how to describe personality in creative writing

Describing a Person’s Personality: Examples and Tips

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on October 6, 2023

Categories Creativity , Creative Writing , Self Improvement , Writing

Describing someone’s personality is an art that requires careful observation and attention to detail. Whether you are trying to describe your friend, a colleague, or a character in a story, understanding their personality traits is crucial to creating a vivid and engaging description.

In this article, we will explore different ways to describe a person’s personality, including positive and negative traits, using senses to describe personality, and the role of behavior in shaping personality.

To begin, it’s important to understand what personality is and how it influences a person’s behavior and actions. Personality is a set of traits, characteristics, and patterns of thought and behavior that define an individual’s unique identity.

Positive personality traits include kindness, honesty, creativity, and empathy, while negative traits include arrogance, selfishness, dishonesty, and impulsiveness. By understanding these traits, you can create a more nuanced and accurate description of a person’s personality.

One effective way to describe a person’s personality is by using the senses. By paying attention to how a person looks, sounds, smells, and feels, you can create a more vivid and engaging description that captures their essence.

Additionally, understanding how a person’s behavior and actions reflect their personality can provide valuable insights into their character and motivations. By exploring these different aspects of personality, you can create a more nuanced and compelling description that brings your subject to life.

Key Takeaways

• Understanding the different aspects of personality is crucial to creating an accurate and engaging description.
• Using senses to describe personality can provide valuable insights into a person’s character and identity.
• By exploring the role of behavior in shaping personality, you can create a more nuanced and compelling description that captures the essence of your subject.

Understanding Personality

Understanding a person’s personality is crucial in building strong relationships and creating a positive environment.

Personality refers to the unique patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that distinguish one person from another. It is a product of both biology and environment and remains relatively consistent throughout life.

When describing a person’s personality, it is essential to consider their personality traits. Personality traits are enduring patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior that make up a person’s individuality.

The Big Five Personality Traits, also known as OCEAN, are widely accepted as a comprehensive model for describing personality. These include openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Personality types are another way to understand a person’s personality.

Type A personalities are typically competitive, ambitious, and impatient, while Type B personalities are more relaxed, easy-going, and laid back. Type C personalities are introverted, detail-oriented, and analytical, while Type D personalities are anxious, negative, and socially inhibited.

Personality assessment tools are available to help individuals better understand their personality traits and types. These tools can be helpful in identifying strengths and weaknesses and providing insight into how to improve communication and relationships.

In conclusion, understanding personality is crucial in building strong relationships and creating a positive environment. By considering personality traits, types, and assessment tools, you can gain a better understanding of yourself and others.

Positive Personality Traits

When describing someone’s personality, positive traits are often the first to come to mind. These traits can make someone a joy to be around and are highly valued in personal and professional relationships.

Here are some positive personality traits to look for in others:

• Good : A person who is good is kind, caring, and considerate. They have a positive outlook on life and are always willing to lend a helping hand.
• Generous : Generosity is a trait that involves giving freely of one’s time, resources, and energy. A generous person is always looking for ways to help others and make a positive impact in the world.
• Kind : Kindness is a trait that involves treating others with compassion and empathy. A kind person is always looking for ways to make others feel appreciated and valued.
• Friendly : A friendly person is outgoing and approachable. They enjoy meeting new people and making connections with others.
• Pleasant : A pleasant person is easy to be around. They have a warm and welcoming personality that puts others at ease.
• Polite : Politeness involves showing respect and consideration for others. A polite person is always mindful of their manners and strives to make others feel comfortable.
• Honest : Honesty is a trait that involves telling the truth and being transparent. An honest person is trustworthy and dependable.
• Thoughtful : Thoughtfulness involves considering the needs and feelings of others. A thoughtful person is always looking for ways to make others feel appreciated and valued.
• Reliable : Reliability is a trait that involves being dependable and trustworthy. A reliable person follows through on their commitments and can be counted on to get things done.
• Courageous : Courage involves taking risks and standing up for what is right. A courageous person is willing to face challenges and overcome obstacles to achieve their goals.
• Happy : Happiness is a trait that involves having a positive outlook on life. A happy person is optimistic and enjoys spreading positivity to others.
• Smart : Intelligence is a trait that involves having a sharp mind and the ability to learn quickly. A smart person is knowledgeable and enjoys learning new things.
• Wise : Wisdom is a trait that involves having a deep understanding of life and the world around us. A wise person is thoughtful and reflective.
• Confident : Confidence involves having a strong belief in oneself and one’s abilities. A confident person is self-assured and capable.
• Compassionate : Compassion involves having empathy and concern for others. A compassionate person is always looking for ways to help others and make a positive impact in the world.
• Sympathetic : Sympathy involves feeling sorry for others and understanding their pain. A sympathetic person is empathetic and can relate to the struggles of others.
• Sensible : Sensibility involves having good judgment and making wise decisions. A sensible person is practical and level-headed.
• Brave : Bravery involves facing challenges and overcoming fear. A brave person is willing to take risks and stand up for what is right.
• Cheerful : Cheerfulness involves having a positive and upbeat attitude. A cheerful person is always looking for ways to spread joy and happiness to others.
• Empathetic : Empathy involves understanding and sharing the feelings of others. An empathetic person is compassionate and caring.
• Charismatic : Charisma involves having a magnetic personality that draws others in. A charismatic person is charming and likable.
• Authentic : Authenticity involves being true to oneself and one’s values. An authentic person is genuine and sincere.
• Proactive : Proactivity involves taking initiative and being proactive in achieving one’s goals. A proactive person is always looking for ways to improve themselves and their situation.
• Sincere : Sincerity involves being genuine and honest in one’s interactions with others. A sincere person is trustworthy and dependable.

These positive personality traits can make someone a joy to be around and are highly valued in personal and professional relationships.

Negative Personality Traits

Just like positive personality traits, negative personality traits can also be used to describe individuals. Negative personality traits are qualities that are generally not desirable and can affect how people perceive you. Here are some common negative personality traits that you should be aware of:

Mean and Cruel

Being mean and cruel to others is a negative personality trait that can make people avoid you. If you are constantly belittling others, making fun of them, or being sarcastic, you may be perceived as mean or cruel.

Dishonesty is another negative personality trait that can affect how people perceive you. If you are known for lying, cheating, or stealing, people may not trust you or want to be around you.

Selfishness is a negative personality trait that can make people see you as someone who only cares about themselves. If you are always putting your needs before others, people may not want to be friends with you or work with you.

Being rude to others is another negative personality trait that can make people avoid you. If you are constantly interrupting others, talking over them, or being dismissive, people may see you as rude.

Being nasty to others is a negative personality trait that can make people avoid you. If you are constantly insulting others, being aggressive, or using foul language, people may see you as nasty.

Being too serious all the time is a negative personality trait that can make people feel uncomfortable around you. If you are always serious and never seem to have fun, people may see you as uptight and unapproachable.

Being overly aggressive is a negative personality trait that can make people feel intimidated by you. If you are always getting into arguments, picking fights, or being confrontational, people may see you as aggressive.

Being too neutral or indifferent can also be a negative personality trait. If you never express your opinion or seem uninterested in what others have to say, people may see you as boring or disengaged.

Being overly nervous or anxious is a negative personality trait that can make people feel uncomfortable around you. If you are always fidgeting, sweating, or seem nervous, people may see you as high-strung or unreliable.

Being perceived as stupid is a negative personality trait that can affect how people perceive you. If you are constantly making mistakes, saying the wrong thing, or not understanding things, people may see you as unintelligent.

Dreary and Tedious

Being dreary and tedious is a negative personality trait that can make people avoid you. If you are always complaining, being negative, or talking about dull topics, people may see you as boring and uninteresting.

Being gloomy all the time is a negative personality trait that can make people feel uncomfortable around you. If you are always sad, depressed, or negative, people may see you as someone who brings down the mood.

Controlling

Being too controlling is a negative personality trait that can make people feel uncomfortable around you. If you are always trying to control the situation, micromanage others, or not allowing others to have a say, people may see you as controlling and overbearing.

Remember, negative personality traits can affect how people perceive you and can impact your relationships and career. It’s important to be aware of these traits and work on improving them if you want to be seen as a positive and likeable person.

Describing Personality Using Senses

When it comes to describing a person’s personality, using your senses can be a helpful tool. By paying attention to how someone looks, sounds, and behaves, you can get a sense of their personality without even talking to them. Here are some ways to describe personality using your senses:

The way a person looks can tell you a lot about their personality. For example, someone who always dresses in bright colors might be outgoing and extroverted, while someone who always wears black might be more introverted or reserved. You can also look at a person’s body language to get a sense of their personality. Someone who stands tall and makes eye contact might be confident and self-assured, while someone who slouches and avoids eye contact might be more insecure.

The way a person feels to be around can also give you a sense of their personality. Do they make you feel comfortable and at ease, or do they make you feel on edge? Someone who is warm and welcoming might be friendly and approachable, while someone who is cold and distant might be more reserved or introverted.

How a person treats others can also give you a sense of their personality. Someone who is always kind and considerate might be empathetic and compassionate, while someone who is rude or dismissive might be more self-centered or lacking in empathy.

The way a person speaks can also give you a sense of their personality. Someone who speaks softly and thoughtfully might be introverted or reflective, while someone who speaks loudly and confidently might be outgoing or assertive.

On the other hand, someone who speaks loudly and aggressively might be more confrontational or domineering, while someone who speaks softly and tentatively might be more submissive or lacking in confidence.

A person’s sense of humor can also give you a sense of their personality. Someone who is always cracking jokes might be outgoing and lighthearted, while someone who is more serious might be more introverted or analytical.

Finally, the way a person sounds can also give you a sense of their personality. Someone with a deep, resonant voice might be more confident and authoritative, while someone with a high-pitched voice might be more nervous or excitable.

How a person touches can also give you a sense of their personality. Someone who is always hugging might be more affectionate or emotional, while someone who avoids physical contact might be more guarded or reserved.

By paying attention to these sensory cues, you can get a sense of someone’s personality before even getting to know them. However, it’s important to remember that these cues are just one piece of the puzzle, and that everyone is complex and multifaceted.

The Role of Behavior in Personality

Behavior plays a crucial role in defining a person’s personality. It refers to the actions and reactions of an individual in response to different situations.

How a person behaves in different situations reflects their personality traits, attitudes, and approach towards life.

In a job setting, behavior is an important aspect that employers consider when hiring an employee.

A person’s behavior can determine how well they work with others, how they handle pressure, and how they respond to different challenges.

Employers look for individuals who have a positive attitude, are respectful, and have good communication skills.

When describing a person’s personality, behavior is one of the key factors to consider. It can be described using action words such as confident, assertive, friendly, or reserved.

Body language is also an important aspect of behavior as it can convey a lot about a person’s personality. For example, a person who stands tall and maintains eye contact can be seen as confident and self-assured.

Preferences and environment can also influence a person’s behavior. For example, a person who prefers a quiet and peaceful environment may behave differently in a loud and chaotic setting.

Similarly, a person’s psychological state can also affect their behavior. For instance, a person who is feeling anxious may behave in a more reserved and cautious manner.

In conclusion, behavior is an important aspect of personality that can reveal a lot about a person’s attitudes, approach, and ways of interacting with others. When describing a person’s personality, it is important to consider their behavior in different situations and how it reflects their personality traits.

Character Traits and Personal Growth

Understanding your character traits is an essential step towards personal growth. Your character traits represent your personality, morals, ethics, and beliefs.

They are the building blocks of your personality and define who you are as a person. Identifying your character traits can help you understand your strengths and weaknesses, which can lead to personal growth.

Your strengths are the positive character traits that you possess. They are the qualities that make you stand out and excel in certain areas. Knowing your strengths can help you leverage them to achieve your goals and pursue your passions. Some examples of strengths include honesty, creativity, perseverance, and empathy.

On the other hand, your weaknesses are the negative character traits that you possess. They are the qualities that hold you back and prevent you from reaching your full potential. Identifying your weaknesses can help you work on them and turn them into strengths.

Some examples of weaknesses include procrastination, impatience, indecisiveness, and selfishness.

Personal growth is the process of improving your character traits and becoming a better version of yourself. It involves self-reflection, self-awareness, and self-improvement. Personal growth can help you overcome your weaknesses, develop your strengths, and achieve your goals.

Characterization is the process of creating a character in a story or a play. It involves identifying the character’s traits, strengths, weaknesses, and motivations.

Characterization can help you understand the characters in a story and their actions.

Structure is the arrangement of elements in a story or a play. It involves the plot, the characters, the setting, and the theme. Structure can help you understand the story and its meaning.

In conclusion, understanding your character traits is crucial for personal growth. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses can help you leverage them to achieve your goals and become a better version of yourself. Personal growth involves self-reflection, self-awareness, and self-improvement. Characterization and structure can help you understand the characters in a story and the story itself. That story often includes you, in one way or another!

Examples of Describing Personality

When it comes to describing someone’s personality, there are a variety of adjectives that can be used. Adjectives are words that describe or modify a noun or pronoun.

Native speakers often use adjectives to describe people’s personalities, and there are many positive adjectives that can be used to describe someone in a favorable light.

For example, you might describe someone as “charismatic” if they have a magnetic personality that draws others to them. Or, you might describe someone as “compassionate” if they are kind and caring towards others.

Here are some example sentences using positive adjectives to describe someone’s personality:

• She is a very creative person who always comes up with innovative solutions to problems.
• He is a very reliable employee who always meets his deadlines and does excellent work.
• She is a very adventurous person who loves to explore new places and try new things.

When describing someone’s personality, it is important to include specific details that support your description.

For example, if you describe someone as “outgoing,” you might want to mention that they enjoy meeting new people and are always the life of the party. Including specific details helps to paint a more accurate picture of the person you are describing.

Narration is another effective way to describe someone’s personality. By telling a story about the person, you can convey their personality traits in a more engaging way.

For example, you might tell a story about how your friend always goes out of their way to help others, demonstrating their kindness and generosity.

Brainstorming is also a helpful tool when describing someone’s personality. Take some time to jot down all of the adjectives that come to mind when you think of the person you are describing. Then, use those adjectives to craft a more detailed description of their personality.

Finally, don’t be afraid to revise your description as needed. As you gather more information about the person, you may discover new personality traits that you want to include in your description. By revising your description, you can create a more accurate and comprehensive picture of the person’s personality.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some words that can be used to describe a person’s personality characteristics.

When describing someone’s personality, you can use words such as outgoing, friendly, adventurous, creative, reliable, honest, trustworthy, and intelligent. These words can help paint a picture of someone’s character and give insight into their behavior and actions.

What are some deep and meaningful words that can be used to describe a person?

If you want to go deeper and describe someone’s personality more meaningfully, you can use words such as empathetic, compassionate, philosophical, introspective, intuitive, spiritual, and insightful. These words can help convey someone’s inner thoughts, feelings, and motivations.

How can you effectively describe a person’s personality in writing?

When describing someone’s personality in writing, it’s important to be specific and provide examples. Use descriptive language to paint a picture of the person’s behavior, actions, and thoughts. You can also use anecdotes or stories to illustrate their personality traits.

What are some negative adjectives that can be used to describe a person’s personality?

While it’s important to focus on positive traits when describing someone’s personality, there may be times when negative adjectives are necessary. Some negative adjectives that can be used to describe someone’s personality include selfish, arrogant, rude, aggressive, pessimistic, and dishonest.

Can you provide an example of an essay that describes a person’s personality?

Here is an example of an essay that describes someone’s personality:

John is a kind and compassionate person who always puts others before himself. He is empathetic and always tries to understand other people’s perspectives. John is also very creative and loves to express himself through art and music. He is a reliable and trustworthy friend who is always there when you need him.

What are some examples of words that can be used to describe someone’s special personality traits?

Everyone has unique personality traits that make them who they are. Some examples of words that can be used to describe someone’s special personality traits include adventurous, curious, persistent, resilient, adaptable, and ambitious. These words can help capture someone’s individuality and what makes them stand out from others.

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• Writing Tips

How to Write a Descriptive Paragraph About a Person (With Examples)

4-minute read

• 7th January 2023

Describing a person or character is difficult for even the most successful authors. It requires a balance of words to make sure they shine through without the language being too heavy. In this article, we’ll look at how to write a descriptive paragraph about a person, share some examples, and talk about different strategies.

1.   Brainstorm Your Ideas

Brainstorming is crucial to any writing process. It’s the process in which you think of ideas for what you’d like to write about. In this case, you’re writing a descriptive paragraph about a person. It’s important to use adjectives to describe the features or characteristics you want to focus on.

One way to come up with ideas for a descriptive paragraph about a person is to go through the five senses. Use the questions below to get some ideas for what you want to highlight about your person.

Appeal to your reader’s senses – smell, taste, sound, sight, and touch

Smell: How does the person smell? Do they wear perfume? Are they doing an activity that would make them have a certain smell?

Taste: Do you associate a certain food with this person? Does it make you think of a specific taste? Can you taste something due to a certain smell they have?

Sound: Do they have a unique voice or laugh? Are they doing an activity that has distinctive sounds?

Sight: What prominent features do they have? For example, think about their dressing style, their smile, or their surroundings. What do you see them doing in your mind when you see a photo of them? What memories do you have of this person? Does this person remind you of something or someone?

Touch: What textures do you see? For example, imagine their skin or clothing. How does it feel if you hug them?

2.   Begin With a Short and Snappy Sentence

Like with any type of writing, you want to hook your reader so that they want to continue reading. In this case, you can use a topic sentence, if appropriate, to introduce your reader to the person. For example:

Or, if you want to be more creative, you can reel them in with a short and snappy sentence about this person. This is called a writing hook . This sentence should focus on a stand-out detail or characteristic about the person you’re describing. For example:

3.   Describe the Person

Now, this is the hard part. But, if you’ve brainstormed plenty of ideas and know which ones you want to focus on, it will be easier. Let’s look at some examples to get a better idea of how to write a descriptive paragraph about a person using the prompt “describe a person you admire.”

Comments: This paragraph is pretty typical of most students. It gives lots of visual details of the person and uses a simile or two (“ Her eyes are like the color of honey” and “Her smile shines like the sun” ). While this strategy gets the job done, it’s not very exciting to read. In fact, it can be quite boring!

Let’s look at how we can rewrite this to make it more exciting.

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Comments: In this example, we focused on one defining characteristic of the person we are describing — her laugh. This strategy places more focus on the person you’re describing, rather than the adjectives you use to describe them.

4.   Edit and Revise

After you write your descriptive paragraph, be sure to read it over. Read it out loud. Read it in a funny voice. Doing this will help you to hear the words and identify which parts do not work or sound awkward.

5.   General Tips for Descriptive Writing

●  Avoid using too many descriptive words.

●  Remember to show the reader, not tell.

●  Appeal to the reader’s five senses – smell, touch, taste, sight, and sound.

●  Focus on a striking or defining characteristic.

●  Use contrasting details from other people or surroundings for emphasis.

●  Use literary devices (metaphors, similes etc.) sparingly and with intention.

●  Use a hook to reel your reader in.

●  Use a variety of short and long sentences.

●  Practice creative writing exercises to improve your descriptive writing skills.

●  Always edit and revise your writing.

If you need more help with writing a descriptive paragraph or essay , send your work to us! Our experts will proofread your first 500 words for free !

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How To Write A Character Description (101 Examples)

February 15, 2024

Learn what character description is and how to describe a character. Jump into OC description writing with one of the iconic character description examples from our list.

Developing a description of a character can be a challenge for OC creators. How much do you give away as someone who knows the character innately versus trying to generate interest and get an audience to invest in the character’s journey? We’re going to dive into writing character descriptions that stand out.

Why Character Descriptions Matter

Character descriptions, at heart, serve as a marker for the reader to determine if they wish to know more about the character. They are creators' attempts to signal that an individual they are writing about is worth becoming invested in. This is why a boring character description can be fatal to first impressions - why bother exploring a project if the character's description generates no spark?

Character descriptions are also influenced by purpose. A character description in a screenplay occupies a different purpose than a character description on a profile page. A description in a screenplay is lean, whereas a profile has more room to explore. These descriptions we’re talking about are too large for a character reference sheet .

While focusing on writing character descriptions for profiles, we will look at examples from literature, screenplays, and existing character profiles on CharacterHub. 

The Five Key Questions

When it comes to description in a general sense, there are five questions to consider: Who, What, Where, Why, and When? These questions are also beneficial in writing original character descriptions because you can use as many as you wish or even omit some to generate interest.

It is rather complicated to omit the who in a description, as a description is usually tied to an identifiable figure. Even if you may not want to give away a character’s identity, there is usually some marker that identifies them. For example, in the script for the horror classic Halloween (1978) by John Carpenter and Deborah Hill, the lurking presence of Michael Myers is simply referred to as “The Shape.” It is a name as evocative as it is practical. In most cases, a creator will probably just include the OC’s name.

The what in a character description can be interpreted as a marker for their identity. This could be their ethnicity, role, or species, for example. It is, again, reasonably complex to avoid this when developing a description, as a character without a perceived role may not feel like a character. A great example of “the what” in a character description comes from the character Tiberius Skärvas IV from the webcomic The Fourth . 

From the character's description on the cast page: “Ever since the First and his rather unethical business practices, the Tiberius Skärvas have been accursed by the gods. While technically still human, they possess the appearance and certain traits of sharks.” A cursed human with shark-like traits is undoubtedly a bold answer for “the what.”

When it comes to where , you are likely answering who the character is to their setting. It is less about a physical location and how that character connects to or runs counter to a location or society. Essentially, you are positioning them against civilization in whatever form that takes. A great example of this can be found in the codex entry of Agrippa Varus from the webcomic Terra Incognita . 

Case in point: “Agrippa Varus was raised in a well respected family in the Asurian capital of Sokai. His father Argo Varus, served as a consul and the main liaison between Asura and other sentient worlds. Due to his exposure to other species from a young age, Agrippa has an open mind and is much less prejudiced than the average Asurian citizen.” 

As we can see in this description, Agrippa is given a physical “where” regarding a space civilization while also being described of their societal “where” - as a figure that runs outside their culture.

The when of a character in their description is all about position. Whether the setting is based on natural history or set in an entirely fictional timeline, a character occupies temporal space, which can factor into how they are seen. Are they of their time, or do they feel apart from it? Descriptions that hint at such things are great at generating interest.

A great example of this can be found in the script of Warm Bodies (2013), in a description of the character R. “Blank face, sunken eyes. Blueish lips. If we didn’t know any better we’d think he was a junkie, a runaway from the set of My Own Private Idaho . Then we might notice a few thin gashes cutting across his cheeks. And then we might hear a soft groan humming from his frozen lips. And then we might start to wonder…

In this example, we see the deliberate usage of a contemporary reference to another film, positioning R and their relationship to a contemporary setting. The reference also does double duty, saying a lot about how R can be perceived by those familiar with the reference.

The why of a character description is most easily omitted to generate interest and intrigue. However, it can also be incredibly influential in generating interest in an original character. Knowing what drives a character can be a descriptive hook.

A great example of the “why” in a character description comes from Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s Don Quixote in this rather brilliant moment: “In short, his wits being quite gone, he hit upon the strangest notion that ever madman in this world hit upon, and that was that he fancied it was right and requisite, as well for the support of his own honour as for the service of his country, that he should make a knight-errant of himself, roaming the world over in full armour and on horseback in quest of adventures, and putting in practice himself all that he had read of as being the usual practices of knights-errant[...]”

Don Quixote’s mad notion of being a knight proves a compelling hook to the character, especially in how that motivation is presented. A reader can’t help but be intrigued by the description of the thin, elderly man who wants to be a knight.

Other Descriptive Traits and Tips

Much descriptive writing can come from things you probably already learned in school but are worth repeating. For example, utilizing sensory details in a character description can be particularly useful. Writing about how a character may smell like motor oil or freshly baked bread can suggest different things.

Contrast is another powerful tool in the character description, as when we are introduced to someone, we cannot help but size them up compared to people we know. This is especially true of original characters. How does one protagonist compare to another? How might you set a character apart from others? Using contrast is especially helpful here. For example, describing how a lead character differs from others in a similar position of their setting.

Of course, there are also things to avoid when developing character descriptions. Writing a description that is a laundry list of traits is something you may want to avoid. It can lack personality and feel a little boring. A solid character organizer can help you visually track if you rely on listing too often.

In any case, referring to some classic descriptive writing techniques can be helpful, especially when punching up a first draft of a character description.

Ways of Establishing Character Through Description

Well-written, informative descriptions greatly help establish interest in an original character. Consider them a teaser to what you hope to be a more significant journey you want to take readers on. Your goal is to connect an audience and a character through intrigue an interest - your aim can be to use description as a hook. Here are some different ways to use description to create that hook.

Using Description to Create a Presence

One of the most essential uses of description is to establish the presence of a character in their respective story. How about who is heroic or villainous? Who merits us following their story and becoming invested in them? This is particularly useful in writing an OC profile because you want to establish how we should feel about them without the burden of a ton of backstory to provide context.

Consider this like trying to convey everything about a person possible at a glance. How can you give us what we need about an OC in a descriptive passage? Well, let’s look at some examples.

In this sample from Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin , we see presence established by tying description to color and costuming details. Note that the presence established here is not a flattering one.

I could picture the smooth oval of Laura’s face, her neatly pinned chignon, the dress she would have been wearing: a shirtwaist with a small rounded collar, in a sober colour – navy blue or steel grey or hospital-corridor green. Penitential colours – less like something she’d chosen to put on than like something she’d been locked up in.

• Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (2000)

Another great way to establish a character’s presence through description is to tie it to a metaphor. Let’s look at an example of Arudhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, where we have a character consumed by quietude.

Once the quietness arrived, it stayed and spread in Estha. It reached out of his head and enfolded him in its swampy arms…sent its stealthy, suckered tentacles inching along the insides of his skull, hoovering the knolls and dells of his memory, dislodging old sentences, whisking them off the tip of his tongue.

• Arudhati Roy, The God of Small Things (1997)

In these examples, we see how descriptive language can imply something about the character's presence, such as their authority or lack of authority. In the Atwood example, the character is effectively rendered blank or meek. Meanwhile, in the Roy example, the description paints a picture of a character consumed by their awkwardness and silence. Noting and working with such traits is key to building a good character profile.

Let’s look at how the presence of Gandalf is established through description in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring .

“Gandalf was shorter in stature than the other two; but his long white hair, his sweeping beard, and his broad shoulders, made him look like some wise king of ancient legend. In his aged face under great snowy brows his eyes were set like coals that could suddenly burst into fire.”

• J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)

Gandalf’s physical presence is a fun juxtaposition with him appearing larger than life. He may be shorter, but he has an aura about him - something noticeably distinguished. I recommend reading Tolkien for character description, not just because I am a fan. 

Using a History to Create Significance

Character description that depicts an established history can go a long way to informing a reader about what makes the character tick. A character can sometimes be seen as a record of their experiences, and knowing those experiences can tell us a lot about a character, how they view the world, and how the author wishes for us to view them. There is no shortage of character ideas , but a character is more than an idea: they are a story.

In Charles Dickens’ Hard Times , the character of Bounderby is pernicious and self-centered, motivated by the pursuit of their wants and desires having come up from poverty. We can see Dickens establish much of that in his description of Bounderby by including history in the character’s description.

“A big, loud man, with a stare, and a metallic laugh. A man made out of coarse material, which seemed to have been stretched to make so much of him […] always proclaiming, through that brassy speaking-trumpet of a voice of his, his old ignorance and his old poverty.”

• Charles Dickens, Hard Times (1854)

Let’s look at a character with an established history and how that history plays into their description in the present. If you are a fan of Star Trek , then the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan should be pretty familiar. The film was a culmination of a storyline that began in the 1960s featuring characters who have aged decades for the 1980s film. In particular, let’s look at a description of Captain Kirk from the script.

“Kirk reads the novel, trying to focus. His flat befits an Admiral and a loner with few possessions, except a collection of antiques.”

• Harve Bennett, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

In this example, we have a little bit of environmental storytelling that plays against what audiences would know of Captain James T. Kirk. Kirk, from the original series, was quite the heroic figure, not mainly seen as an elder statesman. However, the depiction of his apartment, filled with antiques belonging to a man who is alone, shows that much time has passed for the figure. He is different in many ways - almost startlingly so.

So, what can we draw from these examples when developing descriptions of our original characters? A character with a lot of history is undoubtedly colored by it, so if your description can evoke a journey, you’ve gone a long way to informing us about what makes them tick. This is seen in the example from Hard Times, where the character’s journey through the classes of 19th-century London colors how we see their outward-facing personality.

Further, if you are playing with time, descriptions of a character at different stages in their life or respective journey can highlight their growth, such as in the example from Star Trek . Contrast through history is a particularly effective strategy when writing a character description.

Using Perspective to Create Interpretation

In some cases, describing a character from another person's perspective can yield beautiful results. First impressions can say a lot, and stepping away from an omniscient narrator’s view of a character, filled with insight about them and their past, can be a valuable technique. It also can create a narrative journey for an OC later on, as our initial impressions, through a more limited outsider perspective, do not usually represent the whole character.

Here is an example of Virginia Woolf establishing a character’s description from another character's perspective.

“He was such a miserable specimen, the children said, all humps and hollows. He couldn’t play cricket; he poked; he shuffled. He was a sarcastic brute, Andrew said. They knew what he liked best – to be for ever walking up and down, up and down, with Mr. Ramsay, saying who had won this, who had won that …”

• Virginia Woolf, To The Lighthouse (1927)

Here is an example of a character description written from another character's perspective. In this case, we have Ripley from Aliens , who first encounters Burke as she recovers in a hospital room. Notice the usage of traits in the following passage. This is taken from the film's shooting script.

“The visitor sits beside the bed and Ripley finally notices him.  He is thirtyish and handsome, in a suit that looks executive or legal, the tie loosened with studied casualness.  A smile referred to as ‘winning.’”

• James Cameron, Aliens (1985)

Specifically, this is a friendly, somewhat charming face for a recovering from intensive trauma. However, we also get a sense of Burke's nature through the description, such as emphasizing the fakery of a “winning” smile.

If we want another great example of perspective coloring the description of a character, we can look toward another sci-fi franchise with Star Wars . In particular, the 4th draft script from A New Hope introduces Darth Vader in a fantastic way that tells us everything we need to know about the character from the perspective of the terrified Rebels.

“The awesome, seven-foot-tall Dark Lord of the Sith makes his way into the blinding light of the main passageway. This is Darth Vader, right hand of the Emperor. His face is obscured by his flowing black robes and grotesque breath mask, which stands out next to the fascist white armored suits of the Imperial stormtroopers. Everyone instinctively backs away from the imposing warrior and a deathly quiet sweeps through the Rebel troops. Several of the Rebel troops break and run in a frenzied panic.”

• George Lucas, Star Wars: A New Hope (1976)

That Darth Vader cuts an imposing presence in this description is an understatement. The key here is that we are seeing him through the eyes of those terrified Rebel troops.

Character Descriptions from Some Friends of Mine

There are many great examples of strong character descriptions out there. I turned to a few writer friends who are particularly good at creating characters, and I want to look at examples from two of them.

Robert Livingston: Tom n’ Artie and Kaiju Dayz

First up, we have my friend Robert Livingston, who was gracious enough to provide some examples from his in-depth pitch documents for two of his projects. First, look at some examples featuring the two leads of his comic Tom n’ Artie .

Tommy ‘Tom’ Sunshine Bliss

“Our stoic, disciplined Unicorn with the sparkly hair! Tom is the straight man of the duo usually doing the talking when they're with clients or when a deal needs to be made. Straight-laced with a dry sense of humor, he approaches situations with a strategic mindset preferring to have all the information before diving in. Due to his friendship with Artie, he commonly has to just 'wing it' with his little wildcard friend as he changes strategies on the fly.”

As we can see, Tom is the comedic straight man of the pair, but given the nature of the project, he still has his quirks. In particular, I want to note the contrast between his character and the description of his appearance. It does a lot to sell the inherent comedy of the character.

Artie Artillery

“The cartoon wildcard! Artie is zany and a rabbit/cat of action preferring to let his fists, teeth, legs, bats, guns, bombs and whatever he's got do the talking for him. He's spontaneous with a short fuse willing to crack jokes then skulls seconds apart from each other. Tom usually is the one who has to hold him back but during the events of the arc, he's more willing to let his little toon buddy cut loose more.”

Because the project revolves around a comedic pairing, we can see how essential contrasting the two leads can be in establishing their characters. There is some great description here, especially the emphasis on Artie’s improvised armory. Artie has enough of a hook from his description, but the depth is substantial when paired with his co-lead, Tom.

Next, we have an example from Robert’s other series, Kaiju Dayz . This project is like a sitcom set on an island of giant monsters. Let’s look at the series lead, Big Mama.

“A well-known Kaiju on Monster Island for her several successful attacks on human cities and other locations for many years. She’s gained a large reputation that gives her a lot of respect from others. It’s also forced her to put up a constant face of intimidation to keep that respect, she feels force is the only way to keep others in line. The only ones she’s softer on are her own children, Junior and Pestania, but now seeing that she’s growing estranged from them she’s trying to change that. She isn’t of this world (or possibly reality) and has no love for it but wants to keep anything she does love (her children and late husband) as close to her as possible.”

This character description does a great job of pitching the whole character. While I only used some segments for Tom and Artie earlier, I wanted to share the entire character description for Big Mama because it is so thorough without being overly long. This is an excellent example of a character description meant to sell the original character to an audience. This is what you’d want to see on a character profile .

Ben Paddon: Jump Leads

Ben Paddon sent me pitch documents for their audio drama, Jump Leads . You should give it a listen. Let’s look at the character descriptions for Meaney and Llewellyn, the dual protagonists of the story.

Thomas Meaney

The following is transcribed from the Jump Leads character breakdown about the character of Thomas Meaney.

• Meaney is excitable, enthusiastic, and young. She has wanted to be a Lead her entire life, and now she’s finally in training. This is her dream come true. Such a pity it’s about to be absolutely derailed by Misadventure.
• Meaney is a hopeful idealist. She always wants to see the best in people, and always tries to do good, even when the odds - and, indeed, her own skill set - are not in her favor. She’s also driven by a desire to get back home to complete her Lead training, though her adventurous, helpful nature, coupled with a desire to explore, often get the better of her.
• Meaney is excitable, in every sense of the word - her enthusiasm runs just as deeply as her fear, though she tries not to let being scared of a situation prevent the right decision from being made.
• Meaney is a brilliant problem-solver. She doesn't quite know this yet. She’ll discover that soon enough.

This is a wonderfully written character description that gives us everything we wish to know about a character while giving us the suggestion of a larger arc. When you think about this profile in terms of the questions who, what, where, why, and when, you’ll see they are all there.

Richard Llewellyn

• Llewellyn is in his mid-to-late 20s - still young enough to be bitter and cynical without having any of the real-world experience to justify it. He’s indifferent, snide, at times cruel, and he keeps people at an arm's length. Unfortunately, he’s been utterly unsuccessful in doing this with Meaney, in part because the alphabetical arrangement of the training classes has stuck them together.
• Llewellyn is smart, but lazy; brilliant, but apathetic. He joined the Lead Service because the alternative involved being in the real world, and that isn't something he's willing to do just yet. Of course, he'd never admit this.
• Underneath it all, there's something else. Maybe he's ready to let someone in. Or maybe he's hiding something else entirely…

Again, we have a dual protagonist situation; contrast is essential to define each. Each character can stand independently, but their descriptions are tailored to work best when read together. Yes, we get a fully rounded character in Llewellyn thanks to the description, but we also get a further hook because of the emphasis on personality clash. How might their journey go down, given their radically different perspectives?

Character Description from CharacterHub

While writing this article, I wanted to look at examples of character descriptions written by CharacterHub users. I’ve found some great examples to share, so why don’t we dive in and see what OC creators have been sharing with the community?

I’ve taken snippets from each profile of something I found to be particularly evocative or inspirational. Be sure to visit the complete profiles for even more great examples.

• Euronym by genderkiller - “driven to be the least evil thing around her, euronym chooses to use her manipulation and intelligence for what she believes is the betterment of others. but does it really know what's best for others, so blinded by its own trauma?”
• Valentine Adelaide by DEADRKGK - “Personality wise, Valentine is a man with many facets to him, and all are generally expressed and felt in extremes. To call him unpredictable would be both correct and incorrect. For those around him often, he can be much more easily predictable of a person. He’s open with his thoughts and feelings and expresses them freely with a poor social filter– good or bad, he’ll speak his mind regardless of if people want to hear it or not.”
• Tessa Verisey by LuminaLyric - “Standing at 5'8" with chestnut brown hair cascading in loose waves to her shoulders, her hazel eyes conceal a depth of intelligence and charisma.”
• Seth Salem by Paracosmic - “If looks could kill, Seth's would be the firing squad.”
• Aries by AFishWithAGun - “Aries is not a good person. At least, not anymore. Greif is a funny thing, pushed by a whirlwind of emotions. Anger, regret, betrayal. It spins its way into a palpable rage. His jagged psyche knows how best it can ruin a man.”
• Sidney Ignacio by soupysoupster - “Throughout his days, Sidney can’t seem to get past his own thoughts and anxieties. As a result, he comes off as withdrawn and uninterested to most. Despite what people may think though, Sidney is nothing short of a caring and compassionate person and will do anything he can do to help others. He’s a great listener, and will often catch onto things others don’t. ‘The devil is in the details’ as their father would say.”
• Adem Petrovic by lysesander - “Athletic enough to make a quick escape over a side wall if the situation calls for it. Face is unmemorable, and hard to spot in the crowd.”
• The Depths by celestrian - “A mysterious and enigmatic traveling merchant of the depths, a man whose past is shrouded in secrecy and his appearance completely hidden beneath a strange fox mask as well as a hooded cloak, wrapped in layers of cloth that cover his entire body. He claims to have knowledge of the entire kingdom and forbidden secrets, despite seeming quite young.”
• Clawfoot by Sunckeys - “Naivete is not a word known to poor Clawfoot, yet it may just be the best word to describe him. Unknown to him are the ways of man, of conversing with another and sharing pleasantries. No, for Clawfoot's expertise lies in savagry, ravaging, of ripping and tearing. Yet he hungers not for prey- though he much enjoys a meal or four- but for connection.”
• Soffice Pluvia by bunnymacaron - “Recently, he's found himself in an...unusual situation. Almost as soon as he entered the country he went through the Magical Girl transformation process. Immediately after, he got roped into the schemes of a sadistic Magical Girl and is stuck unraveling the tangled web of Kannazen City's Magical Girls to hopefully finally have some peace and quiet...or die trying.”
• Joshua Vox by ThaLizardWizard - “In terms of appearance, he is very skinny, pale, and sickly looking, with wild black hair that stands on end, and freckles all over his body and face. He has intense eye bags under enormous pale gray eyes, and to be completely honest, has frequently been mistaken for a ghost.”

Further fantastic examples of evocative character descriptions can be found all over CharacterHub . Browsing the thousands of existing character descriptions will inspire anyone to create character descriptions for their OCs. In particular, searching tags to find the kind of characters that inspire you most is super easy.

Further Examples of Character Descriptions

We’ll leave you here now with the following massive list. This list features different examples of character descriptions from various stories. Try to match the selections to some of our established principles. The descriptions here are very inspiring for any OC creator.

