how to describe glasses in creative writing

Writers in the Storm

A blog about writing.

Character Eye Descriptions: The Window to Your Story

By Sharla Rae, @SharlaWrites

Rather than using clichéd or common descriptions, why not use "explicit" eye descriptions to give your reader a real peek into a character’s psyche?

I’ll touch on eye color, movement, and appearance and, of course, I have some helpful lists to inspire ideas.

Eye color

It’s a given that writers mention eye color as a character feature . Color can be mentioned every so often to remind readers what the character looks like. But! Don’t hit them over the head with it.

Besides using eye color as a facial feature it can sometimes be used to identify who is speaking especially if the color distinctive.

Blue eyes widened and she threw up both hands. “Now hold on a minute.” OR Her amber cat eyes narrowed. “xxxx”

A character might have plain old blue or brown eyes and that’s fine. But why not use color terms that say something about the character or what they're thinking?

Eyes like silver lightning: sharp, doesn’t miss a thing, spirited, quick-witted
Gunmetal eyes: sounds like a lethal male, perhaps emotionless
Glacial blue: Can suggest nationality, or cold personality, angry expression
Milk chocolate eyes: sounds yummy, soft, warm
Chips of emerald ice: sharp, cold heated
Faded azure lace: an older person with blue eyes, lace suggests a woman, perhaps homey

Here’s a great eye color list that will help you describe “who” your character is. This is one of the best I’ve seen to date and includes pictures.

Want to know the most common and rare eye colors in the world? The following are listed from most common to least.

Amber and Black [rank about even according to which resource you’re looking at]
Red or Pink [mostly in albinos]

Just for fun here’s a website that tells you the meaning of the color of your eyes.

Eye Appearance

Eye appearance/shape isn’t too difficult to write -- round, almond, bug-eyed, beady, sloe-eyed, hooded, upturned/cat, downturned etc. We might also include how the eyes are placed on the face: close-set, deep-set, monolid , protruding etc.

Certain eye conditions or disorders can affect eye appearance and are excellent descriptors. You may not want to use the scientific terms but the descriptions of the terms are also useful. See my list below.

Appearance also includes emotional expression and often involves the eyebrows.

Appearance frequently blurs lines with eye movement and more often than not demonstrates emotions and personality. You'll see examples of this in the lists below.

Eye Movement

Is it just me, or do eye movements mess you up too?

No doubt you’ve heard or read something like: her eyes traveled/fell down the stairs where he stood.

The eyeballs rolled down the steps? Believe it or not, this is a common mistake. And yes as a newbie writer my crit group had a good laugh on me with such a mistake. Words like “gaze,” “visage,” "glance," fixes the problem.

A tiresome descriptor for eye movement are the over-used look, looked and looking. If our eyes are open they are looking and it really doesn’t say much more than that. There’s nothing wrong with using look but never varying with more explicit substitutes is boring and causes echoes .

Try: gaze, glance, surveyed, glared, raked, searched, watched, scanned etc. You’ll find lots of these in the lists below. Notice, too, that some have very specific connotations.

As mentioned above, eyebrows are very much a part of eye movement and play an important part in expressing emotion. Blinking eyelashes show emotion too but at the risk of sounding silly, don’t overuse this one.

And now for my lists. These include eye movement, appearance/expression, disorders and conditions, eye parts and types of eyeglasses.

Anchored her attention on Angry gaze sliced Assessing Blinked owlishly Blinking with feigned innocence Brow furrowed as his mouth turned grim Brows knitted in a frown Bushy brows beetled Cocked a brow in surprise Dragged his hawkish gaze Drilled her with Eyed him demurely/boldly Eyes caressed Eyes crossed in exasperation Eyes retraced their path to Eyes rolled skyward Eyes wandered Flayed him with Focused on her lips Followed as the model passed Gawking at girls Gaze cruised her figure Gaze dipped to her Glance flickered Glanced sideways Glare traveled with unnerving thoroughness Glared daggers [overused] Inspected the cabin Inventoried his surroundings Lashes swept up and she blinked Leveled a glowering look Lingered over the script lines Lowered her eyes/opened Narrowed to crinkled slits One heavy brow slanted in strong disapproval Penetrating gaze probed Perusing the sea of faces in hopes of Plugged his eyes back into their sockets Pried her eyes off the hunk Probing visual caress Raked with disdain Searching the depths Shifted her angry glare to Shot him a disgusted glance Sighted out the corner of her eye Slammed her eyes shut and hummed the pain Squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth Squinted Staring fixedly Strange pale eyes darted Studied with piercing scrutiny Subtle wink Swung her restless gaze Tracking the other man’s gaze Unglued her eyes from him Unrelenting stare Up went his brows Violet eyes strayed to the Watched until distance obscured Wrenched his gaze

Eye Expression and Appearance [Some of these cross over with Movement]

Moon-eyed Sloe-eyed Burned fanatically Devoured her beauty Eyes implored A look designed to peel his hide All-consuming Almond shaped Appraising glance Astute gaze Avid eyes attested to his quick wit Beady rat eyes Beseeching Bewildered Blazed like torches Boomerang brows like Ayatollah Khomeini’s Bright with age Bug-eyed Bulging with fright Chaotic, helter-skelter eyebrow—like his mind, unsystematic and fickle Cold/cool/chilly/icy/frigid Commanding visage Cross-eyed Crudely insulting stare Deep set beneath heavy black brows Disapproval gleamed in her eyes Dissatisfaction plowed his brow Disturbing smoke-hued Elliptical eyes with heavy lids Eyebrows like checkmarks Eyes all gooey with Eyes like a shark Feline eyes Flashed with gaiety/anger etc Flat black, dispassionate as bullets Frankly assessing Get a load of those blinkers Gleam of deviltry Glittering with Green flinty rocks Hallows of madness Hard as nails Heart-stopping eyes Held hostage by his eyes Intent and unwavering/riveted Irritated visage Liquid pools of Luminous glow of happiness Magnetic Mellow as the sky at sunset Narrowed to slits Nebulous gaze / unreadable New moon-shaped Penetrating blue of his eyes Possessed the power to make her Rheumy old eyes Sardonic/disdaining/skeptical/mocking Sharp with intelligence Slits for eyes Sliver of emotion in those cool eyes Sloped down at the corners like a sad pup Small evil eyes Sneaky close-set eyes So tired his eyeballs seemed to sag out Steeply arched brows Sunken in the head Sympathetic Tears of remorse flooded The dark mystery of his eyes Triangular brows/always surprised Twenty-twenty vision Veiled expression of Visionary eyes Visual exploration of Watery eyes Where did you get those peepers Wild and frightened Wore spectacles/glasses/winkers

Eye Disorders and Conditions [You might like this website ]

Astigmatism : causes fuzzy or blurry vision due to irregular curve in eye lens or cornea.
Gimlet-eyed : sharp and piercing
Goggle-eyed : bulging, rolling or staring
Megalophthalmic : unusually large eyes, often a congenital condition-think goldfish
Strabismaic : eyes are not properly aligned. Sometimes Cross-eyed or walleyed
Walleyed : eyes diverging instead of focusing simultaneously on the same point; eyes turned outward away from nose; also used to define a wild irrational staring, glare or fierce look
Cross-eyed : converging strabismus, eyes turning toward the nose
Diplopia : double vision
Cataract : opacity of the lens of the eye, cloudy
Glaucoma : hardening of the eyeball, often resulting in poor vision or blindness
Leucoma : disease of the eye in which the cornea becomes white and opaque
Pinkeye : highly contagious form of conjunctivitis-eye appears rimmed in pink, bloodshot, often swelled and sometimes full of pus.
Nystagmic : eyeballs moving rapidly and involuntarily
Ablepsia : lack of sight; blindness
Farsightedness : ability to see objects at a distance more clearly than close objects
Nearsighedness :(shortsightedness, myopia) see objects only at close distances
Cornea : transparent covering of the iris that produces refraction needed to focus image on retinea
Eye socket: hollow of bone in face holding eyeball
Eyeball : globe of the eye
Iris : colored circular muscle in front of eye that controls amount of light that enters the eye
Retina : inner layer of the eye wall composed of nervous tissue stimulated by light to send impulses to the brain.
Optic nerve : nerve that sends sight impulses from the eye to the brain
Pupil : round contractile aperture in iris of eye, regulating light into the eye
Vitreous humor : jelly-like material that fills eyeball and forms its shape
Eye lashes : hair around the eyes

Eye Corrections [A good overview of modern lenses ]

Note: Although it’s not exactly known when eye glasses were first invented, they appear in a 1352 painting.

Aviator : sunglasses with oversized lenses; associated with pilots
Ben Franklins : glasses with small ellipitcal, octagonal or oblong lenses worn on the middle of the nose; in slang often referred to as granny glasses
Bifocals : glasses having split lenses to improve both near and farsightedness
Contact lenses : lenses worn directly on the eye
Eyeglasses or spectacles or winkers : worn to correct vision; lenses set in frames that hook behind the ears
Horn-rimmed : glasses with dark or mottled brown frames; frames are usually heavy
Monocle: single lens used over eye for correction
Lorgnettte : eyeglasses on a long handle
Lorgnon : (French – pince-nez) eyeglasses that clip onto the nose; framless, circular lenses that set on the bridge of the nose
Loupe: magnifying glass generally held in the eye and used by jewlers

Now let's have some fun. What are some of the funniest mistakes you've made with eye descriptions or eye movement? What is your biggest pet peeve?

About Sharla

When she’s not writing and researching ways to bedevil her book characters, Sharla enjoys collecting authentically costumed dolls from all over the world, traveling (to seek more dolls!), and reading tons of books. You can find Sharla here at Writers In The Storm or on Twitter at @SharlaWrites .

eye photo credit: Brittany Greene via photopin cc

51 comments on “Character Eye Descriptions: The Window to Your Story”

That was great! Thanks for all the information!!!

Great, Sharla - This helps. I have to remind myself though, not to overuse 'eyes'. Better to intersperse other body movements to express emotion as well, or my scene gets boring....and I run out of terms! Hard to write fresh with 'eyes' - it's all been done!

STELLAR list, Sharla. This goes in my "keepers" email folder for when my brain goes AWOL on eye descriptors. Thanks!

Thanks Gloria. Glad you dropped by.

Great reminders. I am annoyed by the 'moving eyes' too.

Yes, it's easy to echo just the word eyes. I'm glad you brought that up!

Reblogged this on Daphodill's Garden and commented: Great tips to expand on eye descriptors.

Thanks for the Reblog!

Perfect timing with this wonderful information! I'm deep into revisions and looking for fresh ways to show emotions, using both eyes and body language. One question. If eyes can't travel or fall, how do they caress? 😉

A character's eye expression can soften and the gaze can caress.

Brilliant advice, thanks for sharing 🙂

Great post, Sharla!

Another great post...bookmarking it! The "eyes" have it...best blog and writers ever!

Thanks. I almost used The Eyes Have It as a title. 🙂

Great minds, and all that, Sharla.

Awww...thanks a bunch! This comment is a great way to start my day. 🙂

Great post! Thank you. This will take our manuscripts from dull to delicious. =)

Thanks stopping by Sally!

Great collection of eye-related description. 🙂 As long as a person doesn't use the eyes too often to describe, this can be powerful. It's an easy area to overuse, especially with emotion.

True. Too much of a good thing is never good.

Terrific post! So many things to remember. I smiled at your dropping body parts. A writing instructor long ago made fun of those things--Like you, he pointed out eyes--and heads--that drop a lot. Thanks for the great lists. Tweeted/shared.

Thanks Barb. The body parts thing is always touchy. A time or two I've read where an author forgot that both arms were already occupied and wrote in a third arm accidentally.

Reblogged this on jbiggarblog .

Thanks for the reblog!

Great list Sharla Rae, sometimes I get stuck on watched, gazed, searched. Nice to see som many great options, 🙂 I reblogged so I could save this list

This is a keeper! Lord, I love lists!! Thanks for the great post.

