Friday, July 1, 2022

The Importance of Character Description

 Description of a character may or may not be important to the reader, but they should be important to the writer.  I don't mean just the color of the eyes or the cut of their clothes, but personality as well.  Here are some examples of what I mean.

1) Yes, typical description.  The reader needs to have a general idea of how the character looks.  I want to know if they are 5 foot tall or NBA star tall.  Are they thin and lithe or burly?  Is their skin dark or pale? (And this is not racist, it's just a detail like the color of hair.)  Are they wearing fancy clothes or rags?  All of these details gives your reader an idea of what the character looks like.

2) Mannerisms.  This is also an important detail because it gives an idea of how the person responds to situations and how they are feeling.  When Krom is feeling nervous or angry his ears go back, like dogs and horses tend to do.  When he is listening they go forward, like a cat's would. It gives a feel of how the character is feeling or what is about to happen.

3) Speaking habits.  Guthlaf has a bit of Cockney in his speech, (though not even completely close).  Elly speaks of Kenna as her "little dragon" because of Kenna's habit of looking for knowledge.  Duncan calls all those with him as "young".  These little things will give your characters more personality and make it easier to figure out who is talking.

Happy writing!

No comments: