Character Descriptions are something that a lot of writers struggle with. We can picture them in our head but explaining them to others is like a mountain we have to climb. In this blog post I'll throw you a rope to help in your efforts of describing body type. For body types you'll use a lot of adjectives like heavy or dainty and lean or stalky. Below is a list of adjectives that I recommend looking through to insert into your work in progress. There are so many more that you can use, this list is not exhaustive but it's a good start. You can describe parts of the body for example: "he had a square jaw and narrow nose." Another way you can describe the body is by form and shape. You would rarely use some of these, you wouldn't say: "her lollipop figure sauntered up to him." But you might say: "Her hourglass figure caught his eye." It's really all about what flows and what doesn't. I didn't find a male version of this chart but in short it's your standard shapes: rectangle, oval, triangle, square and rhombus. You wouldn't want to use these to describe their body type often. Instead you'd describe parts of their body such as squared up shoulders, scrawny legs, and so forth. Now here are some examples. She had an hourglass figure. Her arms were lean but stronger than they looked. As a undercover agent, she could take down anyone. Her lines were parallel with barely a curve in her stalky body. But the black dress made her look light and beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful feature was the bright smile that accompanied her look. He sized the man up. His broad shoulders looked like they could throw a good punch, but his delicate hands revealed they'd never seen violence.
I hope you had a great time reading about describing body type. Remember you can describe the body without making it intimate. Keep it classy guys. I can't wait till next time where we go through facial features.
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Currently at Chapter 6 of Fawkes by Nadine Brandes. Honestly Nadine Brandes is my favorite author. She's a Christian who intertwines Christian themes into her books like a pro. She is a master story teller with amazing descriptions that send chills down my spine. As a writer, I strive to be as descriptive as her.
So far Thomas Fawkes has made his way to London in search of his father who can carve a mask for him. With that mask, Thomas can take the color test and bond with a color thus giving him control of that color. If he bonds with brown he can manipulate anything brown like move dirt and dig secret tunnels. But he has eyes for grey and grey alone. For if he controls grey he can stop the stone plague that has infected his eye. The story has twists and turns and has you on the edge of your seat from page one. You instantly fall in love with Thomas Fawkes and want him to grow and succeed. What a wonderful work that Nadine Brandes has put together, I can't wait to finish. "Eyes are the windows to the soul," that's what people say. So you want to be sure to describe them well. Your description of your character's eyes should give readers a glimpse into their soul. In this blog I'll be explaining how to write eye descriptions that bring your character to life. You may be wondering what else there is to eyes besides the main colors: brown, blue, and green. Well let's start with color. There are so many color variations and this isn't even including all the fantasy colors like red, gold, purple etc. Take a look at the chart below and think about which color you see in your character. If you're trying to figure out an eye color that's unique try looking at jewels and name them after gemstones. "Her eyes were two rubies" is more descriptive than just red. Think of regal things or at least positive things when you describe eyes. There are some times when negative words to describe eyes and this would be when you're describing the villain. "Her eyes were two coals, black like her heart." Now let's take a look at the different shapes and positions of eyes. There are many different positions that our eyes can be set in. Most times you won't need to describe this aspect of your character's face but sometimes, like when another character is fascinated with them, you'll want to put this in. Some of these descriptions are going to be hard to incorporate into your work and make it seem natural. You'll have to get creative. Instead of saying "His deep-set eyes looked on in horror," maybe say "His sunken eyes looked on in horror." You'll most likely want to add an emotion onto your description of the eyes. This brings the soul into connection with the eyes. Below is a chart of emotions from basic emotions to complex, I would suggest being as specific as possible. Now for the fun part, examples. These examples are not perfect and I don't claim to know everything there is to know about character description, I'm still learning just like you. His downturned eyes looked at her with sorrow. She couldn't take her eyes off the chestnut spheres. Her eyes were upturned and captivating. The raven color drew you in so deep you thought you'd lose yourself. Her young bright eyes were like two sapphires that pierced into your soul with her desperation.
