creativichee:

Here’s some considerations for the tiny little details that can add a lot to a character. Figuring out these mannerisms can do a lot for conveying character traits through their normal actions rather than just their thoughts, dialogue, etc.

• How’s their posture? There are more options than just sitting up straight or slouching a lot. What’s their most comfortable sitting position? Do they have a consistent posture or does it change depending on situation / present company? 
  
• How’s their etiquette? Do they hold the door for people behind them? How do they handle handshakes and other kinds of typical contact? Does their language change or become more formal when speaking to strangers? To their elders? To their superiors? 
• In a crowded space, do they get out of people’s way, or do people get out of THEIR way? 
• How do they point something out? Pointing their finger? Nodding their head? A flippant wave of the hand?
• What are their comfort gestures or self-touch gestures? Common comfort gestures include rubbing the back of the neck or gripping their own arms. Can they suppress these gestures or do they do them often?
• Also consider the character’s common reactions to common emotions. Do they whoop when they’re excited? Do they tremble when angry? 
• What parts of the body are the most expressive? Do they shuffle and stomp their feet a lot when agitated or excited? Are they a hand talker? Do they have an impressive range of motion with their eyebrows?
• How do they sound? Do their car keys jingle as they walk? Do they drag their feet? Do their heels clack resoundingly on hard floors? Do they breathe loudly? Do they fidget in ways that make a lot of noise?
• How do they handle eye contact?
• Any behaviors they reserve for moments when they’re alone? (Or possibly among family/friends that don’t care?) Do they pick their nose? Do they bite their toenails? Do they sniff their armpits? Or do they not care if people see behavior like this?
• Apart from comfort gestures, what else do they do to comfort themselves in trying times? What’s their go-to self care? What’s their comfort food? Where’s their safe space?
• What are they doing with themselves as they’re suppressing emotion? Lip biting, fist clenching, and avoiding eye contact are common methods of coping with strong emotions.

Character Description Writing Resources

• Secrets to Writing Effective Character Descriptions
• Character Descriptions: How to Write Them
• How to Describe Skin Color
• Describing Black Hair in Fantasy Settings
• Importance of Small Details
• @writingwithcolor Description Guide Posts

~~~

~Grand List of Writing Resources~  

Tone:

It’s important to establish your writing tone in the first chapter.

A brief definition of this is how you say what you say.

It’s also important to make sure your tone matches up with the genre you’re writing.

▪️Let’s take mystery-thrillerfor instance:

Example:

There was a knock at the door.

Danielle walked down the stairs to answer it.

But when she opened the door, she noticed that no one was there.

That was weird, she thought. 

Vs.

There was a knock at the door.

Danielle crept down the shadowed stairs and the floorboards creaked under her weight, spooking her.

When she made it to the bottom she put her hand on the cold knob and slowly opened the door.

No one was there.

This is scary, she thought.

Often times you can use“adjectives”to set your tones.

Example:

Use these adjectives to set a negative tone

▪️Angry

▪️Annoyed

▪️Hurt

▪️Sad

▪️Anxious

▪️Scary

▪️Sick

▪️Awful

▪️Insane

▪️Bad

▪️Black

▪️Embarrassed

▪️Envious

▪️Lazy

▪️Tense

▪️Blue

▪️Evil

▪️Lonely

▪️Fierce

▪️Mad

▪️Terrifying

▪️Foolish

▪️Mysterious

▪️Timid

▪️Tired

▪️Confused

▪️Frightened

▪️Troubled

▪️Crappy

▪️Nervous

▪️Upset

▪️Crazy

▪️Grieving

▪️Creepy

▪️Grumpy

▪️Weak

▪️Cruel

▪️Outrageous

▪️Weary

Show not tell “Happy”:

▪️Her cheeks glowed pink.

▪️He smiled, his brown eyes sparkling.

▪️She skipped across the room, humming a love song.

▪️He laid down with an amused smile on his face.

▪️Her hands clasped together and she squealed.

▪️She laughed, falling into the chair and holding her stomach.

▪️She jumped to her feet and cheered them on.

▪️She danced around her room, grinning wide.

▪️Her eyes teared with joy at the sight of her missing daughter.

▪️She wiggled her feet in the sheets, a soft sigh on her lips.

▪️Warm goosebumps broke out on her skin as she stared into his wonderful eyes.

▪️She waved her hands from side to side, twirling.

Notice that I’m not describing happy with “happy” synonyms: 

▪️She was ecstatic.

▪️She felt joyful.

▪️She looked cheery.

This is still telling and your readers won’t get the picture you’re trying to paint.