• Denis Lehane’s A Drink Before the War : “He had a shock of stiff white hair you could land a DC-10 on and a handshake that stopped just short of inducing paralysis.”
• Amber Dawn’s Sub Rosa : “When he did appear his eyes were as brown as I remembered, pupils flecked with gold like beach pebbles.”
• Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven : “I thought she was so beautiful. I figured she was the kind of woman who could make buffalo walk on up to her and give up their lives.”
• Louisa M. Alcott’s Little Women : “Amy, though the youngest, was a most important person,—in her own opinion at least. A regular snow-maiden, with blue eyes, and yellow hair, curling on her shoulders, pale and slender, and always carrying herself like a young lady mindful of her manners.”
• Frank Herbert’s Dune : "Through the door came two Sardukar herding a girl-child who appeared to be about four years old. She wore a black aba, the hood thrown back to reveal the attachments of a stillsuit hanging free at her throat. Her eyes were Fremen blue, staring out of a soft, round face. She appeared completely unafraid and there was a look to her stare that made the Baron feel uneasy for no reason he could explain."
• Kury Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five : "He was a funny-looking child who became a funny-looking youth — tall and weak, and shaped like a bottle of Coca-Cola."
• Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? : "Black-haired and slender, wearing the huge new dust-filtering glasses, she approached his car, her hands deep in the pockets of her brightly striped long coat. She had, on her sharply defined small face, an expression of sullen distaste."
• John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces : “Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs.”
• Ralph Ellson’s Invisible Man : “I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids — and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, simply because people refuse to see me.”
• George Eliot’s Middlemarch : “The rural opinion about the new young ladies, even among the cottagers, was generally in favour of Celia, as being so amiable and innocent-looking, while Miss Brooke’s large eyes seemed, like her religion, too unusual and striking. Poor Dorothea! Compared with her, the innocent-looking Celia was knowing and worldly-wise.”
• Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness : “He was commonplace in complexion, in feature, in manners, and in voice. He was of middle size and of ordinary build. His eyes, of the usual blue, were perhaps remarkably cold, and he certainly could make his glance fall on one as trenchant and heavy as an axe…”
• Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Books : “But he had a voice as soft as wild honey dripping from a tree, and a skin softer than down.”
• Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice : “…your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”
• Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn : “He was most fifty, and he looked it. His hair was long and tangled and greasy, and hung down, and you could see his eyes shining through like he was behind vines.”
• Lindsay Faye’s Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson : “The door flew open, revealing a wrinkled, forward-thrusting face wreathed with a nimbus of wispy white hair, a face resembling nothing so much as a mole emerging from its burrow. Her spectacles were so dirty that I could hardly see the use of them.”
• Adlous Huxley’s Brave New World : "Tall and rather thin but upright, the Director advanced into the room. He had a long chin and big rather prominent teeth, just covered, when he was not talking, by his full, floridly curved lips. Old, young? Thirty? Fifty? Fifty-five? It was hard to say."
• F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby : “He smiled understandingly — much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.”
• J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring : "The face of Elrond was ageless, neither old nor young, though in it was written the memory of many things both glad and sorrowful. His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars."
• Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight : “I vividly remembered the flat black color of his eyes the last time he glared at me – the color was striking against the background of his pale skin and his auburn hair. Today, his eyes were a completely different color: a strange ocher, darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone.”
• Joan Johnston’s No Longer A Stranger : “Her straight, boyishly cut hair fell onto her brow haphazardly and hid beautiful arched brows that framed her large, expressive eyes.”
• Anne Rice’s The Vampire Armand : “I saw my Master had adorned himself in a thick tunic and beautiful dark blue doublet which I’d hardly noticed before. He wore soft sleek dark blue gloves over his hands, gloves which perfectly cleaved to his fingers, and legs were covered by thick soft cashmere stockings all the way to his beautiful pointed shoes.”
• Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations : “Though every vestige of her dress was burnt, as they told me, she still had something of her old ghastly bridal appearance; for, they had covered her to the throat with white cotton-wool, and as she lay with a white sheet loosely overlying that, the phantom air of something that had been and was changed, was still upon her.”
• Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn : “He was sunshine most always-I mean he made it seem like good weather.”
• N. K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms : “His long, long hair wafted around him like black smoke, its tendrils curling and moving of their own volition. His cloak — or perhaps that was his hair too — shifted as if in an unfelt wind.”
• Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings : “Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like a plum if snagged, but then no one would have thought of getting close enough to Mrs. Flowers to ruffle her dress, let alone snag her skin. She didn’t encourage familiarity.”
• China Miéville’s The Census-Taker : “His hand was over his eyes. He looked like a failed soldier. Dirt seemed so worked into him that the lines of his face were like writing.”
• Louisa M. Alcott’s Little Women : “Fifteen-year-old Jo was very tall, thin, and brown, and reminded one of a colt; for she never seemed to know what to do with her long limbs, which were very much in her way. She had a decided mouth, a comical nose, and sharp, gray eyes, which appeared to see everything, and were by turns fierce, funny, or thoughtful.”
• Henry James’ The Aspern Papers : “Her face was not young, but it was simple; it was not fresh, but it was mild. She had large eyes which were not bright, and a great deal of hair which was not ‘dressed,’ and long fine hands which were–possibly–not clean.”
• Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death”: “The tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye for colors and effects. He disregarded the decora of mere fashion. His plans were bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed with barbaric lustre. There are some who would have thought him mad. His followers felt that he was not.”
• Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush : “He was abominable…and the most alluring, tortured soul I’d ever met.”
• William Golding’s Lord of the Flies : “Inside the floating cloak he was tall, thin, and bony; and his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness.”
• Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys : “As always, there was an all-American war hero look to him, coded in his tousled brown hair, his summer-narrowed hazel eyes, the straight nose that ancient Anglo-Saxons had graciously passed on to him. Everything about him suggested valor and power and a firm handshake.”
• John Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated : “He did not look like anything special at all.”
•  J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring : “He wore a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, and a silver scarf.  He had a long white beard and bushy  eyebrows that stuck out beyond the brim of his hat.”
• Andrew Lang’s The Crimson Fairy Book : “When the old king saw this he foamed with rage, stared wildly about, flung himself on the ground and died.”
• Rudyard Kipling’s Many Inventions : “He wrapped himself in quotations – as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of Emperors.”
• Bram Stoker’s Dracula : “The Count smiled, and as his lips ran back over his gums, the long, sharp, canine teeth showed out strangely.”
• Hugh Lofting’s The Story of Doctor Dolittle : “For a long time he said nothing. He kept as still as a stone. He hardly seemed to be breathing at all. When at last he began to speak, it sounded almost as though he were singing, sadly, in a dream.”
• M.L Legette’s The Orphan and the Thief : “Its gray, slippery skin was stretched taut upon its face. Its mouth was wide and full of needle teeth.”
• Julia Stuart’s The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise : “Blooms of acne highlighted his vampire-white skin.
• James Lee Burke’s The Neon Rain : “His khaki sleeves were rolled over his sunburned arms, and he had the flat green eyes and heavy facial features of north Louisiana hill people. He smelled faintly of dried sweat, Red Man, and talcum powder.”
• Becca Fitzpatrick’s Black Ice : “His brown hair was cropped, and it showed off the striking symmetry of his face. With the sun at his back, shadows marked the depressions beneath his cheekbones.”
• Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein : “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.”
• Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”: “He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.”
• E.C. Sheedy’s Killing Bliss : “He stood, which put him eye to eye with the dark-haired woman whose brilliant, burning gaze poured into his worthless soul like boiling tar, whose mouth frothed with fury–and whose hand now curled, knuckles white, around a steak knife.”
• Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games : “She has bright, dark eyes and satiny brown skin and stands tilted up on her toes with arms slightly extended to her sides, as if ready to take wing at the slightest sound.”
• J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone : “A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.”
• Louisa M. Alcott’s Little Women : “Elizabeth—or Beth, as every one called her—was a rosy, smooth-haired, bright-eyed girl of thirteen, with a shy manner, a timid voice, and a peaceful expression, which was seldom disturbed.”
• Anne Rice’s Violin : “What a well-formed mouth he had, and how the narrow eyes, the detailed deepened lids gave him such a range of expression, to open his gaze wide, or sink in cunning street.”
• Kevin Brooks’ Lucas : “An easygoing lope. Nice and steady. Not too fast and not too slow, Fast enough to get somewhere, but not too fast to miss anything.”
• Iris Johansen’s The Face of Deception : “Kinky tousled curls, only a minimum of makeup, large brown eyes behind round wire-rimmed glasses. There was a world of character in that face, more than enough to make her fascinating-looking instead of just attractive.”
• Herman Meilville’s Moby Dick : “There seemed no sign of common bodily illness about him, nor of the recovery from any. He looked like a man cut away from the stake, when the fire has overrunningly wasted all the limbs without consuming them, or taking away one particle from their compacted aged robustness. His whole high, broad form, seemed made of solid bronze, and shaped in an unalterable mould, like Cellini’s cast Perseus.”
• Gena Showalter’s The Darkest Night : “Pale hair fell in waves to his shoulders, framing a face mortal females considered a sensual feast. They didn’t know the man was actually a devil in angel’s skin.”
• Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game : “Ender did not see Peter as the beautiful ten-year-old boy that grown-ups saw, with dark, tousled hair and a face that could have belonged to Alexander the Great. Ender looked at Peter only to detect anger or boredom, the dangerous moods that almost always led to pain.”
• Caitlin Moran’s How To Build A Girl : “He had his head in his hands, and his tie looked like it had been put on by an enemy, and was strangling him.”
• Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass : “Lord Asriel was a tall man with powerful shoulders, a fierce dark face, and eyes that seemed to flash and glitter with savage laughter. It was a face to be dominated by, or to fight: never a face to patronize or pity.”
• J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey : “She found herself looking at Lane as if he were a stranger, or a poster advertising a brand of linoleum, across the aisle of a subway car.”
• L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz : “They wore round hats that rose to a small point a foot above their heads, with little bells around the brims that tinkled sweetly as they moved. The hats of the men were blue; the little woman’s hat was white, and she wore a white gown that hung in pleats from her shoulders. Over it were sprinkled little stars that glistened in the sun like diamonds.”
• Bram Stoker’s Dracula : “Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of colour about him anywhere.”
• Algernon Blackwood’s Ten Minute Stories : “Then, by a green field that shone like a thought of daylight amid the darkness of the moor, he saw a figure lying in the grass. It was a blot upon the landscape, a mere huddled patch of dirty rags, yet with a certain horrid picturesqueness too; and his mind—though his German was of the schoolroom order—at once picked out the German equivalents as against the English. Lump and Lumpen flashed across his brain most oddly.”
• John Rhode’s The Murders in Praed Street : “He was tall and thin, with a pronounced stoop and a deep but not unpleasant voice. But it was his head that you looked at instinctively. Above the massive forehead and powerfully-chiselled features was a wealth of long, snow-white hair, balanced by a flowing beard of the same colour.”
• Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Telltale Heart”: “He had the eye of a vulture—a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold.”
• Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein : “His limbs were nearly frozen, and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering. I never saw a man in so wretched a condition.”
• Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow : “He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together.”
• Louisa M. Alcott’s Little Women : “Margaret, the eldest of the four, was sixteen, and very pretty, being plump and fair, with large eyes, plenty of soft, brown hair, a sweet mouth, and white hands, of which she was rather vain.”
• Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland : “It was the White Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed, with a pair of white kid gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other: he came trotting along in a great hurry, muttering to himself as he came…”
• J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan : “He was a lovely boy, clad in skeleton leaves and the juices that ooze out of trees but the most entrancing thing about him was that he had all his first teeth.”
• Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis : “He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.”
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper : “John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures.”
• L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz : “When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now.”
• Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment : “This was not because he was cowardly and abject, quite the contrary; but for some time past he had been in an overstrained irritable condition, verging on hypochondria. He had become so completely absorbed in himself, and isolated from his fellows that he dreaded meeting, not only his landlady, but anyone at all. He was crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him. He had given up attending to matters of practical importance; he had lost all desire to do so.”
• Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter : “The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes.”
• Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde : “This was a hearty, healthy, dapper, red-faced gentleman, with a shock of hair prematurely white, and a boisterous and decided manner.”
• Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde : “Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice; all these were points against him, but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust, loathing and fear with which Mr. Utterson regarded him.”
• Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol : “Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.”
• Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace : “Anna Pávlovna Schérer on the contrary, despite her forty years, overflowed with animation and impulsiveness. To be an enthusiast had become her social vocation and, sometimes even when she did not feel like it, she became enthusiastic in order not to disappoint the expectations of those who knew her. The subdued smile which, though it did not suit her faded features, always played round her lips expressed, as in a spoiled child, a continual consciousness of her charming defect, which she neither wished, nor could, nor considered it necessary, to correct.”
• Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia”: “His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own story. He was at work again.”
• J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan : “In person he was cadaverous and blackavized, and his hair was dressed in long curls, which at a little distance looked like black candles, and gave a singularly threatening expression to his handsome countenance. His eyes were of the blue of the forget-me-not, and of a profound melancholy, save when he was plunging his hook into you, at which time two red spots appeared in them and lit them up horribly.”

Looking for more tips and tricks regarding character creation? Check out the CharacterHub blog !

David Davis

David Davis is a cartoonist with around twenty years of experience in comics, including independent work and established IPs such as SpongeBob Squarepants. He also works as a college composition instructor and records weekly podcasts. Find out more about him at his website!

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Home / Book Writing / How to Write Amazing Character Descriptions (with Examples)

How to Write Amazing Character Descriptions (with Examples)

A good character description is walking a fine line between too much and too little information. Not only that, it's how you deliver the information to the reader that can make or break a good description. So whether you already have a vivid picture of your characters in mind or you don't know where to start, you've come to the right place. Read on to explore character description.

• What is a Good Character Description?
• Descriptions for Character Profiles
• Descriptions in Prose
• Character Description Examples
• Tips for Writing Character Descriptions for Profiles

Table of contents

• Description in Prose
• 1. Start With a List
• 2. Edit it Down
• 3. Get Creative With Surroundings and Movement
• 4. What Is and What Isn't
• 5. Adjectives Can Help or Hinder
• 6. Practice Makes Perfect
• 7. Description Can Help Reveal the Narrator

A good character description isn't just about describing how a given character looks. It's also about describing the character through the world around them and through their actions. When these factors come together, you can create a vivid description that not only tells the reader a lot about your character's personality but also sparks the reader's imagination. That, after all, is what reading is all about.

And while we'll mostly be discussing character description in prose, we'll also be discussing how character description is important when writing your character profiles. Since character profiles are best utilized before you write your novel, we'll start there.

Creating a character profile can help you when it comes time to write. It can ensure that you know your major characters intimately before you start writing. These profiles are about more than just character description, but for the purposes of this article, we'll focus on the physical attributes, as they're the building blocks for writing descriptive prose.

Think of a profile as a character sketch. You're not trying to get every single detail down, as it's always good to leave room for spontaneity when you're writing your novel . But when it comes to the basics of how the character looks, it can help to nail down the details.

This includes things like eye color, facial expression, height, weight, build, hair color, skin color, any disfigurements or scars, and things like tattoos or birthmarks. This should also include clothing and any other accessories, such as hats, watches, necklaces, and piercings.

You don't have to get fancy with the profile. Just get the information down so you can refer to it later. If you want to go the extra mile, you can write down some varying descriptions of your character as if you're writing the novel. It's often easiest to focus on one physical attribute at a time until you're comfortable. These practice descriptions can lend inspiration when you start writing in earnest.

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Description in your book is a bit different than in your profile. A good description can give the reader a glimpse at the character's personality traits as well as their appearance. There are many different ways to write a great character description, but they all have one thing in common: they're creative and anything but boilerplate.

Many new writers opt for the list-style of description, thinking that less is more. They often look like this:

“He had piercing green eyes, sandy blond hair, and stood a stocky and solid six-foot-two. He had a slight limp and the musculature of a man who works hard for his living.”

While this may be fine for a minor character, it falls a little flat for a major character that you want the audience to know intimately. So for ideas on how to write character descriptions, let's look at some examples from some masters of the craft.

“His present dog was a huge white brute, a mountain dog from the South. He had named it Halina, after his second wife, with whom it shared some personality traits. . . It weighed almost as much as he did and its coat was matted and filthy; it lifted its massive head and watched him with lunatic eyes.”

This description, from Dave Hutchinson's Europe in Autumn , is a great example of how to describe physical appearance. Neither the man nor his dog is a major character in the story, but the description tells you a little about the K9 and its owner in a few concise sentences.

“He did not look like anything special at all.”

This one-sentence description in Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated is an excellent example of “less is more.”

“When he did appear his eyes were as brown as I remembered, pupils flecked with gold like beach pebbles.”

This description is from Sub Rosa by Amber Dawn. It's a compelling use of simile to create a picture of a character's appearance in the reader's mind. Note that she doesn't use tired and worn-out similes such as “eyes as blue as the summer sky” or “hair as red as autumn leaves. Getting creative with figurative language can work out very well.

“He smiled understandingly — much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced — or seemed to face — the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.”

This description, from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, focuses on the character's actions to tell the reader about him. Or, rather, on a single action: a smile. At the same time, the writer is telling the reader something about the POV character, giving insights into how the narrator sees the character while describing him.

Tips for Writing Character Descriptions in Prose

Most writing teachers and authors will tell you that if you want to write, you need to read. And the descriptions above should be shining examples of why that is sage advice. Reading how the authors you love write character description is key. But I've included some tips you can use when it comes time to write your own masterpiece!

This is where the character profile comes in handy. Not only does it keep you on track (there's nothing worse than realizing you switched a character's eye color halfway through a book) but it also allows you to keep a picture of your character fresh in your mind's eye.

So keep a list handy. Even if it's just the basics, like “black hair” or “brown eyes” and the like, it helps.

One of the most oft-quoted pieces of advice from Strunk & White's The Elements of Style is “Omit needless words.” For writers old and new, this advice is sound indeed for writing character descriptions. We've all read a book where the description of a character goes on for pages and pages and we find ourselves asking, “When will we get back to the story?”

This is something to avoid at all costs. So edit your descriptions down as much as possible. Don't use flowery language for its own sake. Instead, try to get your point across to the reader in as concise a manner as possible. You don't have to get into a character's backstory with the description if it will interrupt the flow of the story.

Remember that you want to create a vivid character in the reader's mind, but that doesn't mean that you want to take all of their imagination out of it. Leave something for the reader to interpret, if at all possible.

Description isn't all about a character's physicality. It's also about how the character interacts with the world around them. The way a man sits on a couch or a woman drives a car or a child eats an ice cream cone can all add to the character's description. A sentence about what a couple does while waiting in line at the movies can tell the reader more than a paragraph of straight description.

The way a character walks, the way they gesture when they talk, the way they squint when they're thinking. These are all great ways to add to a character's vividness and depth through description.

Describing a person, fictional or otherwise, can be done by looking at what is there and what isn't there. In fact, sharing what isn't there — what's missing — can be a great way of describing a person. As a writer, this can also help you develop your craft and keep your prose fresh. Whether this is a missing limb, a shirt pocket that has been torn off, or the lack of seeming intelligence on a vacant face, the absence of things can say a lot about a character.

As a rule in fiction, it's best to limit your use of adverbs. And the use of adjectives in character descriptions is no exception. Like adverbs, adjectives can become a crutch that holds back more concise and creative writing. This is not to say that you shouldn't use them on occasion. Sometimes an adjective is just the right kind of word for character description. Just keep in mind that overusing them can lead to reader fatigue and overly flowery language.

This should go without saying, but practicing your description will go a long way to becoming a better writer. When you consciously sit down to write a compelling character description, you can really think about what you want to say and how best to say it.

To do this, choose a character archetype and flesh that archetype out into a full-fledged person through descriptive language. Try writing several descriptions of the same character type, focusing on a few different tributes each time. You can try writing one where you focus on appearance. One on movement. One on how she/he interacts with the world around them. One on clothing. And one on what's missing (if anything). These practices can help you get your head around how best to describe a character in any given situation.

Description can also tell the reader about the POV character or narrator. And if your narrator is also your protagonist, this can be very important. This is because, short of having your character stand in front of a mirror and describe herself, there aren't many easy ways to describe your POV character without taking the reader out of the story. So, a great way to enlighten the reader is to use the way your narrator sees other characters. This can often be in the form of physical comparisons that the narrator makes or insights that they glean from watching/interacting with another character.

Not only does this add to the main character's believability, but it also provides an opportunity for character development as the story progresses. Perhaps your POV character has a bad habit of comparing himself to others he learns to break. Or perhaps he focuses too much on physical attributes to the detriment of seeing who other characters really are.

Whether you're writing a short story , novella, or a 1,000-page tome, you'll want to get familiar with character descriptions. The best way to start this is with a character profile. This will help you with your character analysis, which is great for fleshing out your main character, villain, and even secondary characters that need brief but compelling descriptions.

Once you have the basics of your character down, you can start experimenting with description. By focusing on one major character trait at first, you can develop your own style of description. Then you can incorporate more attributes, sharing only a couple at a time as your novel progresses.

Be concise, creative, and don't forget to look for what is and what isn't there. Use movement, interactions, and gestures to make vivid and crisp character descriptions. 

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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Tricks for Describing a Character’s Appearance (With Examples)

Introducing a new character to your story can be difficult. There’s a lot that goes into it, and to make matters worse, you only have one chance to give readers a good (and memorable) first impression of that character. One of the ways you can do this is by giving them a distinct appearance, but many writers tend to fall short of describing appearance well. 

We’ve all heard the same cookie-cutter descriptions for characters a million times before. Golden hair, a heart-shaped face, a chiseled body, piercing eyes, yadda yadda… The problem with these descriptions is that they’re bland, they’re cliché, and they don’t really help your characters stand out. 

However, if you break from clichés, you can create uniquely vivid descriptions that will give your characters life. There are endless ways you can describe characters, and I’m not going to walk you through how I would describe every single possible human feature (or humanoid, animal, alien, etc). For one thing, that would take too long, but for another thing, descriptions are based on more than just the character’s physical appearance—their personality plays a part too. 

Tips for Describing a Character’s Appearance in a Story

There are a number of things to keep in mind when describing a character’s appearance. Here are just a few general tips before we dive into some more specific techniques for describing different parts of a character’s appearance. 

Don’t Make Everyone a Supermodel

This is probably one of the most (if not the most) important things to remember when describing a character. You should never objectively describe your characters as flawless. Humans aren’t perfect, so if you describe your characters like perfect little supermodels, they just won’t feel authentic. Worse still, they won’t stand out from the protagonists of every single young adult novel out there. You need to make them distinct, and to do that, you need to give your characters flaws . And I mean real flaws, not fake flaws that are actually just endearing traits packaged like flaws. 

Don’t Dump Everything Out at Once

Describing your characters is important, but you need to be able to keep it concise. No one wants to read a 7-page summary of every detail of a character’s appearance. You can go in-depth, sure, but don’t put your readers through a word-avalanche just for them to figure out what the character looks like. 

Remember, you can reveal more about the characters over time. When you introduce a character for the first time, you should focus on the things a person would naturally notice first, such as their face, hair, clothing, voice, and general energy. You can further elaborate on their appearance later when it is relevant, and describe their gait, posture, temperament, and more. 

There is one exception here I want to highlight. If you are telling a story from the first-person perspective, and you want to illustrate a character’s obsession with another person, hyper-fixating on the details can be a good way to show this. It can make the character seem creepy , and it can foreshadow the protagonist doing something bad to the person they are obsessing over. 

Don’t Sell Them Short

Opposite to the point above, you shouldn’t make your introductions too short. To some extent, it can be good to leave some parts of the character’s appearance up to the reader’s imagination. However, you should give them something to help them visualize the characters in the beginning. Otherwise, if you later reveal that the character has dark hair, all the readers that imagined them with light hair might have a difficult time accepting that. 

Descriptions are important, and they help to include a reader in the narrative. Like a well-described setting, vivid characters can help immerse readers into the world and make them part of the story. 

Use Their Personality

A character’s personality can have a large impact on how they are perceived, and therefore should alter the words you use to describe them. Two characters might have similar features, but based on their personality, you would describe them differently. 

For example, two characters might both be tall, but one would be described as “awkward and long” while the other is “towering.” In this case, the characters’ levels of confidence impact how they are perceived. For another example, think about two characters who both have light skin. You could describe one as looking like “porcelain” and describe the other one as “pasty,” depending on their other traits. Those two descriptions create very different perceptions from each other.   

Use the Point of View

If the character in question is being described from the first-person perspective of another character, then the protagonist’s opinions should sneak into the description. Your protagonist probably isn’t going to objectively evaluate the other person—they’re likely to rely on stereotypes, biases, and things they have heard from others about the character they’re looking at. Rely on that to make the description fit into the story more organically. 

Here are some examples: 

• She had no right to have such a disarming smile.
• His expression was empty—just like his head.
• His dark, tangled hair reminded me of a swamp.
• She didn’t even wear any makeup! But even more frustratingly, she didn’t really need it.
• They looked divine… like I wasn’t even worthy to look upon them. 
• He looked like the type of person to stare at his own reflection before getting in the shower. 
• They were short and stocky, but they could still probably beat me in a fight. 

Remember, your protagonist can make speculative judgments about the character they’re looking at. You’re telling the story as they experience it, so their judgments are part of the narrative!

“…he was greeted by the barista—a young teen who had not yet matured enough to be handsome. Once his soft cheeks hollowed and his jaw squared, and the childish optimism fled his eyes, then he would have the chance to smolder. That crooked smile would win over many hearts in the blink of an eye, but not just yet.”  – excerpt from a draft

Keep the Description Balanced

A good rule of thumb when describing characters (or anything else really) is to create a balance of concrete details and flowery imagery. You should alternate between those two, as well as general and more specific details, to make the description flow more naturally, and to make it more interesting to read. 

Imagine reading a description like: 

“His hair was red and curly. His eyes were large and green. He had freckles, but they weren’t that noticeable. He was tall but very thin.” 

That’s so dry, and it’s not fun to read. Compare that to a description that varies how the information is provided:

“His hair was like a massive red bush surrounding two wide, green eyes. Freckles faintly dotted his cheeks, but they were only really visible in the sunshine. His long, lanky body and large hair made him look a bit like a big red lollipop—which was only heightened by his tendency to blush often.”

Wasn’t that a lot more fun to read? Not only does it make the character description more interesting, but it also influences a reader’s perception of what the character is like. Certain words help readers to gauge what kind of person this character is. The first example gives no indication of personality, but the second one uses words like “sunshine” and “lollipop” to associate the character with lively, happy things. Additionally, using words like “lanky” and “blush” suggests that the character is awkward or shy, saving you the time of having to spell that out for readers. 

Give them Something Special

One helpful thing that I’ve learned over the years is that you should give your main character some distinctive feature that sets them apart from the other characters around them. Diverse descriptions are great, but it never hurts to make your main character a little more unique. This could be something like a distinctive scar, a tattoo, a weird eye color, a patch of silver or white hair, a missing or extra finger, a birthmark, or something else along those lines. That can make them stand out more, and it can be a really clear indicator that they are special. 

Although your story won’t suffer if you don’t give your main character a distinct feature like this, it is usually a good bet—especially if you think your story could ever conceivably be adapted into a visual medium, like a comic, animation, or film. That character could become iconic. People may just see your character somewhere and that alone could motivate them to read or watch the whole story. As another plus, it could give you a cool opportunity for your story’s cover. 

How to Describe a Character’s Face

When describing a character’s face, the easiest way to do that is to first break the face down into its essential parts: the eyes, the mouth, the nose, and the facial structure.

So let’s start with the eyes since they are the focal point of the face. Stay away from the descriptions you’ve heard a million times, like “piercing” or “doe-eyed.” The eyes are the window to the soul, and they can tell a reader a lot about a character. Instead of “piercing,” try “icy” or “sharp,” and instead of “doe-eyed,” try “wide,” “innocent,” or “full of wonder/awe.” The goal is to describe the character in a unique way to make it more interesting to read, while still creating a vivid image of that character. 

You can describe the shape, color, and depth of a character’s eyes, but you should be careful not to rely on insensitive generalizations. For example, instead of “Asian” eyes, use “almond-shaped” or “mono-lid.” Not all Asian people have mono-lids, so simply using the word “Asian” to describe the character’s eyes doesn’t actually narrow down what they look like. 

