How to Write Stories People Will Love

Question 58: First person character descriptions

PiuChitoge asks: How do I describe my character when I am writing in first person POV?

The reason so many stories written by new writers involve a scene where the character looks in the mirror is because it's the most obvious way to describe what that character looks like. I did this myself, way back in the day when I first began writing.

Although it works, the problem is it's boring. The story makes no progress while this is happening, and the reader is not getting any favorable impressions to help them decide to keep reading or not. There are many ways to get character descriptions across without the use of a mirror.

Comparison with Someone Else

One of the quickest ways to get across what someone looks like is to compare them with someone else, usually someone famous. Or maybe with a relative they are looking at. Here are a few examples:

- I looked at my mom, whose green eyes were so much like my own.

- People tell me I look like Miley Cyrus on drugs. I take this as a compliment, because Miley Cyrus kicks ass.

- My dad watches me gel my brown hair and says, "Enjoy it while it lasts. It won't be thick and luxurious for long." He pushes a hand across his own balding head and sighs.

When using this technique, it's easy to accidentally make the character sound narcissistic. If I say, "I look like Demi Moore," people are going to say I'm conceited. But this doesn't happen if a friend says, "Doesn't she look like Demi Moore?" A few more examples to help you come up with your own:

- "Dude, come on! You already look like Clark Kent. Let's go!"

- The teacher narrowed her eyes at me. "You may have Einstein hair, but you still need to study."

- "Hair salon? Don't make me kick your ass. You look so good, youcould be Taylor Swift's sister."

Sneak in Bits and Pieces

As you saw in the last example above, I added "brown" in there so you know it's brown hair. The thing with character descriptions is we don't need them all at once. It's overwhelming when it's everything at once. But when you throw in pieces here and there, the reader can gradually put together an idea of what this person looks like. More examples:

- I sweep my long hair into a ponytail and rush out of the house.

- My friends complain they burn too quickly in the sun. It's one of the few times I think having brown skin is an advantage. My friend would slap me if I ever said that aloud.

- "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Because you're grouchy, and your nose looks more crooked than usual today," my coach tells me.

Be Creative

That last example above is an unusual way to say the main character has a crooked nose. There are many fun ways to express a character's looks without making it obvious that you're doing so. In my book, Siena, the reader learns the main character has blue eyes in the following bit of dialogue between two little boys:

He pointed his stick at me. "Your eyes are weird because you're evil inside, and it's seeping out."

"Evil is blue?" one of his friends asked.

This kind of creativity involves thinking about the attribute you want to describe, and then coming up with ways it can be worked into the plot or scene. Keep the story moving forward, and readers won't even realize you're describing the character to them.