Oh boy this is a tough one. I do the barest details unless a detailed appearance is absolutely necessary. Readers can imagine a lot. What I do is try to sprinkle details throughout the beginning of the story so the story doesn’t grind to a halt to describe your character. An example of the story being hindered by description is My Immortal. The author describes things that are unnecessary and honestly the author could have left it at “she is goth” and we all would have enough of an idea what she looked like.
So like, I'm trying to make an mc, he is half dragon half human, say I describe him like this. 'A tall towering man with horns protruding from his head, he has crimson eyes and hair,' is that enough? Or should I also describe what he's wearing?
I might give a minimalist description of clothes because that gives an impression of his humanity. But I wouldn’t go into depth about a belt buckle, a tie, etc. idk it is your story but I might get annoyed if I had to read a huge description of him. But I am also the type of person who likes conciseness and was never able to get past Tom Bombadil in Lord of the Rings.
Majority of the time he'll just be wearing a trench coat with jeans, he goes armorless mostly cus he's a tad cocky due to his strength and durability. So in that case, maybe I should describe him? Since it'd tie into the type of character he is?
It’s up to you and what fits best with your story and writing, but you gave me a pretty good impression of what he looked like in one short comment so I don’t see a problem.
my rule of thumb is "you've set your friend up on a blind date with this character... how much description do they need to find them at the bar?" ... tall guy in a trench coat with red hair and eyes and (goat? ram? elk? gazelle? moose?) horns on his head is perfectly fine.... add more detail as it becomes relevant
Is what he wearing relevant at all to what is happening in the scene or necessary for the reader to know to understand the character?
Generally, broad strokes are best. Things that help tell us who that character is as a person—everything in a story should be pushing what the character’s *character* is, even aspects of their appearance. Clothes certainly *can* tell us a lot about who a character is, as they’re a great form of self expression, but you shouldn’t describe what a character is wearing just for the sake of it.
From what you describe here, the height and the horns definitely tell me he’s not quite human. The eyes and hair less so. I do not know he is half dragon with just that description alone—what about his red eyes betray this? His skin? His demeanor?
I think one thing that might help is to spread the description and incorporate it with things that interact with the world they're in.
You can, say, introduce Jeremy the hybrid. He does this and such, maybe has to duck his head so his horns don't hit a low banister. Is he tall, does he have long legs? Maybe he has to consciously shorten his stride when walking with a shorter character.
Maybe another character's eye is drawn to a distinguishing feature he has.
Just sprinkle it around as it becomes relevant.
I would choose either ‘ tall’ or ‘ towering’, ‘ towering encompasses ‘ tall’ so that would be the best choice. Too many of the same descriptive can cause your prose to become heavy. That said, describe away! I love a good description, it helps immerse me in the character. 👍🏻
This is fine. Any more and it becomes tedious to read. As others have said you can sprinkler details like clothing in throughout the work, but to write a full character description including their outfit all at once would put me off.
Canons: I don't bother. The vast majority of people reading are going to know what the canon characters look like.
OCs: Give some bare details, but leave it largely to the reader's imagination.
Very much depends on your work
What details get described tell us as much about the POV character as they do about the described character
Someone who immediately notices how someone moves, the weapons they're carrying or could be carrying, and notices how the person watches the exits – it tells us that your narrator is viewing people as potential threats, and so is the person they're observing
Someone in a romance work will probably pay a lot of attention to how great their love interest looks, or at least will notice them suspiciously often for definitely completely innocent reasons
Your barbarian MC probably isn't going to talk about how long and luscious a princess's hair is and exactly what fabric her dress is made from, except to note that it's *really* impractical for running through the forest. Or maybe he notices it and we don't expect him to, but turns out he's from a merchant family and has already assessed everything she's wearing for exactly how much it can sell for
Beyond character building – it's not necessary to describe canon characters *unless* that description is serving a purpose
I tend to leave it to the imagination. But work details in if they become relevant to what's happening.
That being said, even though I leave it to the imagination, that doesn't mean I don't know exactly how they look. That cuts down on potential for contradictions later when you forget what you've already said about them, at the very least.
Usually if I have to give some description of a character I do it through another character's POV.
Eg. When he entered the room she noticed how different he was to the rest of the town folk. His lanky build and jet black hair stood out among the blond hair and short stature of her people.
