Skip to main content

Windows to the Soul

-Hannah-

Today we look at character descriptions.

What do appearances say about a character's personality?

Quite a lot, actually. Authors use descriptions as an easy way of giving the reader a first impression of a character without having to go into any particular effort.

Cicero once said that "the face is a picture of the mind," and this can be true, especially in books or movies. Authors generally want to give you as much information as possible about their characters (unless they're deliberately hiding things) and will use the opportunity to describe their character's appearance to their advantage.

Look at this extract from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone, where Hagrid is described:

A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.

This is J.K.Rowling's opportunity to give the reader a first impression of Hagrid, and she does it by giving the reader an image of the character.

  • "A giant of a man," suggests perhaps there is something paranormal about him. Perhaps his size is intimidating.
  • "Shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard," show that he is quite rough and wild.
  • Eyes "glinting like black beetles," connotate animals, which are later revealed as his passion.
So a lot is learned from character description. But how do you use this as an author?
Let's look at eyes for a start, with anime as a guide.


  • The angle of the eyeline conveys how firm/gentle the character is.
  • Eyes shaped like (> <) tend to hint at aggressive, cynical personality, whereas eyes like (< >) show nativity and empty-headedness.
  • Thin eyebrows tend to show a quieter, more gentle disposition than those with thick eyebrows.
  • The positioning of the eye also affects what the reader thinks of the character. The lower down the face they eyes are, the more childlike the character looks.
  • Eyes with larger pupils are generally more "innocent."

Color can vary, but certain eye colors have certain connotations.
  • Red - evil or passionate (e.g. Ultron, the Avengers)
  • Green - magical or evil (e.g. Harry Potter, Harry Potter)
  • Brown - trustworthy (e.g. Margo, Despicable Me)
  • Light blue/gray - a bit creepy, like they can see through your soul, serious (e.g. Athena, PJO)
  • Yellow - sneaky, probably a werewolf (e.g. Tykebomb, Discworld)
  • Purple - magic, possibly darker, rare (e.g. Zanna, The Last Dragon Chronicles) 
How do you apply this in your story? Obviously not by writing "Dave had thin eyebrows and downwards slanting eyes low down his face. His irises were dark blue."
Use your description skills. Insinuate your image of the character. Don't write, "He had grey eyes."
Write,
"his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars",
-Tolkein, LOTR, a description of Elrond

Add atmosphere. Use your descriptions as an opportunity for the readers to get the feel of the character as well as their appearance.

There's a lot more to cover when it comes to character description, but I hope this has taught you something about either inferring from what you read or describing your own characters.

-Hannah-


Comment below!

Did you enjoy this post?

Any examples of awesome character descriptions?

Describe your own eyes!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thinking Up Ideas for Writing

I admit it. I am the sort of person who uses the situation they are in to help them think up a solution. I was trying to think up an idea for what to write about in my first blog… so I ended up resolving my problem by writing about thinking up ideas for writing.    What is there to write about for thinking up ideas for writing? What to write? What to write? Okay, I’ll stop with the irony now. To write a good story you need to be enthusiastic about it. How to be enthusiastic? Write in a genre you really like (You do not have to do this but it often helps to build enthusiasm). Think up an idea(s) you think is good. (Then you will be excited about it). Well, the first one is easy but thinking up an idea is far easier to say than do. I know it first hand. My plots take months and months to plan sometimes. I cannot exactly think up ideas for everyone who wants to do a story. So, I’ll advise you on ways you can think up ideas. Write so...
Post a Comment
Read more

Instrumental - a Short Story

  Instrumental By Germaine As quiet music filled the house, a cat black as night crept out of her basket. Pausing to stare at the nearest window, she watched the sun slowly burst out of the horizon. Warm light filled the room. Purring, she turned and padded downstairs to greet the pianist, who stopped playing only to stroke her. The cat nudged back his hand. In return, he smiled and continued to play. The cat rolled her eyes. Upstairs waited for her. When she reached the top, a white cat with bright green eyes met her. The black cat’s striking blue eyes flashed with recognition as she mewed a greeting. “Harpsichord! Finally, you’re awake.” “Woodwind, you were always an early riser. It’s no wonder that you’re already up.” Harpsichord answered. Woodwind purred at the compliment. “Come on, let’s see if Oboe and Bass are awake yet.” Oboe, a raven, was sleeping on her perch. Flashing Woodwind a mischievous grin, Harpsichord let out an ear-piercing screech. Oboe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Could Unicorns Exist?

-Hannah- So. Unicorns. Do we need to go over the basics? They're white horses with one twisted horn in the center of their forehead. Other details of their appearance and their powers vary with the time period. History The ancient Greeks were the first to record unicorns, not as mythical creatures, but as actual natural things found in India, at that time a distant and mystical realm in relation to Greece. The first-ever description of them, found in a book called Indika (On India), describes them as fleet-footed wild asses with a horn two and a quarter feet long. However several seals from the Indus Valley have what look like unicorns on them (above) dated about 2000 years before the Ancient Greeks began to flourish. It is debatable whether they are unicorns or cows with two horns but printed with bad perspective.  Moving on to the Middle Ages. A mistranslation in the King James Version of the Bible meant that Unicorns were incorrectly substituted for rhinos, ...
Post a Comment
Read more