Write! One

Write! One.

On People.

This article assumes that the reader is familiar with the standard nuances of the English language. This article is mainly focused on the first basic steps to getting a piece of fiction up to speed. Of course, I do not claim to have much experience, or much expertise in this field. But still, I wish to share with you, my reader, on how to firstly describe people.

Appearances.

Standard phrase, standard line. SHOW, DON'T TELL.

For example:

He was very strong.

So what? Strong itself does not bring any image to mind. What you want your reader to do is to principally see how is he strong, and that way, you set this very character apart from the others. Use descriptive devices, metaphors, similes, and personification is a good start. You don't have to use excessively flowery language.

For example:

He was well built, a large broad chest and thick logs for limbs.

Now, isn't that better?

Just some simple similes for a start, you drawing parallels with objects that your readers are familiar with. Even the dictionary also contains help. To describe someone as willowy, you bring to mind a tall and slim person, perhaps also suggestive of the movement aspect, where the person moves gracefully as compared to how the drooping leaves of the willow shift in a small breeze. There, with one word, you have already replaced a sentence.

However, vocabulary should be applied accordingly. If you use a word that the readers are unfamiliar with, you've already disrupted the flow of the sentence and thus the story. In some places, short phrases are better than obscure words. Some students overlook this fact and use bombastic words in their essays.

Bombastic: (Of language) Overly pompous words with not much significance.

I like this phrase

"... darkly wise..." - Alexander Pope

Used as a descriptive term, for me, it brings to mind a villain, sitting in a high armchair behind an empty desk set before a flickering fire, the uneven light thrown upon his chiseled features. His palms open and fingers joining each other, with his lips resting upon the tips of his index fingers. And behind those deep set eyes shadowed by the extruding forehead, a great dark mind at work, turning the world over and slowly, very slowly, tearing it apart, thread, by thread.

Powerful isn't it? Even plain language has the ability to create vivid images, and for that, I'm afraid, it is the road that you have to walk on your own.

NEXT: Characterization

-by Cap'n Mook