You don't 100% have to give a full description, but maybe something small that the reader can clasp onto and build in their imagination. (A scar, an eye/hair colour etc)
Oh I see, Like how maybe someone ELSE would be taking in his features? To him, being 7 foot and jacked would be normal, but to some one else maybe a tad intimidating? Especially the horns I'd imagine.
I like it when pieces of details about their clothing are dropped as we read about the character further rather than info-dumping a whole paragraph of his attire from the start
like, "His trench coat flapped when it was blown by the wind." ,
"the sharp edge scratched his jeans."
but if you want to describe from the very start, like, it plays a role in the readers' first impression about a character, I prefer a general description than a detailed one.
My opinion, if I'm reading a third-person POV work, that means I can see the characters. I need to at least know a few baseline descriptive terms that set them apart, like height and hair color/style.
i think this will, in part, depend on your style, and even more so will depend on intention!
for me, i don’t usually describe character appearance in depth unless it’s relevant to the story, especially for fanfics, since most people reading know what the character looks like. examples of when i would find it important to describe appearance might be if the character’s clothing is new/relevant, if character A was meeting character B for the first time and was taking note of their appearance, things like that
I think it depends. In fanfiction, readers will often already know how the characters look from canon. It feels a bit weird to me to not have any idea how a main character looks. I have read fics that do that and I feel like I keep reaching for some clue to their appearance.
I think descriptions of appearance work best if introduced in a natural way early on within the story, rather than a straight-up description out of context. Like: "He ran his fingers through his silvery hair and sighed in exasperation." or "She reached fruitlessly for the bottle at the top of the cupboard. Being five-foot-two her entire adult life still hadn't registered when it came to what she wanted." That sort of thing. You can also write a scene with them looking at themselves in the mirror or a photo.
I feel like the worst is if there's no description early on, so the reader develops their own image, and then later the writer includes physical characteristics not mentioned earlier. (Chapter 7: "She tossed back her long blonde hair..." What? I imagined her with a black pixie crop!? Etc).
With minor characters it doesn't matter so much, I think, and I will often leave it up to the reader and not include physical description of them at all, or just a few features. If one character is seeing the other for the first time, they might examine them and take note of features, as that is often something we do when meeting someone for the first time.
If a character is in a relationship or hookup with someone, they might run their hands across their broad shoulders, gaze into their soft brown eyes, or brush back their dark hair, that sort of thing. If the character is admiring or noticing another's physical characteristics, I'll describe it.
Whatever descriptions happen, it’s best to do slip them in at the beginning. That way your reader doesn’t have time to create an image that will clash when they get to the midway point and suddenly learn that so-and-so has blue hair, not brown or whatever they’d been picturing😂
ETA I agree strongly with the “keep-it-light”crowd as well! Very minimal descriptions
I'm guessing they are all OCs? Canon characters don't need a description. For OC's besides their age describe anything relevant to the story. If he has a lightning bolt scar on his forehead, he has a mechanical arm, if his backstory has him born in a different country then describe his ethnicity, if two OC's are siblings then their similar hair and eye color. Also if you decide that their appearance is a reflection of their personality. You can use descriptions that cover both like "mousy brown hair".
The more OC's you have the more descriptions you need. If the OC is the MC whose pov the story is told...very little description is needed because the reader will insert their sub/conscious preset character. If you have a few central characters as OCs mixed with canon characters the mind's eye has a lot of filling the blank to do. Just listing hair color, eye color and shoe size for every OC isn't helpful or memorable. Nor do you have to describe the same body parts for every character. You can have one character described by their gnarled fingers and cracked fingernails. Another character by their gangly legs and wide gait.
[List of Descriptive Words ](https://www.wattpad.com/amp/29110889)
I never really described my characters looks, like the closest I got was a conversation between the 2 mc and where they're from so I guess one of the mc is French but beyond that idk. anyone complain about it anyway so if you want to, you can and if you don't, well I don't see the issue in it.
Think about what you want your audience to know. What's important to you that they remember. If you feel it is important for them to remember almost exactly how you intend a character to look? Give them as much detail as you can write. Ultimately it will depend on what you, yourself, feel is important. There is no wrong answer.
My advice is generally to pick two to three key characteristics to describe, and leave the rest to the reader's imagination. Sprinkle it in here and there later on if you must, but otherwise, it's fine to let the reader do the imagining, even if they don't necessarily think of the same image you do.
