Fat? Skinny? Tall or Short? What category does your character fit in?Some of us have over-active imaginations which allow us to 'see' what a character looks like. Translating that picture in our heads to paper should be easy, right? Not always. What about when you have several characters floating in and out of scenes throughout the manuscript?
How do you hammer out each description while ensuring none of them are alike? It takes planning, plain and simple.
One of my favorite things to do is have a working picture chart for each major and minor character for quick reference. I got this idea from a critique partner and I will never write without one again. My favorite place to look for character references are on the Internet, movies, and television. When developing a new character, I already have an idea of their physical attributes, the sound of their voice, and the way their body moves. Finding a picture I can study makes a world of difference when writing a full character description. If you only go by what you imagine, there will be things missing, such as, subtle quirks like the way a character stands, a twitch of the mouth, or that hidden mole. Your eye may not notice at first glance, but after studying a photo, you can add an extra layer of 'life' to the character.
Let me demonstrate.
In A Heart Not Easily Broken, there is a chapter where Ebony Campbell, the heroine, has the opportunity to study her future love interest, Brian Young, from a distance. He's standing in her back yard trimming the grass along the fences edge with a weed whacker and not wearing a shirt.
Here's the way that scene was written without having a visual reference to refer too (rough draft):
Brian stood with his weed whacker, swinging it along side the fence. My eyes widened; the man was shirtless. The man had an incredibly strong looking back. His shorts hung off his hips and made his underwear visible, while a damp shirt hung from his belt buckle. Hmm, boxers or briefs? Sweat ran down his back to his shorts.
None of that compared to the way he looked when he turned around to one of the guys working with him. His body was free of body fat, with a little hair on his chest. Tight abs shown a ripple of muscles so tight I could barely see his belly button.
Brian's tanned skin reminded me of a Greek statue, he must work outside a lot. His baseball cap was turned backward, hiding the blond curly hair I'd seen at the club. His damp hair hung below its edge, showing off his square facial structure and the angle of his nose. His blue eyes were bright.
Brian was unbelievably sexy.
Could you visualize what Ebony sees? I'm sure you were able to get a decent idea. Brian's working outside, he's sweating, it's hot, and Ebony's attracted to him. But how about the version found in the book? (after a picture reference, a thesaurus, a multitude of edits, rewrites, and an over active imagination!) This is what I finished with:
Brian stood with his weed whacker, swinging it in a controlled arch along the fence. My eyes widened; the man was shirtless. The man had an incredibly strong looking back. His shorts hung loosely from his hips, exposing the top of his underwear from the weight of the sweat-stained shirt stuffed under his belt. Hmm, boxers or briefs? Sweat ran in heavy rivets down his shoulder blades, trickling to the already damp shorts.
None of that compared to the way he looked when he turned around to speak to one of the guys working with him. His long torso, free of unwanted body fat, sported a light sprinkling of blond hair between his pecks. A tight abdomen showed every cut of muscle I’d seen in high school biology textbooks. His abs were tight, his belly button nearly nonexistent.
Brian’s bronzed skin reminded me of a Greek statue, a testament of many hours spent working outside. His backward baseball cap hid the thick blond curls I’d seen at the club. The damp ringlets hung below its rim, accentuating his square facial structure and the shape of his nose. His blue eyes seemed to glow from deep within his skin.
Brian was unbelievably sexy.
Visual descriptive, right? Both had the same idea, but the second one took the time to describe every single detail Ebony saw. Because of this, the reader is guaranteed to feel one of two things, 'wow, it's hot, he's sweaty, and could use a shower', or since your deep in Ebony's POV, your right a long with her thinking the sight of a hard working man tunes her on!
Perfect character descriptions do not usually appear while writing your rough draft. A Heart Not Easily Broken had so many rewrites and drafts I stopped counting at number eight, and believe me, there were still a few after that. But with each scene, I forced myself to take the time to write the descriptions of the characters in as much detail as possible. It didn't matter who's POV the description came from.Since my books are written in first POV, one of the first things I had to learn was how to have a person describe themselves without it sounding clinical.
Here's an example of Ebony describing herself physically when comparing herself to her best friend, Yasmine:
Not so creative writing (first draft):
Yasmine's light colored skin, skinny body, long legs and small breast suited her personality. There were times I wished my body was like hers. It would make shopping for clothes easier. I had a body like my Nana did when she was my age. If I looked at her photo albums, I looked just like her . We both had brown skin, shapely hips, big butts, and large breast.
Oh man was THAT boring!
Now, here is the book version:
Yasmine’s high-yellow complexion, slender ballet dancer body, long legs, and B-cups breasts suited her personality. There were times I wished my body was more like hers, though. It would make shopping for clothes a lot easier. As it was, I had been blessed with the shapely figure my Nana called 'bootylicious'. According to her, and her photo albums, I looked just like her when she was my age, with caramel-colored skin, perfectly proportioned hips, a butt that drew major attention, and D-cup breasts, making it hard for a man to look me straight in the eye.
So much better, and (if you are a lady!) can probably visualize yourself as either character, right?
A word of advice: when writing a characters description (especially if being done from first person POV), it's best to have them compare themselves to others, or stare into the mirror and describe what they do or don't like, as a suggestion. Having them say, "I have long hair, brown eyes, and dark skin," is not being creative. "My hair reached the top of my bra strap, my eyes were coals of molten like my mothers. I had her rich coco-colored skin, too," sounds much better. Okay, I threw that one together, but hopefully you get the point.
So, with visual aid (come on guys and gals, searching for that perfect pic can be fun!), lots of imagination, and the ever handy thesaurus, you can write descriptive scenes, too!
Until next time, WRITE WELL!!!!
MJ