That goes for all the other features of the face, too. Though it is true that some features are more prominent in certain races, nothing is inherent. You shouldn’t rely on the character’s race or ethnic background alone to be the basis of your description. Saying that a character is Japanese or Jamaican without giving other details doesn’t do any more for the character’s description than saying they are European or white. Doing this only encourages your readers to stereotype your characters, even if that wasn’t your intention. 

With that said, don’t get too caught up in describing every detail of a character’s face. Give the most important information, such as the eyes, face shape, scars, and other notable details or imperfections, then move on. If a character has an exaggerated feature, such as a large nose or bushy eyebrows, then that’s important to mention too.

How to Describe a Character’s Hair

There are lots of different types of hair colors, textures, thicknesses, and shines, so try not to make all your characters have the same kind of hair—unless they’re related or part of a small, isolated community, of course. Hair can be curly and blond, sleek and black, coily and auburn, and even dyed wild colors. Making your characters’ hair more distinct will make them easier for readers to visualize, especially if you introduce many characters at one time. 

Beyond the basics, you can use words to describe a character’s hair that reflects who they are as a person. For example, describing a character’s hair as springy or bouncy could indicate the character is upbeat and moves excitedly. Slick, greasy, or wispy hair could suggest an untrustworthy or sneaky character. The words you use to describe the character’s hair will be subliminally applied to the character themself. 

How to Describe a Character’s Clothes

Clothing is an important element of self-expression, and what your character decides to wear can reflect a lot about them. However, unlike with the character’s face, you should not spend a lot of time describing their outfit. For one thing, they’re probably going to change their outfit at some point in the story—likely more than once. Secondly, readers just won’t care unless you give them a good reason to. 

If you want to describe what your character is wearing, make sure to keep it short. If it’s just a simple way of helping the reader visualize the character’s style, present the information objectively and in only a paragraph or two, such as: 

“She wore short-shorts and a denim jacket, and pink thigh-high socks that she had to keep pulling up because they always slipped down to her knees. Her tennis-shoes were white and bulky, as was the belt bag she wore off to one side. This free, laidback style was completed by the two messy buns her faded purple hair was pulled up into.”

However, there are a few times in which you can use clothing to explore more complex ideas in the story. For example:

• An article of clothing might have special significance to a character. It could have been handed down from a relative, it could be a favorite shirt, or it could be meaningful in other ways. That would merit drawing more attention to it. 
• An article of clothing might have special significance to the story. This could be a type of ceremonial outfit, a piece of magical armor, or something along those lines. That would require a more thorough in-depth description of the item. 
• An article of clothing may be unfamiliar to most of your readers, such as a specific cultural outfit or an unusual costume, in which case a descriptive explanation could help illustrate what it looks like. 
• A particular outfit could draw attention to a character, such as an attractive or surprising outfit, that could merit taking more time to describe it (and explain why it garners the character extra attention). 

How to Describe a Character’s Body

Describing a character’s body is fairly straightforward. Like with many other aspects of a character’s appearance, there are a few methods you can use to approach describing their body. You could take the objective approach, which would do just fine in most cases, or you could toy with your readers’ perceptions. 

I’ll start out with a word of caution. Too many times, I’ve seen unrealistic descriptions of characters’ bodies. Whether it’s a waist that’s impossibly thin or muscles like a bodybuilder on a teenager, people tend to push the boundaries of what the human body is even capable of. You need to keep your characters within the limits of what’s actually possible, unless you have a good reason for doing otherwise (genetically modified supersoldier, not actually human at all, etc). 

Now, as with some other aspects of the character’s appearance, you can get away with a simple, objective description, like “tall and muscular” or “short and curvy.” Honestly, that’s usually all you’ll need to do. However, bodies are commonly associated with physical attractiveness, and if attraction is the point of your description, you need to take a different approach. 

Writing about attraction is tough (which is why I go more in-depth about how to write about attraction in my other article, Romance 101: How to Write Characters Falling in Love ). You’ll want to highlight the positives of the character’s body—the elements of them that have caught your protagonist’s attention. Whether it’s biceps, legs, or a large chest, you’ll want to describe it in detail, as well as highlight what it is about them that has the protagonist so interested. Here’s an example:

“He was tall and sturdy, and even in this relaxed environment, his pose held power. The way his shirt stretched taut around his shoulders when he shifted snagged and held my attention—I couldn’t help but stare. Did he pick that shirt on purpose? He had to know the thin fabric clung close to his body, showing off every rippling muscle underneath…” 

How to Describe a Character’s Posture and Body Language

Body language is an often overlooked element of describing a character, but you should give it some thought even if you don’t intend to draw a lot of attention to it in the story. How does your character stand? How do they emote? Do they gesture when they speak? Do they fidget? Try to envision what they look like when they are waiting, actively engaged in a passionate conversation, and when they are uncomfortable. 

People move in different ways, even if they aren’t thinking about it. Come up with a list of movements and behaviors that are typical for the character, and utilize those movements to make dull scenes and conversations more interesting. Instead of just dialogue, you can give readers more to imagine as your character shifts their weight, runs their hand through their hair, or twists the hem of their shirt. This can also help to establish the tone of the conversation.  

A person’s body, personality, and mood will all influence how they move. If you establish a baseline for how the character stands and behaves when they are in a neutral mindset, this will help you keep them consistent over time by casually mentioning their body language throughout the story. As a bonus, it can also help you tip readers off if you want them to notice that something is bothering the character. If you have established that a character is pretty relaxed in most situations, readers will instantly notice if they exhibit anxious body language even if you don’t draw a lot of attention to it. 

How to Describe an Attractive Character

Describing an attractive character isn’t all that different from describing any other character. You still shouldn’t make them flawless, but you can put off mentioning their more negative qualities until later—especially if another character is looking at them through rose-colored glasses . 

One recommendation that I have for describing a character who is supposed to be extremely attractive is to keep their description vague. Beauty is subjective, so each reader is going to have a different idea of what “attractive” means. By all means, describe the basics of their appearance, such as hair color, eye color, skin tone, and whatnot, but don’t dive deep into the shape of their features. This will leave a little bit up to the reader’s imagination, and they will fill in the gaps in the character’s description with the traits that they find most attractive. 

Another helpful tip is to utilize the reactions of background characters to establish that the character is, in fact, attractive. Other people staring at the character or nudging and whispering to each other about them would help your reader understand that the character is good-looking, and alter their mental image of them accordingly. 

The Importance of Creating Vivid Visual Descriptions for your Characters

Creating vivid visual descriptions for your characters is incredibly important for a number of reasons. For one thing, being able to imagine the characters will help draw your readers into the story and immerse them in the world. Additionally, by giving your characters more distinct appearances, they will stand out more from each other, and from characters in other stories. The more complex and interesting the character, the more likely they are to stick in a reader’s mind for years after they finish reading the story. 

Good luck with writing your descriptions! I know you’ll write something great.

Aaron Mullins

BESTSELLING BOOKS – AUTHOR RESOURCES

How to Describe People

Unlock the power of words with this guide for authors on crafting remarkable character descriptions . As authors, we understand the profound impact that well-crafted characters can have on a story. The art of describing people goes beyond mere physical appearances; it delves into the intricacies of personalities and emotions that bring narratives to life. That’s why learning how to write physical descriptions of your story characters  is a key author skill.

And to be a great writer ‘ how to describe people in stories ‘ means thinking beyond the basic physical descriptions of height, age, body shape, hair and eye colours. Each of these aspects can show personality and set the tone of a story, so it’s important to learn how to describe a character’s appearance in writing . This writing guide for authors will help you to really bring your unique characters to life and build a clear picture in the minds of your readers, but in a way that doesn’t sound generic and forced.

Bookmark this page and use this handy list of character descriptions to build your perfect protagonists!

Join me as we explore the essential techniques and strategies for authors to master the skill of character descriptions. From creating vivid profiles to weaving character traits seamlessly into your storytelling, we’ll navigate the terrain of effective characterisation and soon you’ll be writing believable characters in your novels.

How to describe people is a list of useful adjectives for describing your story characters, with examples of how to describe their appearance in your story. Words that describe people are used to build physical appearance and reveal character, helping your book to have vivid, memorable characters, through effective character description.

How to Describe a Character’s Physical Features

One tip for writing descriptive characters is to make it match your story. If you’re writing a short story, then you may get away with never revealing some aspects of your character’s physical descriptions, if it isn’t moving the plot forwards. Regardless, you can choose a few key features to emphasise, and perhaps even utilise a well-placed simile to really make the reader’s imagination paint the picture for you.

• Simile Examples: Her hair was like a flame. She looked as American as apple pie.

When using simile’s and using descriptions in general, it’s important that they match the behaviours and personality of your character, as well as the overall tone of your story, to ensure you are writing believable characters.

To craft compelling character descriptions, you may even want to employ the power of psychology through the use of euphonics to emphasise the perfect description. You can learn more about the importance of euphonics and find guidance on how to use them in  How to Write Fiction: A Creative Writing Guide for Authors.

Tips to Describe Characters in Your Writing

So what are some writing tips to slip these character descriptions into our books in a natural way? If you’re writing from a first person perspective, one descriptive writing technique is to have the narrator ‘speak their mind’ regarding particular looks or traits, passing comment on either themselves or another character.

• First Person Narrator : I’ve always been proud of my soft blonde hair.

Another way to write effective character descriptions is to reveal physical characteristics in a natural way while describing your character’s actions. This can be either physical traits (such as hairstyle) or the way a character moves that gives descriptions of their body type.

• Describing Actions : She ducked under the archway, knocking loose strands of her high, tight bun. 
• Describing Actions : His height was accentuated by his stiff gait.

A great tip for characters traits in fiction writing, to prevent writing from sounding like a news bulletin, is to spread the description throughout different parts of your book. Perhaps give them a key feature, then a bit of dialogue, then an action which reveals more. This way, when you’re writing a vivid character profile, the story doesn’t pause to describe the character, the description itself becomes part of the unfolding story. All you need to do is give the readers enough information that they can hold a current picture in their mind.

How To Describe People in Stories

I have provided a list of examples of how to describe people in stories, split by different parts of the body. These are generally the most common descriptions, as full lists would be huge, but they can be a starting point for crafting your own compelling character descriptions.

How to Describe Body Shape

A great characterisation tip for authors is: when describing the body focus on both body-type and posture. What it looks like and how they are using it.

• Describe Characters’ Body : big, little, large, small, fat, thin, bulky, skinny, plump, lean, fine, chunky, solid, muscular, athletic, flabby, saggy, standing, sitting, reaching, resting, arching, walking, jogging, running, hunching, bending, stretching, leaning

How to Describe Faces

Possibly the most important feature to describe is the face, as it’s able to convey the most emotion and intent of your character. It’s essential that writers and readers get this part of the character descriptions clear in their mind, if they want to create memorable characters.

• Character Face Shapes : round, square, oval, heart-shaped, triangular, diamond, pear, oblong
• Describe Character’s Face : fine, full, baby-faced, fresh, chiselled, thin, wide, furrowed, craggy, sculpted, weather-beaten, dimpled, handsome, gaunt, sweet, anxious, boyish, youthful, clean-shaven, intelligent, hard, blocky, angelic, watchful, dubious, impassioned, bestial, rugged, strong, ordinary, unreadable

How to Describe Skin

Complexion is your skin colour and what it looks like. When learning how to describe people in stories, you should practice describing a diverse range of characters.

• Describe Character’s Skin : tanned, wrinkled, freckled, rosy-cheeked, fresh, smooth, creamy, pale, glowing, rough, leathered, brown, dark, ebony

How to Describe Eyes

When thinking of character description examples for authors, we have to remember that most of our information about the world is received through the eyes. And most of our reaction to the world can also be told through the eyes. Remember to describe colour, shape and expressions in your vivid character profiles.

• Describe Character’s Eyes : small, large, bulging, deep-set, teary, hollow, sad, gentle, bright, twinkling, warm, sleepy, brown, blue, green, hazel, dark, haunted

How to Describe Noses

Writing believable characters in novels includes going into depth about every aspect of your character. The nose is an excellent body part for creating a unique look and personality for your characters.

• Describe Character’s Nose : bridge, nostril, flared, hooked, wrinkling, twitching, aquiline, red, puffy, crooked, flat, enormous, pointed, thick, veined

How to Describe Ears

To write effective character descriptions, you can play around with descriptions of a character’s ears, as they receive dialogue, so can convey emotional meaning through interactions.

• Describe Character’s Ears : pulling/tugging on their ear, covering their ears, tucking their hair behind their ears, hear their pulse, battered, attentive, bandaged, bleeding, buzzing, dainty, elfin, floppy, earringed, pierced, comical, deaf, keen, open

“Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there’s an explosion—that’s Plot.” — Leigh Brackett

How to Describe Mouth and Lips

Like the eyes, describing the mouth relates to both shape and expressions, and is a key character trait for fiction writing.

• Describe Character’s Mouth : full, thin, pursed, puckered, pouting, laughing, smiling, curled, sneer, toothless, gappy, cruel, kind

How to Describe Hair

You can describe hair by its colour, texture and style when describing characters in your stories.

• Describe Character’s Hair Colour : black, brown, blonde, red, auburn, ash, honey, golden, platinum, strawberry, silver, white, grey, salt-and-pepper
• Describe Character’s Hair Style : long, short, shoulder-length, ponytail, bun, ringlets, bangs, slick, pigtails, bob
• Describe Character’s Hair Texture :  shiny, spiky, fuzzy, wavy, parted, neat, cascading, curly, dull, frizzy, wild, straight, shaved, thick, thin, full, fine, bald, dyed, permed

How to Describe Beards, Moustaches and Facial Hair

Here are some character description examples for crafting the perfect facial hair.

• Describe Character’s Facial Hair : beard, sideburns, goatee, moustache, stubble, bushy, shaggy, clean-shaven, smooth, trimmed, whiskers, handlebars, viking

How to Describe Clothing

Whether you’re a seasoned novelist or an aspiring writer, you will know the importance of crafting remarkable character descriptions through the choice of clothing. There’s obviously a huge choice of clothing options available for your character. I always use a character template before I start writing, which captures what each character is wearing. This ensures it fits into my plot, making logical sense in relation to the character’s personality and the situation they find themselves in.

I divide clothing into tops, bottoms, outer, footwear and accessories. I then decide what fabric and other materials each item is made from, as well as patterns and textures.

• Describe Character’s Style : smart, scruffy, elegant, torn, stylish, rough, relaxed, posh, chic, casual, sharp, disheveled, ripped, faded, badge, worn, new, shiny, soft, knitted, shabby, goth, sporty, wild, over-dressed
• Describe Character’s Tops : t-shirt, shirt, tank top, polo shirt, jumper, sweater, cardigan, hoodie, V-neck, round-neck, turtleneck, collar, bra
• Describe Character’s Bottoms : trousers, jeans, pants, boxers, leggings, slacks, jogging bottoms,  sweatpants, overalls, shorts, swimming trunks, knickers
• Describe Character’s Outerwear : jacket, coat, blazer, dressing gown, bath robe, apron, uniform, costume
• Describe Character’s Footwear : shoes, trainers, sneakers, sandals, plimsoles, flip-flops, boots, wellies, pumps, heels, socks, stockings, tights, slippers
• Describe Character’s Accessories : gloves, scarf, hat, baseball cap, bandana, bracelet, earrings, necklace, cufflinks, rings, purse, bag, handbag, glasses, sunglasses, watch, belt
• Describe Patterns and Fabrics : cotton, acrylic, polyester, denim, tweed, silk, lace, velvet, fleece, wool, leather, stripes, checked, dots, stars, squares, solid block, floral, pastel

I hope these ideas on how to describe people  help you write vivid descriptions and bring your characters to life. They’re just a starting point and you can read many more of them to describe each body part in  How to Write Fiction: A Creative Writing Guide for Authors.

Stay creative,

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Aaron Mullins ( @DrAaronMullins ) is an award winning, internationally published psychologist and bestselling author. Aaron has over 15 years experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in business strategy for authors and publishers. He started Birdtree Books Publishing where he worked as Editor-in-Chief, partnered with World Reader Charity and taught Academic Writing at Coventry University. Aaron’s book How to Write Fiction: A Creative Writing Guide for Authors has become a staple reference book for writers and those interested in a publishing career. Find out more .

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Master List of Physical Description for Writers

I created this list of ways to describe people

because physical description, when done well, helps the readers see characters in their minds. But sometimes when you’re in the middle of writing, it can be hard to think of physical adjectives and distinguishing features for characters. I find that describing facial features can be especially tricky!

That’s why I created this long list of physical characteristics. It’s kind of like a character description generator, and it’ll help you when you’re trying to think of how to describe a character’s appearance.

Eyes – General

 For all the words about describing facial features, I’m focusing more on physical descriptions rather than emotional expressions, though there’s a little crossover! You can also check out my long list of facial expressions.

heavy-lidded

fringed with long lashes

with sweeping eyelashes

with thick eyelashes

By the way, this post on how to describe (and not describe) the eyes of an Asian character  is really great. Check it out.

Eyes – Color

Brown is the most common eye color by far. Green is quite rare.

chocolate brown

cocoa brown

coffee brown

sienna brown

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If you like what I do, please support me on Ko-fi!

cornflower blue

Arctic blue

glacial blue

crystal blue

electric blue

slate blue / slate gray

storm blue / storm gray

silver / silver gray

concrete gray

gunmetal gray

Skin – Color

Josh Roby made a great chart of skin tones and descriptor words, and I got a lot of these words from him. You can get that here .

The quote from N.K. Jemisin interested me: “I get really tired of seeing African-descended characters described in terms of the goods that drove, and still drive, the slave trade—coffee, chocolate, brown sugar. There’s some weird psychosocial baggage attached to that.” 

cream / creamy

rose / rosy

Skin – General

Some of these are better for the face, and some are better for other parts of the body.

translucent

luminescent

with large pores

weather-beaten

Face – Structure

heart-shaped

high forehead

broad forehead

prominent brow ridge

protruding brow bone

sharp cheekbones

high cheekbones

angular cheekbones

hollow cheeks

jutting chin

pointed chin

receding chin

double chin

dimple in chin

visible Adam’s apple

People don’t write much about noses, but they can be distinguishing features for characters!

Cupid’s bow

straight teeth

gap between teeth

gleaming white teeth

Facial Hair (or lack thereof)

clean-shaven

smooth-shaven

mutton-chop sideburns

a few days’ growth of beard

five o’ clock shadow

Hair – General

I threw a few hairstyles in here, though not many.

shoulder-length

neatly combed

slicked down / slicked back

buzzed / buzz cut

widow’s peak

Hair – Color

There are some repeats here from the eye color section!

salt and pepper

charcoal gray

brown sugar

tawny brown

toffee brown

Titian-haired

strawberry blonde

butterscotch

sandy blond

fair-haired

Body Type – General

average height

barrel-chested

heavy / heavy-set

pot-bellied

full-figured

leggy / long-legged

broad-shouldered

sloping shoulders

stubby fingers

long fingers

ragged nails

grimy fingernails

ink-stained

This list and many more are in my book Master Lists for Writers: Thesauruses, Plot Ideas, Character Traits, Names, and More . Check it out if you’re interested!

And if you don’t want to miss future writing posts, follow the blog, if you aren’t already — there’s a place to sign up on the lefthand side of the blog. Thanks for stopping by, and happy writing!

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127 thoughts on “ master list of physical description for writers ”.

Thanks, Bryn! This list has sparked a spark in my brain. I haven’t seen one of those for a while. I was getting worried I’d lost my flint!

I’m so glad you like it!

I love this, do you mind if we share on our blog WritersLife.org ?

Thanks for the positive feedback! You can’t reproduce it on your blog, but you can share an excerpt of 200 words or less plus a link to my site.

As a new novel writer all I can say is thank very much for sharing with us this wonderful list.

Ah you’re welcome! Thanks for visiting!

This is amazing! Thank you very much!

Thanks for the kind words–glad it seems helpful!

Reblogged this on looselyjournalying.

Reblogged this on Of Fancy & Creativity .

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Aw thank you for this it helped so much! I’m 15 and I’m trying to write a novel and this was sooooo helpful so thank you a billion 🙂 Best wishes.

Ah you’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by. Good for you for working on a novel, and good luck–I bet it will go great!

Hi, Bryn Thank you for doing these lists. They helped me a lot. Can you make a list on how to describe emotions like sadness or anger.

It’s funny you should ask 🙂 There’s a list like that in my book MASTER LISTS FOR WRITERS coming out this fall! I haven’t officially announced it yet, but hey 🙂

You can get a free copy when it comes out if you agree to give it an honest review. SIgn up for my newsletter if you’re interested!

Reblogged this on Kalynn Bayron and commented: Yes! This is great!

Was just looking for this type of lists.Great work.

This is so helpful.

I love your blog, btw. Your posts are informative and/or inspirational.

Are you on any social medial where I can follow you?

Oh, thank you so much! I just checked out your blog — I love the dream casting post! http://sbhadleywilson.com/blog/pull-ideal-cast-2/

I’m @BrynDonovan on Twitter, just followed you!

VERY helpful. I need to get basic descriptions of people done and out of the way to move on with plot. This quickens any details that might have taken me a long time to think through, or strain a sentence. Yuck. I know my females characters would pay attention to lots of physical details. not so with the males. Thanks!

Oh, so glad it’s helpful! That’s always what I’m trying to do with my lists — speed things up. I hate getting stuck on a detail and losing my momentum 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!

godsent list! Bryn, I wish you more brains.

Reblogged this on Jessica Louis and commented: This list is beyond helpful. Who knew there were so many eye colors!?

Thanks Bryn your list was amazing. I’m an aspiring writer and it really helped me a lot. When I can I’m going to get a copy of your book. I think it would help me become a better writer. My genre of choice is erotic, but it is so hard to get out there, but I’m hopeful one day I will. It’s what I love to do and I’m going to keep trying.

Hi Beth! Thank you so much for the kind words. If you do get the book, I hope you like it! And good luck on writing erotica — I’m doing a “WIP Wednesday” this Wednesday where you can share a bit of your work in progress, if you like 🙂

That would be great. I have some short stories publish on a site called Literotica. I have some editing issues that I’m trying to work out, nothing a few classes wouldn’t help. How do I share my work.

I am so sorry! I missed this comment before. The next WIP Wednesday on the blog is Dec. 2… if you’re following the blog you’ll see the post! (The follow button is on the righthand side of this page.) Hope your writing’s going well 🙂

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Reblogged this on PRINCE CHARMING ISN'T HERE and commented: what an amazing list! I always have a hard time describing features! words sometimes fail me!

i loved this list! thank you so much for making it! 🙂

So glad it was helpful!

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Thank you! This is so helpful to have for reference. Occasionally I’ll have a particular word in mind and can’t think of it, and I can usually pop over here and find it right away!