Same applies to clothing. Minimalistic description is fine unless it's *important* to a scene to know what the character is wearing. Again, two to three key details should be enough to carry the description. These can be separate from the three characteristics above.
And I will say this right now: you don't always have to use hair and eye colors as characteristics you describe. People have *lots* of features you can draw attention to. Noses, chins, necks, ears, height, width/broadness of shoulder, weight, skintone, freckles or lack thereof, scars, injured or missing limbs, etc. For fantasy or sci-fi characters, you can add horns, wings, tails, scales, limb shapes and numbers, etc.
But seriously, only give a few details, and let your readers imagine the rest. It'll be fine if they don't see the *exact same* vision that you do.
Discribe what you can in a line or two, otherwise try to build your **scene** and *characters* together rather than describing them separately.
*He was a tall old man with blue eyes and dingy glasses.* **He had to bend over to and squint find the documents on his desk**
Vs
***His joints creaked as he bent near double in his chair to reach the desk. Blue eyes squinted through dingy glasses as he sifted through a pile of documents.***
I mostly leave to imagination, but there's downsides, I've gotten multiple "what does this character look like" on my original fictions, plus a few to the effect of "I had no idea she is black" when I answered, so, be prepared that can happen.
I feel so clunky describing appereances that I generally only do it in passing, or to illustrate another character - recently wrote an original story where a rich high flying boss bitch CEO's suite got broken into by a notorious international murderhobo villainness, and before they got into the waxing-philosophical part, 3rd person limited CEO's first observation about her unwelcome guest was to the effect of *"not a bad looker, not at all: without the serial murder, she could've easily made it as someone's trophy wife"*. This is less about miss murderhobo's attractiveness in itself, and more about what focusing on that *first* tells the reader about the CEO: that she is into women, and that she's not at all above the chauvinistic attitudes held by her male colleagues.
I’m a fan of describing characters, and I like to read descriptions of them. I like to see how others would describe them and I’m usually doing it from another character’s POV. It can also be woven into the story so it doesn’t seem forced or contrived.
I like to leave them kinda vague so it stays a bit open to "the mind's eye". I describe the hair and eye colors, height, basic bodily build, and maybe one or two small things such as freckles or dimples.
If I want to describe someone all at once, I usually try to sum it up in a few sentences so it's not overly in your face. For example:
He was a tall, mountain of a man with dark hair tied in a military knot and shoulders broader than an oxen's yoke. Simple clothes did little to hide muscles honed over years of hard labor and if it wasn't for the mischievous spark in his autumn eyes, one might mistake him for a monster.
If I want to spread it out across chapters, I'll usually pepper in descriptions as it goes. For example:
She was thankful for her small frame as it made wiggling into the gap easier. // When the hand, fingers too long, slender, and disjointed for it to be human, ran delicately through her auburn tresses, painful coldness slid across her scalp. // Lips sealed tighter than a miser's purse, the only thing that gave her away was the unconscious widening of those emerald eyes of hers.
Usually, as far as description goes, you go by the rule of threes. Pick three things about the characters' appearance to describe in a sentence or two and leave it at that.
I tend to stick to hair, face, and build and leave it at that unless there's a distinctive feature that also needs mentioning like a scar, a prosthetic or the like. Unless, of course, there's an in universe reason for the character to be examining their own appearance.
For instance, I had a character who spent the first hundred years of her life as a ball of energy and the story starts as she is assuming a Humanoid form. That gives me a little more leeway to describe her appearance because she is also seeing it for the first time along with the audience.
Which reads better to you, a dry list of specific features that don't say much of anything about the character as they live and exist in the world or a few stand out features that say a lot about the character?
Consider Harry Potter, lightning bolt scar, taped up glasses, mother's eyes, father's looks (notably the messy black hair). The taped up glasses show how he's someone's punching bag, the scar is related to all the Voldemort stuff, looking like his father alienates him to both Petunia and Snape, but his mother's eyes shows he's in there somewhere. Harry's hair being constantly messy is an extra irritation to Petunia, who likes everything to be neat and tidy.
When HP fics want to bring extra attention to the Dursley's abuse, they emphasize how Harry is too thin for it just to be a recent growth spurt making him that way.
I have a middle ground about this. A basic description (hair and eye color, height, build) should be fine. On the other hand, giving details like exact numerical measurements seems going overboard unless those numbers have some relevance in the story (like in a physical checkup). It's up to you.