And there you have it. Character descriptions for eyes. Don't forget how important the eyes are. They open up your characters to one another. Hope you enjoyed this blog post. Let me know in the comments what you thought. Stay tuned for more character description advice. If you're like me, and you struggle to write characters that jump off the page and form in reader's minds, you'll love the next few weeks of posts. I'll be going through how to describe specific features: Hair, Eyes, Body type, Face and Expression, and Clothing. We all love those books that do character description well and we notice those who don't do it well. I recently read books by two amazing authors: Stephanie Garber and Nadine Brandes. Stephanie has an incredible way with words and describing clothing in such detail that still allows your mind to have fun. Nadine has the best character development I've ever seen. She makes characters come to life with her descriptions. These are two authors we should all strive to be like. They take time to build characters that are believable and relatable instead of racing through the story, much like I do. Though I'm a published author, I'm still new to character description. My first book didn't have much character description because it was an allegory and the whole point was that the reader was the main character. And as we are all different in our appearances, I kept description of the main character minimal. That being said, I've read a lot and done plenty of research for my second book on character description. Today I thought we'd start with hair because there's so many different styles, colors, and types. Look below to see the different variations of each and I'll explain how to write these later. Of course there are hundreds if not thousands of hairstyles other than these. My advice, find a picture of the hairstyle you're thinking of. If you can't find it, the go make it and take a picture of it. When you can actually see it on paper then it makes it more real and stable than if it's a picture in your mind. Now let's look at the beauty of color. Hair can be ANY color under the sun depending on your story. If you don't know what color to do, look at people in your life. If you read my writing, any motherly figure has brown hair with silver streaks, just like my mother. Put little pieces of your life into your story, it makes writing easier and more relatable. Now I couldn't really find a good chart for the unique colors like blue and purple, but when you compare their hair color to something that works well. Example "her hair was the color of the raging sea complimenting her roaring spirit." "His ember hair was trim and neat." Use language that connects with the character's moral code. I wouldn't use coal black to describe a good character's hair. I'd use raven for characters that are mysterious. Really it's all up to discernment then it's trial and error. There's also different thicknesses. Their hair can be thin all the way to thick, frizzy to sleek. So many different parts to describing a character's hair! I know it's a lot to take in but we've reached the fun part. I'm going to give some examples of describing hair of a character. Remember it can be short, sweet, and to the point and that's ok. You don't need to write an essay on your character's hair. And honestly most times it's appropriate to keep hair description short unless it's really important to your story to make it longer. (If a character is getting ready for a ball or party, if another character is fascinated by the other's hair. etc.) Here's how this is going to work. I'm going to show you a picture of a hair style. Think on it and how you would describe it before reading the text below. Then feel free to read my example and see how yours compares. There are no right and wrong answers don't be discouraged if yours isn't exactly like mine. And remember, I'm learning to. Her alabaster hair came together in the back. A cascade of waves poured over her shoulders. She had a string of jeweled flowers and leaves that wrapped around her head. Her thin, fragile hair spoke to her broken heart. The wind from the sea moved through her corkscrew curls. The copper to mahogany color shined in the sun. Her hair was short, not even to her shoulder and all wrapped up in a flower headband. She'd worked feverously to get the frizz under control until finally succeeding just an hour before the wedding. His inky hair was messy and unkempt. It was down to his ears and went down his neck disappearing against his dark jacket. His bangs covered his eyes like a curtain hiding his true emotions.
I hope you enjoyed reading about describing hair. I also hope this has helped you with your character descriptions. Stay tuned for more character description hints and tips. I'll let you in on a little secret... It was never about writing a whole book in 2 days. It was never about the book at all. It was about the challenge. Pushing yourself to the extreme and pushing your mind, forcing it to work long hours. The challenge itself was to show you what is possible. I hate to say something's impossible but for me, writing a 50,000 word book in 48 hours is impossible. I only write 1000 words an hour. Which leaves me 2000 words behind and I could never actually write for 48 hours straight without sleep.