I love lists to Barb. Glad you enjoyed these.

This was great Sharla! Lovely of you to take the time to write all this down for everyone. Very helpful. Goes on my blog keeper shelf. 🙂

Thanks Kathleen. I love lists for brainstorming ideas.

Bookmarking this! I have such a hard time describing eyes and eye movement. Thanks.

It's funny. Eyes and their movement sounds like it should be easy but really not, esp. when you want to show more than just the obvious. Thanks for Laurie for stopping by.

Thanks for sharing! This is most definitely going to come in handy when I have a brain-freeze.

I hate brain freeze's because most of the time I'm not even eating yummy ice cream when they happen. 🙂

Sharla, you never fail to provide us with amazing lists of alternatives to the ho-hum. Thanks, this is another keeper 🙂

Welcome. I'm knocking around for another list already.

This is such a great article. And the lists are fantastic. Thanks!

Thanks for stopping by Veronica.

You are so the queen of lists, Sharla. And all are awesome. I'm saving this with the others. Thanks so much for sharing. I'll do the same.

Really eye-opening post. Nicely done. Thanks.

Your welcome and do share! It's the best way we writers can help each other.

Fantastic post.

Great post. I'm saving this. Would you mind if I reblogged it on Everybody Needs A Little Romance next Friday?

Stephanie, I'd be honored if you reblogged it. Thanks!

Thanks for this informative post on eyes! It's a keeper!

Hands down (!) the most comprehensive discussion of this topic anywhere. I wrote an "eye moment" just last night. Now I'm inspired to go back and punch it up.

Thanks Eric. Sometimes I wonder about myself and my lists so this kind of comment makes it all worth while. 🙂

Great post. It's a keeper. Thank you!

What a wonderful resource. I've shared with my writer's group. LOVE it.

I would add, some other eye accessories, too, like: Sunglasses Cheaters Shades Sunnies Glares Specks

~ Tam Francis ~ http://www.girlinthejitterbugdress.com

This is a wonderful, unusual and very useful post. Thanks so much. My characters seem to glance and gaze a lot too much for my liking (they're far too nosy) so it's great to have your lists.

I really needed this. Thanks for posting it. I always run out of other ways to say "glance" and "look."

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Tricks for Describing a Character’s Appearance (With Examples)

how to describe glasses in creative writing

Introducing a new character to your story can be difficult. There’s 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. One of the ways you can do this is by giving them a distinct appearance, but many writers tend to fall short of describing appearance well.

We’ve all heard the same cookie-cutter descriptions for characters a million times before. Golden hair, a heart-shaped face, a chiseled body, piercing eyes, yadda yadda… The problem with these descriptions is that they’re bland, they’re cliché, and they don’t really help your characters stand out.

However, if you break from clichés, you can create uniquely vivid descriptions that will give your characters life. There are endless ways you can describe characters, and I’m not going to walk you through how I would describe every single possible human feature (or humanoid, animal, alien, etc). For one thing, that would take too long, but for another thing, descriptions are based on more than just the character’s physical appearance—their personality plays a part too.

Tips for Describing a Character’s Appearance in a Story

There are a number of things to keep in mind when describing a character’s appearance. Here are just a few general tips before we dive into some more specific techniques for describing different parts of a character’s appearance.

Don’t Make Everyone a Supermodel

This is probably one of the most (if not the most) important things to remember when describing a character. You should never objectively describe your characters as flawless. Humans aren’t perfect, so if you describe your characters like perfect little supermodels, they just won’t feel authentic. Worse still, they won’t stand out from the protagonists of every single young adult novel out there. You need to make them distinct, and to do that, you need to give your characters flaws . And I mean real flaws, not fake flaws that are actually just endearing traits packaged like flaws.

Don’t Dump Everything Out at Once

Describing your characters is important, but you need to be able to keep it concise. No one wants to read a 7-page summary of every detail of a character’s appearance. You can go in-depth, sure, but don’t put your readers through a word-avalanche just for them to figure out what the character looks like.

Remember, you can reveal more about the characters over time. 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. You can further elaborate on their appearance later when it is relevant, and describe their gait, posture, temperament, and more.

There is one exception here I want to highlight. If you are telling a story from the first-person perspective, and you want to illustrate a character’s obsession with another person, hyper-fixating on the details can be a good way to show this. It can make the character seem creepy , and it can foreshadow the protagonist doing something bad to the person they are obsessing over.

Don’t Sell Them Short

Opposite to the point above, you shouldn’t make your introductions too short. To some extent, it can be good to leave some parts of the character’s appearance up to the reader’s imagination. However, you should give them something to help them visualize the characters in the beginning. Otherwise, if you later reveal that the character has dark hair, all the readers that imagined them with light hair might have a difficult time accepting that.

Descriptions are important, and they help to include a reader in the narrative. Like a well-described setting, vivid characters can help immerse readers into the world and make them part of the story.

Use Their Personality

A character’s personality can have a large impact on how they are perceived, and therefore should alter the words you use to describe them. Two characters might have similar features, but based on their personality, you would describe them differently.

For example, two characters might both be tall, but one would be described as “awkward and long” while the other is “towering.” In this case, the characters’ levels of confidence impact how they are perceived. For another example, think about two characters who both have light skin. You could describe one as looking like “porcelain” and describe the other one as “pasty,” depending on their other traits. Those two descriptions create very different perceptions from each other.

Use the Point of View

If the character in question is being described from the first-person perspective of another character, then the protagonist’s opinions should sneak into the description. Your protagonist probably isn’t going to objectively evaluate the other person—they’re likely to rely on stereotypes, biases, and things they have heard from others about the character they’re looking at. Rely on that to make the description fit into the story more organically.

Here are some examples:

She had no right to have such a disarming smile.
His expression was empty—just like his head.
His dark, tangled hair reminded me of a swamp.
She didn’t even wear any makeup! But even more frustratingly, she didn’t really need it.
They looked divine… like I wasn’t even worthy to look upon them.
He looked like the type of person to stare at his own reflection before getting in the shower.
They were short and stocky, but they could still probably beat me in a fight.

Remember, your protagonist can make speculative judgments about the character they’re looking at. You’re telling the story as they experience it, so their judgments are part of the narrative!

“…he was greeted by the barista—a young teen who had not yet matured enough to be handsome. Once his soft cheeks hollowed and his jaw squared, and the childish optimism fled his eyes, then he would have the chance to smolder. That crooked smile would win over many hearts in the blink of an eye, but not just yet.” – excerpt from a draft

Keep the Description Balanced

A good rule of thumb when describing characters (or anything else really) is to create a balance of concrete details and flowery imagery. 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.

Imagine reading a description like:

“His hair was red and curly. His eyes were large and green. He had freckles, but they weren’t that noticeable. He was tall but very thin.”

That’s so dry, and it’s not fun to read. Compare that to a description that varies how the information is provided:

“His hair was like a massive red bush surrounding two wide, green eyes. Freckles faintly dotted his cheeks, but they were only really visible in the sunshine. His long, lanky body and large hair made him look a bit like a big red lollipop—which was only heightened by his tendency to blush often.”

Wasn’t that a lot more fun to read? Not only does it make the character description more interesting, but it also influences a reader’s perception of what the character is like. Certain words help readers to gauge what kind of person this character is. The first example gives no indication of personality, but the second one uses words like “sunshine” and “lollipop” to associate the character with lively, happy things. 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.

Give them Something Special

One helpful thing that I’ve 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. Diverse descriptions are great, but it never hurts to make your main character a little more unique. 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. That can make them stand out more, and it can be a really clear indicator that they are special.

Although your story won’t suffer if you don’t give your main character a distinct feature like this, it is usually a good bet—especially if you think your story could ever conceivably be adapted into a visual medium, like a comic, animation, or film. That character could become iconic. People may just see your character somewhere and that alone could motivate them to read or watch the whole story. As another plus, it could give you a cool opportunity for your story’s cover.

How to Describe a Character’s Face

When describing a character’s face, the easiest way to do that is to first break the face down into its essential parts: the eyes, the mouth, the nose, and the facial structure.

So let’s start with the eyes since they are the focal point of the face. Stay away from the descriptions you’ve heard a million times, like “piercing” or “doe-eyed.” The eyes are the window to the soul, and they can tell a reader a lot about a character. Instead of “piercing,” try “icy” or “sharp,” and instead of “doe-eyed,” try “wide,” “innocent,” or “full of wonder/awe.” The goal is to describe the character in a unique way to make it more interesting to read, while still creating a vivid image of that character.

You can describe the shape, color, and depth of a character’s eyes, but you should be careful not to rely on insensitive generalizations. For example, instead of “Asian” eyes, use “almond-shaped” or “mono-lid.” Not all Asian people have mono-lids, so simply using the word “Asian” to describe the character’s eyes doesn’t actually narrow down what they look like.

That goes for all the other features of the face, too. Though it is true that some features are more prominent in certain races, nothing is inherent. You shouldn’t rely on the character’s race or ethnic background alone to be the basis of your description. Saying that a character is Japanese or Jamaican without giving other details doesn’t do any more for the character’s description than saying they are European or white. Doing this only encourages your readers to stereotype your characters, even if that wasn’t your intention.

With that said, don’t get too caught up in describing every detail of a character’s face. Give the most important information, such as the eyes, face shape, scars, and other notable details or imperfections, then move on. If a character has an exaggerated feature, such as a large nose or bushy eyebrows, then that’s important to mention too.

How to Describe a Character’s Hair

There are lots of different types of hair colors, textures, thicknesses, and shines, so try not to make all your characters have the same kind of hair—unless they’re related or part of a small, isolated community, of course. Hair can be curly and blond, sleek and black, coily and auburn, and even dyed wild colors. Making your characters’ hair more distinct will make them easier for readers to visualize, especially if you introduce many characters at one time.

Beyond the basics, you can use words to describe a character’s hair that reflects who they are as a person. For example, describing a character’s hair as springy or bouncy could indicate the character is upbeat and moves excitedly. Slick, greasy, or wispy hair could suggest an untrustworthy or sneaky character. The words you use to describe the character’s hair will be subliminally applied to the character themself.

How to Describe a Character’s Clothes

Clothing is an important element of self-expression, and what your character decides to wear can reflect a lot about them. However, unlike with the character’s face, you should not spend a lot of time describing their outfit. For one thing, they’re probably going to change their outfit at some point in the story—likely more than once. Secondly, readers just won’t care unless you give them a good reason to.

If you want to describe what your character is wearing, make sure to keep it short. If it’s just a simple way of helping the reader visualize the character’s style, present the information objectively and in only a paragraph or two, such as:

“She wore short-shorts and a denim jacket, and pink thigh-high socks that she had to keep pulling up because they always slipped down to her knees. Her tennis-shoes were white and bulky, as was the belt bag she wore off to one side. This free, laidback style was completed by the two messy buns her faded purple hair was pulled up into.”

However, there are a few times in which you can use clothing to explore more complex ideas in the story. For example:

An article of clothing might have special significance to a character. It could have been handed down from a relative, it could be a favorite shirt, or it could be meaningful in other ways. That would merit drawing more attention to it.
An article of clothing might have special significance to the story. This could be a type of ceremonial outfit, a piece of magical armor, or something along those lines. That would require a more thorough in-depth description of the item.
An article of clothing may be unfamiliar to most of your readers, such as a specific cultural outfit or an unusual costume, in which case a descriptive explanation could help illustrate what it looks 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).

How to Describe a Character’s Body

Describing a character’s body is fairly straightforward. Like with many other aspects of a character’s appearance, there are a few methods you can use to approach describing their body. You could take the objective approach, which would do just fine in most cases, or you could toy with your readers’ perceptions.

I’ll start out with a word of caution. Too many times, I’ve seen unrealistic descriptions of characters’ bodies. Whether it’s a waist that’s impossibly thin or muscles like a bodybuilder on a teenager, people tend to push the boundaries of what the human body is even capable of. You need to keep your characters within the limits of what’s actually possible, unless you have a good reason for doing otherwise (genetically modified supersoldier, not actually human at all, etc).