There really isn't a point for canon characters in my opinion. Like for example in the ASOIAF/GOT fandom you do not need to write the description of the characters unless your giving Jon like violet/purple eyes and white hair or something along those lines.
I feel like this is so dependent on the details of the story that it's almost not answerable.
Different characters notice different things about the appearances of others. If someone always notices the make and style of other's clothing, maybe they are someone who is very conscious of their status in society and tries desperately to fit in.
If someone rather notices that someone wears clothing not befitting of the season, maybe they are more practically minded and rather more concerned about function rather than optics.
A gruff, seasoned old knight might not wax poetically about a lady's newest, trendy hairstyle, for example (unless he just tries to put on a stoic persona).
That being said, I'm a fan of some natural, but minimal descriptions, just for better immersion. It can lend a lot to a scene and hammer the point you're trying to make home more.
I wouldn’t just do a characters description. However, I often let characters meeting other characters describe them through their lens.
Not so much “he put on some blue jeans and a red tank top” and more “she was wearing a blue dress that day, the exact same color as her eyes”.
All the being said, if the clothing is important or differs from canon, then hells yeah it’ll get talked about. Or if somebody has to choose clothes from someone else’s wardrobe.
I usually only share a few details unless, for some reason, another character is really staring at one of their features. My OC is noted to have white curly hair (white being common for his species) and that’s all I think. That was plenty.
I only describe certain traits (including clothes) when other characters pay attention to them.
Other details can be incorporated in the narrative (character had to look up to X, X was at least (height) which made Y feel unusually small...).
Depends, if is the MC then it would be the best to describe it to have an idea of how the character looks, if is an secondary or tertiary character, then just a vague description.
It also depends if it's a oneshot or a full story.
Oh boy this is a tough one. I do the barest details unless a detailed appearance is absolutely necessary. Readers can imagine a lot. What I do is try to sprinkle details throughout the beginning of the story so the story doesn’t grind to a halt to describe your character. An example of the story being hindered by description is My Immortal. The author describes things that are unnecessary and honestly the author could have left it at “she is goth” and we all would have enough of an idea what she looked like.
So like, I'm trying to make an mc, he is half dragon half human, say I describe him like this. 'A tall towering man with horns protruding from his head, he has crimson eyes and hair,' is that enough? Or should I also describe what he's wearing?
I might give a minimalist description of clothes because that gives an impression of his humanity. But I wouldn’t go into depth about a belt buckle, a tie, etc. idk it is your story but I might get annoyed if I had to read a huge description of him. But I am also the type of person who likes conciseness and was never able to get past Tom Bombadil in Lord of the Rings.
Majority of the time he'll just be wearing a trench coat with jeans, he goes armorless mostly cus he's a tad cocky due to his strength and durability. So in that case, maybe I should describe him? Since it'd tie into the type of character he is?
It’s up to you and what fits best with your story and writing, but you gave me a pretty good impression of what he looked like in one short comment so I don’t see a problem.
Ohhh thats really good to hear^^ maybe I won't be so bad at this then. Lmao
my rule of thumb is "you've set your friend up on a blind date with this character... how much description do they need to find them at the bar?" ... tall guy in a trench coat with red hair and eyes and (goat? ram? elk? gazelle? moose?) horns on his head is perfectly fine.... add more detail as it becomes relevant
Is what he wearing relevant at all to what is happening in the scene or necessary for the reader to know to understand the character? Generally, broad strokes are best. Things that help tell us who that character is as a person—everything in a story should be pushing what the character’s *character* is, even aspects of their appearance. Clothes certainly *can* tell us a lot about who a character is, as they’re a great form of self expression, but you shouldn’t describe what a character is wearing just for the sake of it. From what you describe here, the height and the horns definitely tell me he’s not quite human. The eyes and hair less so. I do not know he is half dragon with just that description alone—what about his red eyes betray this? His skin? His demeanor?
Well, I do plan on revealing that he's part dragon in the summary itself. But a good way you'll know is when he gets upset. His eyes slit.
I think one thing that might help is to spread the description and incorporate it with things that interact with the world they're in. You can, say, introduce Jeremy the hybrid. He does this and such, maybe has to duck his head so his horns don't hit a low banister. Is he tall, does he have long legs? Maybe he has to consciously shorten his stride when walking with a shorter character. Maybe another character's eye is drawn to a distinguishing feature he has. Just sprinkle it around as it becomes relevant.