I absolutely love your master lists. They have helped me so much in diversifying the words I use when I’m writing. 🙂

Ohhh thank you! That is so great to hear. 🙂 Hope your writing projects are going great!

Thank you, and they are. I’m just about to publish a works I’ve been working on for the past couple of months, which is so exciting. XD Hope all your writing projects are going great as well. 🙂

What a wonderful and thorough list Bryn. Thanks for sharing it! I will at some point ‘link back’ to this fabulous article (I’ll let you know when I do.) I’m new to your site, but will certainly be back for more! I’m fascinated to learn that you’re also a home-grown KC girl. =0) Although, I remarried and moved to California 9 years ago, KC still tugs my heart-strings.

Hey, so glad you like it! Yeah, Kansas City is a special place. Come visit anytime 🙂 And thanks for visiting my blog! — I LOVE your username, by the way. Made me smile.

thanks for following my blog!

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Reblogged this on A Blissful Garden and commented: I find this very important!

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Reblogged this on Insideamoronsbrain and commented: Wow!!

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Thanks for sharing this list! It is amazing and so helpful !

I’m going to save this as a favorite. You always provide great information Bryn. Continue with your success.

Oh, thank you so much, Christopher! I really appreciate the kind words. So glad you like this!

This list is so complete! I haven’t worked on fiction in a long while, but lately I’ve been wanting to get back into it. I know this is going to be a great help when i sit down to create my characters!

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This is absolutely perfect for aspiring writers so that we don’t have to use Microsoft Word synonyms that tend to nit have what we’re searching for. Your introductory paragraph about readers falling in love with characters’ personalities and not theit physical attributes was spot on. Thank you thank you, thank you!

Chunny! Thank you so very much for the kind words. I’m so glad you found it helpful!!

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This is amazing! Thank you! I hope it’s alright if I use this as a reference in a blog post for character development.

Hi Jacquelyn! So glad you like it. That’s fine, just please link to the post!

I read this over and over, thank you for creating this! Can I just ask, when thinking of clothing and how to describe it, what are some things you would put? (I’m making a book draft and have never needed clothing described to me as much as now)

Thank you! It’s so important that we don’t reuse the same words too often, so this will help a lot with that problem.

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Thanks for helping me. It really made a big difference of helping me come up with something.

Hi Joseph! Sorry for the delayed reply! I’m so glad you liked it. Thanks for the kind words!

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Your book “Master Lists for Writers” has helped me incredibly. I’ve always wanted to be a romance writer but didn’t have the nerve until now. I am currently working on a short story about a college girl who is assaulted by a classmate. It was based on a dream I had a few nights ago. I haven’t developed how she gets her revenge on him. I know the story line seems dark but the dream stuck with me so much, I felt the urge to turn it into a story. Thank you again for your awesome book. What a great resource

Rhonda! Thank you so much for the kind words. I am so happy that the book is helpful, and even gladder that you’re going for it and writing! Sending you best wishes on your story!

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Great advice in this post, Bryn! Thank you.

Used this for school! It was really helpful!

Oh yay! So glad it was helpful!

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This is a great list! So comprehensive, and just what I was looking for. I struggle with physical descriptions of people and have a tendency to write the same kins of attributes. So this list is fab!

This is great!

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keep up the good work

Hey thanks 🙂

This is so helpful!!!!!

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Tiptoeing out there to publish my first book (I’ve been writing a long time). This post helped so much. Thanks!

oh my gosh, thank you! You have put a lot of effort in this list. I def appreciate it 🙂

Thank you I´m always using this when I´m creating new characters.

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Incredibly helpful! Thanks a lot :3

Thank you for sharing this!

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More extensive than my general list. My wizened goatee and elder Fu Manchu thank you for sharing your time and devotion to the craft.

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Very useful for ready reference. Thank you very much.

Thanks, Mohan! So glad you liked it!

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I’ve been writing for a while, mostly for fun, but this was the one thing I could never get down, but this list is great! all around solid, and incredibly useful, I see myself using it every time I need to make a new character, good job!

You’re a legend! This is fantastic, thank you!

Hahaha, thanks for the kind words! 🙂 Glad it’s helpful!

I am following your prompts and valuable advice for writing a fantasy teen fiction novel. I think you are amazing. You might not know it but I was able to clear hundreds of my doubts through your help. Please keep up the good work and providing your valuable support to all of us upcoming writers.

Hey, thank you so much for the kind words—you made my day! It’s wonderful to hear that you’re working on YA fantasy. I’m so glad I could help, and I wish you every success!

I honestly would not recommend this as good writing advice. The focus is too much on describing someone’s physical features using analogies for food. That is not a good thing, it becomes trite and overdone. If used sparsely it’s okay but almost every word in this list is food related.

Hi, Larissa! Thanks for taking your valuable time to share your opinion.

You have done a great job preparing this Master List. Those who think such precise words for describing someone hurt their sensibilities, move on to another URL. I appreciate every bit of your effort.

Hi, Pradeep! I am so glad you like the list. Thanks so much for commenting!

Bryn, I love your master list book and use it all the time!

Ohh, thank you so much! I’m so glad it’s helpful!

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This is a godsend. I owe you my soul.

I work 20 hours per day, (regular business and writing the memoir). Just ordered the Master List–seems like having my own research assistant. I may be able to get 5 hours sleep now. Thanks

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No jaw descriptions? ;(

You saved my day with your wonderful, descriptive words! Now I’ve found the perfect features for my handsome male character. Thank you!

That is a lot of hours for books but I guess if you keep pushing it will happen.

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Hi Bryn, thanks so much for this information! I always appreciate your lists because I like comprehensive material all in one location as a reference (then if I decide to break the rules, at least I know what the rules are “supposed to be” first!). Have you considered making comprehensive lists of creative writing genre conventions (tropes, archetypes, settings, devices, etc.)?

Hello, and thank you for the valuable and useful information. I agree with Eleanore regarding the list of genre conventions. I’m more than pleased I found you website.

Thank u so much ❤️ that was so helpful

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Posted on Dec 21, 2018

Character Descriptions: How To Write Them (in 3 Steps)

Character descriptions — those key passages that describe what a character actually looks like — are almost as crucial to a written story as the characters themselves. If you’re writing a novel, you’ve probably created an awesome, vivid protagonist in your head: motivated , quirky , maybe even memorably named . But how do you convey all that to a reader without depleting the magic?

Writing strong character descriptions actually requires quite a bit of finesse. If you skimp on descriptive passages, you run the risk of leaving your readers with forgettable characters. But if you get too descriptive, you wind up leaving no room for the reader’s own imagination.

So what does it take to strike the right balance? We’ll tell you! Here are three cardinal rules on how to write character descriptions without falling off that tightrope.

1. Choose your words carefully

When writing character descriptions, it’s easy to get ahead of yourself. After all, this is the first time you’re introducing a character you’ve created from the ground up .

But just because you know everything about them, doesn’t mean the reader needs to. Character descriptions aren’t about doling out every detail in lavish language — they’re about succinct characterization. Here are a few tips on how to achieve just that.

Be descriptive in your language

We’re talking about character descriptions, after all — it’s quite literally in the name. When describing a character that you see clearly in your mind, it’s easy to simply give a laundry list of attributes: she had black hair, brown eyes, and freckles. But that tells us nothing about the character and is frankly a waste of words.

Sure, your protagonist might have brown eyes. But so does half the world’s population! And characterization is all about showing what makes a character unique.

Sometimes, this can be done through word choice alone. Take this example from Huckleberry Finn :

“There warn’t no color in his face, where his face showed; it was white; not like another man’s white, but a white to make a body sick, a white to make a body’s flesh crawl – a tree-toad white, a fish-belly white.”

From this passage, we clearly understand how Huck’s father looks, as surely as if Twain had simply written, “He was white.” But through the use of figurative language and excellent word choice, another image sticks in our head: that of a sickly, grotesque drunk. Bonus points for the use of “tree-toad” and “fish-belly” — descriptors that match the tone of the adventure novel.

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Use adjectives sparingly

Another problem with a sentence like “She had brown eyes” is that brown simply isn’t a very interesting word. When it comes to describing something, the same is true for many adjectives; which are to descriptions as adverbs are to verbs . In other words, they may appear to be more descriptive, but they often just bog down your sentences.

Same goes for verbs. Much has been made about the banality of the verb “to be” in literature. Which would you prefer: “She had brown eyes,” or, “Her brown eyes pierced through my own”? Use forceful verbs to illuminate more about your character. When it comes to character descriptions, every word counts.

However, keep in mind that overly descriptive words like these can easily turn cliché. Ultimately, a phrase like, “He had a prosaic, pedestrian face” may pale in comparison to a more simply but potent description, like this one from Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated :

“He did not look like anything special at all.”

Use descriptions themselves sparingly

When introducing a character, it’s best not to dedicate three whole chapters to an exhaustive physical explanation and backstory. After all, this isn’t Moby-Dick .

So as you’re painting a picture of your character, do two important things: 1) focus on a few key characteristics at a time , and 2) make sure to spread your descriptions out across the book . If we’re told every detail of every character’s face all at once, they’ll all end up blending together. But if we’re distinctly told about the woman with ears like a rabbit or the man with a slightly larger left nostril? We’ll remember them for the whole novel.

Also keep in mind that word choice is important, but so are the things you’re describing with those words. Hair, skin, and eye color — these are all characteristics that, ironically, don’t really say anything about what characters are like. That’s why, next up, we’ll discuss what characteristics you should be covering in your character descriptions.

2. Be specific

Remember, we don’t need to know every single physical detail of every person in a book. In fact, since reading is a non-visual medium, many readers prefer to fill in the blanks themselves.

Good descriptions tend to be brief but evocative. So choose two or three distinct, specific attributes to describe and leave the rest to the reader’s imagination. Here are some ideas on what those attributes might be.

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Facial expressions

Facial attributes are one thing: anyone can have a big nose, so that tells us nothing substantial about a character. On the other hand, facial expressions speak volumes. Like this example from Lord of the Flies :

“His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness.”

The way they carry themselves

Body language is key to understanding other people, so it stands to reason that it’s key to understanding characters, too. Take this description from Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible , which describes a character through posture and mannerisms alone:

“Mama BekwaTataba stood watching us — a little jet-black woman. Her elbows stuck out like wings, and a huge white enameled tub occupied the space above her head, somewhat miraculously holding steady while her head moved in quick jerks to the right and left.”

Their stuff

In his popular novel American Psycho , Bret Eaton Ellis showcases Patrick Bateman's vapidity and narcissism through descriptions of the titular character's designer clothing. You can tell a lot about a person from their possessions — whether it’s clothing, cars, houses, or merely the contents of their purse. “He was a superficial sociopath” succinctly describes the extent of Patrick Bateman’s character development in the novel, but a passage like this shows it so much better:

“But there are also things that the average person would think are nice that I've done to celebrate the holiday, items I've bought Jean and had delivered to her apartment this morning: Castellini cotton napkins from Bendel's, a wicker chair from Jenny B. Goode, a taffeta table throw from Barney's, a vintage chain-mail-vent purse and a vintage sterling silver dresser set from Macy's, a white pine whatnot from Conran's, an Edwardian nine-carat-gold "gate" bracelet from Bergdorfs and hundreds upon hundreds of pink and white roses.”

Just be sure extensive descriptions of clothing don’t fall into the bad fanfiction category . (Although, there is good fanfiction too.)

Their actions

You know how actions speak louder than words? That’s truer than ever when it comes to describing your novel’s cast.

In one sense, actions can illustrate physical characteristics in a pretty basic way: “She ran her hand through her hair, accidentally revealing the mole on her forehead she’d always kept hidden behind her bangs.”

But you can also learn as much about fictional characters from their actions as you can about real people. Toni Morrison displays clear knowledge of this in her novel Jazz , introducing the character Violet by recounting a story about her, rather than simply telling what she looks like.

“I know that woman. She used to live with a flock of birds on Lenox Avenue. Know her husband, too. He fell for an eighteen-year-old girl with one of those deepdown, spooky loves that made him so sad and happy he shot her just to keep the feeling going. When the woman, her name is Violet, went to the funeral to see the girl and to cut her dead face they threw her to the floor and out of the church. She ran, then, through all that snow, and when she got back to her apartment she took the birds from their cages and set them out the windows to freeze or fly, including the parrot that said, ‘I love you.’”

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3. Don’t always be specific

Yeah, okay — the irony here isn’t lost on us . But while giving distinct details is important to character descriptions, so is knowing when concrete descriptions aren’t needed. Words, after all, are not limited to describing physical things. So don’t limit your prose, either.

Be abstract

Feel free to stretch the boundaries of what you’re describing and how you’re describing it. Rather than simply pointing out concrete characteristics or actions, feel free to describe abstractions, like this passage from Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere :

“Mr. Croup likes words, while Mr. Vandemar is always hungry. Also, they look nothing alike.”

Or, describe physical characteristics in an abstract way — that is, use similes and metaphors. In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol , Dickens does not describe Scrooge as a Christmas-hating miser. Instead, Scrooge in this Christmas book is:

“Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.”

Whether you’re describing yourself to a friend or a friend is describing you to someone else, it’s very unlikely either of you would give a painstaking, perfectly objective account. Biases exist in every aspect of life, so it’s okay to be biased in character descriptions, too.

If a first person narrator is describing themselves, they might comment on their own attractiveness, like Humbert Humbert in Lolita :

“I was, and still am, despite mes malheurs, an exceptionally handsome male; slow-moving, tall, with soft dark hair and a gloomy but all the more seductive cast of demeanor.”

Or you could have one character describe another, which illuminates the attributes of the latter and the perception of the former. Take, for example, this particularly scathing description of one person by another from Jodi Taylor’s The Nothing Girl :

“The only talents he possessed were delusions of adequacy.”

This sentence succinctly describes a not-quite-self-aware underachiever. But it also illustrates a narrator with a not-so-objective opinion of him.

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Show, don’t tell

Yup. The golden rule of writing applies here as well. At the end of the day, no matter what you decide to reveal to your audience, the most important aspect of character descriptions is how you reveal it. Regardless of how special, unique, or honest-to-god awesome your protagonist is, a reader forced to trudge through page after page of intensive description will find any character boring.

Instead, think of how we learn things about other people in real life. Very rarely does the color of our eyes or the shape of our nose describe who we are. We don’t tell everything there is to know about each other — we show it, through our expressions, perceptions, actions, preferences, and even our stuff. Apply that same rule to your character descriptions, and your characters (and readers) will thank you for it.

Are there any character descriptions that stand out to you? Leave any thoughts or questions in the comments below!

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350 Character Traits – A Fabulous Resource For Writers

Use these lists of 350 character traits to help you select the positive and negative traits you need for the characters in your stories.

What Is A Character Trait?

A trait is a distinguishing quality or characteristic , typically one belonging to a person. It can be a genetically determined characteristic.

Traits are formed by a person’s behaviour and attitude to others. We all have good and bad character traits and we should remember this when we describe people.

Some synonyms used for the word ‘trait’ are: attribute, characteristic, feature, particularity, peculiarity, quality.

Tips For Including Character Traits

Even if you adore your protagonist and loathe your antagonist , it is important to remember that nobody is perfectly good, or perfectly evil.

Every character will have positive and negative personality traits. Make sure you have created real people rather than caricatures by giving your cast a selection of both.

Include them when you complete the character questionnaires for your fictional creations.

[Use our Character Creation Kit to create great characters for your stories.]

How To Use Character Traits In Plotting

When you know what your characters’ traits are, you can use this to add to or to change your plot.

• An unreliable character might lose a job and the course of the story will change.
• A helpful or scrupulous character may inadvertently find out information when they are lending a hand. This information could create conflict and might force them to act or react.
• A romantic might start an affair and cause complications in their relationships. This could be the inciting moment for a story.
• A selfish person may want to be more dependable  and self-disciplined , but this trait could prevent them from achieving this. You can use this to create internal conflict in your characters.
• A hostile character may want to be included in society to improve their life, but their anger will ensure this does not happen.

We hope these lists help you choose the negative and positive character traits you will need in your books.

Enjoy developing character traits . Have fun, and happy writing.

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If you enjoyed this post,  you will love:

• The 4 Main Characters As Literary Devices
• 15 Questions Authors Should Ask Characters ,
• 10 Things To Consider When Naming Characters ,
• Creating Characters – Five Mistakes Beginner Writers Make
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• The 7 Critical Elements Of A Great Book
• 9 Literary Terms You Need To Know

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7 thoughts on “350 Character Traits – A Fabulous Resource For Writers”

Tapping into this information is a lifeline when stuck in a mire. Thank you.

The information above is very useful, wish I had it when I wrote my first book

Thank you. We’re glad you liked it.

Thank you very much Amanda.

To write is to give breath to words….to love is to give words of life to others.

This will help me as I write and find my voice. Thank you.

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Enchanting Marketing

Writing advice for small business

How to Infuse Your Writing With Oodles of Personality (in 3 Steps)

by Henneke | 61 enchanting opinions, add yours? :)

Today is her writing day.

Helen is a marketing coach, and she tells herself she must, at last, write her coaching page. How else can she attract more clients?

She sips her Jasmine tea, and mutters to herself that she must stop procrastinatin g and start writing.

But she feels sooooo uninspired.

She performs a quick Google search for inspiration. Ouch. A search for “marketing coach” generates 462,000 results.

Helen feels scared about competing with thousands of coaches for the same clients. But she understands how she should compete:

She has to describe her service with personality so she can attract her favorite clients. And when she does her best work, clients will rave about her, and her reputation will spread naturally.

The theory sounds good. But Helen feels stuck. How does she describe her coaching offer with more flair?

Shall I explain?

50 shades of cold

I recently read the thriller “The Quality of Silence” by Rosamund Lupton. From a writing perspective, the numerous descriptions of the coldness caught my attention.

Think about it for a sec … How would you describe a cold day? Extremely cold? Freezing? Ice-cold? It’s so cold you can’t stop shivering?

In the book, Yasmin arrives in Alaska with her deaf daughter Ruby. They drive in 24-hour darkness through the frozen wilderness searching for Ruby’s lost father.

10-year old Ruby’s description of the cold air is full of personality:

It’s FREEZING cold; like the air is made of broken glass. Our English cold is all roly-poly snowmen and ‘woo-hoo! it’s a snow day!’ a hey-there friendly kind of cold. But this cold is mean.

The main storyteller’s voice is grownup, and it describes the cold differently:

Yasmin put on her Arctic parka and face mask and mittens before getting out of the truck. Even so, the cold shocked her; it was like plunging into a lake, not air.

And Yasmin wonders what the color of cold is:

She’d thought the color of cold was white, like snow, or blue perhaps, like on a cold tap, but cold like this was conceived in a place without daylight and was black, the absence of all light and color.

Later in the book, the cold gets worse. Yasmin and Ruby get stuck in a truck in the middle of a snowstorm, without heating:

It’s getting so hard to breathe, my lungs are filling up with ants and there isn’t room for air any more. There’s a monster made of cold, hard as the edge of a pavement, coming towards us in the dark and it’s cutting through the windscreen and doors and windows and the only weapon against it is heat, but we don’t have any heat.

To write descriptions that ooze personality, go beyond the obvious. Think a little harder to find strong imagery to fully engage your reader. This works for anything, whether it’s the scenery in a fiction book, a product description on an ecommerce site, or the service page on your website.

Follow the three steps below to describe anything with oodles of personality …

Step 1. Write with piercing precision

Writing with personality starts with being more descriptive. Pay attention to details.

Note how many details are in this description of the cold:

She’d seen cold as a predator, made of the dark, as if it were alive. But she felt it now as vastly, cruelly impersonal; a frozen darkness absorbing you into itself. She felt it filling her hollow spaces, embedding itself as icy marrow in her bones and then consciousness seeped away from her into the Arctic blackness.

And here’s how Vitamix applies the same technique, describing precisely why their mixers are durable:

A key to long motor life is preventing it from overheating. In addition to the overload protection that’s built into every blender, Vitamix engineers have been working for decades to perfect airflow circulation around the motor, precisely channeling a controlled amount of air to the places that need it most. The result is a quieter, more reliable motor that will serve you for years to come.

And studio Neomam describes exactly how they develop link-worthy content for their clients. One of the steps they describe is how they test their content:

Before we hit up journalists we test your content with a real audience of at least 1,000 people using Reddit. We make adjustments based on audience feedback, so we’re confident about the success of your content even before we start pitching.

No matter what service you supply, it’s easy to think your clients know what you do.

But do they really? Probably not.

So, take a potential client by the hand and show her, step by step, what you do for her and how you make her life better. Don’t skimp on the details.

Step 2. Create a multi-sensory experience

Have you considered what cold smells like?

She smelled the cold and then realized that it was an absence of all odors. She wondered if it was because her airways were not functioning properly – she could feel the little hairs in her nose freezing – or if it was that in this degree of cold no molecules could permeate the air.

When you appeal to the senses , readers experience your content as if they can really see, feel, hear, smell or taste it.

The copywriters at Innocent know this, and they turn drinking a smoothie with pineapples, bananas and coconut into a sunny, sensory experience:

(…) this drink tastes of sunshine. Not that watery stuff that you get in the UK for five or six days of the year, but the great, clear, life-affirming rays that you’ll only find where these fruits are grown. So even if you’ve used up your holiday allowance on lots of mini-breaks to Prague and Oslo, you can still find a little bit of the tropics in this recipe. Just close your eyes, whack on the factor 16 and have a mouthful. Il fait soleil.

Sound difficult for a service?

Chris Conner gets pretty close in his description of my business blogging course :

Imagine sitting on a sunny sidewalk at a café … As you are writing in your journal, your teacher occasionally strolls by to look over your shoulder and help with your work. Henneke’s Enchanting Business Blogging course is as close as you will get to that without buying a plane ticket.

If you struggle to describe your product or service, ask your clients. What was their experience like? Can they provide a detailed description? What experience can they compare your service with?

Step 3. Make readers feel the impact

What impact does the cold have on your body?

She took a breath and the freezing air went into her lungs and she felt them going into spasm. She gasped and more cold air went into her lungs and it was as if she were drowning.

When you read such a vivid description, you can almost feel the cold air and the spasms of your lungs.

The copywriters at Purple use the same writing technique . Here’s how they explain what a comfortable mattress means for you:

The Purple Smart Comfort Grid™ effortlessly isolates motion, so you don’t feel your partner, posterity, or pets when they wiggle about.

The only mattress that intelligently adapts to the human body for mind-blowing, personalized comfort. Translation: Wake up every morning with your happy face on.

When you think about the impact of your service on clients, it’s often best to ask clients to explain it to you. Here’s how Irina Bengtson describes one of my courses:

I loved waking up in the mornings during this class. I knew something exciting was waiting for me—a next lesson, a new assignment or a new comment.

