Writing Wednesday: Describing a Person

(Excuse any grammatical/spelling errors. Had to whip this up on the spur of the moment and didn't have time to proof read. Thanks for reading!)

I know some of you that read this blog like writing stories or even books, and so do I. So here are some pointers for describing new characters. Please don't take this offensively or let it seem like I'm bossing you, just read it for what it is and try it if you want.

1. Above all it is important to describe and introduce new characters in your story so your reader will have a mental picture of the person, talking lampshade or adventurous toad you've just introduced. Don't just start talking about someone the reader doesn't know about yet. Describe their figure, hair, eyes, nose, etc. Give some background. Or if you want the reader to make up their own mental picture, ignore everything you just read in the last paragraph
2.  Don't completely describe them from head to foot in one paragraph! I've learned this from reading other books that describe a character entirely in one sentence or paragraph. Feel free to give some information here and there, not just all at once. Give the basic details and then sneak some adjectives in later before they talk or leave or fly off. For instance: "Her lumpy and protruding nose sniffed the air cautiously" This method of compact description is okay sometimes, but in my experience as a reader, your readers might get bogged down by so many adjectives and adverbs all at once and skip the description all together.
3. Speaking of adjectives and adverbs, use them a lot in your description! And especially don't reuse words or include boring words like "good", "bad", etc. It could make for a monotonous read. Also, try using adverbs like "His eyes excitedly glistened with the color of the sea when his father explained to him the daring plan".
4. Think about it from their point of view, or from other characters in the story. Get into the narrative. Pretend like you're there. Let your characters describe themselves for you.

I have one more very useful resource for you, especially if your writing a book. I think some of may have heard of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I've sort of participated in their young writers category and found their workbooks very useful and helpful. I strongly suggest using their workbooks for any long story or book even if you aren't participating in the NaNoWriMo contest. I also talked about the importance of planning out your book/story on my other blog.

Hope this has helped and I wish you happy writing!