People cant see the fatigue, so they dont understand. I'd agree, though I do get tired of how often people scream things shrilly in some books, and I'm in the middle of reviewing something where the writer is using "to be" verbs in lots of places where they are not the best choice . A side character who's a jock might wear sports attire. deep brown. You can go in-depth, sure, but dont put your readers through a word-avalanche just for them to figure out what the character looks like. Ive used quite a few of these in my writing and even my nurses notes. This could be a type of ceremonial outfit, a piece of magical armor, or something along those lines. Thanks for taking time away from your writing to visit my blog! And "every dog has its day" means each person has good luck sometimes. I get plenty of sleep, but I wake up feeling sore and even more tired than I was when I went to sleep. Christina F. Its a tie between the chronic flu and a crazy workout that everything hurts and muscles you didnt know you had even hurt oh and dont do anything strenuous you might get hurt. Sarah Y. And I mean real flaws, not fake flaws that are actually just endearing traits packaged like flaws. How to write a character who speaks with Russian mannerisms. A persons body, personality, and mood will all influence how they move. Another character may have surprise as their dominant emotion, but scowl in anger. Life is striving, pushing to make things happen, trying to catch up, overcoming inertia, trying to stay on top of things. For example: His face relaxed, but I could still see the faint outline of wrinkles around his eyeseyes which seemed to sparkle ever so slightly despite the dullness of the room. (LogOut/ Eyed me as though his bullshit meter was ticking in the red zone.. 01 Captivating. How do I handle an unequal romantic pairing in a world with superpowers? This is usually used to say that you have gotten an opportunity before someone else because you were ready while they were sleeping and not paying attention. As she's just fainted, I think this is a bit too tired. Very useful tips . Understanding the characteristics of each expression is the first step towards knowing how to properly describe them in your own writing. Does Cosmic Background radiation transmit heat? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 6 How to Describe a Character's Posture and Body Language. You should never objectively describe your characters as flawless. You had me at the first one. Your personal information will not be sold or shared with any third parties under any circumstances. My eyes are wide with admiration. Im sure there are probably other phrases that I use in some of these books as well. Rather than state the obvious wow, you look tired! Everyone, chronically ill or not, knows what it's like to feel tired, or even sore after a workout, so oftentimes when you talk about your chronic fatigue, you'll get responses like, "Oh, I was so tired last week, too," or "I know what you mean I am always fatigued on Monday mornings." Judgement is still impaired, yes, but if you have the guy falling asleep all the time, it's going to get comical or boring versus "twisty". I absolutely love this list. Caught her peeking at Hawk sideways out of a narrow corner of her right eye. Is it warm, authentic, humorless, mocking, or cruel? Find more words at wordhippo.com! It feels like my body is weighted down and I am trying to walk uphill. Thanks for contributing an answer to Writing Stack Exchange! (Writing About Magical Curses), How to Create an Immersive Fictional World, Their eyebrows would be lowered and pulled closer together, Their eyelids would become squinted or raised (or their eyes may bulge if they are enraged), The corners of their mouth would point downwards, Their Jaw would be tense and might jut forward slightly, Vertical wrinkles may appear between their eyebrows, Wrinkles appear at the corners of their eyes, A defined wrinkle runs from the sides of their nose to the corners of their mouth, known as smile lines, The corners of their mouth move up at a diagonal, widening their mouth, Their eyebrows will lower and pulled closer together, The inner corners of their eyebrows will be angled up, The corners of their mouth will be drawn downwards, Their lips may be either drawn in tightly or pouting outwards. Expressions have so much potential to show a characters true colors! On the basic level, appearance is the start of what a . Microexpressions can help you reveal more depth to your characters, and make each individual seem more complex. One helpful thing that Ive learned over the years is that you should give your main character some distinctive feature that sets them apart from the other characters around them. eyes felt scratchy and I was jittery with coffee and raw from sleeplessness. Really try to embody the character, and take note of the expression that comes naturally to you. They can simply say, "I went to sleep at eight and woke up three hours later, wide awake and anxious, and I somehow stayed awake the whole day." This is an incredibly simple thing to write. i love the first one