Hey y'all, it's Liza aka QOS here with one of the posts in my series of blogs, Queen's Writing Help where I try to use my knowledge, experience, and personal perception of writing to help all of y'all keep honing your writing abilities in various subjects.
This blog is going to be all about writing a character's appearance, both on their page and in actual stories. Sometimes I might make another blog about describing the appearance of other things, like buildings, objects etc, but that's only if I get especially bored.
And please, for my sake and yours, stop the -nette!
Disclaimer: These are my personal views and tips on writing. You may take them with a grain of salt or as serious as you'd like.
On the Page[]
So, we all know one of the main sections you need to have on a character's page is their appearance section. This is your opportunity to use some of those images you've found online to showcase their physical features, such as a full body image showing their sense of style.
The overall tips I can give for writing appearance sections is to make sure to highlight anything you find important, beyond just their hair and eye color. Are their hands calloused? Do they have a tattoo? Pierced ears? etc. You can incorporate those little details here.
Another thing is while appearance sections are the opportunity to be detailed, there's a different between a detailed appearance section or one with information just there to increase the content on the page. There is also no need to obsessively flaunt the physical beauty of your characters, particularly with women and adding information about their assets. There is a way to describe feminine figure without coming off as sleazy. Please, try to stay away from lascivious porn-star style descriptions of your female characters or you might end up with a foot in your face. There is a way to describe feminine physique without going the route of "bouncing breasts" and "fairly adequate rear". (Also keep this in mind for image choices smh. Realistic boob physics y'all). Most anime characters are purposely designed to be aesthetically pleasing and attractive. You don't need to go into a three paragraph rant about how much of a sex god your character is because of his "rippling washboard abs and rigid physique". Personally, it's a major turn-off for a character's page.
This is my personal take on the appearance section and the steps I go through when writing:
I break things into four paragraphs and generally like to have at least one image in there that shows off the character's clothing. Occasionally when the content is good, I find a second image showing an alternate outfit or their physique. These images should be at 230px or smaller.
- a brief introduction to their physical appearance, 1-3 sentences, gives off the general vibes and the basics one would see at first glance.
- Hair and eyes. For eyes, their shape, color, eyelashes, if it's relevant size of pupils. Are the bloodshot? Do they have bags Heterochromia? Blind? etc. For the hair, go into the texture and color as well as how they style it. Do they ever put their hair up? Do they have bangs and a habit of pushing them out of their face? etc.
- Third paragraph is about the shape of the face, body and physical features. Is their face angled? Prominent cheekbones? Baby cheeks? small nose? large forehead? You decide! Are they tall? Short? Thin? Thick? Skin tone? What's their normal posture like? What's their figure? Are the muscular? if so where? Do they have scars, tattoos, beauty marks or other anomalies?
- Final paragraph is all about what they wear. What are they most commonly seen wearing? What's their sense of style? Choice of colors? Any common alternate outfits like combat clothes or formal clothes? Do they have any significant items on their persons at all times, magical or sentimental? For items that are included in the equipment section or as a product of one of their magics, remember to only focus on their physical appearance for about a sentence- save the more intricate detail for the item's dedicated place.
Like I said, that's my personal process for writing appearances, there's a number of ways you can do it but overall I'd say that they don't need to be incredibly long tributes to your character's physical appearance. Detailed enough so you can picture them in your mind, but there's no need to spend three paragraphs on body worship.
Example[]
There are a few differences in describing female and male appearances, so I have provided two of my own example descriptions of different characters straight from their pages, Kevin Oreki and Jazz Adams, complete with images.
The main difference lies in paragraph three on how I have described their body. In Kevin's, it focuses more on his tattoo. While on Jazz's, I included her scar and figure features that are more accented on women.
With his slouched posture, dark rimmed eyes, messy hair and general penchant for scowling , Kevin, since his youth, has been deemed by common society as either street trash or delinquent.
His eyes are one of his most noticeable features- crystal blue, with slightly ovaline pupils, surrounded by thick black lashes, overall forming a thin, slanted shape. Along with the shape of his eyes, Kevin suffers from periorbital hyperpigmentation, causing him to generally look sleep-deprived, however, for the most part, that is not the case. His hair is naturally thick and somewhat oily, a dark shade commonly described by others as 'raven black'. Over the course of his years, Kevin has had a variety of haircuts, including an undercut, and in a particularly edgy time in his late teenage years, a mohawk. Currently, his hair is grown out to ear length, parts of it naturally messy and spiked, as if he has just rolled out of bed. His bangs are thick, falling over his forehead with two main strands crossing the tip of his nose. Inspired by Jazz, he occasionally uses bobby pins to secure his bangs to the sides of his face.
Kevin's face is sharp, hewn of straight angles with a triangular frame- a large forehead, a sharp, skinny nose, slender eyes framed with narrow eyebrows, pointed cheekbones, and a harsh jawline. His lips are thin, barely visible when his expression is neutral. His skin is peachy pale like most native residents of Fiore, with no major scars on his skin. The only thing marking his skin is an intricate tribal snake tattoo he received when he was nineteen. Nāga, is made with Magic Ink, making her a Living Tattoo and product of magic. She is placed on his left arm, spanning from the tail curled at mid-bicep to where the head rests on his shoulder, close to his chest. Kevin's posture is poor, with shoulders slouched and head often leering forward. He is of average height reaching the unimposing stature of 5'7. His build is like a spring, his thin lanky frame hiding the muscle corded underneath. It is concentrated mainly beneath his forearms, thighs, and calfs, emphasizing his grip strength and the speed and agility he possesses.
