Description

[Jade]

Describing Appearances

Face Shape

* Square
* Oval
* Round
* Triangular
* Heart-shaped

Skin/Face/Complexion (Complexion is the natural appearance and color of the skin, especially of the face; e.g. Mary has a soft, creamy complexion.

* Freckled: sprinkled or covered with light brown spots
* Rosy: pink-cheeked; fair complexion that glows with a hint of pink
* Ruddy: skin that has a healthy reddish tint; may have the appearance of sunburn
* Tanned: skin with a healthy golden-brown tint
* Wrinkled: full of or covered with lines or loose folds of skin; often associated with age
* Other skin-related adjectives: pale, spotless, silky, smooth, creamy, baby-soft, glowing, paper-thin or translucent (as with a very old person); rough, callused, dry

Eyes

General

* Brown-eyed mother, bright-eyed sister, wide-eyed child

Eye expressions:

* Adj. eyes: piercing, mesmerizing, sad, sorrowful, tear-filled, gentle, sympathetic, warm, compassionate, expressive, twinkling, lively, dancing, laughing

Eye Shape and Size

* Large, small, almond-shaped, round, slanted, squinty, crinkly

Mouth/Lips

* Thin lips, full lips, pouting lips, pursed lips (puckered up, like when someone is concentrating)
* Laugh, smile, beam, grin, frown, grimace, scowl

Hair

Texture/Appearance

* wavy, curly, straight, spiky, stiff, buzzed, shaved, parted, neatly-combed, tamed, long, short, cropped

Hair Styles

* braids, ponytail, pigtails, bun, twist, bob, ringlets, flip, bangs, buzz
* layered, feathered, chopped, gelled, spiked, slicked down

Lots of hair

* thick, full, lustrous, bushy, coarse, wiry (stiff)

Little hair

* thin, scraggly, fine, baby-fine, wispy, limp, flat, balding, bald, bald spot, receding hairline (gradual loss of hair at the front of the head)

Treated hair

* permed, dyed, bleached, highlighted, weaved

Hair colors

* black, brunette, brown, chestnut-brown, honey-blond, blond, golden-blond, ash-blond, auburn, red, strawberry-blond, gray, silver, white, salt-and-pepper

Facial Hair

* Beard, goatee, mustache, sideburns
* Five o’clock shadow: new beard growth, shadowy in appearance, that can be seen late in the day on the jaw, chin, or cheek area (also known as stubble)
* Adjectives: bearded, unshaven, clean-shaven, trimmed, neatly-trimmed

Clothing

* Fabric: denim, twill, wool, cotton, tweed, polyester, corduroy, fleece, spandex, leather
* Bottoms: jeans, cargo pants, flat-front pants, pleated pants, slacks, trousers, overalls, sweatpants, crop pants, capris, skirt, culottes, shorts, board shorts
* Tops: sport shirt, dress shirt, polo shirt, button-down shirt, tank top, blouse, long-sleeve, short-sleeve, sleeveless, collared, T-shirt, sweatshirt, hoodie, pullover, sweater, cardigan
* Other clothing: dress, uniform, costume, pajamas, bathrobe, robe, vest, jacket, blazer, coat, socks, stockings, gloves, hat, cap, shoes, boots, slippers, sandals, flip-flops, heels, pumps

Sentence Starters Describing Clothes

* Smartly dressed in (name of garment), she...
* Casually attired in (name of garment), Jolene…
* Simply clad in (name of garment), Mark...
* Dennis sports a (name of garment)…

[Jade]

Describing Seizures / Seizure Symptoms

Visual changes

* Bright lights and blobs
* Zigzag lines
* Distortions in the size or shape of objects
* Vibrating visual field
* Scintillating scotoma
--------Shimmering, pulsating patches, often curved
--------Tunnel vision
* Scotoma
---------Blind or dark spots in the field of vision
---------Curtain-like effect over one eye
---------Slowly spreading spots
* Kaleidoscope effects on visual field
* Total temporary monocular (in one eye) blindness (in retinal migraine)
* Heightened sensitivity to light

Auditory changes

* Hearing voices or sounds that do not exist: true auditory hallucinations
* Modification of voices or sounds in the environment: buzzing, tremolo, amplitude modulation or other modulations
* Heightened sensitivity to hearing
* Someone speaking at a level and normal tone sounds like they are shouting loudly

Other sensations

* Strange smells (Phantosmia) or tastes (Gustatory hallucinations), or where food and drinks taste differently than usual
* Heightened sensitivity to smell
* Feelings of déjà vu or confusion
* Feelings of numbness or tingling on one side of the face or body
* Feeling separated from one's body
* Feeling as if the limbs are moving independently from the body
* Feeling as if one or multiple limbs are growing
* Feeling as if the mouth is too small for the teeth inside
* Feeling as if one has to eat or go to the bathroom
* Feeling as if one is going to vomit
* Anxiety or fear
* Weakness, unsteadiness
* Saliva collecting in the mouth
* Being unable to understand or comprehend spoken words during and after the aura
* Being unable to speak properly, such as slurred speech or gibberish, despite the brain grasping what the person is trying to verbalize (aphasia)
* Temporary amnesia, such as forgetting how to do tasks you have been doing for years


Early seizure symptoms (warnings)

Sensory/Thought:
Deja vu
Jamais vu
Smell
Sound
Taste
Visual loss or blurring
Racing thoughts
Stomach feelings
Strange feelings
Tingling feeling

Emotional:
Fear/Panic
Pleasant feeling

Physical:
Dizziness
Headache
Lightheadedness
Nausea
Numbness

No warning:
Sometimes seizures come with no warning
Seizure symptoms
Sensory/Thought:
Black out
Confusion
Deafness/Sounds
Electric Shock Feeling
Loss of consciousness
Smell
Spacing out
Out of body experience
Visual loss or blurring

Emotional:
Fear/Panic

Physical:
Chewing movements
Convulsion
Difficulty talking
Drooling
Eyelid fluttering
Eyes rolling up
Falling down
Foot stomping
Hand waving
Inability to move
Incontinence
Lip smacking
Making sounds
Shaking
Staring
Stiffening
Swallowing
Sweating
Teeth clenching/grinding
Tongue biting
Tremors
Twitching movements
Breathing difficulty
Heart racing

After-seizure symptoms (post-ictal)

Thought:
Memory loss
Writing difficulty

Emotional:
Confusion
Depression and sadness
Fear
Frustration
Shame/Embarrassment
Physical:
Bruising
Difficulty talking
Injuries
Sleeping
Exhaustion
Headache
Nausea
Pain
Thirst
Weakness
Urge to urinate/defecate



I have a character who has seizures so this helps me. Figured I'd share it anyway.

[Jade]

100 facial expressions.

1. Absent: preoccupied
2. Agonized: as if in pain or tormented
3. Alluring: attractive, in the sense of arousing desire
4. Appealing: attractive, in the sense of encouraging goodwill and/or interest
5. Beatific: see blissful
6. Bilious: ill-natured
7. Black: angry or sad, or see hostile
8. Bleak: see grim and hopeless
9. Blinking: surprise, or lack of concern
10. Blissful: showing a state of happiness or divine contentment
11. Blithe: carefree, lighthearted, or heedlessly indifferent
12. Brooding: see anxious and gloomy
13. Bug eyed: frightened or surprised
14. Chagrined: humiliated or disappointed
15. Cheeky: cocky, insolent
16. Cheerless: sad
17. Choleric: hot-tempered, irate
18. Coy: flirtily playful, or evasive
19. Crestfallen: see despondent
20. Darkly: with depressed or malevolent feelings
21. Deadpan: expressionless, to conceal emotion or heighten humor
22. Dejected: see despondent
23. Derisive: see sardonic
24. Despondent: depressed or discouraged
25. Doleful: sad or afflicted
26. Dour: stern or obstinate; see also despondent
27. Downcast: see despondent
28. Dreamy: distracted by daydreaming or fantasizing
29. Ecstatic: delighted or entranced
30. Etched: see fixed
31. Faint: cowardly, weak, or barely perceptible
32. Fixed: concentrated or immobile
33. Furtive: stealthy
34. Gazing: staring intently
35. Glancing: staring briefly as if curious but evasive
36. Glaring: see hostile
37. Glazed: expressionless due to fatigue or confusion
38. Gloomy: see despondent and sullen
39. Glowering: annoyed or angry
40. Glowing: see radiant
41. Grim: see despondent; also, fatalistic or pessimistic
42. Grave: serious, expressing emotion due to loss or sadness
43. Haunted: frightened, worried, or guilty
44. Hopeless: depressed by a lack of encouragement or optimism
45. Hostile: aggressively angry, intimidating, or resistant
46. Hunted: tense as if worried about pursuit
47. Impassive: see deadpan
48. Inscrutable: mysterious, unreadable
49. Jeering: insulting or mocking
50. Languid: lazy or weak
51. Leering: see meaningful; also, sexually suggestive
52. Meaningful: to convey an implicit connotation or shared secret
53. Mild: easygoing
54. Mischievous: annoyingly or maliciously playful
55. Moody: see sullen
56. Pained: affected with discomfort or pain
57. Pallid: see wan
58. Peering: with curiosity or suspicion
59. Peeved: annoyed
60. Petulant: see cheeky and peeved
61. Pitying: sympathetic
62. Pleading: seeking apology or assistance
63. Pouting: see sullen
64. Quizzical: questioning or confused
65. Radiant: bright, happy
66. Roguish: see mischievous
67. Sanguine: bloodthirsty, confident
68. Sardonic: mocking
69. Scornful: contemptuous or mocking
70. Scowling: displeased or threatening
71. Searching: curious or suspicious
72. Set: see fixed
73. Shamefaced: ashamed or bashful
74. Slack-jawed: dumbfounded or surprised
75. Sly: cunning; see also furtive and mischievous
76. Snarling: surly
77. Sneering: see scornful
78. Somber: see grave
79. Sour: unpleasant
80. Stolid: inexpressive
81. Straight-faced: see deadpan
82. Sulky: see sullen
83. Sullen: resentful
84. Taunting: see jeering
85. Taut: high-strung
86. Tense: see taut
87. Tight: see pained and taut
88. Unblinking: see fixed
89. Vacant: blank or stupid looking
90. Veiled: see inscrutable
91. Wan: pale, sickly; see also faint
92. Wary: cautious or cunning
93. Wide eyed: frightened or surprised
94. Wild eyed: excited, frightened, or stressful
95. Wistful: yearning or sadly thoughtful
96. Withering: devastating; see also wrathful
97. Woeful: full of grief or lamentation
98. Wolfish: see leering and mischievous
99. Wrathful: indignant or vengeful
100. Wry: twisted or crooked to express cleverness or a dark or ironic feeling