Example:

She felt so cheery and joyful. ✖️

Vs.

Her cheeks hurt from smiling as she skipped from the room, daydreaming and singing a love song. ✔️

Spice up your dialogue:

“I can’t,” she said.

Or you could say…

“I can’t,” she said, slowlyand moved away from him.

“Will you come?” He asked.

Or…(adj.)(Action)

“Will you come?” He asked, timidlywith his head down.

Balance your tags like this:

Tags: pink

Adjective: orange

Action: blue

“I’m tired,” Mia said with a yawnand crawled into bed.

Daniel lowered the book he was reading. “It’s too early for sleep.”

Two seconds later, Mia’s snores echoed through the room.

“Oh well.” Hechuckledand turned off the light.

Prompts:

She said, softly and looked down.

She said, timidly stepping away.

She said, robustly and met his eyes.

She said, angrily with a flushed face.

She said, quivering and fell to the ground.

He said, laughing and holding his stomach.

He said, stiffly and turned away.

He said, bitterly and his jaw flared.

Eye Color:

Baby blue

Cobolt blue

Slate blue

Blueberry colored

Sky blue

Misty blue

Ocean blue

Navy blue

Rich blue

Indigo blue

Electric blue

Powdery blue

Midnight blue

Royal blue

Diamond blue

✏️

Earth green

Sage green

Emerald green

Pine green

Jade green

Mint green

Meadow green

Grasshopper green

Basil green

Evergreen

Leaf green

Army green

Valley green

✏️

Oak brown

Chocolate brown

Charcoal colored

Beige

Caramel brown

Tan

Penny colored

Camel brown

Autumn colored

Desert brown

Acorn colored

Clay colored

Night colored

Leather brown

Dusty brown

Cocoa colored

Marble brown

Nut brown

Copper brown

Apple brown

Blazer brown

Cranberry brown

Rosy brown

Chestnut brown

✏️

Elephant gray

Fog gray

Metal gray

Silver

Ash colored

Slate gray

Charcoal gray

Dolphin gray

Cloud colored

Cinder gray

Smokey gray

Castle gray

Steel gray

Lilac gray

Tin gray

Whale gray

Ocean gray

Thundercloud gray

Shoreline gray

Rocky gray

Marble gray

Stone gray

Reverse Dictionary

Take advantage of this site, it’s super helpful when looking for similar and different words or phrases. Yes, you can type whole phrases and get alternatives. Way to spice up your creative writing

Hint, click on any word to get its definition.

Reverse Dictionary

Write in the Morning☕️

Obviously, this isn’t feasible for everyone and I totally get it. But here are some benefits:

1. You write better just after a good night’s sleep as your mind is fresh.
2. Less distractions.

Here are some tips to make this happen:

Grab some coffee, tea, whatever you like.

DO NOT check Facebook, email, or jump on any other social media. (You’ll get easily distracted for hours.)

Make a routine. Write at the same time every morning and your body will adjust.

Set an alarm. I like to wake up around 4AM and write for 2-3 hours. (Don’t recommend, but it works for me and that’s just what my body wants to do ‍♀️)

Side note:

Write whenever your schedule allows. I used to write well into the night and made excellent progress on my novels. But now days I’m too tired in the evenings.

Share what works best. If you decide to start a morning routine, I hope these tips help ❤️

Specific Traits

~Hair~

Hair color is fun to describe but it’s not very telling or unique. Two, three, or four characters in your book might have blonde hair. You could easily describe them as having different shades like yellow-blond, white-blonde, and dark blonde. But you can be far more effective if you describe hair characteristics.

Here’s what I mean:

Style- do they wear their hair in a bun, ponytail, or long and wild down their back? Do they straighten it or curl it?

Texture- is it thin and wispy or heavy strands that curl under at the ends? Is it glossy in the light or coarse and dull?

Smell- you can get away with this one as long as you don’t overuse it. For instance, does your character shower with coconut shampoo or wear hair mist from Bath and Body Works?

Use the examples above to broaden your description of hair.

Example:

Kandace’s glossy blonde hair smelled like honeysuckles, reminding me of summer.

Describing Eyes

The eyes are often called the “windows to the soul”. They tell so much about a person. That’s why describing the eyes of your character will give passion and detail about them as well as paint a picture in your readers’ minds.

Here are some words to consider using when describing eyes:

• Dark

• Icy

• Piercing

• Cold

• Hard

• Deep

• Loving

• Passionate

• Severe

• Kind

• Scary

• Confused

• Intense

• Twinkling

Use these even when describing color like: Her deep parrot blue eyes.Or,His intense brown-eyed stare. These are words commonly used when describing eyes and give depth to your descriptions.

