Character Development / Creative Writing / Descriptive Writing

Character Development: Character Physical Description

Rachel29 Comments

We’re all unique from one another, we all look and appear differently. Yes, people have identical twins or doppelgangers hanging around in other parts of the world, but we’re all made up differently and so are your characters. Let’s take a look at character physical description.

Our appearance ranges from different hairstyles, body size and shape, the clothes we wear, and much more. There’s a lot to think about when you’re trying to paint a picture of multiple people in your stories for your readers.

How to describe your characters' physical appearance | Character development | Creating fictional characters | RachelPoli.com

Character Physical Description To Think About

  • Height and weight
  • Body type
  • Eyes/eyebrows (shape, color)
  • Hair (style, length, color)
  • Skin (looks, feels, color)
  • Face (shape, facial hair)
  • Nose/ears
  • Mouth/teeth
  • Arms/hands
  • Legs/feet
  • Distinguishing features (makeup, scars, freckles, etc.)
  • Clothing style

When creating your character, it’s good for you to know most, if not all, of these features. Of course, your readers don’t need every nitty-gritty detail. I mean, you don’t typically describe your characters’ eyebrows, do you?

No, but if you want to get the whole picture for you, then it’s something to think about when you’re sketching out your characters.

How To Describe Your Characters

1. Use figurative language

You don’t need to straight up tell your readers, “Rachel had brown hair and blue eyes.” You want your readers to be able to picture Rachel and infer for themselves what she looks like. Yes, there will be some things you can blurt out, but for the most part, you want to show, not tell.

2. Describe facial expressions

A big way to show off facial features is to describe their expressions. Did someone tell a funny joke? How do they laugh? Do they show their teeth? When they cry, does makeup run down their face? Are they an ugly crier?

3. Describe throughout the story

I’ve read books where a new character is introduced and then there’s a paragraph or two all about them. It can work, but I always found it better to show how the character looks and acts the deeper you get into the story. First impressions are fine, but we don’t need to know their looks top to bottom right away.

4. Show description through actions

It’s easy to visualize what your characters look like when they show off how they act. For example, maybe a character plays with their hair when they’re nervous. Or maybe they’re reapplying lipstick while gossiping with a friend.

5. Allow characters to comment on each other

We all have an opinion on something and so do your characters. Your main character, especially in the first person, can comment on the other characters. Maybe your protagonist likes or dislikes them, but why? Do they smell? Is their hair greasy or does it look better than theirs?

6. Show the way they move

You can tell a lot about a person and their mood at how they move. Do they slouch? What about their movement? How do they walk?

7. Make it important to know

You don’t need to describe every inch of your character. Like I said before, your characters’ eyebrows aren’t really important. Unless they dye them or shave them off or something… the point is, not everything is important. You can always leave room for your readers’ imagination.

8. Less is more

Going along with the point above, you don’t need to describe everything. Not just because it may not be important, but so that your readers can infer themselves.

9. Check yourself out

A fun exercise can be to look at yourself in the mirror. Describe what you see, make different facial expressions and describe those. Look at photographs, old and new, and describe the people you see. Make up some new features if you want.

What other tips do you have for describing your characters? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to chat!

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29 thoughts on “Character Development: Character Physical Description”

  4. Hi Rachel quite often when I am describing characters I often get my inspiration from celebrities and people I meet in person. My editor thinks that I can be a bit formulaic with description. Although sometimes I can only get an e-fit of the character so to speak as in I can imagine their physical appearance but not what they actually look like. Any thoughts on that would be welcome.

    Reply

  6. I actually have described one of my character’s eyebrows before XD but briefly haha. Also, I rarely get around to the physical characteristics of my main character if I’m writing in the first person. Is that bad?

    Reply

    • Lol, nice! Describing in first person is hard. I wouldn’t say it’s “bad” though it probably should be worked in somehow. But when I read books in first person I tend to picture that character as myself. I don’t know if that’s good or not, lol.

      Reply

      • That makes sense though because reading in “I” compels to internalize or at least identify with the protagonist…now I’m wondering if physical description impedes that to a degree.

        Reply

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