other favorite authors: Roland Deschain and Randall Flagg, The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. I love Roland Deschain. He’s one of my favorite characters of all time. Cool, calm, collected, and hard to kill.
How to Describe Characters + 16 Character Description Examples
For example, a character wearing boxing gloves and shorts can signify that they work as a boxer. Another example: a character wearing fuchsia-colored lipstick and neon green eyeshadow suggests they are living in the 80s. While describing the appearance of your characters, make sure their look fits into the time period and helps the reader
Avoid using physical descriptions as shorthand for personality traits. For example, using "slender and elegant" to describe a character's appearance and implying that they are also sophisticated and graceful. Physical appearance is just one aspect of a character's identity and should not be used to make assumptions about their worth or behavior.
For example, instead of writing: She had long, wavy black hair, green eyes, a small nose, and a slender frame. She always wore jeans and a t-shirt. Try something more evocative: ... A character’s physical appearance should reflect their personality, background, and lifestyle. Someone who grew up on a farm might have sun-kissed skin and ...
Readers best remember the characters you create for your novel by focusing in on their mannerisms, habits and traits. Most often these are physical, but they can be equally memorable if they are social or personality traits. Size, height, weight, buck teeth, a limp are just a sampling of physical characteristics.
Characters’ hair, for example, is often written as a remarkably accurate reflection of their personalities: feisty heroines are endowed with hair as sassy as they are, and these ‘wild manes’ subsequently spend every scene ‘struggling to escape’ from hair ties, messy buns, or other oppressive hairstyles.
Writing a character's physical appearance can be challenging to do naturally, especially in a first person POV. These tips help you to describe your characters' looks in a way that naturally integrates with your writing. 1. Use Settings. A natural way to describe physical appearance is to see how the setting affects it.
When using physical/visual description of a character, especially if they will be an MC, the element described should accord with the actions/choices they’re making, or will make, in a story ...
Like everything else in the story, the voice of the character and as well it should be in the tone. Tone is the view the story has towards itself introduced to the description. You can think what is the view the character has of their own appearance: insecure or confident. A side character what’s the view that the main character has towards them.
The character he is describing (tagged as the "gray man") is a relatively minor player in "Red Harvest", but a great example of the hardboiled style which is fast-paced, earthy, vivid, and slangy. Before we even get to the "gray man", notice the way Hammett introduces the " thirty or forty men and sprinkling of women " in the first paragraph.
Here are some ideas for how you might unveil your characters’ physical descriptions in ways that are relevant and interesting. I’ve used examples that I’ve enjoyed from published works of crime and speculative fiction. First things: Pick and choose what to tell I said above that readers like to know what characters look like.