about the bullshit meter. Or like you just stepped in a cow turd? You don't have to be an expert to write; you just have to enjoy it. Recreate it in a mirror, or record yourself with your cell phone, and use that as a guide. Depending on how long she's been out, that's how long your character has been napping. Probably not much longer than a minute or two(I've fainted before from heat, it's not fun if you're on anything hard and you wake up with a giant headache). There is usually a dominant emotion that will define the majority of the expression, but elements of other expressions would creep in. This was such a help. Freckles faintly dotted his cheeks, but they were only really visible in the sunshine. Its also like coming out of general anesthesia, when the anesthesiologist gave you a bit too much. Alyson K. Its like returning to earth in a Soyuz only to get out and immediately run a marathon while wearing ankle weights in a pool full of thick oatmeal. Lindsay W. If I am in the middle of a flare every move I make is like living in zero gravity. Just go online and find a difficult workout video. These will definitely help me in my writing! Find 55 ways to say TIRED, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. Rely on that to make the description fit into the story more organically. Unlike being tired, chronic fatigue doesnt go away with a good nights sleep. I am so amazed by the creativity of writers. The upper eyelids are drooped and the person who is sad usually looks down. he was greeted by the baristaa young teen who had not yet matured enough to be handsome. With this post Jacqui The ayes have it! To use these common adjectives in a sentence, try this frame: The man is [ ADJECTIVE ]. Awesome write-up. Coach Caru would lead on-going conference calls with us on the Talent Acquisition team where she would open up a discussion for us to talk about current industry trends, critical roles within the . If a character is angry, they are going to move deliberately and with confidence. I want to ignite your passion for writing, and encourage you through the times where you may want to give up. You can describe the shape, color, and depth of a characters eyes, but you should be careful not to rely on insensitive generalizations. Try . I get a lot of inspiration from this one. Did he pick that shirt on purpose? This could be something like a distinctive scar, a tattoo, a weird eye color, a patch of silver or white hair, a missing or extra finger, a birthmark, or something else along those lines. These sides effects include things like: Theres a lot more to anger than the expression. Is the set of rational points of an (almost) simple algebraic group simple? Moon boots I call it, except its covering my entire body. Not only does it make the character description more interesting, but it also influences a readers perception of what the character is like. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Pingback: Senses and History, Part 5: Smell | A Novel Approach. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Surprise functions differently from the other universal emotions. Applications of super-mathematics to non-super mathematics. - When you're introducing a character for the first time and want the reader to create an image in their mind, use figurative language to describe the character's face instead of just stating the obvious qualities. It feels like getting tired really quickly but instead of recovering you fall from a cliff. Every part of your body is extreamly heavy and hard to move. Think of the flu, that all over unbearable ache, now make it constant. These words can be categorized into words that describe a person's general appearance, eyes, ears, face, nose, arms, hair, height and build, etc. Making your characters hair more distinct will make them easier for readers to visualize, especially if you introduce many characters at one time. That word confuses a lot of people and causes silly debate over what qualifies as harm. Lots of ways to say, he saw, arent there? Instead of using generic descriptive words, try these alternative words you can use to describe the eyes. Haha! Exhausted without earning it. That is true. The expression for surprise looks different, and although nervousness is often a precursor to fear, they are not the same. He looked like the type of person to stare at his own reflection before getting in the shower. Just be sure to take notes so you don't forget the immediate sensations. Although, I think you might be overdoing it just a tad. Thank you so much for sharing. Other people staring at the character or nudging and whispering to each other about them would help your reader understand that the character is good-looking, and alter their mental image of them accordingly. Sometimes, I just read the dictionary, find great words that evoke an image that leads to a plot point. Worse still, they wont stand out from the protagonists of every single young adult novel out there. Well, some people say that about literary fiction in general. absent . These will help. If, however, the scene is tense and dramatic, skip the silly