And Louise Rasmussen said it like this:

Henneke’s Enchanting Business Blogging course is like fentanyl for chronic writing pain. For me this course undid 20+ years of misguided writing habits.

Writing your own service description can feel hard. But you don’t have to do it alone. Ask your clients for their input, and use their testimonials throughout your page.

Discover your writing genius

You might think that writing with personality should come naturally.

But writing often doesn’t work like that.

You have to work a little harder to inject personality into your writing. So, follow the three steps. 1. Write with piercing precision . 2. Appeal to the senses and use strong imagery. 3. Let readers feel the personal impact.

That’s how you engage your readers with power and pizzazz.

Let your personality shine.

And discover your writing genius.

Recommended reading on descriptive writing:

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Reader Interactions

Leave a comment and join the conversation cancel reply.

May 18, 2021 at 8:57 am

It was such a delight reading your post Henneke! It has been a while since I last checked out your blog. I will say it helped to calm my otherwise anxious mind as I was so immersed in your vivid descriptions/writings. Reading doesn’t feel like a task but such an enjoyment, it feels like my soul is nourished. So thank you, please keep up the great content 🙂

May 18, 2021 at 9:34 am

Thank you so much, Charlene, for your lovely compliment and for coming back to read my blog again!

March 15, 2019 at 3:08 pm

Thank you Henneke, the descriptive examples you shared were fun to read and very helpful as I embark on my writing adventure. 🙂

March 15, 2019 at 4:32 pm

I’m glad you liked the examples, too. Enjoy your writing adventure, Deborah! 🙂

October 11, 2018 at 3:18 am

“She felt it filling her hollow spaces, embedding itself as icy marrow in her bones and then consciousness seeped away from her into the Arctic blackness.” That sentence really grabbed me and I needed to walk out into the sunshine.

Once again you inspired me to write something immediately. I’d love to share it with you but think, maybe not. And even though I had no idea what I would write, it flowed out of me. And it turned out to be a Bio piece if I were so bold as to use it. Whether it’s ‘any good’ or if I use it or not seems immaterial. To be stirred as your writing always stirs me is reward enough. Thanks so much, Henneke and may your day be blessed. ♡

October 11, 2018 at 6:50 pm

Ha, yes! Reading that book made me feel cold sometimes, too.

It makes me happy that my writing inspires you to write. Thank you for your lovely comment, Joan 🙂

July 4, 2018 at 1:25 pm

I don’t usually comment on older posts, but your examples are so apt, I had to congratulate you, Henneke, brilliant as always.

It brings to mind one of many things I learned from studying NLP …that while the majority of people are visual, with language that expresses their experience of the world such as “I see” and “look at it this way”, many are auditory, so their language is a little different: “that sounds interesting” and “listen to this”. A smaller percentage of people are kinaesthetic, responding to “I feel” and “that touches me”. Very few are gustatory, responding to smell and taste references. I have found it very useful to include words and phrases in my writing, especially marketing copy, that embrace different styles of expression and learning.

For any reader who can’t imagine writing in a gustatory way, I recommend “Chocolat” by Joanne Harris. It’s a masterpiece of mouthwatering, scented writing that seizes the senses in every way!

July 5, 2018 at 11:58 am

I am glad you took the time to comment on an old post. Thank you, Sue. I love your point on communicating multi-sensory experiences. I find that in different situations, I respond to different senses. When I think back to the places I’ve lived, my impression is often a combination of visuals, sounds and smells. It seems that smells can bring up strong memories for me. But when I write, my first drafts are often full of “I feel” (or “I think”). When editing, I remove these. Isn’t it fascinating how we’re all different?

I’ve added “Chocolat” to my reading list. I look forward to reading it! Thank you for your recommendation.

May 12, 2018 at 2:39 am

I suppose in this area, a foundation in creative writing would certainly help to add flair to descriptions. The art of melding your creative writing voice and your professional voice to create a smooth, natural, non-stuffy persona that informs and also entertains readers at the same time —I think, Henneke, you have mastered it. I love how you start out your posts as though they’re stories.

Thank you for this post. Informative and inspirational as always!

May 12, 2018 at 5:53 pm

Yes, I agree with you. Blending creative writing skills with an understanding of persuasion is a great combination.

Thank you for your compliment! I appreciate your comments.

May 8, 2018 at 7:45 pm

I really love your point about impact. I used to be a senior marketing writer at a high tech company. I wrote stories directed to non-technical audiences about our work. Writing about the technology was boring to outsiders. But if I could describe how the technology helped first responders get food, water, and ice to disaster victims, the story instantly had more appeal.

May 9, 2018 at 3:12 pm

I love your point about telling stories to help explain how technology makes a real difference to people’s lives. The technical details are uninteresting outside a techie audience, but how technology changes lives is interesting for everyone.

Thank you for sharing your story, Patty.

May 4, 2018 at 11:43 am

I’m obviously in the minority, but this kind of writing is awful. It doesn’t add personality, it adds corporate whimsy, which is artificial and pretentious.

May 4, 2018 at 7:01 pm

Firstly, not everyone needs to write with personality. For instance, if you’re writing for a bank, then people expect straightforward, plain copy. Ideally, the copy should be jargon-free (though most banks don’t seem to be able to do this).

Secondly, this process doesn’t need to make copy whimsical. Look, for instance, at the example of Vitamix in the post. The tone is more serious than the copy of Purple.

The right tone for copy always depends on the brand (or the writer) and who the audience is. You’re clearly not the intended audience for a Purple mattress. But that’s how good positioning works—you only attract the people that are right for your brand.

May 4, 2018 at 10:37 am

noodles of personality 🙂

May 4, 2018 at 6:57 pm

May 2, 2018 at 7:33 am

Hi Henneke, This was a great and helpful post, I will try these techniques in my writing from now on. I really must read that thriller, you have made a great case for it!

May 2, 2018 at 7:56 pm

Thank you, Sudhaara. I’m glad you found it helpful. Happy writing!

I hope you’ll enjoy The Quality of Silence, too 🙂

May 2, 2018 at 3:28 am

Write. Appeal. Feel. It always goes back to touching the five senses to truly make an impact. Your cold examples made me shiver, and reminded me why I live in Florida. 😉

Keep up the good work, Henneke!

Reading about the traveling in Alaska made me glad to live in England—it might be wet and it might not be as sunny as Florida, but it’s warm compared to Alaska. 24-hour darkness sounds tough, too.

Thank you for stopping by again, Penelope. Always good to see you 🙂

April 27, 2018 at 8:38 pm

Hi Henneke,

I don’t know what to say; I’m speechless and happy and smiling.

You’re playing a huge role in improving my copywriting, and I’m sure the same goes for many others.

The way you encapsulate the ideas in simple words is fantastic.

I learned from this blog post that how choosing the right words can make readers feel the depth of the story. Amazing.

I’m looking forward to reading the next blog post.

April 29, 2018 at 6:59 pm

“make readers feel the depth of the story” — I love how you’ve phrased that, Hassaan.

I’m glad you enjoyed this article. I enjoyed writing it, too 🙂

April 26, 2018 at 10:45 am

I know I’ve said this before, but it’s the examples in your blog posts that take them to the next level for me. Thank you for the time you take to find them, they are worth their weight in raindrops ?

I love your writing. It’s crisp and clear but also fun and entertaining. You make things simple and doable.

I can see how some people might not like it, but as you say, those people are not the important ones; you will probably never win them over ?.

April 26, 2018 at 9:02 pm

This time I was lucky with the examples as I didn’t need to go searching. I was reading The Quality of Silence and the examples were just begging me to write this post 🙂

And yes, I can’t win over everyone, and that’s not necessary either. Thanks for the reminder! 🙂

I hope the rain keeps falling on Cape Town, and wishing you happy writing while listening to the sound of rain (isn’t it a beautiful sound?)

April 26, 2018 at 9:29 am

Love learning new ways to engage in the writing process. (One that was dreaded much like death. yeah,. really)

Now, it’s fun – like jumping through puddles on a warm rainy day – because it brings on the feeling of ease and effortless flow !

So glad my hubby found you. His joy for writing is infectious. It is mainly due to your class, and lucky for me, he shares his knowledge with the pleasure of a kindergartener ! Wild and free, so now we get to meet in the middle where structure creates freedom.

AND, I do have a much better web site – blog –

A heartfelt Thank-YOU!

April 26, 2018 at 8:59 pm

I love your idea that writing is like jumping through puddles on a warm rainy day. What a beautiful metaphor!

And it makes me happy to read that writing brings you joy—it brings me so much joy, too 🙂

Thank you for stopping by to leave a comment, Amy, and do say hello to Chuck. Happy writing!

April 26, 2018 at 9:06 am

I really appreciated reading this post Henneke.

What I ‘ve taken from this, and am experiencing in my own writing, is that it’s not ‘how much’ we write but ‘what’ we write that adds personality.

Less can truly be more.

We experience more too as readers.

I rarely comment but I do enjoy your posts :-).

April 26, 2018 at 8:56 pm

Yes, that’s so true: “Less can truly be more.” I so agree with that.

Thank you for leaving a comment, Bianca. I appreciate it. Happy writing!

April 25, 2018 at 10:44 am

Thanks Henneke for this great article. I am a big fan of your blog 🙂

April 25, 2018 at 5:32 pm

Thank you, Chooki. I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog posts. Thank you for stopping by.

April 25, 2018 at 12:16 am

Awesome, Henneke, You’ve done it again. You never stop surprising me with something I really truly need at that moment. Love you, thank you, I’m so grateful for having you and your intuitive writing to support my own progress. What a glorious day this is, the sky is clear, the little waves on the ocean past the boardwalk are sparkling and dancing out of the bay, Ocean here we come. All because you made me look at it more closely.

What a lovely comment!

What you say is so true. When we take the time to stop and look more closely, we realize how much beauty we pass by. I try to make myself look around me on my daily walks. I love looking at the trees and listening to the birds. And the sea is magic — just a little too far for me to get there daily, but I try every month. I love the sound of the waves 🙂

Thank you for adding your thoughts, Annamarie.

April 24, 2018 at 10:12 pm

This is such an important topic and I love the examples you give. It’s so true; with all the content that’s out there already, you NEED to add personality to your writing if you want to stand out.

BTW, I think I’m going to have to read The Quality Of Silence now… 🙂

April 25, 2018 at 5:30 pm

Yes, without personality it’s hard to compete online. I totally agree with you.

April 24, 2018 at 9:38 pm

Dear Henneke,

Whenever I read one of your posts…Everytime, and I mean Everytime I am never left feeling disappointed.

Great work, thank you.

Regards Wendy ?

April 24, 2018 at 9:40 pm

Thank you so much, Wendy, for your lovely compliment.

Happy writing!

April 24, 2018 at 9:32 pm

Hi Henneke, I enjoyed the article and the metaphors (by the way, metaphor exercises were my favorites during the course!). I also remembered Peter Høeg’s book “Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne” (“Smilla’s Sense of Snow in the USA) with amazing descriptions of snow that came from an inuit language of native people in Greenland. Thank you for inspiration.

April 24, 2018 at 9:37 pm

Maybe I should re-read that book. I read it ages ago, but it was before I was interested in writing. I don’t remember much about it, but one of my nieces is called Smilla 🙂

Thank you for stopping by, Irina!

April 24, 2018 at 8:19 pm

It just doesn’t get any better than this…good stuff!

April 24, 2018 at 9:08 pm

Thank you, Jack. 🙂

April 24, 2018 at 8:11 pm

There is a beautiful winter description in the autobiography of German writer Joseph von Eichendorff, describing the winter of his birth (1787/88). For those who understand German, here is the original text: «So streng war der Winter, dass die Schindelnägel auf den Dächern krachten, die armen Vögel im Schlaf von den Bäumen fielen und Rehe, Hasen und Wölfe verwirrt bis in die Dörfer flüchteten.» And my humble English translation: «So severe was the winter that the shingle-nails were cracking in the roofs, the poor birds fell off the trees in their sleep, and deer, rabbits and wolves fled to the villages in confusion.» Now that’s a winter, is it?

Yes, I love that description of winter. Thank you for sharing, Matthias (and for the translation!)

April 24, 2018 at 7:53 pm

I am feeling the precision point. Crisp! I dig it because I’ve focused on writing with precision recently. No filler. Think of how to say much with few words. Visualize experiences to make the the pictures to feel alive. Thanks much for the rocking post!

April 24, 2018 at 9:06 pm

That’s a good point about precision: Saying a lot with a few words is a challenge, but it’s a challenge I like!

Thank you for your comment, Ryan. I appreciate it.

April 24, 2018 at 3:30 pm

Spot on, Henneke!

I love the advice that you don’t always have to do it alone.

I find that, even though you are its author/innovator, you can never fully understand how your product or service impacts the lives of those who use it. Only they can describe it vividly enough.

Sometimes, to stir the emotions of those you are trying to promote your product to, you have to call on those who have used the product and have been affected by it.

Testimonials and reviews are, thus, very powerful tools that, as copywriters, we don’t always value and utilize enough.

Thanks for another great post.

April 24, 2018 at 8:57 pm

Yep, I agree. Testimonials and reviews, too, are powerful tools. The best marketers (and the best copywriters) are close to customers because customers can give them all the input they need, and if you pay attention they write your copy for you.

Thank you for stopping by again, Patrick. I appreciate it. Happy writing!

April 24, 2018 at 2:59 pm

Fantastic post, Henneke! Your examples shone with sensory details. Loved how the author of the thriller personified the cold into a deadly beast, and how we can use the same principles in our copy (to positive effect!). 🙂 This is one for the files. Thanks, as always, for your inspirational and educational posts!

April 24, 2018 at 3:13 pm

The various cold descriptions in the thriller are really inspirational. When you put them all on a sheet, you can see how varied they are. It’s like a masterclass in descriptive writing.

As always, thank you for stopping by, Kathy. I appreciate it. 🙂

April 24, 2018 at 1:58 pm

I can’t wait to write another article on my blog. Thank you for these tips. Learning from your blogs makes writing liberating instead of suppressed thoughts and feelings… writing becomes an art of “free stroke” expression with colourful thoughts and feelings. Thank you for sharing your talent.

April 24, 2018 at 3:08 pm

That is a big compliment. Thank you.

It cheers me up when people feel inspired to write after reading my blog. Happy writing, Lorna!

April 24, 2018 at 1:50 pm

April 24, 2018 at 3:07 pm

I hope you’ll enjoy the thriller. I thought it was a good read (especially the first 3/4).

Thank you for stopping by, Kim 😉

April 24, 2018 at 1:40 pm

Hi Henneke, You have the most uncommon way of stirring my thoughts. Yes, writers provide intangible services. But it is the injection of the writer’s personality that brings life to a pile of written words to influence a reader. Again you dealt with the ‘how’ in your usual amazing and easy-to-follow way. My appreciations.

Thank you, Paul. I’m glad you enjoyed this post, and I appreciate your comment. Happy writing!

April 24, 2018 at 12:46 pm

Haha! ‘..so you don’t feel your partner, posterity, or pets when they wiggle about.’ I am jealous of that joke.

I love this one: ‘It’s FREEZING cold; like the air is made of broken glass.’ Now there’s a good writer.

Great post! Do you recommend the thriller?

April 24, 2018 at 3:04 pm

You’ll find a lot more fun copywriting on the Purple website 🙂

And yes, I enjoyed the thriller, especially the first 3/4 or so. It’s well written.

April 24, 2018 at 3:15 pm

The Purple website?

April 24, 2018 at 3:42 pm

The mattress company: Purple.com. That’s where ‘..so you don’t feel your partner, posterity, or pets when they wiggle about’ comes from 😉

April 24, 2018 at 6:00 pm

Ah, yes, sloppy reader, me.

April 24, 2018 at 11:38 am

I don’t think I’m doing it right. I can’t help but add some p for personality in my writing most of the time and I honestly think people like it as it makes for a more fun read. I think. Even if the subject is serious or “how-to.”

But, I know for certain that a couple people who I WANT to see the beauty in a personable, relatable, more fun style, just hate my work.

I work super hard at taking constructive criticism, editing relentlessly, accepting #LetsGetRejected and doing the best I possibly can. But, I guess I am somewhat upset somehow, sometimes, cause I feel like they just don’t get it. Or maybe like appreciate my style perhaps it is!?!? Idk…

I totally love the quote examples for how cold and variable cold can be and feel and sound…with words… lending personality. Brilliant.

Thanks, Henneke! Take care, Sue-Ann

April 24, 2018 at 3:01 pm

Hey Sue-Ann,

Not everyone needs to like your writing, and the stronger your voice the more people will fall either in the love-your-writing or hate-your-writing camps. There are also plenty of people who don’t like my writing. They may think it’s boring or childish. And one person has mentioned that my writing was too masculine (whatever that may be). I also get complaints about my word choice sometimes. But I write for the people who feel I’m writing for them, so most of the time, I ignore criticism (not always of course, sometimes it is valid).

I don’t know why you feel that some people hate your writing and you want them to see the beauty in your writing. If it really matters that much to you, ask them for their input and ask them to be specific in their comments. Is there too much imagery? Is the imagery too strong? Do they not like your word choice? It might also be something completely different.

But be careful. Not everyone has to like you.

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About Henneke

I never saw myself as a writer, but in my early forties, I learned how to write and discovered the joy of writing. Now, I’d like to empower you to find your voice, share your ideas and inspire your audience. Learn how I can help you

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How to describe your personality in a paragraph – 7 example answers

The way we ourselves rarely mirrors the reality . We tend to see ourselves better, nicer, and perhaps also more attractive than others do see us- -if they actually care. At the end of the day everything is subjective, and each person sees the world–and each living creature they interact with–with a unique pair of eyes . Nevertheless, you will often face the question about your personality , be it on a job application, in an interview, or even on a dating website. Sometimes they ask you to describe yourself in one word only, sometimes they ask what three words would your friends use to describe you , and sometimes they ask you to describe your personality in one paragraph. What do they want to hear from you in this case?

Hiring manager want to hear that you have a fitting personality for the job . Or at least that you think so :). Of course, some things change from one job to another, but certain phrases will always work, such as that you are enthusiastic about work, show initiative, are attentive to the needs of your colleagues and so on. To make your answer sound more realistic , you should add also some neutral or even negative characteristics–perhaps you get angry easily, lose patience quickly, or are overly talkative at times. Just make sure to mention that you are aware of the issue and how it impacts you at work, and that you try to work on it. You can also opt for a more humble answer, or even for a philosophical one…

Let’s have a look at 7 sample answers right now. I tried to come up with some mix, and hope you will “find yourself” in at least one of the answers . Remember that this question isn’t the most difficult interview question you may ever face, and there’s no point in overthinking it. Just be yourself, show confidence and humility at the same time, and make sure that your personality is at least somehow fitting for the job.

7 example answers to “How to describe your personality in a paragraph” question

• I would describe my personality as outgoing, friendly, and talkative. I thrive when surrounded by other people, and find it easy to connect with anyone I meet. Always looking for bridges, not fences . I would also say that I have a good sense of humor, and people generally enjoy my company. Having said all of that, I realize that each coin has two sides, and sometimes I have to be careful to make sure that I do not talk more than work in the job.
• I am rather introverted , but that doesn’t mean that I do not like people. Just enjoy keeping things to myself, focusing on the job, and doing my best every day. Having said that, if someone invites me for a conversation or something I won’t say no. I try to be attentive to the needs of my colleagues , and if I feel someone may need a helping hand, I do not hesitate to offer it. Generally I am a hardworking person, but I tend to have a low day once or twice a month , and on such a day I typically do not get much done.
• I think what describes me the best is the expression “ creative mind “. Because I always enjoy to come up with new ideas, think outside the box, or even challenge the status quo. Now it doesn’t mean that I find it hard to oblige the rules. I do that. But I do not hesitate twice to share my feedback and suggest improvements . I hope you are looking for someone with this personality, and that’s one of the main reasons why I applied for your job offer.
• Energetic, motivated, enthusiastic about work and life. Just someone it is a pleasure to have in the workplace, since such a person always lifts the morale of the entire team . At least that’s the way I see it, and also what my former managers have told about me. Having said that, I understand that enthusiasm is not enough–one needs also skill and precision in this job, but I honestly believe to have both, and am ready to demonstrate it from day one, if you give me a chance in this job.
• A team player . That sort of sums it up. Someone who thrives in a team environment. Always interested in my colleagues, their needs and feelings. Always trying my best to not let the colleagues down . Of course, this also have some drawbacks, especially when I should work on something alone I may struggle with motivation. But it is a learning process, and I hope to improve on my weakness soon, and be someone that can thrive working both independently and in a team.
• My nickname can be “never gives up” , and that sort of characterizes who I am. Maybe I am not the most talented person in the world–when it comes to any tasks, but you can be sure I always give me 100% effort , and if I fail with something I try again. I am one of those guys who enjoy reinventing themselves, trying new hobbies, learning new skills. For example at the moment I am learning to play saxophone, and I enjoy it greatly. If I should point out something negative –because at the end of the day we all have some weaknesses, I’d say that I sometimes find it hard to bear with negativity at work . But that’s just the current state of things, and I hope to change it.
• I would describe myself as a very calm and balanced person . Always try to see the brighter side of things , always looking for the good in people and in events that happen to me. I very rarely complain about everything, and do the job without unnecessary stress. What’s more, people say I am a good companion for the talk about virtually any topic, and that my inner calm help them feel good and relaxed in the workplace . I sincerely believe your team can benefit from having me onboard, and cannot wait to start working here.

Ready to answer this one? I hope so! If you’re still not sure, you can check out 7 sample answers to similar interview questions:

• Tell me three your strengths and three areas for improvement .
• How would your colleagues describe your personality?
• Tell me about a time you used data to make a decision .
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How to describe to immerse readers (complete guide)

Descriptive writing brings stories and characters to life. Read tips on how to describe places and characters, descriptive writing examples from a selection of genres, and more.

• Post author By Jordan
• 23 Comments on How to describe to immerse readers (complete guide)

Knowing how to describe well is sure to immerse readers in your world. Read a complete guide on describing places and characters, different types of description, descriptive writing examples from popular genres, and more. Use the links above to jump to what you want to learn more about now.

What is description? Definitions and terms

Description is writing that tells your reader what a person, object or place is (or isn’t) like. As Oxford Learner Dictionaries define it: ‘a piece of writing or speech that says what somebody/something is like; the act of writing or saying in words what somebody/something is like’.

Description:

• Creates tone and mood (for example, whether a scene is bright, dark, cheerful, ominous)
• Shows, infers or implies personality and emotion (for example, a character speaking very fast may imply fear or excitement)
• Colors in the story so that scenes that could feel grey or beige become imbued with specificity and the potential for drama, events
• Draws your reader’s attention to significant or important objects and events: For example, a treasure being lost overboard in a sailing expedition may set up a storyline in another timeline where explorers dive for sunken treasure

These are just some of the important uses for description in storytelling.

Descriptive writing: useful terms

Useful terms in descriptive writing include:

• Mood: Describes that which is evocative of a specific state of mind or feeling
• Tone: The general attitude or character of a piece of writing (e.g. ‘The tone of the opening description is cheerful, matching the sense of excitement of guests about to arrive at a party’)
• Tableau (plural tableaux): A picture, as of a scene. For example: ‘In the first scene, we see the tableau of a family dinner at Thanksgiving, where the main characters are all seated together’
• Mise en scène: A French term meaning ‘the action of putting onto the stage’. It’s the arrangement of actors and scenery in a scene. Cambridge gives the example , ‘The general mise en scène – solitary figure, moving down gloomy Victorian streets at twilight – brings to mind Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde .’
• Figurative language: Figurative language such as metaphor and simile (more on this under descriptive writing devices ) is often used to compare, contrast, and breathe fresh life into familiar ideas and images (e.g. ‘He blushed as red as a bottlebrush tree in spring’)

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One of the things that I tell beginning writers is this: If you describe a landscape, or a cityscape, or a seascape, always be sure to put a human figure somewhere in the scene. Why? Because readers are human beings, mostly interested in human beings. Kurt Vonnegut

Why is description in writing important?

In all kinds of writing, but in fiction especially, description draws readers in and creates immersive character, specificity. The opposite of bland, beige writing.

Description is important in writing because it:

• Establishes setting to create context. If you describe an old cobbled street, your reader knows they’re not in Dubai’s modern CBD.
• Helps to create tone and mood. The emotional state of a narrator or the emotion of a scene is deepened by evocative description.
• Draws attention to important symbols or themes. For example, in the opening description in Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, the main character dwells on heavy-drinking workers which calls to mind the post-war setting and echoes the story’s core themes of society, class and trauma.
• Makes writing more engaging. Instead of reading being like watching paint dry, description pigments your world.
• Implies and infers. A shrug, a sigh – small gestures and signs may create exact or ambiguous implications, so that description adds narrative suspense to a scenario and creates intrigue.
• Supports plot and story development. For example, a gun concealed in a glove compartment at the start of a story warns us it may fire.
• Distinguishes and differentiates . One character may wear their hair down mostly, another up. The small details that differentiate people and things create realism.
• Evokes emotions or elicits empathy. For example, a kid sitting alone at the back of a school bus may suggest loneliness or exclusion. A tableau has great power to elicit empathy or other emotions, as visual artists understand.

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Types of description: Ways to bring worlds to life

There are many types of description you could use to make your story a tapestry of vivid detail:

Physical description

Clear, precise physical description gives your reader a more detailed sense of your world. Succinct description doesn’t necessarily sacrifice pace, either. It may include elements of physicality such as:

For describing characters, you might describe a person’s:

• Facial features
• Body language

See description examples for descriptions that represent several of the above qualities.

Emotional description

Emotional description suggests a character’s emotional state or mood. Voice and action contribute emotion too (and types of physical description such as posture or body language).

Ways you could show a character’s emotions include:

• Adverbs: These should be used sparingly, though. For example, ‘”Of course,” he said happily.’
• Actions: A useful substitute for adverbs. Compare the above to: ‘”Of course.” His smile reached all the way to his eyes.’
• Deep POV: The way a character describes their surrounds may be indicative of how they’re feeling. For example, ‘I sat down on my stupid bed and opened my homework book.’ This character is clearly not enthused by homework.

Filtering passing description through your character’s viewpoint and state of mind is a great way to indirectly describe their emotion.

As an exercise, take the same scenario and setting, write down four or five different emotions, and have your character describe the same scene so that it is colored by each of those emotions in turn.

Historical description

Historical description is narrative that shows what time and place are like. For example, the way Dickens’ description of Coketown in Hard Times (1854) conveys what a rapidly industrializing town is like, with its miasma of smog:

Seen from a distance in such weather, Coketown lay shrouded in a haze of its own, which appeared impervious to the sun’s rays. You only knew the town was there, because you knew there could have been no such sulky blotch upon the prospect without a town. A blur of soot and smoke, now confusedly tending this way, now that way, now aspiring to the vault of Heaven, now murkily creeping along the earth, as the wind rose and fell, or changed its quarter: a dense formless jumble, with sheets of cross light in it, that showed nothing but masses of darkness. Charles Dickens, Hard Times (1854), full text public domain on Project Gutenberg .

This type of description is especially common in historical fiction which seeks to create an authentic sense of a period or era and its notable features, changes and developments.

Impressionistic description

This type of description is not as concerned with accurate (or rather literal) representation as it is with capturing the essence of the described thing.

Think of this as the way Cubism may represent a person in a portrait as having both eyes on one side of their face.

If you wrote, for example, ‘she was all hard edges and acute angles’ to describe a severe, unforgiving character, you might not literally mean that they’re like a line-drawing. Yet the metaphor in this geometrical description creates the impression of sharpness, hardness, stern qualities of character.

Another example: In this quote from The Great Gatsby (1925) where the character Nick Carraway gives a romanticized view of New York City, he says that to see the city from a specific vantage point is always to see it for the first time:

The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, 1925. p. 67.

The narrator does not mean this literally, of course. It is an impressionistic description of what this specific vista feels like, emotionally.

Impressionistic description relies on devices such as metaphor, metonymy, simile, personification and hyperbole (more on these under descriptive writing devices ).

Recommended reading

Read more about types of description:

• Descriptive verbs: 7 tips for avoiding weak adverbs
• Direct vs indirect characterization: How to show and tell
• How to describe clothing in a story (with examples)

For myself, the only way I know how to make a book is to construct it like a collage: a bit of dialogue here, a scrap of narrative, an isolated description of a common object, an elaborate running metaphor which threads between the sequences and holds different narrative lines together. Hilary Mantel

Describing characters: Not shoe size (but where he’s off to)

In her poem ‘Writing a Résumé’, the Nobel Laureate Wisława Szymborska pokes fun at the characterless language one has to use sometimes in, for example, writing a CV or bio or other document for bureaucratic purposes. She gives dry instructions about what to do (implying the wealth of humanity that we have to skip over in doing this exercise).

It’s a great example of what not to do in writing more rounded, complex – i.e. fully human – characters:

Write as if you’d never talked to yourself and always kept yourself at arm’s length. Pass over in silence your dogs, cats, birds, dusty keepsakes, friends, and dreams. Price, not worth, and title, not what’s inside. His shoe size, not where he’s off to, that one you pass yourself off as. Wisława Szymborska, ‘Writing a Résumé’, Poems, New and Collected (1957-1997)

Describing characters well brings them to life. It’s the opposite of a dry, everywoman CV.

What are some ways you can describe characters better?

• Make first introductions count. A vivid first line, gesture, outfit, attitude – what will cement your character in your reader’s mind?
• Favor concrete over haziness or abstraction. Not, ‘She was kinda tall’ or ‘sometimes, she was mean’. How tall? Under what circumstances was the character typically mean?
• Show more than just appearances. For example, ‘his eyes were blue’. Many people have blue eyes (though the gene is recessive). How blue? and what do the man’s blue eyes suggest about his character (are they kind, alert, critical?).
• Use viewpoint and voice to imply mood and emotion. Part of why Salinger’s teen narrator’s voice is so memorable in Catcher in the Rye is his narration is filtered through how jaded and deeply frustrated he feels.
• Build character description over your story’s course. Does a character’s limp get worse or better, a country woman who moves to the big city lose (or keep) the rural sound of her accent? How might description change subtly (or dramatically) to echo the life your character’s lived?

See the recommended reading below (and the description examples further on) for more on how to describe characters with vivid acuity.

• Character writing: Complete guide to creating your cast
• How to describe a person vividly: 8 ways
• How to describe hands: 6 ways to make characters real
• Describing characters’ first appearances: 6 tips

For me, writing for kids is harder because they’re a more discriminating audience. While adults might stay with you, if you lose your pacing or if you have pages of extraneous description, a kid’s not going to do that. They will drop the book. Rick Riordan

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Describing settings: Making place a character

Illustrating your story’s settings is vital to make your world feel real and lived in (rather than like so much empty green screen). Setting description is a crucial part of worldbuilding.

Types of description that tell places’ stories

There are so many details, like with characters, that define what a place is like. You can describe a place via its:

• Physical qualities. See for example that description dense with smog by Dickens in the example above.
• Environment and Geography. Terrain, biomes – in historical, fantasy and science fiction in particular, geography is often important because it may determine how long travel takes, where character’s can or cannot go, the rules of engagement in war or trade, or other plot factors.
• Architecture. Architectural description may create a sense of scale, wealth, age of a city or society, what raw materials are available, and more. See Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities for inventive descriptions of imaginary cities, as recounted by a fictionalized Marco Polo.
• Historical events. If you narrate a paragraph describing the history of a city, for example, that place immediately gains further historical character.
• Social makeup. What proportion of inhabitants are wealth, and what proportion are underprivileged? Class, culture, religion and other elements of society help us understand a place’s diversity (and often also the lines of difference that explain historical or present tensions).
• Political elements. The political system in a place may have far-reaching effects from public life (e.g. whether there is a curfew or not) and infrastructure to the happiness of its people. Under a corrupt dictator, roads and public services may deteriorate faster, for example, as autocrats redirect public funds to a private purse.

How can you describe place in your story so that it has vivid character?

Ways to describe place in fiction

To create a more immersive sense of place:

• Brainstorm key place details. What you describe will be determined to an extent by the plot and character arcs of your story. For example, if your story is about a sheltered country dweller who travels to the big city, you might brainstorm what would be awe-inspiring (or terrifying) about a big city upon arrival.
• Create vision boards of similar settings. Use Pinterest ( follow Now Novel while you’re there) or another image sharing platform to curate a library of images connected to your story locations. This is a great way to gather visual inspiration for scenes and ideas for objects or moods and atmospheres.
• Use precise adjectives. This applies to character description, too. Find the concrete word that compresses the most meaning (instead of ‘very small’, you might say ‘tiny’ or ‘minute’, for example).
• Think about who, what, why, where and when. Who (or what) would you be likely to find in this place? What is great or awful about it? What is its atmosphere, tone and mood? Why does this place exist? What does it tell us about your world, its where and when (period, era)?

Read more about how to create vivid story locations, places, worlds:

• Story setting and worldbuilding: Complete guide
• How to describe setting: 6 ways to bring setting to life
• Novel settings: 7 tips to get setting description right
• Setting the scene: 6 ways to introduce place in stories
• Vivid story setting description: Examples and insights

The fantasy that appeals most to people is the kind that’s rooted thoroughly in somebody looking around a corner and thinking, ‘What if I wandered into this writer’s people here?’ If you’ve done your job and made your people and your settings well enough, that adds an extra dimension that you can’t buy. Tamora Pierce

Descriptive writing devices

Descriptive writing devices such as figurative language bring in the freshness of unexpected comparisons and get playful with language. Learn more about descriptive writing devices that add depth, humor, surprise and other good things to descriptions:

Metaphor and simile: Comparing unlike things to describe

Metaphor and simile compare unlike things to create striking imagery.

The key difference between the two is that metaphor removes the comparison words, simile keeps them in.

Metaphor examples:

• ‘His stork legs poked out of baggy yellow swim shorts.’
• ‘The moon was a silver platter, more beautiful for its antique, tarnished patches.’

Compare to simile which makes the act of comparison more obvious:

Simile examples:

• ‘The spacecraft was as dark as a moonless desert, save for the blinking lights of the control console.’
• ‘She got up from the table without a word, as difficult to read as a seasoned croupier.’

Metonymy: Making part stand for the whole

Metonymy is a figurative device where the part of something stands for the whole (the way we say ‘The Crown’ to refer to a queen, for example).

Examples of metonymy:

• “Mouth over here won’t shut up,” my sister said, casting a dark look my way.’
• “I will call this House to order, and you will be orderly,” the Speaker said, glaring at the back benches.’

Hyperbole: Exaggerating for effect

Another figurative language device, hyperbole is often used for either dramatic or comical (for example, mock-heroic or arch) effect.

Hyperbole example:

• “This sandwich is a masterpiece and belongs in the Louvre,” my brother said, mock-retching at the days-old sub I found under the car seat.’

Personification: Bringing the non-human to life

Personification is another common descriptive device in figurative language. Here, human-like characteristics are attributed to objects or non-humans.

Personification example:

• ‘The old oak stood sentinel over the entrance to the town, cautioning horseback arrivals in its gnarled, ancient presence that this was an old place where people took their time and took even longer to warm to strangers.’

There are many other rhetorical and figurative devices you can use to play with description.

For example, ‘zeugma’, which combines unrelated images in one sentence (e.g. ‘That day changed it all, the day she opened her door and her heart to an imploring kid who rocked up shoeless and afraid and wouldn’t say a word.’) The verb ‘opened’ applies to two different nouns, one use of the verb literal, one figurative.

Read more about writing descriptive sentences and using figurative language devices:

• Writing descriptive sentences: 6 simple rules
• Adjectives for description: 60 precise words
• Artificial intelligence for writing: 10 helpful AI uses

I’m a failed poet. Reading poetry helps me to see the world differently, and I try to infuse my prose with figurative language, which goes against the trend in fiction. Jesmyn Ward

Description pitfalls: What to avoid in descriptive writing

Description has its pitfalls. As Rick Riordan says in the quote above, lots of spurious description may lose a reader. Read ideas of what to avoid in description:

Overused, on the nose or dead language

‘Tall, dark and handsome’ – that’s an example of the kind of phrase you might find in a Barbara Cartland or old Mills & Boon title that might make modern readers groan. Sites such as TV Tropes can help you keep track of what is overdone and troped to death.

Tautology (redundant words or phrases)

Tautology is saying the same thing twice in different words. A ‘pleonasm’ is using more words than necessary to convey one meaning. For example, ‘The shower’s wet water was a relief after the day’s grueling work.’ The reader knows water is wet, so the adjective isn’t needed in that sentence.

Lack of sensory details

Effective descriptive writing involves the senses: Sight, touch, sound, smell, even taste. This isn’t to say that every sentence has to draw on all of the senses, but if the reader never hears or feels the touch of anything, the story’s world could read more drab and nondescript.

Telling far more than showing

Although ‘Show, don’t tell’ is a common adage, stories need both.

‘Telling’ is useful for what Ursula K. Le Guin calls ‘leaping’ in narrative. For example, skipping over an uneventful sequence of time. ‘They rode hard for three days and eventually reached the city.’

It’s showing though, ‘crowding’ a scene with the detail of the senses, of what viewpoint characters experience, that really puts your reader in the film-like quality of a scene in 4K definition.

Stereotyping or generalizing

Saying ‘all the women in the bar had dolled up for the night’ might draw readers’ ire, an example of a generalization that is also stereotyping. The idea that all women, men, non-binary people, or other categories behave a similar way (or hold similar interests or behaviors). Think about how descriptions can speak to the variety that is inherent to a space.

There are cases, of course, where certain places are very homogenous in culture, inhabitant or type. A fancy club on a beachfront might attract a very specific type of patron. Yet if context does not help to explain a generalization, it’s best to avoid it.

Watch a concise video with further tips to write stronger description:

How to describe: Writing clear places and characters

What are some of your descriptive writing pet peeves? Let us know in the comments.

Read more about descriptive issues and how to avoid them:

• What is cliché? Cliché examples (and how to avoid)
• Choosing description words: 10 questions to ask
• ‘Show, don’t tell’: Examples from books balancing both

Description examples: Descriptive writing across genres

Here we gather effective description examples across a range of genres: Fantasy, romance, historical, science fiction, mystery, thriller and more. Share one of your favorite descriptions and the author and book title it’s from in the comments and help us grow this resource for description examples.

Introductory descriptions for scene-setting

Description at the beginning of a story can set the scene in a wide variety of ways. See below how it can establish tone and mood (the levity of Pratchett’s style, for example), or the inside/outside of a detective’s world where peace or violence are always just over the hedge.

See in the example from Julia Quinn how description of an activity typical of an era (Regency women doing needlework) can create a sense of time and place. Or reference to interplanetary spectacle or a woman tailing a man create intrigue in a sci-fi and thriller novel respectively.

Fantasy/humor description example

Local people called it the Bear Mountain. This was because it was a bare mountain, not because it had a lot of bears on it. This caused a certain amount of profitable confusion, though; people often strode into the nearest village with heavy duty crossbows, traps and nets and called haughtily for native guides to lead them to the bears. Since everyone locally was making quite a good living out of this, what with the sale of guide books, maps of bear caves, ornamental cuckoo-clocks with bears on them, bear walking-sticks and cakes baked in the shape of a bear, somehow no one had time to go and correct the spelling. Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad (1991), pp. 16-17.

Mystery description example

“Hell is empty, Armand,” said Stephen Horowitz. “You’ve mentioned that. And all the devils are here?” asked Armand Gamache. “Well, maybe not here, here” – Stephen spread his expressive hands-“exactly.” “Here, here” was the garden of the Musée Rodin, in Paris, where Armand and his godfather were enjoying a quiet few minutes. Outside the walls they could hear the traffic, the hustle and the tussle of the great city. But here, here there was peace. The deep peace that comes not just with quiet, but with familiarity. Louise Penny, All the Devils are Here , 2021 (p. 3)

(Regency) romance description example

“Look at this!” Portia Featherington squealed. “Colin Bridgerton is back!” Penelope looked up from her needlework. Her mother was clutching the latest edition of Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers the way Penelope might clutch, say, a rope while hanging off a building. “I know,” she murmured. Julia Quinn, Romancing Mr Bridgerton (2002), p. 3.

Science fiction description example

At 09:46 GMT on the morning of 11 September, in the exceptionally beautiful summer of the year 2077, most of the inhabitants of Europe saw a dazzling fireball appear in the eastern sky. Within seconds it was brighter than the sun, and as it moved across the heavens – at first in utter silence – it left behind a churning column of dust and smoke. Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama (1973), p. 4.

Spy thriller description example

The quality of the light was the first thing that struck her when she went to Madrid in the spring of 1960. The afternoon shadows were the deepest and darkest she had ever seen. Like all old men, the doctor was a creature of habit. He always shopped for groceries on Saturday afternoons. She tailed him to a place near Atocha station that sold international food. He bought black bread, beer and slices of cured sausage that resembled Westphalian salami. Patrick Worrall, The Partisan (2022), p. 7.

Character description examples

Read examples of character description across a range of genres. See how voice can describe a character’s age and outlook in Rick Riordan’s example, or how an ensemble description can evoke the character of an era in Doctorow’s Ragtime .

Read how Colleen Hoover creates the portrait of a person through their name and the hyper-specific conditions of their being fired from a restaurant. Or Alice Munro’s portrait of a music teacher who throws recitals she doesn’t call recitals (and an invitee’s attempts to get out of attending them).

YA/fantasy character description example

My name is Percy Jackson. I’m twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a troubled kid? Yeah. You could say that. I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last may, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan – twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (2005), p. 8.

Literary/historical fiction character description example

There seemed to be no entertainment that did not involve great swarms of people. Trains and steamers and trolleys moved them from one place to another. That was the style, that was the way people lived. Women were stouter then. They visited the fleet carrying white parasols. Everyone wore white in summer. Tennis racquets were hefty and the racquet faces elliptical. There was a lot of sexual fainting. E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime (1974), p. 3.

New adult character description example

“There was that guy who did the dishes before you hired Brad. What was his name? He was named after some kind of mineral or something – it was super weird.” “Quartz,” I say. “It was a nickname.” I haven’t thought about that guy in so long. I doubt he’s holding a grudge against me after all this time. I fired him right after we opened because I found out he wasn’t washing the dishes unless he could actually see food on them. Glasses, plates, silverware – anything that came back to the kitchen from a table looking fairly clean, he’d just put it straight on the drying rack. Colleen Hoover, It Starts with Us (2022), p. 3.

Literary character description example

Miss Marsalles is having another party. (Out of musical integrity, or her heart’s bold yearning for festivity, she never calls it a recital.) My mother is not an inventive or convincing liar, and the excuses which occur to her are obviously second-rate. The painters are coming. Friends from Ottawa. Poor Carrie is having her tonsils out. In the end all she can say is: Oh, but won’t all that be too much trouble, now ? Alice Munro, ‘Dance of the Happy Shades’ in Selected Stories (1996), p. 16

Science fiction character description example

Lenar Hoyt was a young man by the Consul’s reckoning – no more than his early thirties – but it appeared that something had ages the man terribly in the not too distant past. The Consul looked at the thin face, cheekbones pressing against sallow flesh, eyes large but hooded in deep hollows, thin lips set in a permanent twice of muscle too downturned to be called even a cynical smile, the hairline not so much receding as ravaged by radiation, and he felt he was looking at a man who had been ill for years. Still, the Consul was surprised that behind that mask of concealed pain there remained the physical echo of the boy in the man […] Dan Simmons, Hyperion (1989), p. 11.

Read more character description examples:

• Character description examples: Creating people not caricatures

Get feedback on your descriptive writing in Now Novel groups from a constructive community. Start now to brainstorm characters and settings in the Now Novel dashboard, a step-by-step tool to outline your story.

Related Posts:

• Story setting ideas: 7 tips to immerse readers
• Story planning and outlining: Complete guide
• Story plotting and structure: Complete guide
• Tags describing characters , how to describe , setting

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

23 replies on “How to describe to immerse readers (complete guide)”

Great article! I particularly liked point #5 and your examples were very helpful!

Thanks, Savannah. I’m glad you found it helpful.

I love this. Thank you so much.

Thank you! I’m glad you found use in it.

My advice is, don’t over do the fancy big words. People don’t want to read a book where they have to refer to a dictionary every time.

Great examples! This really made me think about how I can improve my descriptions.

Thank you, Shay! I’m glad to hear that.

That was so helpful,thank you.

It’s a pleasure, Dalida. Thank you for reading.

Super nice! Love it very much

Thanks helped me a lot. I see now why my writing seems so bland. I use too many weak adjectives bad nice good.

I have a question about how long a description should be. I’m writing a scene of about 1000 to 1500 words, which largely consists of describing the location. Would that be considered too long, even though the character is almost constantly interacting with the location? For context: My characters are inside a secret hallway where they need to solve a puzzle in order to unlock the mechanism on the door leading to another room. My main character then needs to inspect this second location to make sure everything is ready for the upcoming Council Meeting.

Hi Jae Vie,

Thank you for the interesting question. It really depends since some authors spin out description for pages, others keep it clipped to a line or two. It would depend on the style of the surrounding scene (wordy and lyrical; descriptive in a detailed, evocative way, or taut and spare).

