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In this guide, we’ll explore over 50 examples and techniques to help you create dynamic, unforgettable character descriptions. We’ll cover everything from physical traits to emotional expressions and personality quirks, ensuring your characters leap off the page.
Feb 15, 2024 · Learn what character description is and how to describe a character. Jump into OC description writing with one of the iconic character description examples from our list.
- Choose Your Words Carefully
- Be Specific
- Don’T Always Be Specific
When writing character descriptions, it’s easy to get ahead of yourself. After all, this is the first time you’re introducing a character you’ve created from the ground up. But just because you know everything about them, doesn’t mean the reader needs to. Character descriptions aren’t about doling out every detail in lavish language— they’re about ...
Remember, we don’t need to know every single physical detail of every person in a book. In fact, since reading is a non-visual medium, many readers prefer to fill in the blanks themselves. Good descriptions tend to be brief but evocative. So choose two or three distinct, specific attributes to describe and leave the rest to the reader’s imagination...
Yeah, okay — the irony here isn’t lost on us. But while giving distinct details is important to character descriptions, so is knowing when concrete descriptions aren’t needed. Words, after all, are not limited to describing physical things. So don’t limit your prose, either.
- Description that relies solely on physical attributes too often turns into what Janet Burroway calls the “all-points bulletin.” It reads something like this: “My father is a tall, middle-aged man of average build.
- The problem with intensifying an image only by adjectives is that adjectives encourage cliché. It’s hard to think of adjective descriptors that haven’t been overused: bulging or ropy muscles, clean-cut good looks, frizzy hair.
- Strengthen physical descriptions by making details more specific. In my earlier “all-points bulletin” example, the description of the father’s hair might be improved with a detail such as “a military buzz-cut, prickly to the touch” or “the aging hippie’s last chance—a long ponytail striated with gray.”
- Select physical details carefully, choosing only those that create the strongest, most revealing impression. One well-chosen physical trait, item of clothing, or idiosyncratic mannerism can reveal character more effectively than a dozen random images.
Jun 5, 2024 · Our characters aren’t just what we imagine or plan in our character profiles, but also what we depict in the story and reveal to the readers. In this post, we’ll discuss some essential questions about effectively describing our characters and some examples of impactful character descriptions.
Mar 24, 2022 · Once you have the basics of your character down, you can start experimenting with description. By focusing on one major character trait at first, you can develop your own style of description. Then you can incorporate more attributes, sharing only a couple at a time as your novel progresses.
Aug 30, 2021 · How to Write Vivid Character Descriptions. If you think about your favorite character in fiction, you probably have an immediate image that pops into your head. Though this image only exists in your imagination, it owes a lot to the way this character is described by the author.
