In today’s story, we’re going to focus on a very particular type of descriptive writing

The Prompt
Creating a Character Your Readers Can “See”

As you write about your character today, make sure he or she is three-dimensional. You don’t have to tell me how tall they are or whta they weigh, but paint a picture of them that is so vivid that the reader can’t help but form a mental imgae of them

Tips:

• Describe the way they walk.
• Have your character use a signature gesture or two.
• Show how they move their body.
• Allow other characters to notice things about them.
• For this exercise free to steal mannerisms from an actor or a TV character (I’m thinking Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes or, perhaps even better, Martin Freeman’s long-suffering Watson).
• Make your choice of words carefully: see if you can make them reflect what you are trying to convey without using adverbs (‘stalking’ instead of ‘walking quietly, like a predator’).

 

Go!

And when you have written your story, log in and post your success in The Victory Dance group or simply comment on this post and let the congrats come flying in.