The Unfiltered Guide to Crafting Character Appearance in Writing
Techniques for Accurately Depicting Character Physical Traits
Writing character descriptions can be a complicated task, leaving authors puzzled about the best way to handle it. Should you invest time in describing a character's appearance at all? Do fancy words need to be used to describe eye color?
This post will break down what truly matters when crafting character appearance and provide tips on executing it effectively.
Does your character's appearance make a difference?
The answer is both yes and no. As challenging as it may be, people make judgments about others based on their appearance. As an author, this fact can work in your favor.
Describing a character's appearance is an excellent method to show instead of tell, but do it judiciously. A character carrying a Chanel handbag, for example, is likely different from one lugging around a knock-off. A person wearing muddy Converse compared to someone in Birkenstocks with sports socks conveys stark differences.
Be mindful of clichés and the conclusions modern readers are likely to draw from your descriptions. A tattoo on a contemporary character, observed by a contemporary reader, won't automatically equate to "criminal" or "sailor." Consider your readers and the era of your story when choosing meaningful details.
Point of view matters
You might not realize it, but your chosen point of view dictates how you should describe a character.
When writing in first person or third person intimate, your character's thoughts and observations become part of the narrative, so you should avoid having them think things that wouldn't typically cross a person's mind. You wouldn't think about your own eye color in normal conversation, but you might think about interactions involving your eye color.
When writing in the omniscient point of view, you can describe characters as an outside observer. However, you might still want to choose evocative words. Perhaps a character's arms were so long they could scratch their knees without bending over.
What really needs to be addressed when describing a character's appearance?
Readers assume everything they read is relevant, so you should only mention details regarding a character's appearance that are essential to the story or help bring the character to life.
For example, if you mention that a character's hair is always messy but it never comes up again or isn't relevant to the character's personality, it's an irrelevant detail. When drafting, it doesn't matter how you describe your characters since you're only telling yourself the story at that point. It's the editing process that fixes those details. When you come across something you've written about character appearance, consider what would happen if you removed the detail. Would we gain a poorer understanding of the character? Would something in the story seem nonsensical? If so, keep it. If not, make changes.
It's not all about plot
I want to stress that describing someone's appearance provides insights into the character and helps readers visualize them, making such details relevant. However, ensure the details you include do have a job, as irrelevant details can confuse your readers.
Who would notice such things?
The way you choose to describe character appearance speaks volumes about the observer. When it doesn't reveal anything about the characters doing the observing, it will say something about you, the writer.
The way you describe character appearance also depends on your genre and tone. If you primarily read romance novels, for instance, you might not know the best way to describe characters in science fiction. Be aware of your biases when describing your characters, and use this to your advantage. Choose your words intentionally and describe things that others might not notice.
Be cautious with beauty and ugliness
Avoid equating beauty with goodness and ugliness with evil in your writing. Instead, create unique characters and delve into their personalities, rather than relying on stereotypes. If your morally good character is beautiful, that's fine; the same goes for an ugly antagonist. However, carefully consider why these choices were made, and avoid using physical characteristics as shorthand for specific moral characteristics.
No, you don't need to use big words
Instead of using big, fancy words, opt for descriptive words that create vivid images and evoke emotions. Don't feel pressed to use adjectives like "Dartmouth green" or "Brobdingnagian." Opt for more meaningful descriptions, such as how someone's eyes reminded a character of their grandma's garden, or how a character was so large they needed to book two seats on the train for their legs. Although this doesn't mean you should eliminate adjectives altogether, be mindful of using them sparingly and purposefully.
Nouns and verbs are often better than adjectives
Employ nouns and verbs when possible, as they can be more powerful than adjectives alone. Instead of "She looked tired," you could say "She tried to hide a yawn behind her Starbucks cup and a strand of hair escaped from the hastily gathered bun on top of her head." When describing a character, focus on actions and objects rather than appearances alone.
How to describe a character's appearance in a natural manner
To avoid sticking out from the narrative, incorporate character descriptions seamlessly. Instead of writing something like "Maura's hair was dark brown," you could say "Maura had tried dying her hair a lighter color, but even an hour of bleaching didn't bring any results." Incorporate character descriptions into dialogue and actions in a natural way.
Remember to use all the senses when describing someone. Don't just focus on physical attributes, but also consider what they sound like, the perfume they wear, or the texture of their skin. Lastly, avoid over-descriptions and filling up your manuscript without purpose. Let the details emerge naturally over time instead of constructing a lengthy list of characteristics.
Exercises for describing character appearance in your writing
- Think about yourself and come up with ten adjectives that describe your appearance. Then rewrite a paragraph where you describe yourself without using adjectives. Instead, use actions, behavior, and specific details to describe yourself.
- Describe a celebrity without looking up their picture (if you have one on hand, turn it away). Then locate their photo and identify what you missed. Practice improving your observational skills.
- Choose a character and describe them as both their most ardent admirer and their nemesis. Notice the differences in your descriptions and look for ways to incorporate your personal biases.
- Describe a character who is poor one day and rich the next. Consider how their appearance might change depending on their financial situation.
- Select two fictional characters (one hero and one antagonist) and compare how their appearances have been described. Consider ways to adjust their descriptions to make them more unique or interesting.
- In creative writing, it's essential to learn when and how to use descriptive details in character appearance, as these details can contribute to both education-and-self-development and personal-growth by providing insights about the characters and helping readers visualize them. Learning to describe a character's appearance effectively is a valuable skill, particularly in the education-and-self-development and personal-growth realm (learning).
- Writing tips for describing character appearance include using relevant details, choosing words carefully, avoiding clichés, considering the point of view, being mindful of the genres and tones, and being cautious with beauty and ugliness. These tips can aid authors in crafting memorable characters that resonate with readers (learning).