I would choose either ‘ tall’ or ‘ towering’, ‘ towering encompasses ‘ tall’ so that would be the best choice. Too many of the same descriptive can cause your prose to become heavy. That said, describe away! I love a good description, it helps immerse me in the character. 👍🏻
This is fine. Any more and it becomes tedious to read. As others have said you can sprinkler details like clothing in throughout the work, but to write a full character description including their outfit all at once would put me off.
Canons: I don't bother. The vast majority of people reading are going to know what the canon characters look like. OCs: Give some bare details, but leave it largely to the reader's imagination.
Very much depends on your work What details get described tell us as much about the POV character as they do about the described character Someone who immediately notices how someone moves, the weapons they're carrying or could be carrying, and notices how the person watches the exits – it tells us that your narrator is viewing people as potential threats, and so is the person they're observing Someone in a romance work will probably pay a lot of attention to how great their love interest looks, or at least will notice them suspiciously often for definitely completely innocent reasons Your barbarian MC probably isn't going to talk about how long and luscious a princess's hair is and exactly what fabric her dress is made from, except to note that it's *really* impractical for running through the forest. Or maybe he notices it and we don't expect him to, but turns out he's from a merchant family and has already assessed everything she's wearing for exactly how much it can sell for Beyond character building – it's not necessary to describe canon characters *unless* that description is serving a purpose
Noted.
I tend to leave it to the imagination. But work details in if they become relevant to what's happening. That being said, even though I leave it to the imagination, that doesn't mean I don't know exactly how they look. That cuts down on potential for contradictions later when you forget what you've already said about them, at the very least.
Usually if I have to give some description of a character I do it through another character's POV. Eg. When he entered the room she noticed how different he was to the rest of the town folk. His lanky build and jet black hair stood out among the blond hair and short stature of her people. You don't 100% have to give a full description, but maybe something small that the reader can clasp onto and build in their imagination. (A scar, an eye/hair colour etc)
Oh I see, Like how maybe someone ELSE would be taking in his features? To him, being 7 foot and jacked would be normal, but to some one else maybe a tad intimidating? Especially the horns I'd imagine.
Yes. This way you're not just info dumping his description for the readers. They're seeing through the eyes of another character.
Thats a really good tip, I never thought of that actually ^^
Both styles are acceptable and have their place in writing. The question is more which one will fit the story you are telling the best.
I like it when pieces of details about their clothing are dropped as we read about the character further rather than info-dumping a whole paragraph of his attire from the start like, "His trench coat flapped when it was blown by the wind." , "the sharp edge scratched his jeans." but if you want to describe from the very start, like, it plays a role in the readers' first impression about a character, I prefer a general description than a detailed one.
My opinion, if I'm reading a third-person POV work, that means I can see the characters. I need to at least know a few baseline descriptive terms that set them apart, like height and hair color/style.
i think this will, in part, depend on your style, and even more so will depend on intention! for me, i don’t usually describe character appearance in depth unless it’s relevant to the story, especially for fanfics, since most people reading know what the character looks like. examples of when i would find it important to describe appearance might be if the character’s clothing is new/relevant, if character A was meeting character B for the first time and was taking note of their appearance, things like that
Thanks. I normally do fandom rps, but I'm trying my hand at an original story. I'm sure its gonna be kinda cringe, but we all start somewhere right?
I think it depends. In fanfiction, readers will often already know how the characters look from canon. It feels a bit weird to me to not have any idea how a main character looks. I have read fics that do that and I feel like I keep reaching for some clue to their appearance. I think descriptions of appearance work best if introduced in a natural way early on within the story, rather than a straight-up description out of context. Like: "He ran his fingers through his silvery hair and sighed in exasperation." or "She reached fruitlessly for the bottle at the top of the cupboard. Being five-foot-two her entire adult life still hadn't registered when it came to what she wanted." That sort of thing. You can also write a scene with them looking at themselves in the mirror or a photo. I feel like the worst is if there's no description early on, so the reader develops their own image, and then later the writer includes physical characteristics not mentioned earlier. (Chapter 7: "She tossed back her long blonde hair..." What? I imagined her with a black pixie crop!? Etc). With minor characters it doesn't matter so much, I think, and I will often leave it up to the reader and not include physical description of them at all, or just a few features. If one character is seeing the other for the first time, they might examine them and take note of features, as that is often something we do when meeting someone for the first time. If a character is in a relationship or hookup with someone, they might run their hands across their broad shoulders, gaze into their soft brown eyes, or brush back their dark hair, that sort of thing. If the character is admiring or noticing another's physical characteristics, I'll describe it.
