Write Physical Descriptions [Prompt One]

One great place to add physical descriptions is in moments of low intensity. In other words, the moments that bridge the gap between big action scenes like the ones that will happen before and after the prompt. Low intensity moments are the ideal time to give your story breathing room that adds weight to the narrative.

A well-placed physical description connects readers to their protagonist and offers hints as to where the story is going. This is why you see character’s getting haircuts after breakups. Their former appearance does not reflect them anymore, so they change it. 

Real people have appearances that affect how they are viewed by others and how they perceive themselves. When a protagonist’s past influences their future it gives a story depth. Reader’s will feel that the events that take place have meaning and are leading them somewhere. This will keep them turning every page as each moment, each detail, has a domino effect on the story’s direction as the protagonist is changed by what they have to deal with. 

Deeper than that, because this is fiction, you can weave key thematic elements into the way you describe a character’s appearance and mannerisms. It is a great way to indicate to your readers what might happen in an understated way. 

If you see a Gray-Blob-Monstrosity™ when you imagine your character’s face, consider the theme of your story. It can give you ideas for who your character is as an individual instead of as a general so-and-so. Is your character meant to learn how to be… self-reliant, carefree, empathetic? Give your character traits and mannerisms that are in direct opposition of those lessons. It will make your character work harder because they will be working against the very core of their being. 

For example, let’s use the prompt: What if this character is extremely nonchalant in the face of their defeat? This character is arrogant and could care less if their coach yells at them over their loss because they know that next time, next time they are going to wipe the floor with the rookie who got the drop on them. 

“The only reason they won is because they’ve seen me compete before! Next time they won’t have that advantage,” They say, ignoring how their own arrogance led them to underestimate their opponent. 

Compare this character to one with a morose disposition that needs to learn confidence. The morose character is devastated by their loss. They beat themselves up for every flaw they can remember and imagine how their coach will read them the riot act when they next see them-! While this character wilts under their coach’s lecture the arrogant character runs off with a laugh as their coach chases after them with a string of explicatives.

Even if these characters have the same physical traits they’re probably not going to feel the same way about how they look, making the description for both wildly different. And, altering how their coach would interact with them. 

The arrogant character that is energized will look at their bruises as battle scars and leave their t-shirt in the gym bag they fling over their shoulder when they swagger out the door with their head held high. 

The morose character wants to cover up their shame. They tug on their sweaty tracksuit jacket even though they feel overheated in the aftermath of their match. They take extra time putting their arms through the loops of their backpack, walk backwards out of the door, because they want to avoid their coach’s disappointment for as long as they can. 

Both descriptions show how beat up they are, what clothes they wear (or don’t), and even how they hold themselves. But more importantly, their personalities burst through the page! There is no question in the reader’s mind what type of character they are following. 

The reason I made this prompt, scribbler, is to think about where and how to connect physical descriptions back to their stories as a whole. This quiet locker room scene, at first glance, appears boring in comparison to the conflicts that surround it but with a little elbow grease it is an opportunity to show how a given character processes events around them in greater depth.

This is one of the most impactful pieces of writing advice that I picked up, and I’m just going to drop the quote here because it’s helped me a lot. It’s by a fanfic writer — who was always writing re-character’s in a way that made sense but was almost better than the originals. Exploring aspects of them that weren’t that explored further in the main story but made perfect sense when they came together.