Eye Shape:

This is a very visual aspect for your readers to grasp on to. Does the character have squinty eyes or large round eyes? Here are some shapes to consider:

• Round

• Almond-shaped

• Protruding

• Wide

• Downturned

• Deep-set

• Hooded

• Thin

• Upturned

• Big

• Small

You could say: Her round blue eyes glistened.Or,his intense deep-set eyes were navy.

Frequently consider, color, description, and shape. This is a great start, and your readers will love it!

When describing eyes, don’t be afraid to let your creativity shine through. Think further than color and shape and consider attaching thoughts and emotions to your description. I’ll show you:

Instead of:

Her round blue eyes glistened.

Try:

Her round blue eyes glistened like they were afraid to cry.

Instead of:

His intense deep-set eyes were navy.

Try:

His intense deep-set eyes were navy. The kind of blue that screamed to be noticed.

Be careful not to get caught up describing one thing and one thing only. If all you ever do is pick a color off the color list then your description will be lacking. Instead, try to use a balance. Not every sentence has to be deep and crazy. Here and there, you can get by with “she had blue eyes” or “his hazel eyes teared up”. That’s fine. Just make sure there’s a balance.

Be unique! Be different! And don’t suppress your beautiful creativity. ❤️

-from my upcoming book “How to Write Charcters”.

(Hehe)

Describe Vs Explain

You’ve probably heard “show don’t tell”. This is another way of phrasing that. And a lot of writers have found that it clicks better. ☺️

Describe don’t explain!

Introducing Characters:

1. Introduce your characters with action,mannerismsanddialogue:

I was running, panting, sweating but I knew my lean body could take it. It’s what I had been training for my entire life. I punched with my arms harder and harder, feeling my lungs burn as they begged me to stop. Then, suddenly pain shot up my leg and into my hip and I watched the world spin into hues of dark green as I collapsed and hit the ground. ✔️

“D-Don’t hurt me,” she cried with a trembling lip as she backed against the wall. ✔️

“If you hurt me you’ll be sorry,” she said, crossing her arms and glaring at the intruder. ✔️

▪️This is more effective than describing your character’s hair and eye color:

My hair was dark brown and my eyes were pale blue and that day I was wearing a red sweater with blue jeans which looked great on my figure. My skin was tanned from the long summer and I had just gotten my hair highlighted.✖️

My best friend walked up beside me with her brown hair curled perfectly and her red lips smiling. She was wearing a tight white shirt and a blue-jeaned skirt. Her skin was pale and freckled and her eyes were the color of the ocean.✖️

2. Focus on character traits:

I chewed my nails, watching the doors. What if someone came in to attack me? What if something exploded outside? ✔️

My best friend covered her mouth let out a boisterous laugh. “Let’s prank your sister!”✔️

I watched the girl pass me in envy and wanted to ruin her perfect little day. But how? ✔️

▪️we learn so much more about a character when we learn who they arenotwhat they look like but physical traits are important too.

▪️Try “sneaking” physical traits in with mannerism and action:

I watched the girl pass me in envy twisting a long lock of my brown hair. I wanted to ruin her perfect little day. But how? ✔️

My best friend covered her mouth and her blue eyes widened as a boisterous laugh escaped her lips. “Let’s prank your sister!”✔️

3.Read books by your favorite authorsandpayattention to how they describe characters☺️

dizzyhmuffin:

It’s a lovely morning in Lancre, and you are a horrible Gytha.

Hey everyone, new video is up! Lesson #2 from Red, White & Royal Blue: How to describe characters so the readers remember what they look like, but also it’s not boring? How do you describe the POV character? I talk about these things and give examples from this fabulous best romance of 2019.

Drumknott was one of those people with no discernable character.

Terry Pratchett, The Truth

aj-eddy:

Writing Character Descriptions

Describing your character’s appearance and be either the easiest thing to do, or the hardest. Some of us spend ages just staring at the computer screen rewriting the same sentence or trying to picture the character in our head in order to write them into existence.

A little exercise I learnt while studying is to go to Google and look up a picture of a person you think is close to the appearance of your character - it doesn’t have to be a celebrity, it can be a standard photo you find while looking up a descriptor like ‘brunette’ or ‘blue eyed man’.

Copy the photo into your document of have it up on screen next to your writing and try and write as many details as you can (as sentences or dot points, it doesn’t really matter) - the colour and shape of their eyes (try to be as specific and descriptive as you can, and not just the generic blue, brown, green, grey, etc), the colour of their hair and the way it’s styled, the shape of the jaw or their nose, freckles, dimples, scars, etc. 