Kevin's sense of style is simple and somewhat ragged, defined by cheap choice in fabrics, often secondhand clothes, most likely due to his low budget as opposed to personal preference. His most commonly worn outfit is a royal blue scoop-neck tee shirt with a comfortable mid-weight zip up hoodie over top that falls to his knees. It is completed by loose fitting black jeans and old scuffed up loafers, the leather worn and soft from years of use. The outfit easy to maneuver in, which is the primary reason he wears it so often. When working at the gym and with his clients, Kevin wears a small variety of athletic tees and tank tops, with loose fitting gym shorts and a pair of stained trainers. All of his small wardrobe fits into a color scheme of blacks, grays, and blues, emphasizing comfort above aesthetic beauty. It is known that he does not own any formal clothing of his own, however, has rented suits on occasion for the few formal events he has been invited to.
Jazz exerts a vibrant energy, a broad smile generally adorning her face while her open posture and choice of attire generally denote her as an approachable person. Though, due to the prominent muscle, scars, and scrapes of her exposed skin, it is known to most that she is, in fact, a fighter.
Her hair is cropped to chin length, parted slightly to her right and impeccably straight, even when subjected to humidity. It is a dark shade of mocha brown and is soft and silken to the touch. Much to her own annoyance, it is too short to pull back in a ponytail or bun, so she settles for clipping back her bangs with small bobby pins when she expects a fight. Her eyes are a stunning shade of caribbean aqua blue. They are thin and slanted, with thick brown lashes and slightly blood-blossomed sclera due to her past in substance abuse. Jazz often finds that she finds suitors in most environments, most likely due to how striking her eyes are against the muted shades of her hair and skin.
She has features carved of angles and soft slopes, with a slightly upturned nose, arched eyebrows, prominent wide cheekbones, and a sharp jawline and chin. Her skin is the color of rich copper, hinting at her Joyan heritage and background. For the most part, it is soft, though she has thick callouses on her hands and feet. The only prominent scar she possesses is on her lip; a puckered raised line that she claims was given to her by a particularly sharp ring, however, most perceive it as a joke. Jazz has straight, open posture and is not incredibly tall, reaching an average height of 5'8, with prominent muscle across her entire body, particularly in her thighs, biceps, triceps and abdomen, denoting her status as a strong-willed warrior as well as the training she has undergone. Her body is not without feminine curves, as she possesses a medium bust and wide hips, however, these are not facets of her appearance she is found flaunting.
Jazz is generally seen wearing attire reminiscent of her culture, particularly after returning to her family. Most often she is seen wearing a green tank top with a lighter stripe through the middle, spanning her waist as a hem as well. Two small bands of a material similar to hardened clay adorn her upper arms, ensuring that she has at least a small amount of earth on her at all times, presumably as a sentimental marker. Above her hips is a forest sash, tied in an asymmetrical knot on her left side. Her pants are baggy, colored an emerald shade that fall to mid-calf, scrunched into place at the base. She also wears soft comfortable flats, a similar shade to her sash that fit perfectly on her feet, even in the midst of combat. Jazz can also be seen in more athletic dress, wearing a pair of tight green shorts and a matching cropped top. With both of these outfits, she opts to wear wrapped athletic bandages around her hands in forearms, made of a particularly expensive material with magical properties. Occasionally she is seen wearing modern clothing such as sweatpants, athletic shorts, sweatshirts, tee shirts, tank and crop tops, usually fitting a gray, green and brown color scheme.In Your Content[]
When describing appearance in story content, there is no need to use as much detail as you would in the appearance section of their page. A simple paragraph is fine when you're introducing them at first, but beyond that, you never need to bring their appearance back to the forefront unless it is something to be noticed, such as an outfit change or a haircut. If you do it otherwise, it gets repetitive and takes away from the general flow of the story.
Another note for involving appearance in content is Cut the epithets. There's no need to refer to your character as "the older man, the tall woman, the loan shark, the red-head" unless it is relevant in the context or you're drawing attention to that point and don't do it often. Honestly, when addressing your characters you should use their name or pronouns over 90% of the time. The only exception to the "epithet rule" is when you're purposely leaving the character unnamed to the reader- and then just pick one epithet or a nickname another character has given them "piggy, tall guy," etc.
One last thing that I forgot in my first upload of this is a small rant. Do not refer to your character by -nette. UNLESS They're a brunet(te) and you're drawing attention to the color of their hair for some reason. This is one of my biggest pet peeves and a major sign of an amateur writer. Please don't be someone with pinkettes, silverettes, bluettes, etc. I beg of you.
Helpful External Links[]
That's all for this time. I'm pretty sure I covered everything glaringly important to say and helped y'all. If you've got any extra questions or would like some more streamlined help on something, feel free to ask in the comments, on the talk page or on discord and if I've got the time I'll try to help to the best of my abilities.
Until next time, ~Liza(Queen of Swords and Stars)