Now, as with some other aspects of the character’s appearance, you can get away with a simple, objective description, like “tall and muscular” or “short and curvy.” Honestly, that’s usually all you’ll need to do. However, bodies are commonly associated with physical attractiveness, and if attraction is the point of your description, you need to take a different approach.

Writing about attraction is tough (which is why I go more in-depth about how to write about attraction in my other article, Romance 101: How to Write Characters Falling in Love ). You’ll want to highlight the positives of the character’s body—the elements of them that have caught your protagonist’s attention. Whether it’s biceps, legs, or a large chest, you’ll want to describe it in detail, as well as highlight what it is about them that has the protagonist so interested. Here’s an example:

“He was tall and sturdy, and even in this relaxed environment, his pose held power. The way his shirt stretched taut around his shoulders when he shifted snagged and held my attention—I couldn’t help but stare. Did he pick that shirt on purpose? He had to know the thin fabric clung close to his body, showing off every rippling muscle underneath…”

How to Describe a Character’s Posture and Body Language

Body language is an often overlooked element of describing a character, but you should give it some thought even if you don’t intend to draw a lot of attention to it in the story. How does your character stand? How do they emote? Do they gesture when they speak? Do they fidget? Try to envision what they look like when they are waiting, actively engaged in a passionate conversation, and when they are uncomfortable.

People move in different ways, even if they aren’t thinking about it. Come up with a list of movements and behaviors that are typical for the character, and utilize those movements to make dull scenes and conversations more interesting. Instead of just dialogue, you can give readers more to imagine as your character shifts their weight, runs their hand through their hair, or twists the hem of their shirt. This can also help to establish the tone of the conversation.

A person’s body, personality, and mood will all influence how they move. If you establish a baseline for how the character stands and behaves when they are in a neutral mindset, this will help you keep them consistent over time by casually mentioning their body language throughout the story. As a bonus, it can also help you tip readers off if you want them to notice that something is bothering the character. If you have established that a character is pretty relaxed in most situations, readers will instantly notice if they exhibit anxious body language even if you don’t draw a lot of attention to it.

How to Describe an Attractive Character

Describing an attractive character isn’t all that different from describing any other character. You still shouldn’t make them flawless, but you can put off mentioning their more negative qualities until later—especially if another character is looking at them through rose-colored glasses .

One recommendation that I have for describing a character who is supposed to be extremely attractive is to keep their description vague. Beauty is subjective, so each reader is going to have a different idea of what “attractive” means. By all means, describe the basics of their appearance, such as hair color, eye color, skin tone, and whatnot, but don’t dive deep into the shape of their features. This will leave a little bit up to the reader’s imagination, and they will fill in the gaps in the character’s description with the traits that they find most attractive.

Another helpful tip is to utilize the reactions of background characters to establish that the character is, in fact, attractive. 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.

The Importance of Creating Vivid Visual Descriptions for your Characters

Creating vivid visual descriptions for your characters is incredibly important for a number of reasons. For one thing, being able to imagine the characters will help draw your readers into the story and immerse them in the world. Additionally, by giving your characters more distinct appearances, they will stand out more from each other, and from characters in other stories. The more complex and interesting the character, the more likely they are to stick in a reader’s mind for years after they finish reading the story.

Good luck with writing your descriptions! I know you’ll write something great.

65 Ways to Describe Sight and Eyes in Your Writing

Ever since William Shakespeare said:

“The Eyes are the window to your soul”

… people have been trying to decode ever glitter, wrinkle, squint, and gaze that passes from those orbs. When I read a description that catches my attention, I copy it down, using it later to remind me there’s more to a character’s eyes than ‘she looked’ or ‘his blue eyes’.

Here’s my list of 65 (and growing):

A note: These are for inspiration only . They can’t be copied because they’ve been pulled directly from an author’s copyrighted manuscript (intellectual property is immediately copyrighted when published).

Eyed me as though his bullshit meter was ticking in the red zone.
He blinked as his eyes adjusted.
an alertness in the eyes, behind the glasses that sat crookedly on the nose
Cold gaze fixed on the anxious young man
Cast a skeptical eye
Sure, we know that, said Herrera, taking off his glasses to inspect the lenses.
Gaffan saw Marley’s eyes open wide in surprise and recognition.
Eyes bleary from surveillance and the two-hour drive
Vision narrowed to a pinprick
Eyes clouded
eyes locked on like magnets
four pairs of eyes blinked in unison
studied her with a predator’s unwavering attention
blinked a couple of times

eyes narrowed to slits
Narrowed his eyes
eyes locked in a shared understanding
yellow rimmed eyes narrowing
peer sightlessly at a wall
eyes turned inward
shook her head and stared at the pool
Staring sightlessly into the darkness
Stared off into the crowd but didn’t seem to see anything
Stared into the distance
Fixed expression
Looked at a place somewhere over his shoulder
focused on an empty space in the air between them
eyes narrowed, she got a vertical wrinkle between her eyebrows. Her lips pursed slightly.
Their eyes met, but he broke it off
meaningful eye contact
studied Hood with her level gaze
risked a peek
she screwed her eyes shut
stared brazenly into her eyes
opened her eyes wide
dark eyes radiated a fierce, uncompromising intelligence
rubbed raw eyes
eyes felt scratchy and I was jittery with coffee and raw from sleeplessness.
His eyes flickered past me.
His eyes were never still and he never looked at me except in passing
Caught her peeking at Hawk sideways out of a narrow corner of her right eye.
Watching the bystanders from the edge of his vision
Looked him over with the respect men who have not served give those who have

Ferret-like eyes
Dark eyes smoldering
Lined from squinting into too many suns
Eyes were dark pools of fear
looked like hell—purple bags under her eyes,
eyes carried a mixture of shock and barely contained anger
bright eyes of an optimist
one eye clouded with a cataract
wounded eyes
his body felt heavy
eyes were dark, cupped by fleshy pouches
wire-rimmed glasses
Slate-blue eyes
Dark solemn eyes
Spark in his grey eyes
Steely-eyed
Huge blue eyes that gave her a startled look
black circles beneath her eyes had become bruises
Wide-spread aquamarine eyes
brown eyes wearing reading glasses
Piercing stare
Close set black eyes
Watery blue eyes
Memorable only for his bleak eyes
Nets of wrinkles at the corners of her eyes
Eyes flat as little pebbles
Steely eyed
long eyelashes
laughing eyes
predatory eyes
Eyes were red-rimmed from allergies
Under heavy lids; heavy-lidded
Sensitive brown eyes
Eyes sunk into his sockets
Competitive, fixed, dead-eyed, and querulous stare of people who weren’t getting far enough fast enough
I’ve-seen-it-all eyes
bedroom eyes, dark hair falling into them
Crows feet radiated from corners of eyes
the light fades from his eyes until they are dark and empty
eyes were brown in the middle and bloodshot everywhere else
stared through him
Looked left and right before starting
Pingponging his gaze between A and B
His glance, as conspiratorial as a wink
eyes watched her the way a tiger watched a bunny
Shadow passed over his eyes
Flicker in his eyes
Said without looking at him
looked for a common theme, a thread of some sort
She frowned–couldn’t recall the incident
Heard little and cared less
Hovering over her shoulder
His eyes flattened
His face hardened in concentration
Thinking about my conversation with the old detective
shot a look over the top of his glasses
Squinted at the sun
Arched an eye brow
Looked at me with a strangled expression
Bushy eyebrows
eyebrows of white steel wool
a single bushy bar above the eyes

More descriptors for writing:

Lots of them

48 Collections to Infuse Your Writing

What is a ‘Hacker’

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also the author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy . Her non-fiction includes over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, reviews as an Amazon Vine Voice , a columnist for NEA Today , and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Savage Land, Winter 2024 .

150 thoughts on “ 65 Ways to Describe Sight and Eyes in Your Writing ”

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So interesting!

Like Liked by 1 person

Thank you! It’s easy to fall into the traditional color/size/that sort, but there is so much more to eyes than that. Which–of course–you understand, with your interest in music.

Thank you again for this wonderful reply 💝

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There is no copyright on most if not all of these. You may have copied them from a particular manuscript but the phrases themselves have been used thousands of times…”arched an eyebrow” , “Cast a skeptical eye” – c’mon…look at these phrases…they are all quite generic.

You are right–just an abundance of caution. Thanks, Vicki.

I think they’re pretty neat, Jacqui.

I absolutely love this list. Thank you so much. I’m always searching for lists. One of my favorite lists is finding words to use instead of said.

Glad you found it helpful!

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Jacqui, Can’t comment on just one post — I find something helpful in your posts on matter the subject. For now, the “eyes” have it. Thanks, also on commenting on my posts and for your regular blurbs. Mask up and enjoy the holidays.

I have quite a collection of masks these days! Thanks for the greetings, Nancy!

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Thanks for visiting.

Hi Jacqui, I just got your last book from Amazon and I started to read it. When the Thames is finished I will write about it, as promised. Joanna

Thank you, Joanna! I’d love that. But don’t rush. Your series on rivers is fascinating.

Very useful to many budding writers. Thank you, Jacqui, for your comments about the posts on my blog naturetails.blog I am back home from the hospital but still not very well. Nothing serious. Joanna

I’m so sorry to hear that, Gaby. It’s awful to be sick, especially now.

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Love this! Very helpful.

Thanks! Glad this was helpful.

Wow thanks!! These are worth remembering – or at least remembering where they are.

Pretty amazing how many ways there are to discuss ‘see’!

Reblogged this on Home – SFH and commented: This is such a good list for anyone need good sight words!

Thanks for sharing!

wow amazing list , Thank you for compiling it very useful to me !

I am so amazed by the creativity of writers. These really caught my attention.

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I will look at this list when I’m writing 🤔 my eyes would read. She looked through her red itchy eyes and decided he was a hunk. But what could she do about it at 61 and wrinkled skin. Go to Walmart for Gold Bond!

Like Liked by 2 people

Hehee. You and me both!

I think you are amazing with the wealth of words you provide.

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Just found this – these are great! My eyes are wide with admiration….

I see what you did there!

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Hi Jacqui, Thank you for liking my poem, I love writing poetry…and playing around with words::my passion! Add people and I’m made up! I enjoyed your lists and ideas; thank you.. To think there are only 26 letters in the English language. Isn’t it amazing what us writers do with them. Magic! Best wishes. xx

Well, Nature has us beat. Only 4 bases for DNA and look at all the variation. Yikes!

Thanks goes to you for promoting my work as a powerful Psychic spiritual healer in usa and for liking my blogs, let me live my number here +27634299958 whatsapp. THANKS

Like Liked by 3 people

Thanks for visiting me, too!

Love this! Thanks for taking time away from your writing to visit my blog!

Fun visit, Lily. I’m new to #authorstoolboxbloghop and am enjoying all the new writers I’m meeting!

I’m looking for some advice. 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. I’ll try to give a brief example.

Person A says something person B finds ridiculous or uninteresting.

Person B, being a jerk, makes a sarcastic remark to the effect of “wow, how fascinating!” while giving person A a look that matches her attitude.

It’s all about body language…and the fact that it’s nearly 6 am and I am struggling to be descriptive! Thanks for your help.

Snide? Or dismissive? Or like you just stepped in a cow turd?

Hmm… Let’s see what anyone else has to offer!

some great ideas in this list Jacqui to stimulate the imagination. also, a good reminder about copyright 🙂

I’m pretty paranoid about copyrights. I’m perfectly happy paying for images rather than worrying they’re in the public domain.

exactly. i bought 5 images recently from shuttlestock. not very expensive.

Also technically you can’t copywriter a phrase you didn’t make up. “Narrowed his eyes” is on this list and I’m sure that’s been used thousands of times in manuscripts for many, many years. 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.

You’re absolutely right. Good to point this out!

“Eyed me as though his bullshit meter was ticking in the red zone.”. Awesome.

I’ve felt that way myself at times!

