Writing Better Character Descriptions by Inkfish7, journal
Writing Better Character Descriptions
Writing Better Character Descriptions
We writers have a particularly tough job: bringing nonexistent people (our characters) to life in our readers’ imaginations. While it’s never easy, we usually accomplish this magic by writing each character with two qualities in mind:
1) Their personality
2) Their physical appearance
Personality is usually expressed through characterization, and appearance through physical description. Admittedly, that doesn't sound so complicated.
But there are two things I’ll suggest today: first, that description needs to do more than just craft appearance, and second, it’s good characteriz
A wrought iron balcony,
overgrown with jasmine
frames the summer evening,
pulls magic from doorways
and sends it spinning into the wanton dark
with a clatter of glass beads
and raw red saxophone.
Voodoo heat bleeds out low and blue,
bubbles under door sills
and over window ledges
to set the city humming.
The jazz blast of feet on cobblestones -
a parade of tourists,
washed in summer and silk
shake graveyard dust from their shoes
and disappear into the long, languid dark
among the palm readers and card tricksters
crouched in the curl of a summer dream.
The warm slit of night beckons me,
welcomes me with open arms
and
I forgot how jealousy
looked on you -
a brooch of many colors
pinned to her dress
just above the breasts,
or a thin bright ribbon
trailing off a straw hat.
and how it smelled -
too much perfume in a
tiny space or
lemons bursting off the branches
to bloom at her feet.
and how it sounded
like too much music
for one room to hold,
so it had to be shared
with a stranger
who wore candlelight
beautifully.
I forgot
how it sat on your tongue -
a sharp insect
shedding its wings,
and leaving me
to dream of her.
Disclaimer!!
There are no set rules when creating a character: someone could create them just out of nowhere, without following any rule. This is just how I like to plan characters out when making them.
Also, keep in mind that this guide will be focused mainly on characters belonging to a story, comic or whatever you can think, may they be completely original characters or fan characters.
BASIC STUFF YOU NEED TO KNOW.
Ah, the wonderful Mary Sues, Gary Stus and Self Inserts. What are they? Urban Dictionary gives a very good definition for them:
Mary Sue - A female character who is so perfect that she is annoying. The name originated in a
Dear Sir/Madam,
It has come to our attention
this is the twenty-third rejection
of work you have submitted to our site.
We don't wish to be alarming
and we hope this sounds disarming,
but your use of metaphor is somewhat trite.
We somewhat like the concept
(the execution is inept)
besides, your work just does not meet our theme.
You need to have more adjectives
and words like gloam and mucilage,
and phrases that go along in kind.
Please keep the imagery obscure -
the reader never should be sure
just what it is the author has in mind.
Pick a structure we all can stand -
we find your rhythm rather bland
and no deep meaning can
This is an exercise I thought up to help with understanding a character you created or one that you roleplay. Okay! Let's flex those writing muscles! Take the challenge and fill this out with some thought and post it in your blogs if you want! See if you understand your chara a bit better!