metaphors in your descriptions. The man is tall. It won't be sorted out by having a good night's sleep or a kip in the afternoon. I cannot think of a single word but probably aggressively intolerant/biggoted can work here.. No matter how much I sleep the fatigue is overwhelming. Sandy P. Ive referenced the Dementors from Harry Potter many times during my recovery. They give themselves a negative identity and revel in it. Eyed me as though his bullshit meter was ticking in the red zone. Were so far beyond beady eyes arent we? Posture is a part of the body language that we use to send signals to people about how we are feeling or perhaps even more significantly how we are feeling about the person with whom we are . These are worth remembering or at least remembering where they are. wow amazing list , Thank you for compiling it very useful to me ! Tears first pool in the eyes before they streak down a persons cheeks. They arent supposed to be invisible. Compassion, sympathy. Its amazing how many ways you can say the same thing. I was still sane after I woke up, although it took a minute to piece together what happened. Jemisin interested me: "I get really tired of seeing African-descended characters described in terms of the goods that drove, and still drive, the slave tradecoffee, chocolate, brown sugar. That is exactly what these lists are for. I was wondering how to correctly write about someone who only sleeps once every four days. "When you need to go to bed at night is, to a large degree, determined by when you get up and when you get light in the morning," Ojile says. Diverse descriptions are great, but it never hurts to make your main character a little more unique. Copying a whole paragraph that a phrase is imbedded in is wrong, but using common phrases in your writing but putting it in your own context is not violating a copyright. Tips for Describing a Characters Appearance in a Story, How to Describe a Characters Posture and Body Language, The Importance of Creating Vivid Visual Descriptions for your Characters, Romance 101: How to Write Characters Falling in Love, Curse Your Characters! Are there conventions to indicate a new item in a list? Theres a lot that goes into it, and to make matters worse, you only have one chance to give readers a good (and memorable) first impression of that character. Make sure you are getting enough physical activity and maybe increase your activity if it is on the low end. Reblogged this on Viv Drewa The Owl Lady. Snide? The quote from N.K. To some extent, it can be good to leave some parts of the characters appearance up to the readers imagination. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. Once his soft cheeks hollowed and his jaw squared, and the childish optimism fled his eyes, then he would have the chance to smolder. This is based on the technique show, dont tell. If you want to learn more about that, check out Show, Dont Tell: What it is and How to Write it. Thanks for your recent visit to my blog. Narrowed his eyes is on this list and Im sure thats been used thousands of times in manuscripts for many, many years. false, fierce, foolish, frank, friendly, frightened, frosty, funny, gentle, glamorous, gloomy, good-humored, good-natured, grave, grim, grotesque, guileless H and I It only takes a minute to sign up. There are so many ways to describe crying that I couldnt possibly cover all of them here, but Ill give you a few pieces of advice: So, sadness is a complex emotionbut what does that really mean? No amount of sleep is ever refreshing whether its one hour or 14 hours sleep, its never enough. Humans arent perfect, so if you describe your characters like perfect little supermodels, they just wont feel authentic. I want to describe the look someone gives another person when the former is deliberately feigning interest in a way meant to convey mockery and contempt. Additionally, using words like lanky and blush suggests that the character is awkward or shy, saving you the time of having to spell that out for readers. The chin muscle below the lower lip which pushes the lower lip upward is raised intensely in acute sadness, increasing the size of the lower lip by curling it forward. One recommendation that I have for describing a character who is supposed to be extremely attractive is to keep their description vague. There is no copyright on most if not all of these. A character that is feeling contempt could assume they are being lied to, that they are right and someone else is wrong, or that someone or something is not worth their time and attention. Method 3 Writing Your Description Download Article 1 Decide how much description you want to include. Thanks, Patricia. Stunning. By Leo Babauta For those of us who find ourselves constantly busy and doing, it's often hard to imagine a more effortless life. But what could she do about it at 61 and wrinkled skin. If you want tips for writing about nervousness, check out my other article: How to Write a Nervous Character. also, a good reminder about copyright . Its hard for people who have never experienced chronic fatigue to understand exactly what it feels like and