Picking Physical Traits

by Alys
(America)

Question: I have all the personality (major) decided on for my characters but when I go to choose their out words appearance I can't decide. I'm a very visual person, so I prefer to see what I want I front of my eyes rather then in my head. First, I tried to let it go, assuming it would come as i wrote, to no avail. Then I tried googling because for me, Google usually has everything. When that came to a frustrating end, I tried dress up games where I just focused on the hair/eye color. That didn't end well either. Any tips or suggestion so I can finally say he/she has this in this and not have to leave blank spots in my writing?


Answer: You might try looking through photographs. I recommend magazines such as National Geographic which show people from many cultures as they really are rather than the phoney air-brushed photos in fashion mags.

All you need are a few traits per character that makes them truly unique. The trouble with things like eye or hair colour is that they are seldom distinctive. I mean, there are millions of people in the world with brown eyes or blonde hair. So brown eyes is only a distinctive trait if no other character in your story possesses it.

Looking at photos of people, or perhaps people on the street, you can start paying attention to what traits make them stand out. It can help you get ideas for your character. For instance, you might find photos of two people that resemble your character and take one or two traits from each. Or you can take a photo of someone in a different country or time period and tweak their traits to fit the setting of your story.

It's also the case that some physical traits suit certain characters better. For instance, if you are writing about a ballet dancer, it would make sense for her to be slim with good muscle tone. If you're writing about a computer geek, it would make sense for him to be pale and chubby (since he spends all his time indoors in front of a screen). Other times, you might want to deliberately work against expected traits. Maybe your computer geek works out in his apartment because he's lonely and wants a body that will attract women. Maybe your ballet dancer is overweight and is fighting to overcome the prejudice of her industry.

In this way, you can use the personality traits you've chosen to determine the physical.

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would you enter the physical traits to the story.

by Ann Bakes
(Burnie, Tasmania, Australia)

Question: Where in the story would you add physical traits to? I am new to all this. I have started and I am on chapter 3 and the story is rather lifeless.

Answer: Think about when you meet someone for the first time. What do you notice about them? Probably their most striking features or something they do or a style of speech that makes them stand out.

When your reader meets a character for the first time, they expect to get a similar impression.

If you are telling the story through a particular character's eyes, then you describe what makes an impression on them as they perceive their world and the people around them (bearing in mind that you need to confine their observations to what's relevant to the story).

You may need to mention a character's traits other times the character crops up, until the image of their appearance is established in the reader's mind

With your point-of-view character, it's a little more difficult, but it's usually best to mention his/her physical traits when they are relevant to the story.

For instance, if your main character is tall and he walks through a small doorway, you may need to mention that he has to stoop. If he gets in a car, you may mention he needs plenty of legroom.

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