Yeah, you can say if the person's tall or short, fat or skinny, hair/eye color, all that junk pretty easily. But what if you want to tell people exactly what a person looks like? What do you do then? I'm becoming an author myself, and have a hard time describing my characters.
2007-01-22 01:15:29 · 9 answers · asked by itlus_lyte_wary 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
To my second answerer--okay, I already have my characters envisioned in my head. I just don't know how to describe what I'm seeing. Thank you for helping me out, though.
2007-01-22 01:23:37 · update #1
Take a look at this...
http://www.write101.com/latham.htm
http://hollylisle.com/fm/Articles/wc2-2.html
http://www1.poynter.org/column.asp?id=78&aid=113867
2007-01-22 01:21:36 · answer #1 · answered by vincent 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Describe A Person Appearance
2016-12-10 18:18:08 · answer #2 · answered by sechler 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think this is something you can be taught. It just takes practice and very good eye for detail. Try to put in words what you think of when you look at a person you know well. What feature do you remember first? Why? Are the person's eyes very bright, or very close together? Is her chin very sharp, is her jaw square or wide? Think of skin texture, not just color. Instead of saying "fat", describe the person's whole shape (like a balloon, or bulging around the middle). You see? Try a few people you know for practice before you try making someone up from scratch.
2007-01-22 01:18:09 · answer #3 · answered by MOM KNOWS EVERYTHING 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You can either say a person has blond hair - which is non-descriptive since there is such a variation in blond, or, you can say the hair is flaxen or the color of cold dish-water or of grain or ... is the hair straight, curly, bowl-cut, shoulder-length, does it come to the back of her back. Is it well-styled or ...
Is a person so tall they instinctively duck their head no matter how tall the door opening is?
Do they look like they have spent a lot of time in the sun?
Try looking at yourself in the mirror and describing yourself from top to bottom - including the type of clothes you are wearing.
2007-01-22 01:27:09 · answer #4 · answered by rtistathrt 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I ahve also noticed this and fancy a bit of creative writing myself. I find that they use textures like rugged or ruddy or satiny to describe some characters to make them appear more manly/ feminine. They use colours that aren't commonly used in everday speech eg instead of red they use rust or copper instead of pink, cerise. instead of saying the guy had brown skin, he had chocolate coloured skin or a muddy coloured skin if it's not a favourable character. I find it also helps to take their frame and walk into account. Perhaps describe the person seems too big for their frame or dewscribe how the person mopves and that will give the reader a bigger picture. All the best with your writing. Just remember i want your signature if you become famous it!!!
2007-01-22 01:25:38 · answer #5 · answered by Guppy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As a reader I find that a characters looks stick in my mind if there is something different described. Everybody has something quirky about them.
In real life I can't remember peoples names so I remember them by their habits or different look.
A girl I know does this funny thing with her eyebrow when she asks a question and I just met someone the other day who has one grey eye and one blue.
These are elements that describe a specific look.
Good Luck
2007-01-22 02:33:30 · answer #6 · answered by ghds 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Use similies, metaphors and personification.
A face as droopy as runny paint on a park bench
Ears like high tech Nasa satellites. Looks like they're the latest in alien detection.
giraffe legs.
A proud nose.
A stomach that could easly be mistaken for a beenie chair if he was laid horizontal.
2007-01-22 01:22:42 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Study peoples movements and what the difference is in the way they carry themselves and the way they dress, then instead of saying that "she had blonde hair" say "I could tell she was on a business trip as her blond hair looked as though it had been freshly done at the beauty parlor in just the right sort of way" or instead of saying "he had on a brown suit" say "he was the man, I could tell by looking at that million dollar suit he had on" or instead of saying "he had green eyes" you can say "he looked busy, I could tell by looking at that gleam in his green eyes" I am not sure how to tell you to do it, you just do it
2007-01-22 02:21:07 · answer #8 · answered by Friend 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
We-el, being a writer myself although not published, i would say dat try comparing your characters to real, live celebrities. try it out!!
2007-01-22 01:43:12 · answer #9 · answered by cutie 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