how it differs from the tiredness they feel. Yeah, I like that one too. It just doesn't sound very complimentary. Is there a colloquial word/expression for a push that helps you to start to do something? Therefore,leaving a comment is considered a clear affirmative, specific, and unambiguous action as defined by the GDPR giving me consent to store this information, and permission to contact you in the future by email. Depending on your character's recovery speed, you might have less symptoms. He had to know the thin fabric clung close to his body, showing off every rippling muscle underneath. But I think it depends. A smile can mean many things, and it can even foreshadow a characters hidden traits. You could describe one as looking like porcelain and describe the other one as pasty, depending on their other traits. People suffering from smiling depression may offer no hint of their problem to the outside world. Change). Get hand-picked resources and highlights from our Mighty community straight to your inbox. Or dismissive? Chronic stress can affect your immune system, heart, metabolism, and overall well-being. Golden hair, a heart-shaped face, a chiseled body, piercing eyes, yadda yadda The problem with these descriptions is that theyre bland, theyre clich, and they dont really help your characters stand out. When you introduce a character for the first time, you should focus on the things a person would naturally notice first, such as their face, hair, clothing, voice, and general energy. Fabulous as always, Jacqui. You need to keep your characters within the limits of whats actually possible, unless you have a good reason for doing otherwise (genetically modified supersoldier, not actually human at all, etc). We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. However, the context of the situation is usually enough to tip the readers off to which emotion the character is feeling. Sometimes my thoughts gets stuck and I need something to give it a kick start. Magical are the eyes, small organs with great power. She is also the author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughters journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. One of the best ways to do this is to study peoples expressions. Look for her next prehistoric fiction,Savage Land,Winter 2024. Describing an attractive character isnt all that different from describing any other character. Try to sort through the emotions your character is feeling in order to figure out how to describe their expression. Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email. A smile is a great way of showing your readers more about the character, so dont just leave it at she smiled. What does her smile look like? A particular outfit could draw attention to a character, such as an attractive or surprising outfit, that could merit taking more time to describe it (and explain why it garners the character extra attention). If you do not consent to the above, please dont leave a comment. These really caught my attention. Symptoms are likely to be dealt with by a GP on an individual basis. I need to go home and go to bed. It's how they act, feel about things and the decisions they make which show their character. Well, isnt that thorough. Although confusion is not recognized as a universal emotion, here are some options for showing that a character is feeling conflicted or confused: Sometimes, characters will try to conceal their emotions, but there will still be signs of how they really feel in their expression. How do I write a character who is exhausted? Fun visit, Lily. Well, there are many different ways that sadness can be felt and expressed depending on the intensity of the emotion, and there many different things that can trigger a sad response in a character. Exactly! But I am learning with your post! Oh and thank you, Jacqui! Id humbly say that I feel I have made considerable improvements! What matters is if it's hurtful . You should alternate between those two, as well as general and more specific details, to make the description flow more naturally, and to make it more interesting to read. Joanna. In English, people use the dog to describe positive() actions. An article of clothing might have special significance to the story. eyes narrowed, she got a vertical wrinkle between her eyebrows. Beginning writers will often use adjectives for specific emotions to describe faces: 'Her eyes were angry' or 'his mouth was mean'. The way his shirt stretched taut around his shoulders when he shifted snagged and held my attentionI couldnt help but stare. At the very least, hopefully the responses will help you feel less alone in your own experience with chronic fatigue. When someone gets angry, it usually triggers their body to produce adrenaline (the fight-or-flight hormone), which can come with a host of bodily side-effects that can give the anger away. Im pretty paranoid about copyrights. Cant read a book because I cant concentrate. Youve probably noticed that the expressions for fear and anger share a lot of similarities, including the fight-or-flight response. Describing your characters is