This list was sent to my e-mail from a 'Daily Writing Tips' website. I added a few of my own expressions that weren't included -- surly -- quixotic meaning excessively romantic, impractical, impulsive -- quiescent meaning quiet still or at rest -- hesitant -- and dubious meaning hesitant, doubtful, wavering.

[Spectre]

Wow. I barely ever spend enough time describing characters' appearances; this could be really helpful. Thanks for posting!

[Jade]

No problem Although over-describing can be a pit-fall.

Another helpful site: thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/

[sapphire]

Those are quite the lists.
I'd like to add that describing an odd trait in a character's appearance - a scar, a lazy eye, a hairlip, crooked teeth, etc. - makes them more memorable. It's especially useful when you're introducing several characters in quick succession. It also makes them more real; we're all flawed in one way or another.


On another note, the Tips section is a better place for this thread, so I'm moving it there.

[Angelica]

Very informed and helpful. ;D

[Jade]

Oops, sorry. I guess tips would be a better location. My GPS hasn't tuned into The Echo yet. Ha ha.

[the Red Dragon]

Hey, this is awesome!! Thanks for posting!

Just thinking out loud here ...a list of individual characteristics (ex. runs a hand through his hair when frustrated) would be cool. Although that could be such a wide field, it would be hard to write. Having fun with emoticons today.

[Jade]

Mar 3, 2013 14:36:33 GMT -6 the Red Dragon said:

Hey, this is awesome!! Thanks for posting!

Just thinking out loud here ...a list of individual characteristics (ex. runs a hand through his hair when frustrated) would be cool. Although that could be such a wide field, it would be hard to write. Having fun with emoticons today.

I've thought about that. Like when I see something described in a book and really like how it's down I want to write it down, but never have the ambition to write down such long sentences. Lol. And emoticons rock! ;D

[Raphael]

They are fun.

[Jade]

I don't think it worked, Raphael. LOL!

[Raphael]

Ah. or it was a reply to the question you just proposed?

[Zoom]

Saw this good description in Infinite Jest, which I've just started (holy crap it's long; what kind of WORK OF FICTION has 40 some pages of footnotes?)

"The air over the table like the sparkling space just above a fresh-poured seltzer."