Seriously, this is a great list!

Great examples. You had me at the first one.

Yeah, I like that one too. It evokes some good mental images.

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This is excellent! Thanks.

Thanks! They are all quite authentic.

Thank you Jacqui! it was helpful..

I love hearing that, Vijaya.

This is a thorough and useful list, Jacqui. Thank you. 🙂 — Suzanne

I get a lot of inspiration from this one. Thanks, Patricia.

I love posts like this, Jacqui. They make me reach beyond the self-imposed limits of my little grey cells 🙂

Every time I prepare to write “he squinted” or “his ferret eyes”, I check this list. I can do so much more with eyes!

I’ve bookmarked it and will be using in the future 🙂

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Brilliant Jacqui thank you. The eyes are such a crucial element in connection with someone. Eyes meeting across a crowded room has been the start of many a wonderful romance…..

Thanks so much for sharing this post on your blog, Sally. It’s been fun hearing the feedback.

Pleasure Jacqui. x

Reblogged this on Viv Drewa – The Owl Lady .

Thanks for the reblog!

Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog .

Thanks for the reblog, Chris!

Welcome, Jacqui – great info 😃

It’s in august company on your blog.

THANK YOU, Jacqui ❤️

Reblogged this on Plaisted Publishing House and commented: Awesome writing tips for Sight and Eyes 🙂

Fantastic list, thank you!

My pleasure.

Excellent, Jacqui. Thanks for sharing.

These definitely inspire me when I get stuck. Thanks for visiting.

Haha! Love the 1st one, I have to use that on my hubby. LOLz

Oh yeah. I use it a lot on mine!

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Awesome write-up. I wonder if a person used some of these phrases in their own book or novel would it be considered plagiarism? I posted earlier but I wrote the wrong address.

It could be–and some of them are so outstanding, genre readers would recognize them for where they came from. Not worth the risk!

thanks for your response. But I think it depends. As I look over some of the words in sight, I already have them in my book and chances are some of the phrases are in other books. Phrases like “Eyes turned inwards”, “Looked him over”, “Blinks several times”, “Squinted into the crowd.” In my novel I used, “His eyes darted back and forth.” coming to find out that the phrase is used in over 15 other novels that I found and I am sure there are more. I’m sure there are probably other phrases that I use in some of these books as well. Can I call it plagiarism if I see phrases I used in my book?

I guess it depends on the complexity of the sentence.

You are right–those types of general phrasing is pretty much public domain. Good to point that out!

Thank you! This is perfect for when I’m sitting there thinking, ‘how should I say?’ which causes me to stop and think too long and uh-oh I wind up in the writer’s block zone!

Thanks exactly what it does for me, too. Inspiration.

Well, isn’t that thorough. i love the first one about the bullshit meter.

We’re so far beyond ‘beady eyes’ aren’t we?

This is so much help. Thank you.

My pleasure!

Wow, so many ways to describe and possibly we still have even more things the eyes express. Magical are the eyes, small organs with great power. Thanks miriam

That is true. I think that veil with just the eyes showing is a perfect example.

Reblogged this on lampmagician .

Thank you so much for sharing. Sometimes my thoughts gets stuck and I need something to give it a kick start. 🙂

That is exactly what these lists are for. Sometimes, I just read the dictionary, find great words that evoke an image that leads to a plot point. I love writing.

If only I had a photographic memory … as long as I didn’t have to sacrifice my busy, sometimes all over the place, creative mind. 😳

This was such a help. Thanks for sharing!

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Thank you so much! These will definitely help me in my writing!

Great writer tips. Thanks for your recent visit to my blog.

These are fun, aren’t they?

This has helped me so much! I always get stuck describing how characters ‘look’ at certain things. Thank you!

It’s amazing how many ways you can say the same thing. Glad you like these.

it was of great help for me.. beautifully expressed…

Thanks! And, I’m sure the cute dog doesn’t hurt it’s read-me value.

no it didn’t… rather its my favorite breed so its just an add on cuteness & more expressive 🙂

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Awesome list!! Thanks for sharing 😀

and a free cute dog picture–what could be better!

Excellent… Being language my second language you have no idea how this post helps me, dear Jacqui… Best wishes! Aquileana ⭐

I bet many of them seem quite odd to you. I’m highly impressed with your writing skills.

Exactly!… But I am learning with your post!… Oh and thank you, Jacqui!… I’d humbly say that I feel I have made considerable improvements! … Best wishes! Aquileana 😀

Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner and commented: Can someone explain the copywrite law when it comes to using common phrases? I’ve used quite a few of these in my writing and even my nurse’s notes. I did not think using a common phrase would be considered infringement.

My old eyes can’t ‘see’ as much as your young ones and writing brain can Jacqui. You’ve given me so much great tips over the last couple of years, I wish I knew long time ago. These are the ones came at a critical juncture of my [nonsensical?] book. Thanks for your help Jaqui. Arun from over the pond.

I see your eyes laughing! Ah, you are the master of subtle humor, Arun.

You know, I’m always scratching my head and pulling at my hair trying to think of others ways to say “looked”. These will help. Thanks.

And ‘saw’. These aren’t like changing the tag, ‘he said’. They aren’t supposed to be invisible. Gee, it gets hard sometimes.

These are great. Eyes are so expressive and are a must to mention when writing.

They are. Shoulders, feet–they can be ignored, but not what’s communicated with eyes.

With this post Jacqui “The ayes have it”! You are such a great resource, thank you.

Fabulous as always, Jacqui. Thanks so much. Something to chew on. ❤

Chomp chomp!

Great post. I was reminded tonight how important expressive eyes are while watching the Voice.

Since so much of communication is the body, it makes sense we should be aware of what’s being said.

Thanks, Jacqui. This should prove very helpful.

So much more expressive, aren’t they?

Great tips! Thank you so much for sharing! Have a lovely week 🙂

Lots of ways to say, ‘he saw’, aren’t there?

Yes, quite! Thank you. Very useful tips 🙂

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How To Write A Character Description (101 Examples)

February 15, 2024

Learn what character description is and how to describe a character. Jump into OC description writing with one of the iconic character description examples from our list.

Developing a description of a character can be a challenge for OC creators. How much do you give away as someone who knows the character innately versus trying to generate interest and get an audience to invest in the character’s journey? We’re going to dive into writing character descriptions that stand out.

Why Character Descriptions Matter

Character descriptions, at heart, serve as a marker for the reader to determine if they wish to know more about the character. They are creators' attempts to signal that an individual they are writing about is worth becoming invested in. This is why a boring character description can be fatal to first impressions - why bother exploring a project if the character's description generates no spark?

Character descriptions are also influenced by purpose. A character description in a screenplay occupies a different purpose than a character description on a profile page. A description in a screenplay is lean, whereas a profile has more room to explore. These descriptions we’re talking about are too large for a character reference sheet .

While focusing on writing character descriptions for profiles, we will look at examples from literature, screenplays, and existing character profiles on CharacterHub.

The Five Key Questions

When it comes to description in a general sense, there are five questions to consider: Who, What, Where, Why, and When? These questions are also beneficial in writing original character descriptions because you can use as many as you wish or even omit some to generate interest.

It is rather complicated to omit the who in a description, as a description is usually tied to an identifiable figure. Even if you may not want to give away a character’s identity, there is usually some marker that identifies them. For example, in the script for the horror classic Halloween (1978) by John Carpenter and Deborah Hill, the lurking presence of Michael Myers is simply referred to as “The Shape.” It is a name as evocative as it is practical. In most cases, a creator will probably just include the OC’s name.

The what in a character description can be interpreted as a marker for their identity. This could be their ethnicity, role, or species, for example. It is, again, reasonably complex to avoid this when developing a description, as a character without a perceived role may not feel like a character. A great example of “the what” in a character description comes from the character Tiberius Skärvas IV from the webcomic The Fourth .

From the character's description on the cast page: “Ever since the First and his rather unethical business practices, the Tiberius Skärvas have been accursed by the gods. While technically still human, they possess the appearance and certain traits of sharks.” A cursed human with shark-like traits is undoubtedly a bold answer for “the what.”

When it comes to where , you are likely answering who the character is to their setting. It is less about a physical location and how that character connects to or runs counter to a location or society. Essentially, you are positioning them against civilization in whatever form that takes. A great example of this can be found in the codex entry of Agrippa Varus from the webcomic Terra Incognita .

Case in point: “Agrippa Varus was raised in a well respected family in the Asurian capital of Sokai. His father Argo Varus, served as a consul and the main liaison between Asura and other sentient worlds. Due to his exposure to other species from a young age, Agrippa has an open mind and is much less prejudiced than the average Asurian citizen.”

As we can see in this description, Agrippa is given a physical “where” regarding a space civilization while also being described of their societal “where” - as a figure that runs outside their culture.

The when of a character in their description is all about position. Whether the setting is based on natural history or set in an entirely fictional timeline, a character occupies temporal space, which can factor into how they are seen. Are they of their time, or do they feel apart from it? Descriptions that hint at such things are great at generating interest.

A great example of this can be found in the script of Warm Bodies (2013), in a description of the character R. “Blank face, sunken eyes. Blueish lips. If we didn’t know any better we’d think he was a junkie, a runaway from the set of My Own Private Idaho . Then we might notice a few thin gashes cutting across his cheeks. And then we might hear a soft groan humming from his frozen lips. And then we might start to wonder…

In this example, we see the deliberate usage of a contemporary reference to another film, positioning R and their relationship to a contemporary setting. The reference also does double duty, saying a lot about how R can be perceived by those familiar with the reference.

The why of a character description is most easily omitted to generate interest and intrigue. However, it can also be incredibly influential in generating interest in an original character. Knowing what drives a character can be a descriptive hook.

A great example of the “why” in a character description comes from Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s Don Quixote in this rather brilliant moment: “In short, his wits being quite gone, he hit upon the strangest notion that ever madman in this world hit upon, and that was that he fancied it was right and requisite, as well for the support of his own honour as for the service of his country, that he should make a knight-errant of himself, roaming the world over in full armour and on horseback in quest of adventures, and putting in practice himself all that he had read of as being the usual practices of knights-errant[...]”

Don Quixote’s mad notion of being a knight proves a compelling hook to the character, especially in how that motivation is presented. A reader can’t help but be intrigued by the description of the thin, elderly man who wants to be a knight.

Other Descriptive Traits and Tips

Much descriptive writing can come from things you probably already learned in school but are worth repeating. For example, utilizing sensory details in a character description can be particularly useful. Writing about how a character may smell like motor oil or freshly baked bread can suggest different things.

Contrast is another powerful tool in the character description, as when we are introduced to someone, we cannot help but size them up compared to people we know. This is especially true of original characters. How does one protagonist compare to another? How might you set a character apart from others? Using contrast is especially helpful here. For example, describing how a lead character differs from others in a similar position of their setting.

Of course, there are also things to avoid when developing character descriptions. Writing a description that is a laundry list of traits is something you may want to avoid. It can lack personality and feel a little boring. A solid character organizer can help you visually track if you rely on listing too often.

In any case, referring to some classic descriptive writing techniques can be helpful, especially when punching up a first draft of a character description.

Ways of Establishing Character Through Description

Well-written, informative descriptions greatly help establish interest in an original character. Consider them a teaser to what you hope to be a more significant journey you want to take readers on. Your goal is to connect an audience and a character through intrigue an interest - your aim can be to use description as a hook. Here are some different ways to use description to create that hook.

Using Description to Create a Presence

One of the most essential uses of description is to establish the presence of a character in their respective story. How about who is heroic or villainous? Who merits us following their story and becoming invested in them? This is particularly useful in writing an OC profile because you want to establish how we should feel about them without the burden of a ton of backstory to provide context.

Consider this like trying to convey everything about a person possible at a glance. How can you give us what we need about an OC in a descriptive passage? Well, let’s look at some examples.

In this sample from Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin , we see presence established by tying description to color and costuming details. Note that the presence established here is not a flattering one.