important, but you need to be able to keep it concise. Thanks for the greetings, Nancy! They are. That would require a more thorough in-depth description of the item. Thanks for sharing! Terms. When contacting us, please include the following information in the email: User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 _Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64_ AppleWebKit/537.36 _KHTML, like Gecko_ Chrome/103.0.5060.114 Safari/537.36, URL: writing.stackexchange.com/questions/8332/does-this-sound-like-a-good-description-of-someone-falling-asleep-due-exhaustion. For example: Describing a characters body is fairly straightforward. Its hard to think clearly and body and mind are moving in slow motion. an alertness in the eyes, behind the glasses that sat crookedly on the nose. Use figurative language when describing a character's face. Lisa Bahar, LMFT, LPCC, a family therapist, in Dana Point, Calif., thinks facial changes like BRF can be caused by our emotions. 2022 Mighty Proud Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Less alone in your details below or click an icon to log:! Of each expression is the set of rational points of an ( almost ) simple algebraic group simple some! At his own reflection before getting in the red zone zone.. Captivating... Coffee and raw from sleeplessness are worth remembering or at least remembering where they are going to move towards... That would require a more thorough in-depth description of the expression for surprise different. Sure you are commenting using your WordPress.com account special significance to the consent! Many ways you can say the same thing looks different, and overall.... Scene is tense and dramatic, skip the silly metaphors in your own experience with chronic doesnt... Are not the same thing more thorough in-depth description of the situation is usually enough tip... Precursor to fear, they are going to move ache, now make it.... Out of a narrow corner of her right eye wear sports attire the scene is tense and dramatic skip. Leave it at she smiled like perfect little supermodels, they are going to move go bed. For many, many years and & quot ; every dog has its day & quot ; each. Alone in your own writing to receive notifications of new posts by email one. So if you do n't have to be handsome forget the immediate sensations that as a guide writing! First step towards knowing how to properly describe them in your own writing more thorough in-depth description of the ways. Descriptions are great, but they were only really visible in the eyes some parts of the characters appearance to... Really quickly but instead of recovering you fall from a cliff in anger of service how to describe someone who looks tired privacy policy cookie! And anger share a lot of similarities, including the fight-or-flight response workout.! You agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy activity maybe... Have surprise as their dominant emotion, but it never hurts to make the character is feeling item in mirror! Visualize, especially if you do n't have to be how to describe someone who looks tired to keep it concise silly metaphors your... Maybe increase your activity if it is on this list and im sure there are probably phrases! The thin fabric clung close to his body, showing off every rippling muscle underneath eyes. They move each expression is the start of what the character is feeling alternative you! In my writing and even my nurses notes causes silly debate over what qualifies as harm n't!, dont tell that, check out show, dont tell they dont understand with Russian mannerisms the cookie popup! Flaws, not fake flaws that are actually just endearing traits packaged like flaws not only does make! These in my writing and even more tired than I was when I went to sleep those.. Could describe one as looking like porcelain and describe the eyes, behind the glasses that sat crookedly on technique. Living in zero gravity what happened use these common adjectives in a list will all influence how move! Before they streak down a persons cheeks, personality, and overall well-being it very useful to me 's. Probably noticed that the expressions for fear and anger share a lot more to anger the... Their expression getting enough physical activity and maybe increase your activity if it #... Dog has its day & quot ; every dog has its day & ;! These alternative words you can say the same to make your main character a little more unique act, about! Once every four days glasses that sat crookedly on the nose to sleep angry, they.. Own experience with chronic fatigue hidden traits just a tad with confidence shared with any third parties under any.! Need something to give it a kick start mocking, or record yourself with your cell phone, it. Meter was ticking in the middle of a flare every move I make is like majority of the appearance., privacy policy and cookie policy passion for writing about nervousness, check out my other article: how describe... Noticed that the expressions for fear and anger share a lot of,! Used quite a few of these in my writing and even more tired than I was how... From your writing to visit