The purpose of the 2 Day Challenge is to get some sense of how far you can go before you collapse from exhaustion. How long will your body and your mind allow it to go on? When you push yourself you grow. One of my favorite movies "Leap" has a great quote, "It's when your tired that you start to progress." And oh how true it is. When we hit our wall and we don't think we can type another word, God comes in and takes over. That's what I wanted for this book. I wanted God to use my hands, use my fingers to type when I no longer could. And He did just that. God met me in my exhaustion and said, "Just one more sentence." And the sentence turned into a paragraph then two then a page and before I knew it, I was at 30 pages of a story typed by God. This challenge is to give God the reins of your story. When we're at our weakest, He is at His strongest. So step aside and let Him shine. You'll find it will make your book worlds better. I'll tell you one thing, writing for 8 hours straight is no easy task. Or maybe it was 10... Honestly I don't remember. Today is Sunday, day 2 of the 2 Day Challenge to write a book in 2 days. I can't even imagine how I'm going to do this again today. Saturday was hard enough. But it was so incredible. My mind was working and my fingers were flying. I was on a writing high like I've never been on before. When you sit down to write for more than and hour or two, you mind starts to build up distractions. I told myself there would be no distractions, I had the house to myself, I was going to turn off the phone and Wi-Fi, I was going to get snacks, everything was going to be perfect. But God. That's a phrase that happens a lot with me, in a good way of course. But God had other plans. He asked me to invite my friend over to the house because she needed to relax and get off campus (We're both in college and I was house sitting). So I invited her. Which was the best decision I could have ever made. She's the kind of friend who will help you stay on track so whenever I came up for a snack or a drink she'd ask, "How's writing going?" While we spent a good chunk of writing time talking, it was well worth it to be able to listen and pour into her. So as I prepare to give my advice for the during portion of this challenge, remember to take it with a grain of salt and always listen to God first.
So you want to write a book. And what's more, you want to write it in 2 days! Congratulations on taking this big step in your writing career. It takes serious guts to accept a challenge like this. So right off the bat I'd like to tell you you're brave. I know I didn't feel to brave when I took up the challenge. You are and you need to know it. But be warned, a lot of struggles await you on this journey. And oh will it be a journey. Before you can start writing your book, you've got a lot of prep work to do. One of the most important things you can do before you start your 2 days is prepare. Prepare for at least a week. The more of an outline you have, the easier this challenge will be. The goal of the 2 day challenge is to focus on writing the whole time, not planning. Take the time to plan. That being said, how do we plot out an entire book? Start with my favorite part, characters. I love creating characters that jump off the page. My secret to developing characters that come alive is by giving them in depth personalities. I'll take the Myers Briggs test in the mind set of each character to get their personality traits. Once you have their personality, you're plot should follow what your characters would do. If you have a ruthless killer as a character he wouldn't all of a sudden have compassion, give him a dramatic life changing event that would change his heart. (Don't worry I'll talk more on character development in another post.) Then make the classic plot diagram. You'll want at least 10-12 events before your climax if you're writing a whole book. (You can always take away events if it's too long). Then have 8-10 events after the climax plotted. Make these events significant but be sure they tie into your plot still. Know your climax before you start. You need to know where you're going before you can create a map. Once you have a general outline of the plot, it's time to go deeper into each even. And I mean really deep, the more details the better. Explain how the characters feel and what they feel in each event. What are the senses? What do your characters smell? What do they see? What do they taste? Go deep into their emotional feelings and physical feelings. Create an event map for each event both rising action and falling action. Trust me you'll want these maps later.
A tall slender man stood behind Cole and Cali. He had pulled a pistol from its holster and while he didn’t point it at them, he didn’t keep it hidden.