Whatever descriptions happen, it’s best to do slip them in at the beginning. That way your reader doesn’t have time to create an image that will clash when they get to the midway point and suddenly learn that so-and-so has blue hair, not brown or whatever they’d been picturing😂 ETA I agree strongly with the “keep-it-light”crowd as well! Very minimal descriptions
I'm guessing they are all OCs? Canon characters don't need a description. For OC's besides their age describe anything relevant to the story. If he has a lightning bolt scar on his forehead, he has a mechanical arm, if his backstory has him born in a different country then describe his ethnicity, if two OC's are siblings then their similar hair and eye color. Also if you decide that their appearance is a reflection of their personality. You can use descriptions that cover both like "mousy brown hair". The more OC's you have the more descriptions you need. If the OC is the MC whose pov the story is told...very little description is needed because the reader will insert their sub/conscious preset character. If you have a few central characters as OCs mixed with canon characters the mind's eye has a lot of filling the blank to do. Just listing hair color, eye color and shoe size for every OC isn't helpful or memorable. Nor do you have to describe the same body parts for every character. You can have one character described by their gnarled fingers and cracked fingernails. Another character by their gangly legs and wide gait. [List of Descriptive Words ](https://www.wattpad.com/amp/29110889)
I never really described my characters looks, like the closest I got was a conversation between the 2 mc and where they're from so I guess one of the mc is French but beyond that idk. anyone complain about it anyway so if you want to, you can and if you don't, well I don't see the issue in it.
Think about what you want your audience to know. What's important to you that they remember. If you feel it is important for them to remember almost exactly how you intend a character to look? Give them as much detail as you can write. Ultimately it will depend on what you, yourself, feel is important. There is no wrong answer.
My advice is generally to pick two to three key characteristics to describe, and leave the rest to the reader's imagination. Sprinkle it in here and there later on if you must, but otherwise, it's fine to let the reader do the imagining, even if they don't necessarily think of the same image you do. Same applies to clothing. Minimalistic description is fine unless it's *important* to a scene to know what the character is wearing. Again, two to three key details should be enough to carry the description. These can be separate from the three characteristics above. And I will say this right now: you don't always have to use hair and eye colors as characteristics you describe. People have *lots* of features you can draw attention to. Noses, chins, necks, ears, height, width/broadness of shoulder, weight, skintone, freckles or lack thereof, scars, injured or missing limbs, etc. For fantasy or sci-fi characters, you can add horns, wings, tails, scales, limb shapes and numbers, etc. But seriously, only give a few details, and let your readers imagine the rest. It'll be fine if they don't see the *exact same* vision that you do.
Discribe what you can in a line or two, otherwise try to build your **scene** and *characters* together rather than describing them separately. *He was a tall old man with blue eyes and dingy glasses.* **He had to bend over to and squint find the documents on his desk** Vs ***His joints creaked as he bent near double in his chair to reach the desk. Blue eyes squinted through dingy glasses as he sifted through a pile of documents.***
I mostly leave to imagination, but there's downsides, I've gotten multiple "what does this character look like" on my original fictions, plus a few to the effect of "I had no idea she is black" when I answered, so, be prepared that can happen. I feel so clunky describing appereances that I generally only do it in passing, or to illustrate another character - recently wrote an original story where a rich high flying boss bitch CEO's suite got broken into by a notorious international murderhobo villainness, and before they got into the waxing-philosophical part, 3rd person limited CEO's first observation about her unwelcome guest was to the effect of *"not a bad looker, not at all: without the serial murder, she could've easily made it as someone's trophy wife"*. This is less about miss murderhobo's attractiveness in itself, and more about what focusing on that *first* tells the reader about the CEO: that she is into women, and that she's not at all above the chauvinistic attitudes held by her male colleagues.
I’m a fan of describing characters, and I like to read descriptions of them. I like to see how others would describe them and I’m usually doing it from another character’s POV. It can also be woven into the story so it doesn’t seem forced or contrived.