I could picture the smooth oval of Laura’s face, her neatly pinned chignon, the dress she would have been wearing: a shirtwaist with a small rounded collar, in a sober colour – navy blue or steel grey or hospital-corridor green. Penitential colours – less like something she’d chosen to put on than like something she’d been locked up in.

Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (2000)

Another great way to establish a character’s presence through description is to tie it to a metaphor. Let’s look at an example of Arudhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, where we have a character consumed by quietude.

Once the quietness arrived, it stayed and spread in Estha. It reached out of his head and enfolded him in its swampy arms…sent its stealthy, suckered tentacles inching along the insides of his skull, hoovering the knolls and dells of his memory, dislodging old sentences, whisking them off the tip of his tongue.

Arudhati Roy, The God of Small Things (1997)

In these examples, we see how descriptive language can imply something about the character's presence, such as their authority or lack of authority. In the Atwood example, the character is effectively rendered blank or meek. Meanwhile, in the Roy example, the description paints a picture of a character consumed by their awkwardness and silence. Noting and working with such traits is key to building a good character profile.

Let’s look at how the presence of Gandalf is established through description in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring .

“Gandalf was shorter in stature than the other two; but his long white hair, his sweeping beard, and his broad shoulders, made him look like some wise king of ancient legend. In his aged face under great snowy brows his eyes were set like coals that could suddenly burst into fire.”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)

Gandalf’s physical presence is a fun juxtaposition with him appearing larger than life. He may be shorter, but he has an aura about him - something noticeably distinguished. I recommend reading Tolkien for character description, not just because I am a fan.

Using a History to Create Significance

Character description that depicts an established history can go a long way to informing a reader about what makes the character tick. A character can sometimes be seen as a record of their experiences, and knowing those experiences can tell us a lot about a character, how they view the world, and how the author wishes for us to view them. There is no shortage of character ideas , but a character is more than an idea: they are a story.

In Charles Dickens’ Hard Times , the character of Bounderby is pernicious and self-centered, motivated by the pursuit of their wants and desires having come up from poverty. We can see Dickens establish much of that in his description of Bounderby by including history in the character’s description.

“A big, loud man, with a stare, and a metallic laugh. A man made out of coarse material, which seemed to have been stretched to make so much of him […] always proclaiming, through that brassy speaking-trumpet of a voice of his, his old ignorance and his old poverty.”

Charles Dickens, Hard Times (1854)

Let’s look at a character with an established history and how that history plays into their description in the present. If you are a fan of Star Trek , then the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan should be pretty familiar. The film was a culmination of a storyline that began in the 1960s featuring characters who have aged decades for the 1980s film. In particular, let’s look at a description of Captain Kirk from the script.

“Kirk reads the novel, trying to focus. His flat befits an Admiral and a loner with few possessions, except a collection of antiques.”

Harve Bennett, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

In this example, we have a little bit of environmental storytelling that plays against what audiences would know of Captain James T. Kirk. Kirk, from the original series, was quite the heroic figure, not mainly seen as an elder statesman. However, the depiction of his apartment, filled with antiques belonging to a man who is alone, shows that much time has passed for the figure. He is different in many ways - almost startlingly so.

So, what can we draw from these examples when developing descriptions of our original characters? A character with a lot of history is undoubtedly colored by it, so if your description can evoke a journey, you’ve gone a long way to informing us about what makes them tick. This is seen in the example from Hard Times, where the character’s journey through the classes of 19th-century London colors how we see their outward-facing personality.

Further, if you are playing with time, descriptions of a character at different stages in their life or respective journey can highlight their growth, such as in the example from Star Trek . Contrast through history is a particularly effective strategy when writing a character description.

Using Perspective to Create Interpretation

In some cases, describing a character from another person's perspective can yield beautiful results. First impressions can say a lot, and stepping away from an omniscient narrator’s view of a character, filled with insight about them and their past, can be a valuable technique. It also can create a narrative journey for an OC later on, as our initial impressions, through a more limited outsider perspective, do not usually represent the whole character.

Here is an example of Virginia Woolf establishing a character’s description from another character's perspective.

“He was such a miserable specimen, the children said, all humps and hollows. He couldn’t play cricket; he poked; he shuffled. He was a sarcastic brute, Andrew said. They knew what he liked best – to be for ever walking up and down, up and down, with Mr. Ramsay, saying who had won this, who had won that …”

Virginia Woolf, To The Lighthouse (1927)

Here is an example of a character description written from another character's perspective. In this case, we have Ripley from Aliens , who first encounters Burke as she recovers in a hospital room. Notice the usage of traits in the following passage. This is taken from the film's shooting script.

“The visitor sits beside the bed and Ripley finally notices him. He is thirtyish and handsome, in a suit that looks executive or legal, the tie loosened with studied casualness. A smile referred to as ‘winning.’”

James Cameron, Aliens (1985)

Specifically, this is a friendly, somewhat charming face for a recovering from intensive trauma. However, we also get a sense of Burke's nature through the description, such as emphasizing the fakery of a “winning” smile.

If we want another great example of perspective coloring the description of a character, we can look toward another sci-fi franchise with Star Wars . In particular, the 4th draft script from A New Hope introduces Darth Vader in a fantastic way that tells us everything we need to know about the character from the perspective of the terrified Rebels.

“The awesome, seven-foot-tall Dark Lord of the Sith makes his way into the blinding light of the main passageway. This is Darth Vader, right hand of the Emperor. His face is obscured by his flowing black robes and grotesque breath mask, which stands out next to the fascist white armored suits of the Imperial stormtroopers. Everyone instinctively backs away from the imposing warrior and a deathly quiet sweeps through the Rebel troops. Several of the Rebel troops break and run in a frenzied panic.”

George Lucas, Star Wars: A New Hope (1976)

That Darth Vader cuts an imposing presence in this description is an understatement. The key here is that we are seeing him through the eyes of those terrified Rebel troops.

Character Descriptions from Some Friends of Mine

There are many great examples of strong character descriptions out there. I turned to a few writer friends who are particularly good at creating characters, and I want to look at examples from two of them.

Robert Livingston: Tom n’ Artie and Kaiju Dayz

First up, we have my friend Robert Livingston, who was gracious enough to provide some examples from his in-depth pitch documents for two of his projects. First, look at some examples featuring the two leads of his comic Tom n’ Artie .

Tommy ‘Tom’ Sunshine Bliss

“Our stoic, disciplined Unicorn with the sparkly hair! Tom is the straight man of the duo usually doing the talking when they're with clients or when a deal needs to be made. Straight-laced with a dry sense of humor, he approaches situations with a strategic mindset preferring to have all the information before diving in. Due to his friendship with Artie, he commonly has to just 'wing it' with his little wildcard friend as he changes strategies on the fly.”

As we can see, Tom is the comedic straight man of the pair, but given the nature of the project, he still has his quirks. In particular, I want to note the contrast between his character and the description of his appearance. It does a lot to sell the inherent comedy of the character.

Artie Artillery

“The cartoon wildcard! Artie is zany and a rabbit/cat of action preferring to let his fists, teeth, legs, bats, guns, bombs and whatever he's got do the talking for him. He's spontaneous with a short fuse willing to crack jokes then skulls seconds apart from each other. Tom usually is the one who has to hold him back but during the events of the arc, he's more willing to let his little toon buddy cut loose more.”

Because the project revolves around a comedic pairing, we can see how essential contrasting the two leads can be in establishing their characters. There is some great description here, especially the emphasis on Artie’s improvised armory. Artie has enough of a hook from his description, but the depth is substantial when paired with his co-lead, Tom.

Next, we have an example from Robert’s other series, Kaiju Dayz . This project is like a sitcom set on an island of giant monsters. Let’s look at the series lead, Big Mama.

“A well-known Kaiju on Monster Island for her several successful attacks on human cities and other locations for many years. She’s gained a large reputation that gives her a lot of respect from others. It’s also forced her to put up a constant face of intimidation to keep that respect, she feels force is the only way to keep others in line. The only ones she’s softer on are her own children, Junior and Pestania, but now seeing that she’s growing estranged from them she’s trying to change that. She isn’t of this world (or possibly reality) and has no love for it but wants to keep anything she does love (her children and late husband) as close to her as possible.”

This character description does a great job of pitching the whole character. While I only used some segments for Tom and Artie earlier, I wanted to share the entire character description for Big Mama because it is so thorough without being overly long. This is an excellent example of a character description meant to sell the original character to an audience. This is what you’d want to see on a character profile .

Ben Paddon: Jump Leads

Ben Paddon sent me pitch documents for their audio drama, Jump Leads . You should give it a listen. Let’s look at the character descriptions for Meaney and Llewellyn, the dual protagonists of the story.

Thomas Meaney

The following is transcribed from the Jump Leads character breakdown about the character of Thomas Meaney.

Meaney is excitable, enthusiastic, and young. She has wanted to be a Lead her entire life, and now she’s finally in training. This is her dream come true. Such a pity it’s about to be absolutely derailed by Misadventure.
Meaney is a hopeful idealist. She always wants to see the best in people, and always tries to do good, even when the odds - and, indeed, her own skill set - are not in her favor. She’s also driven by a desire to get back home to complete her Lead training, though her adventurous, helpful nature, coupled with a desire to explore, often get the better of her.
Meaney is excitable, in every sense of the word - her enthusiasm runs just as deeply as her fear, though she tries not to let being scared of a situation prevent the right decision from being made.
Meaney is a brilliant problem-solver. She doesn't quite know this yet. She’ll discover that soon enough.

This is a wonderfully written character description that gives us everything we wish to know about a character while giving us the suggestion of a larger arc. When you think about this profile in terms of the questions who, what, where, why, and when, you’ll see they are all there.

Richard Llewellyn

Llewellyn is in his mid-to-late 20s - still young enough to be bitter and cynical without having any of the real-world experience to justify it. He’s indifferent, snide, at times cruel, and he keeps people at an arm's length. Unfortunately, he’s been utterly unsuccessful in doing this with Meaney, in part because the alphabetical arrangement of the training classes has stuck them together.
Llewellyn is smart, but lazy; brilliant, but apathetic. He joined the Lead Service because the alternative involved being in the real world, and that isn't something he's willing to do just yet. Of course, he'd never admit this.
Underneath it all, there's something else. Maybe he's ready to let someone in. Or maybe he's hiding something else entirely…

Again, we have a dual protagonist situation; contrast is essential to define each. Each character can stand independently, but their descriptions are tailored to work best when read together. Yes, we get a fully rounded character in Llewellyn thanks to the description, but we also get a further hook because of the emphasis on personality clash. How might their journey go down, given their radically different perspectives?

Character Description from CharacterHub

While writing this article, I wanted to look at examples of character descriptions written by CharacterHub users. I’ve found some great examples to share, so why don’t we dive in and see what OC creators have been sharing with the community?

I’ve taken snippets from each profile of something I found to be particularly evocative or inspirational. Be sure to visit the complete profiles for even more great examples.

