Most novels do not include illustrations. Much is left to the reader’s imagination. There are several reasons, however, why authors should describe their characters’ appearance early on in a story.
Creative writing skills enable authors to “show” a character’s physical appearance rather than using static, descriptive text. Rather than writing “He was a tall man,” you could write, “People often asked him to retrieve items from the highest shelves since he didn’t need a ladder to do so.” Whichever style you choose for describing a character’s appearance, make sure you do it in the early pages of your novel.
Authors will want to keep this in mind
There are several reasons why it’s imperative that authors incorporate descriptions of their characters’ physical appearance in the earliest chapters of their stories, including those shown in the following list:
- Some readers have aphantasia, which is a characteristic of a neurodivergent brain. A neurodivergent brain functions differently from “the norm,” and those who have aphantasia are unable to conjure mental images when they use their imaginations.
- If you wait until the later chapters of your story to describe a character’s physical appearance, readers might already have imagined them in a particular way. Your description might not align with what they’ve imagined.
- Details regarding physical appearance can add elements of intensity or mystery to a plot, as well as help readers understand a character’s personality.
Consider things like a massive scar on a cheek or a prominent limp. Such details immediately make one character stand out from the rest. If you don’t let readers know these characteristics exist until the later chapters in your story, they’ll wind up feeling like they’ve been imagining the character “all wrong” up to that point.
Use sensory details to describe certain characters
Authors will want to go a step beyond merely describing a character’s looks. Using sensory details, such as smells, sounds or touch is also helpful. For instance, telling readers that a specific character’s “stench wafted through his tattered shirt” enhances your physical description. Writing about the “click-click-click” of a woman’s stiletto heels across a floor uses sound to describe the woman’s appearance. Having two characters shake hands, then having one of them describe the experience as “rubbing against sandpaper,” helps readers envision the other character’s appearance.
Describing your characters’ physical appearance using various means takes an ordinary (and potentially boring) story to the next level. Experimenting with some of the ideas mentioned in this post can boost your creative writing skills and bring your stories to life.
