These Are Great. It Is Really A Fun Way To Broaden A Character. I Personally Have A File With Bios Of

Resources For Describing Characters

Physical Appearance

Arms

Athletic Build

Back

Butts

Cheeks

Chest

Chins

Curvy Build

Ears

Eyebrows

Eyes

Faces

Facial Hair

Feet

Fingernails

Fingers

Hair

Hands

Head

Hips

Jaws

Knees

Legs

Lips

Muscular Build

Neck

Noses

Shoulders

Slender Build

Sickly Build

Skin

Stocky Build

Stomach

Teeth

Toenails

Toes

Underweight Build

Character Traits

Affectionate

Ambitious

Bossy

Brave

Calm

Cautious

Charismatic

Clever

Conceited

Courageous

Creative

Critical

Curious

Determined

Diplomatic

Dishonest

Disorganized

Eccentric

Excitable

Friendly

Funny

Generous

Glamorous

Guarded

Honest

Impulsive

Independent

Intelligent

Just

Kind

Loyal

Manipulative

Mature

Modest

Mysterious

Naïve

Optimistic

Prejudiced

Persistent

Proper

Responsible

Sensitive

Sentimental

Serious

Shy

Reckless

Stingy

Stubborn

Talented

Thoughtful

Thrifty

Visionary

Wise

Witty

Worry Wart

Wounded

Talents & Skills

A Knack for Languages

A Knack for Making Money

A Way with Animals

Archery

Astral Projection

Astrological Divination

Baking

Basic First Aid

Blending In

Carpentry

Charm

ESP (Clairvoyance)

Empathy

Enhanced Hearing

Enhanced Sense of Smell

Enhanced Taste Buds

Farming

Fishing

Foraging

Gaining the Trust of Others

Gaming

Gardening

Good Listening Skills

Haggling

Herbalism

Hospitality

Hot-Wiring a Car

High Pain Tolerance

Knife Throwing

Knowledge of Explosives

Lip-Reading

Lying

Making People Laugh

Mechanically Inclined

Mentalism

Mimicking

Multitasking

Musicality

Organization

Parkour

Photographic Memory

Predicting the Weather

Promotion

Psychokinesis

Reading People

Regeneration

Repurposing

Sculpting

Self-Defense

Sewing

Sharpshooting

Sleight-of-Hand

Strategic Thinking

Strong Breath Control

Super Strength

Survival Skills

Swift-footedness

Talking With The Dead

Throwing One’s Voice

Whittling

Wilderness Navigation

Wrestling

Elemental Abilities

Miscellaneous

Voices

Voice Types

Speech Patterns

Speech Impediment

List of Character Flaws

List of Archetypes

Hairstyles

Describing Body Types & How They Move Around

Secrets To Give Your Character

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Wow, I can personally relate to just about every single example. I am so happy to know I am not alone.

Auditory Processing Problems

• *someone says something* “what?” *repeats themselves* “sorry?” *repeats themselves again* “pardon?”

•"hey, y'see the red thing at the top of the shelf, will you get it?“ “Sorry, what?” “On the sh-” “oh yeah sure, I’ll get it.”

•*doesn’t hear teacher because someone’s pen is making a scratchy sound at the back of the room*

•*replays video 10 ten times to figure out what they’re saying*

•teachers asking, “why do you always stop writing in the middle of a sentence, just write down whatever I’m saying,” followed by the response, “I’m just processing it,” rebuked by, “we’ll stop processing it and just write.”

•*gets really focused on staring out the window and goes through four songs without hearing a single on*

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The most valuable chart…

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@lovearyn But if I exercise too much and obtain looks that could kill then... 🤔

Legally Blonde (2001) Dir. Robert Luketic

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Me: -stares into the void-

The Void: write the next fucking chapter of your fanfic.

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I love them! Thank you for the lovely art! ❤

send me a:“♥” and i’ll draw you a picture send me a:“✉” and i’ll handwrite a little message for you send me a:“✎” and i’ll handwrite your url

Keep reading

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happy tdov to the trans people who can’t or don’t want to transition, who are in an unsupportive place, or who are still unsure of their identities. you are just as amazing and valid as every other trans person and you deserve just as much love. ♡

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writing tip: don’t tell us your character’s backstory. don’t tell us what your character is thinking. don’t tell us what your character is doing. don’t tell us anything. the reader should simply look at a blank page and be suddenly overcome with emotion.

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Today’s installment of  why“but it has always been like this!” is a bullshit argument: @nitratediva​ lays down the law about the role of women in early Hollywood

Showing Instead of Telling

@aithlynfreyeaesthetic said:

Hello. I hope you are doing well. I struggle with showing and not telling. Do you have any tips to get better at this? I apologize if you’ve already answered an ask like this.

Hi there, thanks so much for your ask! I don’t have much to say as a prologue-type thing, so let’s jump right into it!

The Difference Between Showing and Telling

“Nick was cold.”

This is telling. When you “tell”, you’re just giving your reader information. There’s not much room for the reader to deduce what’s happening or for you to include too many double meanings (if that’s your intention).

“Nick shivered as the strength of the wind grew, goosebumps appearing on his forearms.”

This is showing. Does it say Nick is cold? No. Could you have guessed that Nick is cold? Probably. When you “show”, you’re doing more than just giving your reader information; you’re giving them clues of sorts that lead them to the knowledge that, in this case, Nick is cold.

The Importance of Showing

In many cases, “telling” is a good way to make your readers believe that you think they’re stupid. Showing helps you give readers the opportunity to discover for themselves, and it also helps them paint a picture in their mind’s eye. 

Let’s look at the above example. Nick is cold, sure. But how does he react to being cold? How do we really know that he’s cold, as opposed to just being told? This is where showing comes in; it’s also a great way to include some imagery and for underwriters to boost their word counts.

Is telling ever acceptable?

Yes! Think, for example, of a time jump in your novel. If there’s something that you need to include but that doesn’t play a legitimate role in your story, this is where telling comes in. A week passed and nothing important happened? Write that.

For example, in my current project Smoke Shadows, I have the phrase: “Three days pass in a monotonous routine of…” Why? That’s all I need to write. Nothing important happened in these three days, but I needed my readers to know that three days passed.

It’s probably best to use telling to describe things like this, then jump right back into showing.

Some Tips for Showing

Here are some quick things to think of.

Do you ever state an emotion? Think of how you could let your readers know that your character is feeling this emotion rather than just telling them outright.

What about character traits? Sometimes those don’t need to be said outright, but instead you can pepper your writing with clues. Maybe a short character is always getting their hair ruffled or having people leaning their elbows on their shoulder.

Do your best to avoid forms of “be”. Unless it’s in dialogue or in a few other circumstances, the verb “be” is usually a sign of telling.

How are you describing the world around your character? Instead of saying they’re in a classroom, describe and give clues/description that would lead the reader to understand that the character is in a classroom.

Use your five senses! If you can really put yourself in the character’s point of view for this moment, then you can probably be sure that you’re showing instead of telling.

Read through your writing. Is there anything that seems abrupt, or that makes you feel like you’re just being given information? Unless it’s dialogue, you’re probably reading a bit of “telling”.

Remember that not everything needs to be shown! Trust your own judgment; if you’re telling but you believe that’s what’s best for your work, then don’t change it because of an advice post you’re reading on the internet.

So, that’s all I’ve got for today! If there’s anything else you want to see me write about in my next post, please don’t be afraid to drop a message in my ask! Until next time, much love! <333

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