Euronym by genderkiller - “driven to be the least evil thing around her, euronym chooses to use her manipulation and intelligence for what she believes is the betterment of others. but does it really know what's best for others, so blinded by its own trauma?”
Valentine Adelaide by DEADRKGK - “Personality wise, Valentine is a man with many facets to him, and all are generally expressed and felt in extremes. To call him unpredictable would be both correct and incorrect. For those around him often, he can be much more easily predictable of a person. He’s open with his thoughts and feelings and expresses them freely with a poor social filter– good or bad, he’ll speak his mind regardless of if people want to hear it or not.”
Tessa Verisey by LuminaLyric - “Standing at 5'8" with chestnut brown hair cascading in loose waves to her shoulders, her hazel eyes conceal a depth of intelligence and charisma.”
Seth Salem by Paracosmic - “If looks could kill, Seth's would be the firing squad.”
Aries by AFishWithAGun - “Aries is not a good person. At least, not anymore. Greif is a funny thing, pushed by a whirlwind of emotions. Anger, regret, betrayal. It spins its way into a palpable rage. His jagged psyche knows how best it can ruin a man.”
Sidney Ignacio by soupysoupster - “Throughout his days, Sidney can’t seem to get past his own thoughts and anxieties. As a result, he comes off as withdrawn and uninterested to most. Despite what people may think though, Sidney is nothing short of a caring and compassionate person and will do anything he can do to help others. He’s a great listener, and will often catch onto things others don’t. ‘The devil is in the details’ as their father would say.”
Adem Petrovic by lysesander - “Athletic enough to make a quick escape over a side wall if the situation calls for it. Face is unmemorable, and hard to spot in the crowd.”
The Depths by celestrian - “A mysterious and enigmatic traveling merchant of the depths, a man whose past is shrouded in secrecy and his appearance completely hidden beneath a strange fox mask as well as a hooded cloak, wrapped in layers of cloth that cover his entire body. He claims to have knowledge of the entire kingdom and forbidden secrets, despite seeming quite young.”
Clawfoot by Sunckeys - “Naivete is not a word known to poor Clawfoot, yet it may just be the best word to describe him. Unknown to him are the ways of man, of conversing with another and sharing pleasantries. No, for Clawfoot's expertise lies in savagry, ravaging, of ripping and tearing. Yet he hungers not for prey- though he much enjoys a meal or four- but for connection.”
Soffice Pluvia by bunnymacaron - “Recently, he's found himself in an...unusual situation. Almost as soon as he entered the country he went through the Magical Girl transformation process. Immediately after, he got roped into the schemes of a sadistic Magical Girl and is stuck unraveling the tangled web of Kannazen City's Magical Girls to hopefully finally have some peace and quiet...or die trying.”
Joshua Vox by ThaLizardWizard - “In terms of appearance, he is very skinny, pale, and sickly looking, with wild black hair that stands on end, and freckles all over his body and face. He has intense eye bags under enormous pale gray eyes, and to be completely honest, has frequently been mistaken for a ghost.”

Further fantastic examples of evocative character descriptions can be found all over CharacterHub . Browsing the thousands of existing character descriptions will inspire anyone to create character descriptions for their OCs. In particular, searching tags to find the kind of characters that inspire you most is super easy.

Further Examples of Character Descriptions

We’ll leave you here now with the following massive list. This list features different examples of character descriptions from various stories. Try to match the selections to some of our established principles. The descriptions here are very inspiring for any OC creator.

Denis Lehane’s A Drink Before the War : “He had a shock of stiff white hair you could land a DC-10 on and a handshake that stopped just short of inducing paralysis.”
Amber Dawn’s Sub Rosa : “When he did appear his eyes were as brown as I remembered, pupils flecked with gold like beach pebbles.”
Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven : “I thought she was so beautiful. I figured she was the kind of woman who could make buffalo walk on up to her and give up their lives.”
Louisa M. Alcott’s Little Women : “Amy, though the youngest, was a most important person,—in her own opinion at least. A regular snow-maiden, with blue eyes, and yellow hair, curling on her shoulders, pale and slender, and always carrying herself like a young lady mindful of her manners.”
Frank Herbert’s Dune : "Through the door came two Sardukar herding a girl-child who appeared to be about four years old. She wore a black aba, the hood thrown back to reveal the attachments of a stillsuit hanging free at her throat. Her eyes were Fremen blue, staring out of a soft, round face. She appeared completely unafraid and there was a look to her stare that made the Baron feel uneasy for no reason he could explain."
Kury Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five : "He was a funny-looking child who became a funny-looking youth — tall and weak, and shaped like a bottle of Coca-Cola."
Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? : "Black-haired and slender, wearing the huge new dust-filtering glasses, she approached his car, her hands deep in the pockets of her brightly striped long coat. She had, on her sharply defined small face, an expression of sullen distaste."
John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces : “Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs.”
Ralph Ellson’s Invisible Man : “I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids — and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, simply because people refuse to see me.”
George Eliot’s Middlemarch : “The rural opinion about the new young ladies, even among the cottagers, was generally in favour of Celia, as being so amiable and innocent-looking, while Miss Brooke’s large eyes seemed, like her religion, too unusual and striking. Poor Dorothea! Compared with her, the innocent-looking Celia was knowing and worldly-wise.”
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness : “He was commonplace in complexion, in feature, in manners, and in voice. He was of middle size and of ordinary build. His eyes, of the usual blue, were perhaps remarkably cold, and he certainly could make his glance fall on one as trenchant and heavy as an axe…”
Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Books : “But he had a voice as soft as wild honey dripping from a tree, and a skin softer than down.”
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice : “…your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”
Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn : “He was most fifty, and he looked it. His hair was long and tangled and greasy, and hung down, and you could see his eyes shining through like he was behind vines.”
Lindsay Faye’s Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson : “The door flew open, revealing a wrinkled, forward-thrusting face wreathed with a nimbus of wispy white hair, a face resembling nothing so much as a mole emerging from its burrow. Her spectacles were so dirty that I could hardly see the use of them.”
Adlous Huxley’s Brave New World : "Tall and rather thin but upright, the Director advanced into the room. He had a long chin and big rather prominent teeth, just covered, when he was not talking, by his full, floridly curved lips. Old, young? Thirty? Fifty? Fifty-five? It was hard to say."
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby : “He smiled understandingly — much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.”
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring : "The face of Elrond was ageless, neither old nor young, though in it was written the memory of many things both glad and sorrowful. His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was set a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of stars."
Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight : “I vividly remembered the flat black color of his eyes the last time he glared at me – the color was striking against the background of his pale skin and his auburn hair. Today, his eyes were a completely different color: a strange ocher, darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone.”
Joan Johnston’s No Longer A Stranger : “Her straight, boyishly cut hair fell onto her brow haphazardly and hid beautiful arched brows that framed her large, expressive eyes.”
Anne Rice’s The Vampire Armand : “I saw my Master had adorned himself in a thick tunic and beautiful dark blue doublet which I’d hardly noticed before. He wore soft sleek dark blue gloves over his hands, gloves which perfectly cleaved to his fingers, and legs were covered by thick soft cashmere stockings all the way to his beautiful pointed shoes.”
Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations : “Though every vestige of her dress was burnt, as they told me, she still had something of her old ghastly bridal appearance; for, they had covered her to the throat with white cotton-wool, and as she lay with a white sheet loosely overlying that, the phantom air of something that had been and was changed, was still upon her.”
Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn : “He was sunshine most always-I mean he made it seem like good weather.”
N. K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms : “His long, long hair wafted around him like black smoke, its tendrils curling and moving of their own volition. His cloak — or perhaps that was his hair too — shifted as if in an unfelt wind.”
Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings : “Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like a plum if snagged, but then no one would have thought of getting close enough to Mrs. Flowers to ruffle her dress, let alone snag her skin. She didn’t encourage familiarity.”
China Miéville’s The Census-Taker : “His hand was over his eyes. He looked like a failed soldier. Dirt seemed so worked into him that the lines of his face were like writing.”
Louisa M. Alcott’s Little Women : “Fifteen-year-old Jo was very tall, thin, and brown, and reminded one of a colt; for she never seemed to know what to do with her long limbs, which were very much in her way. She had a decided mouth, a comical nose, and sharp, gray eyes, which appeared to see everything, and were by turns fierce, funny, or thoughtful.”
Henry James’ The Aspern Papers : “Her face was not young, but it was simple; it was not fresh, but it was mild. She had large eyes which were not bright, and a great deal of hair which was not ‘dressed,’ and long fine hands which were–possibly–not clean.”
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death”: “The tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye for colors and effects. He disregarded the decora of mere fashion. His plans were bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed with barbaric lustre. There are some who would have thought him mad. His followers felt that he was not.”
Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush : “He was abominable…and the most alluring, tortured soul I’d ever met.”
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies : “Inside the floating cloak he was tall, thin, and bony; and his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness.”
Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys : “As always, there was an all-American war hero look to him, coded in his tousled brown hair, his summer-narrowed hazel eyes, the straight nose that ancient Anglo-Saxons had graciously passed on to him. Everything about him suggested valor and power and a firm handshake.”
John Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated : “He did not look like anything special at all.”
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring : “He wore a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, and a silver scarf. He had a long white beard and bushy eyebrows that stuck out beyond the brim of his hat.”
Andrew Lang’s The Crimson Fairy Book : “When the old king saw this he foamed with rage, stared wildly about, flung himself on the ground and died.”
Rudyard Kipling’s Many Inventions : “He wrapped himself in quotations – as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of Emperors.”
Bram Stoker’s Dracula : “The Count smiled, and as his lips ran back over his gums, the long, sharp, canine teeth showed out strangely.”
Hugh Lofting’s The Story of Doctor Dolittle : “For a long time he said nothing. He kept as still as a stone. He hardly seemed to be breathing at all. When at last he began to speak, it sounded almost as though he were singing, sadly, in a dream.”
M.L Legette’s The Orphan and the Thief : “Its gray, slippery skin was stretched taut upon its face. Its mouth was wide and full of needle teeth.”
Julia Stuart’s The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise : “Blooms of acne highlighted his vampire-white skin.
James Lee Burke’s The Neon Rain : “His khaki sleeves were rolled over his sunburned arms, and he had the flat green eyes and heavy facial features of north Louisiana hill people. He smelled faintly of dried sweat, Red Man, and talcum powder.”
Becca Fitzpatrick’s Black Ice : “His brown hair was cropped, and it showed off the striking symmetry of his face. With the sun at his back, shadows marked the depressions beneath his cheekbones.”
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein : “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.”
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”: “He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.”
E.C. Sheedy’s Killing Bliss : “He stood, which put him eye to eye with the dark-haired woman whose brilliant, burning gaze poured into his worthless soul like boiling tar, whose mouth frothed with fury–and whose hand now curled, knuckles white, around a steak knife.”
Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games : “She has bright, dark eyes and satiny brown skin and stands tilted up on her toes with arms slightly extended to her sides, as if ready to take wing at the slightest sound.”
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone : “A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.”
Louisa M. Alcott’s Little Women : “Elizabeth—or Beth, as every one called her—was a rosy, smooth-haired, bright-eyed girl of thirteen, with a shy manner, a timid voice, and a peaceful expression, which was seldom disturbed.”
Anne Rice’s Violin : “What a well-formed mouth he had, and how the narrow eyes, the detailed deepened lids gave him such a range of expression, to open his gaze wide, or sink in cunning street.”
Kevin Brooks’ Lucas : “An easygoing lope. Nice and steady. Not too fast and not too slow, Fast enough to get somewhere, but not too fast to miss anything.”
Iris Johansen’s The Face of Deception : “Kinky tousled curls, only a minimum of makeup, large brown eyes behind round wire-rimmed glasses. There was a world of character in that face, more than enough to make her fascinating-looking instead of just attractive.”
Herman Meilville’s Moby Dick : “There seemed no sign of common bodily illness about him, nor of the recovery from any. He looked like a man cut away from the stake, when the fire has overrunningly wasted all the limbs without consuming them, or taking away one particle from their compacted aged robustness. His whole high, broad form, seemed made of solid bronze, and shaped in an unalterable mould, like Cellini’s cast Perseus.”
Gena Showalter’s The Darkest Night : “Pale hair fell in waves to his shoulders, framing a face mortal females considered a sensual feast. They didn’t know the man was actually a devil in angel’s skin.”
Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game : “Ender did not see Peter as the beautiful ten-year-old boy that grown-ups saw, with dark, tousled hair and a face that could have belonged to Alexander the Great. Ender looked at Peter only to detect anger or boredom, the dangerous moods that almost always led to pain.”
Caitlin Moran’s How To Build A Girl : “He had his head in his hands, and his tie looked like it had been put on by an enemy, and was strangling him.”
Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass : “Lord Asriel was a tall man with powerful shoulders, a fierce dark face, and eyes that seemed to flash and glitter with savage laughter. It was a face to be dominated by, or to fight: never a face to patronize or pity.”
J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey : “She found herself looking at Lane as if he were a stranger, or a poster advertising a brand of linoleum, across the aisle of a subway car.”
L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz : “They wore round hats that rose to a small point a foot above their heads, with little bells around the brims that tinkled sweetly as they moved. The hats of the men were blue; the little woman’s hat was white, and she wore a white gown that hung in pleats from her shoulders. Over it were sprinkled little stars that glistened in the sun like diamonds.”
Bram Stoker’s Dracula : “Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of colour about him anywhere.”
Algernon Blackwood’s Ten Minute Stories : “Then, by a green field that shone like a thought of daylight amid the darkness of the moor, he saw a figure lying in the grass. It was a blot upon the landscape, a mere huddled patch of dirty rags, yet with a certain horrid picturesqueness too; and his mind—though his German was of the schoolroom order—at once picked out the German equivalents as against the English. Lump and Lumpen flashed across his brain most oddly.”
John Rhode’s The Murders in Praed Street : “He was tall and thin, with a pronounced stoop and a deep but not unpleasant voice. But it was his head that you looked at instinctively. Above the massive forehead and powerfully-chiselled features was a wealth of long, snow-white hair, balanced by a flowing beard of the same colour.”
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Telltale Heart”: “He had the eye of a vulture—a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold.”
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein : “His limbs were nearly frozen, and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering. I never saw a man in so wretched a condition.”
Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow : “He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together.”
Louisa M. Alcott’s Little Women : “Margaret, the eldest of the four, was sixteen, and very pretty, being plump and fair, with large eyes, plenty of soft, brown hair, a sweet mouth, and white hands, of which she was rather vain.”
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland : “It was the White Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed, with a pair of white kid gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other: he came trotting along in a great hurry, muttering to himself as he came…”
J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan : “He was a lovely boy, clad in skeleton leaves and the juices that ooze out of trees but the most entrancing thing about him was that he had all his first teeth.”
Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis : “He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper : “John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures.”
L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz : “When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment : “This was not because he was cowardly and abject, quite the contrary; but for some time past he had been in an overstrained irritable condition, verging on hypochondria. He had become so completely absorbed in himself, and isolated from his fellows that he dreaded meeting, not only his landlady, but anyone at all. He was crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him. He had given up attending to matters of practical importance; he had lost all desire to do so.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter : “The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes.”
Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde : “This was a hearty, healthy, dapper, red-faced gentleman, with a shock of hair prematurely white, and a boisterous and decided manner.”
Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde : “Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice; all these were points against him, but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust, loathing and fear with which Mr. Utterson regarded him.”
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol : “Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.”
Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace : “Anna Pávlovna Schérer on the contrary, despite her forty years, overflowed with animation and impulsiveness. To be an enthusiast had become her social vocation and, sometimes even when she did not feel like it, she became enthusiastic in order not to disappoint the expectations of those who knew her. The subdued smile which, though it did not suit her faded features, always played round her lips expressed, as in a spoiled child, a continual consciousness of her charming defect, which she neither wished, nor could, nor considered it necessary, to correct.”
Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia”: “His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own story. He was at work again.”
J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan : “In person he was cadaverous and blackavized, and his hair was dressed in long curls, which at a little distance looked like black candles, and gave a singularly threatening expression to his handsome countenance. His eyes were of the blue of the forget-me-not, and of a profound melancholy, save when he was plunging his hook into you, at which time two red spots appeared in them and lit them up horribly.”