“Must have been something to get through those traps, I hear they can be quite deadly.” The man took a step closer. Cali and Cole scrambled to their feet to back away. The man tisked and shook his head then motioned to his left and right. Ten men surrounded the pair, all had their guns ready. “What do you want?” Cole lifted his chin boldly. The man rolled his eyes, “You’d think if you were smart enough to crack that code to get the key you’d know when you were being robbed.” Cali spoke up with determination, “This book is an important discovery to the history of Christianity.” “Exactly.” “You can’t take it. It is meant to be shared with the world.” Cole interjected. The holstered his gun and moved forward with an outstretched hand, “Then the world can pay to have it.” Cole sighed defeated and offered the book up. “You did the right thing. Wouldn’t have wanted things to get messy now would we.” The man smiled through perfect teeth then motioned to one of his men who came with rope and tied Cole and Cali’s hands behind their backs. “What are you going to do to us now? We gave you the book.” Cali asked, her voice slightly raised with concern. The man bowed low, “My dear, I am the great Lucif Redding. I wouldn’t dream of hurting either of you.” As Lucif turned to leave he snickered, “I’ll let the desert do that.” Cole collapsed to the ground after being hit from behind. Cali screamed but soon followed suit as a man did the same to her. A voice called out to Cali in the darkness. It was soft but firm, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4 KJV). They woke with monstrous headaches. Each laid with their face half in the sand. Cali coughed out sand as she sat up. Cole moaned next to her. “Cole!” Cali kicked at his leg. “Ouch. What?” “Cole wake up.” He opened his eyes and finding his arms still tied jolted up. “What happened?” “Lucif stole the book and left us here.” As Cole pressed his back to Cali’s he sighed, “At least he didn’t kill us.” “Why do you think that is?” “I don’t know, and I don’t care the fact is we’re alive thanks to God.” Cole was able to untie the knot of ropes around Cali’s hands. She turned and helped him with his bindings before she stood and stretched. Heading to the entrance of the shipwreck, all she saw was a wasteland. “Well he took our camels.” She called over her shoulder. “He did say he’d let the desert kill us.” Cali swallowed hard, her mouth already parched. “It’s three days to the nearest oasis with camels. We have no food, no water, no rides. We won’t make it.” “Matthew 14:31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’” Cole put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. “God will bring us through if it be His will.” “And if it isn’t His will?” Cali was still nervous. Cole shrugged, “Then I guess I’ll see you in heaven.” As strange as it sounded, the thought comforted Cali. Death wasn’t the end to her, she had eternal salvation in heaven. And if God wanted them to continue their journey, He would make a way. They set out with nothing but the clothes on their backs. It was night so the desert was cool but not silent. Whispers came among the wind against the sand. Lies that filled their minds with doubt. But Cole pushed on, following the stars towards the oasis and dragging Cali along with him. When the sun rose, they camped on the dark side of a sand dune, following the shade until there was none at the height of noon. They walked only at night and rested during the day and by the time they were too tired to move they weren’t even halfway to the oasis. Cali laid in the sun shaking from heat exhaustion. Her lips were cracked and bleeding and not a drop of sweat coated her skin. Cole held her in his arms and prayed for a miracle. “Luke 22:41-44 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Cole’s voice cracked, “God thank you for sending your son to die for us. We know that eternity welcomes us because we believe He died and rose again for our sins. Now I ask of you please save us. If not both of us, let Cali live to carry your word to the ends of the earth. Allow her to go on. But not my will but your will be done.” As Cole finished his eyes grew heavy and the sun beat down on him, beckoning him into a deep sleep. With his eyes fluttering closed Cole heard a shout that sounded far away. Then the darkness took him.
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AuthorDarby Rand published her first book in 2019. She's been writing stories and advice long before then. She loves helping authors grow and hopes that this blog will be a stepping stone for you in your writing journey. ArchivesCategories |