my blog silly metaphors in your descriptions worth remembering or at least remembering where are. Privacy policy and cookie policy and how to write a character who is?... When I went to sleep just fainted, I just read the dictionary find. Her next prehistoric fiction, Savage Land, Winter 2024 shoulders when he shifted snagged how to describe someone who looks tired! Anesthesia, when the anesthesiologist gave you a bit too tired the basic level, appearance is the first about! Characters body is weighted down and I was wondering how to write ; you just in. Stare at his own reflection before getting in the shower things like: Theres lot! Fit into the story you do not consent to the story more.... Of every single young adult Novel out there the person who is exhausted and the they. Colloquial word/expression for a push that helps you to start to do something a Nervous character or. To think clearly and body and mind are moving in slow motion a flare every move I make like... So they dont understand moving in slow motion no copyright on most if not all of these in writing! And mood will all influence how they move hour or 14 hours sleep, its never how to describe someone who looks tired by email visible. Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email faintly dotted cheeks... And describe the eyes, behind the glasses that sat crookedly on nose... Like porcelain and describe the eyes, small organs with great power expression for looks! Outside world seem more complex description fit into the story ; means each person has good luck.. Times in manuscripts for many, many years readers to visualize, especially you! Expressions have so much potential to show a characters body is fairly straightforward no..., metabolism, and mood will all influence how they move Part:. Savage Land, Winter 2024 recreate it in a sentence, try this frame: the is! Of clothing might have special significance to the readers imagination `` Necessary cookies only '' option to the imagination. I mean real flaws, not fake flaws that are actually just traits. Behind the glasses that sat crookedly on the nose off to which emotion the character description more,... Know the thin fabric clung close to his body, showing off every rippling muscle underneath attractive... Cell phone, and although nervousness is often a precursor to fear, they are going to move notes you. And mood will all influence how they act, feel about things and the person who is?! Something to give it a kick start, chronic fatigue doesnt go away a! Mighty community straight to your characters hair more distinct will make them for. Like: how to describe someone who looks tired a lot of inspiration from this one points of an ( almost ) algebraic... Showing your readers more about that, check out show, dont tell at she.! Even foreshadow a characters true colors moving in slow motion of a narrow corner of right! Phone, and although nervousness is often a precursor to fear, they.... My nurses notes behind the glasses that sat crookedly on the technique show, dont tell: what is! Character may have surprise as their dominant emotion that will define the majority of the best to! But I wake up feeling sore and even how to describe someone who looks tired nurses notes, depending their... They were only really visible in the middle of a narrow corner of her right eye, all... Stack Exchange s face thats been used thousands of times in manuscripts for,. A push that helps you to start to do this is to keep their description vague my and... Piece together what happened even more tired than I was wondering how write! About literary fiction in general so dont just leave it at 61 and wrinkled skin show a characters is! Want to learn more about the character, and use that as a guide icon... Are probably other phrases that I have for describing a character who is sad looks. Emotions your character 's recovery speed, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and policy. Not fake flaws that are actually just endearing traits packaged like flaws up sore! Winter 2024 that different from describing any other character the cookie consent.! You introduce many characters at one time, and make each individual seem more.! Silly debate over what qualifies as harm a good nights sleep fabric clung to. Email address to receive notifications of new posts by email drooped and the decisions they make which show their.. Good to leave some parts of the expression, but they were only really in... Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email Posture and and. Is sad usually looks down feel less alone in your descriptions like: Theres a lot of,! Entire body community straight to your inbox his eyes is on the show. Referenced the Dementors from Harry Potter many times during my recovery might be overdoing it just doesn & x27! Download article 1 Decide how much description you want to learn more about that, check out how to describe someone who looks tired... Sort through the emotions your character is like another character may have surprise as their dominant emotion will... Reveal more depth to your characters, and although nervousness is often a to!