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Question: Could you HELP me to DESCRIBE physically a CHARACTER!?
It's for a secondary character!. Jackie is a beautiful woman ( 60 years old ) who came for the british aristocracy!. When she was young, she went to Venezuela where her only child, Javier, was born in a Hacienda ( with a midwife not in a hospital)!.
Could you help me to DESCRIBE physically a character!?
THANK YOU !!!
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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
- Get a decent thesaurus (not the online ones: they're absolute crap!. Roget's is good)!.
- Decide what traits you want to emphasise about Jackie (dignified, stern, cruel etc) and figure out how you could physically represent these traits, i!.e!. if she is kind and dignified, she could stand tall and straight, with her hair in a tight bun, but with crinkles around her eyes and mouth to show that she laughs a lot!. (I'm sorry, that was horribly cliched)
- It sometimes helps me to draw a picture of how I imagine the character, or conjure up a picture of them in my mind, and just write down the first words that spring to mind!. This can give the description a lovely spontaneity which is very hard to achieve otherwise!.
- Use the thesaurus is you're stuck for words!.
- Don't go over the top with your description!. Try to capture the spirit of your character, rather than describe in laborious detail every aspect of her physical appearance!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Imagine her entering a room!. What would be the first thing people would notice!? Her eyes, her smile, her hair!? How does she walk!? Does she move in a hurried manner with quick short steps or does she move slowly with long strides!.
Something else which I find useful, is to give her a flaw of some type!. Be it a mole, one leg shorter than the other!. What it is does not matter as long as it unique unto only her!.
Another approach I find helpful is to compare her to an animal!. I know it sounds weird, but it does seem to work!. Is she a hunter or a grazing animal!? A carnivore or a herbivore!?
I hope this helps!.Www@QuestionHome@Com