Character Presentation

In this post I will use excerpts from other areas online, places where I’ve found much inspiration. I claim no ownership.

When introducing your characters, it’s easy to load too much into one section of your story, and sometimes it’s not always in the right place. Often-times, for a truly good character description, the details will have to be spread out throughout the story where they best fit.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Let’s start with your main character first. When you describe the physical appearance of your MC, you should make sure not to have one long paragraph describing their whole appearance, then move on with the story. This is an example of a rushed, meaningless description. Instead, mention the most prominent or significant things first.

For instance: “Anthony was a tall, lanky kid, with straw-colored hair that fell over his neck and forehead in a tangled mess.” This type of description sounds much more appealing in the third person. However, when writing in first person, as if the MC himself is the author, he won’t often feel the need to describe himself like that to the readers. This is where it gets a little trickier.

For first person descriptions, where the character is describing himself, it’s almost better to not make it a description at all. Save it for times when the character is studying himself in a mirror, when he’s feeling self-conscious about his appearance, or when his appearance is being compared to that of a sibling’s. People aren’t often thinking about their appearance until it’s brought before them in some way.

Describing Eyes: Do not. Do NOT throw in a person’s eye color right off the bat.

Abby had long, soft curls that framed her green eyes…

No. When you first meet someone, you’re not paying close attention to the color of their eyes. Like I said, put the most significant and obvious things first. However…

Right before a kiss, or whenever the two characters are close and focused enough on each other for them to really observe each other’s eyes — this is the perfect time.

I stared into her gray, cloud-covered eyes, searching, wondering if I could get them to spark lightning as they used to do; and I vowed that someday, somehow, I would.

That? That’s a way to hit the reader right in the feels and keep the eyes from becoming a mere color. Now they hold an emotion with them.

This kind of thing works with almost any other type of physical description as well. The basis is, when someone is up close and personal with someone or something else, they’ll notice more details about that thing.

PERSONALITY DESCRIPTION

Describing one’s personality takes a little more care than describing what he looks like. On the flip side, you can use his physical appearance to give the reader a glimpse at what his personality might be like. Or better yet, use the ironic approach, and make the personality totally unexpected. A boy who dresses in all black with skin piercings could be a sweetheart in disguise.

Moving on, though, there are a few different ways for the personality of a character to be seen.

If your MC is describing another character in passing, they’ll normally give a few adjectives that tell the reader how THEY feel about the character. (“Jordan was kind of a nerd, with no sense of adventure whatsoever, but I still liked hanging out with him.”) (“Sometimes I can just look in his direction and my blood will boil all over again.”)

This is a good way to give the reader their first impression of that character.

The best way to present a character’s personality, though, is through their actions, reactions, and decisions. All throughout the story we’ll get to know the character by how he treats other people, how he treats himself, what choices he makes, and what his dreams are. What’s his soft spot? Does he take charge or hang back and let someone else step forward? Does he easily lose his temper?

This kind of thing fits in with character arcs as well. When your character gets a change of mind, maybe realizing he was wrong about something, he often won’t make the same decisions and mistakes he made before. However the core of his personality will still be there. One doesn’t go from a rock hard, hot-tempered, unreasonable jerk to an optimistic, level-headed, thoughtful guy who even dresses differently and listens to different music. It doesn’t happen like that. It takes time. A whole story.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CHARACTER

This isn’t mandatory, but I’ve found that creating a character chart or two before you begin writing is extremely helpful. Even as the author, it can be easy to forget little things like eye color or any minor injuries they might still have. The chart I give you below is a simple one for both physical and personality-centered descriptions. I would also suggest searching for charts that other writers use, as there are many other variations of this that you might find more helpful. Or simply make your own!

• Full Name:
• Nickname(s):
• Gender:
• Birth Date:
• Age:
• Height:
• Build/Weight:
• Face Shape
• Hair:
• Eyes:
• Glasses or Contacts:
• Skin tone:
• Predominant/conspicuous features:

• Greatest fear?
• Greatest joy?
• Hobby?
• What secrets does he hold?
• What are his major flaws?
• What are his major strengths?
• What image does he try to portray, and what image does he actually portray?
• How does your character feel in certain social situations?
• Is he a follower or a leader, or somewhere in between?
• Any pet peeves?
• What has happened in his past that has scarred him, even a little? (Almost drowning as a child = nervous around deep water, etc.)
• How does your character feel around out himself?
• What are his morals?

Like I said, there are many, many questions to ask your character, but maybe this will spark some inspiration.

So there you have it, at least the basics. If you have anything to add or any questions to ask, leave a comment! Until next time.