Characters · Tip 21 of 82 · 3 min read
Describe a Character in a Flash
Skip the long list of hair and eye colours. Pick one or two vivid details that say it all.
When a new character walks into your story, you might want to tell readers everything: hair, eyes, height, clothes, shoes. But a long list is like a shopping receipt. Readers skim it and forget it.
Pick one or two killer details
Instead, choose one or two details that are unusual and tell us something about the person. A detail can show their personality, their job or their mood.
Okay 😐
Mr Finch was tall. He had grey hair and blue eyes. He wore a brown coat and black shoes.
Wow! 🤩
Mr Finch had a pencil behind each ear and another one in his beard, which he always forgot was there.
From one sentence we know Mr Finch is busy, a bit scatterbrained and probably likes drawing or writing. That's a lot of character in very few words!
Mix the senses
Characters don't just look like something. They sound, smell and move in their own way too.
- A laugh like a car that won't start
- Always smells faintly of oranges
- Walks on tiptoe, even on the beach
- Jangles with twenty keys on her belt
Show it in action
Granny Pearl stomped into the kitchen in her wellies, flicked mud off her glasses and announced that the goat had eaten the washing again.