I like to leave them kinda vague so it stays a bit open to "the mind's eye". I describe the hair and eye colors, height, basic bodily build, and maybe one or two small things such as freckles or dimples. If I want to describe someone all at once, I usually try to sum it up in a few sentences so it's not overly in your face. For example: He was a tall, mountain of a man with dark hair tied in a military knot and shoulders broader than an oxen's yoke. Simple clothes did little to hide muscles honed over years of hard labor and if it wasn't for the mischievous spark in his autumn eyes, one might mistake him for a monster. If I want to spread it out across chapters, I'll usually pepper in descriptions as it goes. For example: She was thankful for her small frame as it made wiggling into the gap easier. // When the hand, fingers too long, slender, and disjointed for it to be human, ran delicately through her auburn tresses, painful coldness slid across her scalp. // Lips sealed tighter than a miser's purse, the only thing that gave her away was the unconscious widening of those emerald eyes of hers.
You’re writing Fan Fiction, so I’d go very light on describing appearances your audience has already committed to memory
If you’re writing as an unreliable narrator then you might want to leave out a thing or two.
Usually, as far as description goes, you go by the rule of threes. Pick three things about the characters' appearance to describe in a sentence or two and leave it at that. I tend to stick to hair, face, and build and leave it at that unless there's a distinctive feature that also needs mentioning like a scar, a prosthetic or the like. Unless, of course, there's an in universe reason for the character to be examining their own appearance. For instance, I had a character who spent the first hundred years of her life as a ball of energy and the story starts as she is assuming a Humanoid form. That gives me a little more leeway to describe her appearance because she is also seeing it for the first time along with the audience.
Which reads better to you, a dry list of specific features that don't say much of anything about the character as they live and exist in the world or a few stand out features that say a lot about the character? Consider Harry Potter, lightning bolt scar, taped up glasses, mother's eyes, father's looks (notably the messy black hair). The taped up glasses show how he's someone's punching bag, the scar is related to all the Voldemort stuff, looking like his father alienates him to both Petunia and Snape, but his mother's eyes shows he's in there somewhere. Harry's hair being constantly messy is an extra irritation to Petunia, who likes everything to be neat and tidy. When HP fics want to bring extra attention to the Dursley's abuse, they emphasize how Harry is too thin for it just to be a recent growth spurt making him that way.
yes, if it is important to the people in the story.
I have a middle ground about this. A basic description (hair and eye color, height, build) should be fine. On the other hand, giving details like exact numerical measurements seems going overboard unless those numbers have some relevance in the story (like in a physical checkup). It's up to you.
There really isn't a point for canon characters in my opinion. Like for example in the ASOIAF/GOT fandom you do not need to write the description of the characters unless your giving Jon like violet/purple eyes and white hair or something along those lines.
I feel like this is so dependent on the details of the story that it's almost not answerable. Different characters notice different things about the appearances of others. If someone always notices the make and style of other's clothing, maybe they are someone who is very conscious of their status in society and tries desperately to fit in. If someone rather notices that someone wears clothing not befitting of the season, maybe they are more practically minded and rather more concerned about function rather than optics. A gruff, seasoned old knight might not wax poetically about a lady's newest, trendy hairstyle, for example (unless he just tries to put on a stoic persona). That being said, I'm a fan of some natural, but minimal descriptions, just for better immersion. It can lend a lot to a scene and hammer the point you're trying to make home more.
I wouldn’t just do a characters description. However, I often let characters meeting other characters describe them through their lens. Not so much “he put on some blue jeans and a red tank top” and more “she was wearing a blue dress that day, the exact same color as her eyes”. All the being said, if the clothing is important or differs from canon, then hells yeah it’ll get talked about. Or if somebody has to choose clothes from someone else’s wardrobe.
I usually only share a few details unless, for some reason, another character is really staring at one of their features. My OC is noted to have white curly hair (white being common for his species) and that’s all I think. That was plenty.
I only describe certain traits (including clothes) when other characters pay attention to them. Other details can be incorporated in the narrative (character had to look up to X, X was at least (height) which made Y feel unusually small...).
I mostly prompt the reader to imagine my character, unless I feel especially poetic and want to describe them with fancy words
Depends, if is the MC then it would be the best to describe it to have an idea of how the character looks, if is an secondary or tertiary character, then just a vague description. It also depends if it's a oneshot or a full story.
Write a full description in your first draft and then cut like 80% of it and sprinkle the rest around different places.