If the scene is around 1000 words long, I would suggest keeping it shorter.

Feel free to share an extract in our critique groups for feedback! It’s difficult to advise in the abstract without having fuller context.

[…] Source: https://www.nownovel.com/blog/how-to-describe-place-character/ […]

It is very helpful for me thanks

It’s a pleasure, Iqra. Thank you for reading.

“Lieutenant Koudelka returned to curtailed light duties the following month, apparently quite cheerful and unaffected by his ordeal. But in his own way he was as uninformative as Bothari. Questioning Bothari had been like questioning a wall. Questioning Koudelka was like talking to a stream; one got back babble, or little eddies of jokes, or anecdotes that pulled the current of the discussion inexorably away from the original subject.”

— Barrayar (Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold

A few extra descriptive tidbits here making me think. Always good to have a reminder of the senses. Thanks!

Love the extension of the usual ‘like talking to a wall’ simile in this Bujold quote, Margriet, thank you for sharing it. It’s a pleasure, thanks for reading and for sharing your reading 🙂

thanks for posting. I will bookmark this site!

Hi Paul, it’s a pleasure, thanks for reading.

I’m ready to get started please help me I feel my story will inspire individual their lives

Hi Karen, that is great that you want to inspire others. Have you created an outline or do you prefer to draft freely and do organizing/structuring as you go? Either way, feel free to create a member account so that you can access our critique community and get feedback in chat and our critique forum. If you are writing memoir, you may find this article on life-writing helpful. Good luck!

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36 Adjectives to Describe a Person's Personality and Character

Last Updated: May 6, 2024

This article was co-authored by Kelli Miller, LCSW, MSW and by wikiHow staff writer, Eric McClure . Kelli Miller is a Psychotherapist based in Los Angeles, California. Kelli specializes in individual and couples therapy focusing on relationships, depression, anxiety, sexuality, communication, parenting, and more. She is the author of “Love Hacks: Simple Solutions to Your Most Common Relationship Issues” which details the top 15 relationship issues and 3 quick solutions to each. She is also the award-winning and best-selling author of “Thriving with ADHD”. Kelli co-hosted an advice show on LA Talk Radio and was a relationship expert for The Examiner. She received her MSW (Masters of Social Work) from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Sociology/Health from the University of Florida. This article has been viewed 63,594 times.

If you’re looking for words you can use to describe someone else’s personality, you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll provide a variety of negative, neutral, and positive words you could use to describe your best friend, hype up a good teammate, flesh out a villain, finish your essay, or just describe an acquaintance. We'll also share what some of these character traits mean! Keep reading for the best words to paint the perfect picture of any person.

Positive Personality Adjectives

• “James is really quite pleasant to be around. He never argues or causes a fuss.”

• “How can Melissa be so cheerful at 8 o’clock in the morning? I just don’t get it.”

• “I really like the way he held the door open for me. He’s such a cordial boy.”

• “I got a good grade and told Mindy about it. She’s so empathetic that she almost cried tears of joy for me!”

• “Derek is virtuous fellow. He’s always volunteering on the weekend.”

• “You’ve got to invite Sabrina to the party! She’s the most sociable person we know.”

• “Tehilah is so insightful; she knew Tim and I broke up before I even told her just based on how I was acting.”

• “We had to write a short story for class, and Jimmy is so imaginative that he came up with this tale about a pirate who joins up with a dinosaur to fight crime.”

• “You should let me join your group project. I’m collaborative, and I know a lot about history.”

• “Jamie is confident in his ability to get the job done before Friday. I normally wouldn’t think it’s possible, but he assured me it’s no big deal.”

• “I was kind of lost and my phone was dead, but this generous man took the time to show me where to go. He even let me make a phone call.”

• “You should totally try out for team captain. You’re the best player on the team, and you’re super charismatic.”

In the world of power, people's real personalities are often hidden behind different masks — cunning, charm, boldness, caution. To navigate this space, you've got to understand the words that describe human nature — "assertive" for those who take control, "shrewd" for the calculating types, "magnanimous" for generous leaders, and "ruthless" for those who'll do anything to win. These descriptions help make sense of motivations and predict what someone might do. They're key tools for anyone trying to gain power or push back against it.

Negative Personality Adjectives

• “I don’t like how Tim always makes dark jokes. He’s such a dreary guy.”

• “You shouldn’t disagree with Mr. Wayne. He’s super aggressive when people don’t agree with his perspective.”

• “My dad is always telling me hates my outfits. He’s too judgmental.”

• “My boss is ruthless. He’d call the cops on an employee if it meant he could get a promotion.”

• “Louis has a mischievous quality about him. It’s almost like he’s always trying to mess with you.”

• “I would hang out with Maisie more often, but her stuffy attitude makes it hard to feel like I can really be me around her.”

• “The dean at my school is such a tedious guy. He just goes on and on about the rules. Even when you crack a joke, he just repeats himself.”

• “Johnny has this irksome quality where he never knows when you just want to be left alone.”

• “Bosco is such a stingy coach. These uniforms have holes in them and all of our equipment is ancient.”

• “I used to be such a naïve guy. I’d walk through rough neighborhoods at night without really thinking about the danger I was putting myself in.”

• “I made a joke the other day and everyone laughed except Trevor. He’s so obtuse, I think he just didn’t get it.”

• “Melissa is always checking her makeup and talking about how many people follow her on social media. She’s so narcissistic.”

Neutral Personality Adjectives

• “My mother is an eccentric woman. She refuses to drink water if it has ice in it, and she always makes this ‘yipping’ noise when she’s thinking out loud.”

• “Linus is always weary of strangers. That’s why he didn’t open up at the party.”

• “I’m a practical woman. If I see something I use is on sale, I’ll buy it even if I don’t need it right away.”

• “I tend to be suspicious of Nathan. He’s too complex; I can never really tell what he’s thinking.”

• “Ally is judicious enough to know whether it’s right to go to give her boyfriend a break or not for missing their date. Don’t worry about it.”

• “I’m super introverted. I’d much rather spend Saturday nights relaxing at home alone.”

• “As a steadfast person, I don’t tend to get along with people who push me to do things I don’t want to do.”

• “Avery is a meticulous worker. It’s true she doesn’t make as many sales as other employees, but I’ve never seen her make a mistake on her paperwork.”

• “Timmy’s motivations are beyond esoteric. I don’t really know what he wants, but I’m sure it makes sense to him.”

• “I’m apprehensive about moving to New York City because it’s so expensive, but I’m sure we can make it work if I find a higher paying job there.”

• “You’re always picking flowers and putting them in your hair. You have such a whimsical spirit!”

• “Winston tends to become quite pensive when he’s faced with a serious choice.”

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• ↑ https://positivewordsresearch.com/list-positive-adjectives/
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• ↑ https://www.northernpolarbears.com/cms/lib/PA09000074/Centricity/Domain/909/CharacterTraitsvsCharacterEmotionsAdjectiveLists.pdf

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How to Describe Eyes in Writing (21 Best Tips + Examples)

Eyes are often hailed as the “windows to the soul,” capable of conveying complex emotions without uttering a single word.

As writers, mastering the art of describing eyes can elevate your storytelling.

Here is how to describe eyes in writing:

Describe eyes in writing by focusing on color, shape, and emotional depth. Use descriptive words like “captivating” or “luminous.” Phrases like “windows to the soul” add layers. Consider eyelids, lashes, and blinking for subtle emotional cues.

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to describe eyes in writing.

1. The Color Palette: More Than Just Blue and Brown

Table of Contents

Color is usually the first attribute that comes to mind when describing eyes.

Going beyond the cliché blue and brown can bring your characters to life in vivid detail.

Try unconventional colors and make comparisons to set a mood.

For example, instead of saying, “She had green eyes,” you might say, “Her eyes were the color of freshly mown grass, evoking an undeniable feeling of rebirth.”

Different colors can invoke various emotions or suggest specific character traits.

“Eyes as gray as a stormy sea” could symbolize a tumultuous spirit or an adventurous soul.

Therefore, use colors not just as factual descriptions but as emotional or character-driven statements.

You can even mix colors for added depth, “His eyes were a mix of gold and brown, like a forest floor dappled in autumn sunlight.”

2. The Light Dance: Luminosity Unveiled

The way eyes catch light can describe more than just the setting sun or dim room.

It can tell your reader about the emotional landscape of your characters.

For example, eyes that “gleam like polished stones catching the midday sun” could portray a character in a state of clarity or revelation.

The luminosity of the eyes can also serve as a narrative device, enhancing the emotional undercurrents of a scene.

“Her eyes dimmed, mirroring the dwindling campfire, as she heard the sad tale” can infuse additional layers of emotion into the situation.

This can help the reader feel the gravity of the story along with the character.

3. Shape-Shifting: The Geometry of Gaze

The shape of a character’s eyes can be a playground for creativity.

From almond-shaped to round, the geometry of eyes can offer readers clues about a character’s disposition.

For instance, “Her oval eyes always had a dreamy look, as if she were perpetually lost in thought” can say a lot about the character’s daydreaming nature or thoughtful demeanor.

Don’t forget that eye shape can be dynamic, changing with emotional states or circumstances.

You might describe a normally cheerful character as having “eyes that narrowed into cold slivers when he heard the disparaging comment.”

This not only gives your characters depth but also builds a stronger emotional connection with the reader.

4. Blink Back the Emotions

Never underestimate the power of a blink in conveying emotional subtlety.

A quick blink can express surprise.

While slow, measured blinks could imply a character is deeply contemplating a decision.

For example, “She blinked rapidly, as if trying to ward off the tears that threatened to spill,” succinctly captures a moment of emotional vulnerability.

A single blink can also serve as a pivotal moment in the story.

“He blinked once, slowly, as if imprinting the scene onto his soul” not only adds emotional weight but also signals a significant moment.

5. Mirrors and Windows: Emotional Portals

Eyes can act as mirrors reflecting internal emotions or windows offering a glimpse into the soul.

A character’s gaze can speak volumes, revealing underlying feelings or thoughts.

“His eyes were impenetrable mirrors, reflecting nothing but deflecting everything,” suggests a stoic or guarded individual.

In contrast, eyes can serve as open windows, giving readers insight into a character’s emotional state.

“Her eyes were open windows to her joy, sparkling like stars on a clear night,” indirectly reveals the depth of her happiness.

Using this technique can convey complex emotions in a show-don’t-tell fashion.

6. Crinkles and Lines: The Etchings of Experience

The skin surrounding the eyes can be a treasure trove of storytelling.

Whether it’s laugh lines or weary creases, these “etchings” can reveal a character’s history or emotional state.

For example, “Her eyes were framed by lines that spoke of decades filled with laughter and resilience” provides a wealth of information about a character’s life experiences.

On the flip side, you can use the absence of these lines to highlight a different set of experiences or qualities.

“His eyes were alarmingly smooth, devoid of the wrinkles that often accompany age, as if time itself hesitated to mark him.”

This could signify a range of possibilities—from a sheltered life to a mysterious, age-defying character.

7. The Focus Factor: Where the Gaze Lands

Where a character focuses their eyes can indicate interest, discomfort, or even deceit.

“She couldn’t maintain eye contact and her gaze kept drifting to the floor,” could suggest a lack of confidence or that she’s hiding something.

Here’s another example: “His eyes locked onto the painting, absorbing every brushstroke as if trying to capture its essence.”

The focus of the gaze is telling of the character’s artistic interest.

Or perhaps a deeper emotional connection to the artwork.

Employ focus intentionally to add another layer of complexity to your characters.

8. The Invisible Force: Magnetic Attraction or Repulsion

Sometimes eyes don’t just look; they draw in or push away.

Describing this invisible force can add an ethereal quality to your characters.

“Her eyes seemed to pull him in, a gravitational force he couldn’t resist,” not only describes attraction but also gives it a nearly magical, irresistible quality.

Alternatively, eyes can repel, emitting an almost palpable energy that keeps people at bay.

“People avoided looking into his eyes, as if a simple glance could cast a dark shadow over their day.”

This can set the mood quickly and establish a character as menacing or tragically solitary.

9. Eye-talk: Silent Conversations

Eyes can often communicate messages that words fail to capture.

Describing these “silent conversations” can create emotionally charged scenes between characters.

For instance, “Their eyes met, and in that brief moment, a flurry of unspoken apologies and forgiveness exchanged.”

In a more humorous scenario, you might write, “A roll of her eyes spoke louder than words, a whole paragraph on why the joke was painfully unfunny.”

Use eye-talk to demonstrate the depth of understanding or the lack thereof between characters.

By doing so, you enrichen the personal dynamics in your story.

10. Motion and Emotion: The Kinetics of Eye Movement

The movement of eyes—darting, sweeping, flicking—can indicate a variety of emotions or thoughts.

“Her eyes darted around the room, like a hummingbird seeking nectar, but finding none,” could indicate anxiety or a feeling trapped.

Movement can also be slow and calculated: “His eyes slowly scanned the crowd until they landed on her. It was as though he had found what he was unconsciously searching for all evening.”

Here, the eyes act almost like a compass, guided by emotion or instinct to find a person in a crowd.

11. Veils and Shields: The Role of Eyelids and Lashes

Eyelids and eyelashes do more than just frame the eyes.

They act as veils or shields, expressing vulnerability or defense.

For example, “Her eyelashes were a curtain that she dropped quickly, hiding the turmoil that had briefly flickered in her eyes,” could indicate a momentary lapse in an otherwise strong facade.

On the other hand, “His eyelids lifted slowly, as if reluctantly allowing access to the secrets hidden in his gaze,” paints a vivid image of a guarded individual.

With eyelids acting as gatekeepers and eyelashes as intricate curtains, your description gains a theatrical quality.

12. Icy Stares and Fiery Glances: Temperature Imagery

Using temperature as imagery can add another layer of emotional context.

“Her gaze was icy, freezing everyone it touched, making even a crowded room feel lonely,” effectively conveys detachment and emotional coldness.

Alternatively, “His eyes burned with a fire that could ignite even the most dampened spirits,” suggests passion.

By assigning a “temperature” to your characters’ eyes, you’re doing more than describing.

You’re setting the emotional climate of your story.

13. Twin Moons: Symmetry and Asymmetry

Our eyes are often assumed to be symmetrical.

But describing a character with slightly asymmetrical eyes can add an interesting twist.

“Her right eye was noticeably larger than her left, as if it had seen more of the world and expanded with wisdom,” can introduce an element of uniqueness and intrigue.

Conversely, perfect symmetry can be used to highlight otherworldly beauty or artificiality.

“His eyes were symmetrically perfect, each a mirror image of the other, making him appear almost too flawless, like a sculpture.”

14. Distance and Depth: Proximity of Emotional Connection

The physical space between eyes can symbolize emotional distance or closeness.

“Her closely set eyes, like parallel lines that never meet, made it hard to decipher her emotions,” suggests a character who might be emotionally inaccessible.

On the flip side, consider: “His wide-set eyes seemed to embrace the world, absorbing its myriad colors and nuances.”

This description could indicate a more open, emotionally available individual.

The space between eyes can become a metaphorical playground for writers.

15. Transient Hues: Changing Colors

Some eyes change colors depending on the lighting or the character’s mood.

Describing this can add a mystical or unpredictable quality.

“Her eyes shifted from a deep blue to an oceanic green when she was lost in thought,” opens up a realm of questions and adds an element of unpredictability to the character.

Or you might write, “As he grew angrier, the brown of his eyes seemed to darken, like clouds gathering before a storm.”

Changing colors can make your character seem complex and intriguing, demanding the reader’s attention.

16. Windows or Walls: Transparency and Opacity

The eyes can be either transparent windows to the soul or impenetrable walls.

For example, “Looking into her eyes was like staring into a clear pond, where even the smallest pebble on the bottom was visible,” indicates transparency and vulnerability.

Contrastingly, “His eyes were like tinted windows—no matter how hard you looked, you couldn’t see inside.”

The latter communicates a sense of emotional fortification.

Transparency and opacity serve as tools to indicate how approachable or aloof a character is as a person.

17. Spotlighting: Single Eye Focus

Most descriptions involve both eyes, but focusing on just one can create an arresting image.

“Her left eye seemed to flicker with an inner light, commanding attention and distracting from her otherwise placid face,” can indicate a multifaceted character with hidden depths or asymmetrical qualities.

Or perhaps, “His right eye twitched involuntarily, belying the calm he otherwise projected.”

A focus on a single eye can serve to amplify emotion, make a character more memorable, or highlight an incongruity in their personality.

18. Eye Accessories: Glasses and Contacts

Glasses or contact lenses can be more than just functional.

They can offer insights into a character.

“Her thick glasses magnified her eyes to an impossible size, giving her an air of constant astonishment,” shows how glasses can be used to amplify a character trait.

Accessories become an extension of the character, revealing their choices, desires, or insecurities.

19. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Artistic Imagery

Sometimes, describing eyes as artworks can be exceptionally evocative.

“Her eyes were like a Jackson Pollock painting, a chaotic blend of colors that somehow made sense,” can indicate a complex and unpredictable character.

Or perhaps, “His eyes resembled a Van Gogh sky, swirling with depth and endless hues of blue and yellow.”

Artistic comparisons not only make the description more vivid.

But can also provide an intellectual backdrop to your character’s emotional landscape.

20. The Art of Avoidance: When Eyes Are Hidden

There can be significant impact in moments where a character’s eyes are hidden—by hair, a hat, or even their own hand.

“His eyes were obscured by a mess of unruly hair, as if he was deliberately hiding from the world,” can suggest a character who is emotionally unavailable or in a state of internal chaos.

Conversely, “She covered her eyes with a hand, as if blocking out the reality before her,” could indicate denial.

Or, perhaps, a reluctance to face the truth.

The absence or obstruction of eyes can speak volumes, adding a layer of complexity to the narrative.

21. The Blink Code: The Tempo of Eye Movement

The rhythm and tempo of blinking can subtly express a character’s emotional state or intentions.

Rapid blinking might reveal nervousness, excitement, or distress.

Slow, deliberate blinks could convey thoughtfulness or calm.

The blink can be as revealing as any other aspect of eye description, acting as a silent Morse code that conveys underlying emotional states.

For example, “Her eyelids shut tightly and reopened slowly, as though she was steeling herself for what was to come. Each blink seemed to be a word in a private language of courage.”

Here is a good video about how to describe eyes in writing:

10 Elements of Eyes to Describe in Writing

To summarize, here are 10 elements (or traits) of eyes that you can describe:

• Color : The most obvious characteristic, but it can say a lot about a character. Blues, browns, greens, and grays each have their own set of associated traits and emotions.
• Shape : The shape of the eyes can lend personality cues. Almond-shaped, round, or narrow eyes can make a character seem mysterious, innocent, or intense.
• Size : Describing the size of the eyes can also give hints about a character’s personality. Large eyes might convey innocence or openness, while small eyes could suggest cunning or secrecy.
• Luminosity/Brightness : How bright or dull the eyes appear can reflect the character’s emotional state or overall personality. Luminous eyes might signify vitality or a strong spirit.
• Transparency : This refers to how “readable” the eyes are. Are they the proverbial “window to the soul,” or are they more like impenetrable walls?
• Intensity : The power of a gaze can say a lot. An intense stare may show determination, while a lack of intensity could signal disinterest or fatigue.
• Texture : While not immediately visible from a distance, up close the eyes may have specks, flecks, or distinct patterns that could add uniqueness to a character.
• Direction : Where a character is looking—averting their gaze, staring straight ahead, or looking down—can show their emotional state and add context to dialogue and actions.
• Movement : This includes blinking, winking, or any other eye movements. Rapid blinking might indicate stress, while slow blinking could indicate thoughtfulness or calm.
• Surrounding Features : Eyebrows, eyelashes, and even the skin around the eyes can contribute to the overall impression. Bushy eyebrows, long lashes, or dark circles can add depth to your description.

30 Best Words to Describe Eyes in Writing

Here is a list of words to help you describe eyes in your stories:

• Melancholic
• Almond-shaped
• Calculating

30 Best Phrases to Describe Eyes in Writing

When a single word won’t do, you’ll need phrases for describing eyes.

Check out this curated list of phrases for how to describe eyes in writing:

• Eyes like saucers
• Windows to the soul
• A storm brewing in his eyes
• Eyes bright with unshed tears
• A twinkle in her eye
• Eyes darker than midnight
• Eyes that held galaxies
• Deep pools of emotion
• Eyes like open books
• Eyes narrowed in suspicion
• Eyes as cold as ice
• An unreadable gaze
• Pools of molten gold
• A piercing gaze
• Eyes dancing with mischief
• Eyes filled with wonder
• A guarded look
• Eyes aflame with passion
• A faraway look
• An inviting gaze
• Eyes shimmering like the ocean
• A gaze that could cut glass
• Eyes soft with compassion
• A lingering look
• A flirtatious glance
• Eyes clouded with doubt
• Eyes gleaming with intelligence
• An intense stare
• Eyes that defy description
• Eyes closed in contemplation

3 Full Examples of Describing Eyes in Different Genres

Let’s learn how to describe eyes in writing by looking at full examples in various fiction genres.

In the dimly lit room, his eyes caught hers, and it felt as though time stood still.

They were deep pools of chocolate, rich and warm, promising sweet secrets and hidden depths. A soft light seemed to emanate from them, casting a gentle glow that could melt the iciest of hearts. It was as though his soul was laid bare, and she felt herself drawn into his gaze, an irresistible force pulling her closer to the love she’d been seeking all her life.

As she walked through the enchanted forest, her eyes changed to mirror her surroundings.

Normally a plain brown, they turned into a swirling mix of emerald and gold, as if her irises were tiny galaxies with stars twinkling within. The transformation was spellbinding, making her appear not just of this realm, but a creature of otherworldly beauty.

Those eyes held power—power to unlock realms and unleash spells, a mysterious allure that could not be ignored.

His eyes were like shards of ice, a piercing blue that seemed to cut through the dim light of the interrogation room.

Each glance was calculated, devoid of emotion, revealing nothing yet seeing everything. It was a look that had unnerved many—a gaze that had stared down threats and seen horrors that would break most men.

His eyes were the epitome of a human lie detector, missing nothing, ever vigilant, and deeply unsettling.

Final Thoughts: How To Describe Eyes in Writing

The best way to describe eyes is blending the tips, words, and phrases.

Also, connect the bigger plot and theme to your eye descriptions.

Of course, there is much more than eyes to describe in your story. Read the other guides on our site to learn how to describe, people, places, and scenes in your story.

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• How to Describe a Smile in Writing (700 Ways & Examples)

• Author Portal

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by Amber Helt | Sep 6, 2016 | Lifestyle

What’s your writing personality? The 16 personalities graphic can reveal how your dialogue, descriptions, length, and pacing affects your writer’s personality in the genre market.