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David Davis

David Davis is a cartoonist with around twenty years of experience in comics, including independent work and established IPs such as SpongeBob Squarepants. He also works as a college composition instructor and records weekly podcasts. Find out more about him at his website!

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How to Describe Eyes in Writing (21 Best Tips + Examples)

Eyes are often hailed as the “windows to the soul,” capable of conveying complex emotions without uttering a single word.

As writers, mastering the art of describing eyes can elevate your storytelling.

Here is how to describe eyes in writing:

Describe eyes in writing by focusing on color, shape, and emotional depth. Use descriptive words like “captivating” or “luminous.” Phrases like “windows to the soul” add layers. Consider eyelids, lashes, and blinking for subtle emotional cues.

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to describe eyes in writing.

1. The Color Palette: More Than Just Blue and Brown

Close up of a colorful eye - How to Describe Eyes in Writing

Table of Contents

Color is usually the first attribute that comes to mind when describing eyes.

Going beyond the cliché blue and brown can bring your characters to life in vivid detail.

Try unconventional colors and make comparisons to set a mood.

For example, instead of saying, “She had green eyes,” you might say, “Her eyes were the color of freshly mown grass, evoking an undeniable feeling of rebirth.”

Different colors can invoke various emotions or suggest specific character traits.

“Eyes as gray as a stormy sea” could symbolize a tumultuous spirit or an adventurous soul.

Therefore, use colors not just as factual descriptions but as emotional or character-driven statements.

You can even mix colors for added depth, “His eyes were a mix of gold and brown, like a forest floor dappled in autumn sunlight.”

2. The Light Dance: Luminosity Unveiled

The way eyes catch light can describe more than just the setting sun or dim room.

It can tell your reader about the emotional landscape of your characters.

For example, eyes that “gleam like polished stones catching the midday sun” could portray a character in a state of clarity or revelation.

The luminosity of the eyes can also serve as a narrative device, enhancing the emotional undercurrents of a scene.

“Her eyes dimmed, mirroring the dwindling campfire, as she heard the sad tale” can infuse additional layers of emotion into the situation.

This can help the reader feel the gravity of the story along with the character.

3. Shape-Shifting: The Geometry of Gaze

The shape of a character’s eyes can be a playground for creativity.

From almond-shaped to round, the geometry of eyes can offer readers clues about a character’s disposition.

For instance, “Her oval eyes always had a dreamy look, as if she were perpetually lost in thought” can say a lot about the character’s daydreaming nature or thoughtful demeanor.

Don’t forget that eye shape can be dynamic, changing with emotional states or circumstances.

You might describe a normally cheerful character as having “eyes that narrowed into cold slivers when he heard the disparaging comment.”

This not only gives your characters depth but also builds a stronger emotional connection with the reader.

4. Blink Back the Emotions

Never underestimate the power of a blink in conveying emotional subtlety.

A quick blink can express surprise.

While slow, measured blinks could imply a character is deeply contemplating a decision.

For example, “She blinked rapidly, as if trying to ward off the tears that threatened to spill,” succinctly captures a moment of emotional vulnerability.

A single blink can also serve as a pivotal moment in the story.

“He blinked once, slowly, as if imprinting the scene onto his soul” not only adds emotional weight but also signals a significant moment.

5. Mirrors and Windows: Emotional Portals

Eyes can act as mirrors reflecting internal emotions or windows offering a glimpse into the soul.

A character’s gaze can speak volumes, revealing underlying feelings or thoughts.

“His eyes were impenetrable mirrors, reflecting nothing but deflecting everything,” suggests a stoic or guarded individual.

In contrast, eyes can serve as open windows, giving readers insight into a character’s emotional state.

“Her eyes were open windows to her joy, sparkling like stars on a clear night,” indirectly reveals the depth of her happiness.

Using this technique can convey complex emotions in a show-don’t-tell fashion.

6. Crinkles and Lines: The Etchings of Experience

The skin surrounding the eyes can be a treasure trove of storytelling.

Whether it’s laugh lines or weary creases, these “etchings” can reveal a character’s history or emotional state.

For example, “Her eyes were framed by lines that spoke of decades filled with laughter and resilience” provides a wealth of information about a character’s life experiences.

On the flip side, you can use the absence of these lines to highlight a different set of experiences or qualities.

“His eyes were alarmingly smooth, devoid of the wrinkles that often accompany age, as if time itself hesitated to mark him.”

This could signify a range of possibilities—from a sheltered life to a mysterious, age-defying character.

7. The Focus Factor: Where the Gaze Lands

Where a character focuses their eyes can indicate interest, discomfort, or even deceit.

“She couldn’t maintain eye contact and her gaze kept drifting to the floor,” could suggest a lack of confidence or that she’s hiding something.

Here’s another example: “His eyes locked onto the painting, absorbing every brushstroke as if trying to capture its essence.”

The focus of the gaze is telling of the character’s artistic interest.

Or perhaps a deeper emotional connection to the artwork.

Employ focus intentionally to add another layer of complexity to your characters.

8. The Invisible Force: Magnetic Attraction or Repulsion

Sometimes eyes don’t just look; they draw in or push away.

Describing this invisible force can add an ethereal quality to your characters.

“Her eyes seemed to pull him in, a gravitational force he couldn’t resist,” not only describes attraction but also gives it a nearly magical, irresistible quality.

Alternatively, eyes can repel, emitting an almost palpable energy that keeps people at bay.

“People avoided looking into his eyes, as if a simple glance could cast a dark shadow over their day.”

This can set the mood quickly and establish a character as menacing or tragically solitary.

9. Eye-talk: Silent Conversations

Eyes can often communicate messages that words fail to capture.

Describing these “silent conversations” can create emotionally charged scenes between characters.

For instance, “Their eyes met, and in that brief moment, a flurry of unspoken apologies and forgiveness exchanged.”

In a more humorous scenario, you might write, “A roll of her eyes spoke louder than words, a whole paragraph on why the joke was painfully unfunny.”

Use eye-talk to demonstrate the depth of understanding or the lack thereof between characters.

By doing so, you enrichen the personal dynamics in your story.

10. Motion and Emotion: The Kinetics of Eye Movement

The movement of eyes—darting, sweeping, flicking—can indicate a variety of emotions or thoughts.

“Her eyes darted around the room, like a hummingbird seeking nectar, but finding none,” could indicate anxiety or a feeling trapped.

Movement can also be slow and calculated: “His eyes slowly scanned the crowd until they landed on her. It was as though he had found what he was unconsciously searching for all evening.”

Here, the eyes act almost like a compass, guided by emotion or instinct to find a person in a crowd.

11. Veils and Shields: The Role of Eyelids and Lashes

Eyelids and eyelashes do more than just frame the eyes.

They act as veils or shields, expressing vulnerability or defense.

For example, “Her eyelashes were a curtain that she dropped quickly, hiding the turmoil that had briefly flickered in her eyes,” could indicate a momentary lapse in an otherwise strong facade.

On the other hand, “His eyelids lifted slowly, as if reluctantly allowing access to the secrets hidden in his gaze,” paints a vivid image of a guarded individual.

With eyelids acting as gatekeepers and eyelashes as intricate curtains, your description gains a theatrical quality.

12. Icy Stares and Fiery Glances: Temperature Imagery

Using temperature as imagery can add another layer of emotional context.

“Her gaze was icy, freezing everyone it touched, making even a crowded room feel lonely,” effectively conveys detachment and emotional coldness.

Alternatively, “His eyes burned with a fire that could ignite even the most dampened spirits,” suggests passion.

By assigning a “temperature” to your characters’ eyes, you’re doing more than describing.

You’re setting the emotional climate of your story.

13. Twin Moons: Symmetry and Asymmetry

Our eyes are often assumed to be symmetrical.

But describing a character with slightly asymmetrical eyes can add an interesting twist.

“Her right eye was noticeably larger than her left, as if it had seen more of the world and expanded with wisdom,” can introduce an element of uniqueness and intrigue.

Conversely, perfect symmetry can be used to highlight otherworldly beauty or artificiality.

“His eyes were symmetrically perfect, each a mirror image of the other, making him appear almost too flawless, like a sculpture.”

14. Distance and Depth: Proximity of Emotional Connection

The physical space between eyes can symbolize emotional distance or closeness.

“Her closely set eyes, like parallel lines that never meet, made it hard to decipher her emotions,” suggests a character who might be emotionally inaccessible.

On the flip side, consider: “His wide-set eyes seemed to embrace the world, absorbing its myriad colors and nuances.”

This description could indicate a more open, emotionally available individual.

The space between eyes can become a metaphorical playground for writers.

15. Transient Hues: Changing Colors

Some eyes change colors depending on the lighting or the character’s mood.