You might not end up using all the details you write down, but it helps to create a more clear image in your head and gives you something to work with.

Hopefully this helps and I wish you all the best with your writing.

 - AJ 

We all have a type. (Mine is tall, light-haired, and goofy. To each their own.) 

Even our protagonists fulfill a type. (For the sake of simplicity, I’m using the female pronoun.) We spend a lot of time thinking about the main star of our book—her appearance, her likes and dislikes, her quirks, her goals, and her deepest desires.

And we also think about whether our protagonist is going to change or not throughout our story.

We often hear about character arcs and how important they are to map out. A character arc is the mental status of a character as she unfolds in the story. It’s when she begins with a particular mindset, and through a series of events, she changes that mindset by the end. This arc usually peaks at the climax of the plot, and the resolution shows the character as a changed person.

However, you might be surprised that there are many successful stories in which characters don’t change. But we’ll get to that in a minute. 

If we know what type of protagonist we’re building, the kind that changes or the kind that doesn’t, then we can plan for what type of story we want to tell. Will this story stand alone? Will it become a series? Do we want a strong character arc, a strong plot arc, or both?

All of these answers become clearer once we know what protagonist we’re dealing with.

The Classic Character Change

If your protagonist is going to have a life-changing realization near the end of your story, then you’re going to have a classic character arc. This is when your protagonist starts out with a certain outlook, and by the end she changes that outlook and solves the conflict of the story (inner conflict or outer conflict).

The simplest way to figure out the character arc is to ask the golden question: What is my protagonist willing to do in the end that she wasn’t willing to do in the beginning?

This change usually has a sense of “I’ve been a damn fool” as the truth about herself hits her like an oncoming train. Then she gathers her wits and newfound strength, and prepares to overcome the conflict—the one thing that’s interfering with her survival and happiness.

The Gradual Character Change

The gradual change is slightly (only slightly) unusual in that it’s not contained in one book, but can stretch over the course of many books.

If you’ve ever read the In Death series by J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts), you might notice that her protagonist, Eve Dallas, doesn’t always have a defining character arc in each book. The arc pertains more to the plot.

There is still a sense of “I’ve been a damn fool” as the main character solves the mystery, finally seeing what she didn’t see before.

But emotionally, Eve Dallas grows throughout the series in little ways, from learning to trust a man to depending on him in ways that make this self-sufficient, independent woman uncomfortable. She grows into herself little by little while solving many murder cases.

This character change is a little bit different than a classic change for a couple of reasons.

First, the timing of the changes aren’t limited to a 3-Act structure, but nudged along over many books when small conflicts arise.

Second, all you have are good writing techniques to pull it off. You’re less dependent on structure and more dependent on honing emotional cues, the action-reaction-reflection-decision formula. And logic.

The character changes should still make sense within the story (triggered by events), but the arc may apply more to the plot. This type of character change seems to work best in a series format.

Practically Perfect in Every Way

This “non character arc” is interesting in that the arc is pronounced in either the plot or results in the character’s demise.

How can you have a story without a protagonist changing? Is that possible?

Sure it is, and those stories are all around us. This is when a character remains the same and the people around her change. The big realization/arc happens in the plot, or the character dies from events because she’s unwilling to change.

I think of Mary Poppins, a main character who never changes, but there’s still an intriguing story between the children and their parents. She’s the type of character in which others change around her. (The Banks family is forever changed by having Mary Poppins in their lives.)

Or if you’ve read the Amelia Peabody novels by Elizabeth Peters, you might notice that Amelia is always a daring, brilliant woman who prides herself on logical deductions and an imaginative mind to solve mysteries.

Readers don’t want Mary Poppins or Amelia Peabody to change. They’re fun characters. They can survive any situation because of who they are. This type of character can sustain a standalone novel or a series.

The other side of this coin is the character who meets her own destruction because she can’t change, or she’s left dissatisfied at the end. You may find this outcome usually in literary or general fiction, and cautionary tales. For some authors, “what not to do” this is their message for readers to take away.

Decisions, Decisions.

At this point, maybe you’re leaning toward one over the others. And that’s the idea. Know what’s out there and then decide what works for you and your story.

Your characterization (traits, habits, personality, past experiences, present outlook, etc.) will be directed by the type of protagonist you’re writing.

If you’re writing toward a classic character arc, then every scene works toward a personal realization. You set up the protagonist’s inner conflict and little by little reveal information to create an emotional progression toward change.

If you’re writing a character who doesn’t change, then every scene works toward showing how awesome your character already is while working to solve an outer conflict.

Happy plotting!

Need help with your story? I got you covered.