writers,please help!!!?

Question

What is the best way to describe several characters in a story?I have been trying to find a way describe 5 main characters who are very revelant in my story.Three are african american and two are caucasion.I love to read,and when I reread it,it sounds forced.Any help or websites would be great.

whats the best way to bring in physical description,or is it anything goes

Answer 1

I think the best way to describe characters is experientially.

Try to imagine that you are walking around and looking at what your character sees. Most people don't pay attention to EVERYTHING going on around them... common things in particular tend to be glossed over once they're categorized. Remember that if a character is narrating (1st or 3rd person), what you say about others says just about as much about the person who's doing the seeing as well.

Thus when you first see someone, you'll probably see what's obvious and what's important to you ("He shuffled his feet and I noticed worn sneakers that had obviously born the brunt of much shuffling in the past."). As you see them again and again, you can pick out things that draw and keep your attention more, as well as subtle flavours you may have missed ("I kept watching her hair... it seemed golden brown in the dim recesses of the restaurant, and she had a way of flicking it over her ear when she wasn't sure if she had heard me correctly."). If you're utterly familiar with someone, you may only notice something different or into what category they fit for the day ("His clothes were atypically neat and clean... I wondered if he had an interview or a date.").

One thing NOT to do is to just jam a paragraph of description in as soon as a character shows up. I don't think it reads well because that's not how people look at other people. Be careful of contrived excuses to describe someone at length, too - unless they're VERY good they have a tendancy to SEEM contrived (the classic case of the narrator looking at himself in the mirror in the beginning of the story and never again).

This doesn't mean you can't say all those things that you want to about people... just space things out to where it's natural to notice them. And many times you don't have to fully describe people, either. Readers will imagine what they like when you don't provide details. I've heard of cases of readers getting quite upset when an author provides a full description of a character late in a story that contradicts with what they've produced in their own minds! Don't underestimate the creativity of your audience!

Answer 2

the key to good expository writing is showing, rather than telling. for instance, it is much better to show your character being selfish, than simply stating that he/she is selfish. at the same time, it would obviously be overly time consuming, not to mention no doubt distracting to your over all plot to make a little story to describe the different facets of your characters. enganging, realistic dialogue is an excellent way to expose the reader to what kind of characters you present. after all, what better way is there to get to know a real person?

Answer 3

http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/farp/ has some good tutorials on how to create characters. Even if you're not writing fantasy, it has some good tips on describing characters of different ethnicities.

Answer 4

http://www.write101.com/latham.htm
http://writingforstagescreen.suite101.com/article.cfm/writing_character_descriptions
http://www.chronicles-network.com/forum/10744-best-way-to-describe-characters.html
http://www.write-on.org/story/2002/1/6/1554/18715