I also like the description of what it's like to have a seizure; I think a neat distillation of heavy research / personal experience could be really handy:

What it's like to have a heart attack:
From Quora, which I think is probably the best source of anything anywhere (link)
Warning signs:
- Pressure, tightness and squeezing pain across the chest
- Pain radiating down the arm, shoulders, jaw, neck, and back, particularly on the left side
- Shortness of breath
- Dizziness, sweating, weakness, overwhelming fatigue
- Feeling of impending doom
- Headache, blurry vision, light-headedness, feeling faint
- Gastrointestinal symptoms such as indigestion, nausea and vomiting
- Coughing and palpitations

Physiological stuff:
- haemorrhage into the plaque causing it to swell and restrict the lumen of the artery.
- contraction of smooth muscle within the artery wall causing further constriction of the lumen;
- thrombus formation on the surface of the plaque which may cause partial or complete obstruction of the lumen of the artery , or distal embolism.

Felt like "an elephant siiting on his chest"


WHAT IT'S LIKE BEING IN A CAR ACCIDENT:
Also Quora. Link

- You never really forget.
- Time before is heavily compressed.
- The collision is virtually instantaneous.
- Post impact, you're not quite 'there'.
- Post danger, a lot happens quickly.

This was distilled from just one (very good, worth reading anyway) post, but it meshes with everything I've read and experienced in the past.
Speaking of which, haha,

WHAT IT'S LIKE TO CRASH A MOPED
Don't judge me, I was 16 and nobody had told me about taking low gravel corners at speed.
I was going about 30km/h when I hit the trees. No helmet or leathers.
- I went from in control, to hey-maybe-i-should-steer-or-something, to shit-shit-shit-shit-shit-lean-steer-bail-something pretty quickly, with each step taking like a quarter the time of the previous.
- I'll never forget that feeling of acceptance when I was just about to crash. Like, okay, this is Going To Happen and there is Nothing I Can Do About It. In retrospect it's creepy - I literally didn't particularly mind that I was probably going to die. I mean, what if my genes are weird and my acceptance-chemicals kick in too fast? What if I give up when there's still a chance to save myself? Most importantly, considering there's like no possibility of a creature that evolves these chemicals being able to pass them on and benefit future generations, how the cold hell did they come to be? Besides when was the last time something evolved to give us comfort? Is it some sort of shock+panic-managing-mechanism that just happens to fire here? Or something else? Or me just HOPING it's something else? Anyway.
- I don't remember much of the crash itself besides this seemingly unstoppable MOMENTUM.
- I got a mild concussion from a tree trunk, plus adrenaline and shock was seriously messing up my internal chemistry, but immediately afterwards, after prying myself out of the nest of sticks and metal, my first instinct was to see if the bike could be saved (it wasn't mine).
- Luckily for me my dad happened to be passing by like only five minutes afterwards, so I didn't have to worry about flagging somebody down and borrowing their phone. He took me to the hospital, which was about a ten minute drive, but all I remember is that all the colors and shapes sort of boiled down to their pure form; it was like life was suddenly an old video game. Trees and grass and dad's shirt were all the same color of green, though in reality they were all over the scale. The sky and my jeans were the same blue. Everything was kind of pixelly. I remember being worried that the crash had left me with only a few colors and shapes permanently.
- After about an hour in the hospital I was let go with massive bruises and a few scars, most notably across the knuckles of my left hand. The end.


...more to come!

[sapphire]

Heh, I think I remember that description. I had to tag seltzer on the Small Demons website.


I've had that feeling of acceptance just before falling off a horse before. I've also fallen off a horse and felt like it was slow motion. I watched a video of it afterward (it was a show, and we used to tape all of them), and I could not believe how quickly it happened. When I was on the horse, we stopped before the jump, kind of lurched over, I lost my balance, he spun, and I fell off his side. It felt like it took several seconds, but it was only like three.


Fainting (for any reason - overheating, the sight of your own blood, fever/dehydration, etc.) from my experience:
Dizziness - the world really does spin, though it's more of a warping to the side, then snapping back into place
Spots over your vision - it's like static, but it only fuzzes out the edges, and it fades in and out
Sound warping - things get really, really quiet, and all you can hear is the silence in your own head and your own breathing, and then the world is suddenly back to normal volume
Heat - I always get very, very hot just before I faint (yes, it has happened more than once - for all of the above reasons, actually)
Nausea - not like you're going to throw up, exactly; stomach churning without the gag reflex part

The first time, it's terrifying, because I, at least, had no clue what was happening or why I felt that way. After that, it was just kind of annoying and miserable, and I actually wanted to faint, because then I'd feel better.

After waking, all symptoms are gone, except a little dizziness that makes it hard to sit up too quickly.