Describing this can add a mystical or unpredictable quality.

“Her eyes shifted from a deep blue to an oceanic green when she was lost in thought,” opens up a realm of questions and adds an element of unpredictability to the character.

Or you might write, “As he grew angrier, the brown of his eyes seemed to darken, like clouds gathering before a storm.”

Changing colors can make your character seem complex and intriguing, demanding the reader’s attention.

16. Windows or Walls: Transparency and Opacity

The eyes can be either transparent windows to the soul or impenetrable walls.

For example, “Looking into her eyes was like staring into a clear pond, where even the smallest pebble on the bottom was visible,” indicates transparency and vulnerability.

Contrastingly, “His eyes were like tinted windows—no matter how hard you looked, you couldn’t see inside.”

The latter communicates a sense of emotional fortification.

Transparency and opacity serve as tools to indicate how approachable or aloof a character is as a person.

17. Spotlighting: Single Eye Focus

Most descriptions involve both eyes, but focusing on just one can create an arresting image.

“Her left eye seemed to flicker with an inner light, commanding attention and distracting from her otherwise placid face,” can indicate a multifaceted character with hidden depths or asymmetrical qualities.

Or perhaps, “His right eye twitched involuntarily, belying the calm he otherwise projected.”

A focus on a single eye can serve to amplify emotion, make a character more memorable, or highlight an incongruity in their personality.

18. Eye Accessories: Glasses and Contacts

Glasses or contact lenses can be more than just functional.

They can offer insights into a character.

“Her thick glasses magnified her eyes to an impossible size, giving her an air of constant astonishment,” shows how glasses can be used to amplify a character trait.

Accessories become an extension of the character, revealing their choices, desires, or insecurities.

19. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Artistic Imagery

Sometimes, describing eyes as artworks can be exceptionally evocative.

“Her eyes were like a Jackson Pollock painting, a chaotic blend of colors that somehow made sense,” can indicate a complex and unpredictable character.

Or perhaps, “His eyes resembled a Van Gogh sky, swirling with depth and endless hues of blue and yellow.”

Artistic comparisons not only make the description more vivid.

But can also provide an intellectual backdrop to your character’s emotional landscape.

20. The Art of Avoidance: When Eyes Are Hidden

There can be significant impact in moments where a character’s eyes are hidden—by hair, a hat, or even their own hand.

“His eyes were obscured by a mess of unruly hair, as if he was deliberately hiding from the world,” can suggest a character who is emotionally unavailable or in a state of internal chaos.

Conversely, “She covered her eyes with a hand, as if blocking out the reality before her,” could indicate denial.

Or, perhaps, a reluctance to face the truth.

The absence or obstruction of eyes can speak volumes, adding a layer of complexity to the narrative.

21. The Blink Code: The Tempo of Eye Movement

The rhythm and tempo of blinking can subtly express a character’s emotional state or intentions.

Rapid blinking might reveal nervousness, excitement, or distress.

Slow, deliberate blinks could convey thoughtfulness or calm.

The blink can be as revealing as any other aspect of eye description, acting as a silent Morse code that conveys underlying emotional states.

For example, “Her eyelids shut tightly and reopened slowly, as though she was steeling herself for what was to come. Each blink seemed to be a word in a private language of courage.”

Here is a good video about how to describe eyes in writing:

10 Elements of Eyes to Describe in Writing

To summarize, here are 10 elements (or traits) of eyes that you can describe:

Color : The most obvious characteristic, but it can say a lot about a character. Blues, browns, greens, and grays each have their own set of associated traits and emotions.
Shape : The shape of the eyes can lend personality cues. Almond-shaped, round, or narrow eyes can make a character seem mysterious, innocent, or intense.
Size : Describing the size of the eyes can also give hints about a character’s personality. Large eyes might convey innocence or openness, while small eyes could suggest cunning or secrecy.
Luminosity/Brightness : How bright or dull the eyes appear can reflect the character’s emotional state or overall personality. Luminous eyes might signify vitality or a strong spirit.
Transparency : This refers to how “readable” the eyes are. Are they the proverbial “window to the soul,” or are they more like impenetrable walls?
Intensity : The power of a gaze can say a lot. An intense stare may show determination, while a lack of intensity could signal disinterest or fatigue.
Texture : While not immediately visible from a distance, up close the eyes may have specks, flecks, or distinct patterns that could add uniqueness to a character.
Direction : Where a character is looking—averting their gaze, staring straight ahead, or looking down—can show their emotional state and add context to dialogue and actions.
Movement : This includes blinking, winking, or any other eye movements. Rapid blinking might indicate stress, while slow blinking could indicate thoughtfulness or calm.
Surrounding Features : Eyebrows, eyelashes, and even the skin around the eyes can contribute to the overall impression. Bushy eyebrows, long lashes, or dark circles can add depth to your description.

30 Best Words to Describe Eyes in Writing

Here is a list of words to help you describe eyes in your stories:

Melancholic
Almond-shaped
Calculating

30 Best Phrases to Describe Eyes in Writing

When a single word won’t do, you’ll need phrases for describing eyes.

Check out this curated list of phrases for how to describe eyes in writing:

Eyes like saucers
Windows to the soul
A storm brewing in his eyes
Eyes bright with unshed tears
A twinkle in her eye
Eyes darker than midnight
Eyes that held galaxies
Deep pools of emotion
Eyes like open books
Eyes narrowed in suspicion
Eyes as cold as ice
An unreadable gaze
Pools of molten gold
A piercing gaze
Eyes dancing with mischief
Eyes filled with wonder
A guarded look
Eyes aflame with passion
A faraway look
An inviting gaze
Eyes shimmering like the ocean
A gaze that could cut glass
Eyes soft with compassion
A lingering look
A flirtatious glance
Eyes clouded with doubt
Eyes gleaming with intelligence
An intense stare
Eyes that defy description
Eyes closed in contemplation

3 Full Examples of Describing Eyes in Different Genres

Let’s learn how to describe eyes in writing by looking at full examples in various fiction genres.

In the dimly lit room, his eyes caught hers, and it felt as though time stood still.

They were deep pools of chocolate, rich and warm, promising sweet secrets and hidden depths. A soft light seemed to emanate from them, casting a gentle glow that could melt the iciest of hearts. It was as though his soul was laid bare, and she felt herself drawn into his gaze, an irresistible force pulling her closer to the love she’d been seeking all her life.

As she walked through the enchanted forest, her eyes changed to mirror her surroundings.

Normally a plain brown, they turned into a swirling mix of emerald and gold, as if her irises were tiny galaxies with stars twinkling within. The transformation was spellbinding, making her appear not just of this realm, but a creature of otherworldly beauty.

Those eyes held power—power to unlock realms and unleash spells, a mysterious allure that could not be ignored.

His eyes were like shards of ice, a piercing blue that seemed to cut through the dim light of the interrogation room.

Each glance was calculated, devoid of emotion, revealing nothing yet seeing everything. It was a look that had unnerved many—a gaze that had stared down threats and seen horrors that would break most men.

His eyes were the epitome of a human lie detector, missing nothing, ever vigilant, and deeply unsettling.

Final Thoughts: How To Describe Eyes in Writing

The best way to describe eyes is blending the tips, words, and phrases.

Also, connect the bigger plot and theme to your eye descriptions.

Of course, there is much more than eyes to describe in your story. Read the other guides on our site to learn how to describe, people, places, and scenes in your story.

A Guide to Descriptive Writing

by Melissa Donovan | Jan 7, 2021 | Creative Writing | 8 comments

What is descriptive writing?

Writing description is a necessary skill for most writers. Whether we’re writing an essay, a story, or a poem, we usually reach a point where we need to describe something. In fiction, we describe settings and characters. In poetry, we describe scenes, experiences, and emotions. In creative nonfiction, we describe reality. Descriptive writing is especially important for speculative fiction writers and poets. If you’ve created a fantasy world, then you’ll need to deftly describe it to readers; Lewis Carroll not only described Wonderland (aff link); he also described the fantastical creatures that inhabited it.

But many writers are challenged by description writing, and many readers find it boring to read — when it’s not crafted skillfully.

However, I think it’s safe to say that technology has spoiled us. Thanks to photos and videos, we’ve become increasingly visual, which means it’s getting harder to use words to describe something, especially if it only exists in our imaginations.

What is Descriptive Writing?

One might say that descriptive writing is the art of painting a picture with words. But descriptive writing goes beyond visuals. Descriptive writing hits all the senses; we describe how things look, sound, smell, taste, and feel (their tactile quality).

The term descriptive writing can mean a few different things:

The act of writing description ( I’m doing some descriptive writing ).
A descriptive essay is short-form prose that is meant to describe something in detail; it can describe a person, place, event, object, or anything else.
Description as part of a larger work: This is the most common kind of descriptive writing. It is usually a sentence or paragraph (sometimes multiple paragraphs) that provide description, usually to help the reader visualize what’s happening, where it’s happening, or how it’s happening. It’s most commonly used to describe a setting or a character. An example would be a section of text within a novel that establishes the setting by describing a room or a passage that introduces a character with a physical description.
Writing that is descriptive (or vivid) — an author’s style: Some authors weave description throughout their prose and verse, interspersing it through the dialogue and action. It’s a style of writing that imparts description without using large blocks of text that are explicitly focused on description.
Description is integral in poetry writing. Poetry emphasizes imagery, and imagery is rendered in writing via description, so descriptive writing is a crucial skill for most poets.

Depending on what you write, you’ve probably experimented with one of more of these types of descriptive writing, maybe all of them.

Can you think of any other types of descriptive writing that aren’t listed here?

How Much Description is Too Much?

Classic literature was dense with description whereas modern literature usually keeps description to a minimum.

Compare the elaborate descriptions in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy with the descriptions in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (aff links). Both series relied on description to help readers visualize an imagined, fantastical world, but Rowling did not use her precious writing space to describe standard settings whereas Tolkien frequently paused all action and spent pages describing a single landscape.

This isn’t unique to Tolkien and Rowling; if you compare most literature from the beginning of of the 20th century and earlier to today’s written works, you’ll see that we just don’t dedicate much time and space to description anymore.

I think this radical change in how we approach description is directly tied to the wide availability of film, television, and photography. Let’s say you were living in the 19th century, writing a story about a tropical island for an audience of northern, urban readers. You would be fairly certain that most of your readers had never seen such an island and had no idea what it looked like. To give your audience a full sense of your story’s setting, you’d need pages of detail describing the lush jungle, sandy beaches, and warm waters.

Nowadays, we all know what a tropical island looks like, thanks to the wide availability of media. Even if you’ve never been to such an island, surely you’ve seen one on TV. This might explain why few books on the craft of writing address descriptive writing. The focus is usually on other elements, like language, character, plot, theme, and structure.

For contemporary writers, the trick is to make the description as precise and detailed as possible while keeping it to a minimum. Most readers want characters and action with just enough description so that they can imagine the story as it’s unfolding.

If you’ve ever encountered a story that paused to provide head-to-toe descriptions along with detailed backstories of every character upon their introduction into the narrative, you know just how grating description can be when executed poorly.

However, it’s worth noting that a skilled writer can roll out descriptions that are riveting to read. Sometimes they’re riveting because they’re integrated seamlessly with the action and dialogue; other times, the description is deftly crafted and engaging on its own. In fact, an expert descriptive writer can keep readers glued through multiple pages of description.

Descriptive Writing Tips

I’ve encountered descriptive writing so smooth and seamless that I easily visualized what was happening without even noticing that I was reading description. Some authors craft descriptions that are so lovely, I do notice — but in a good way. Some of them are so compelling that I pause to read them again.

On the other hand, poorly crafted descriptions can really impede a reader’s experience. Description doesn’t work if it’s unclear, verbose, or bland. Most readers prefer action and dialogue to lengthy descriptions, so while a paragraph here and there can certainly help readers better visualize what’s happening, pages and pages of description can increase the risk that they’ll set your work aside and never pick it up again. There are exceptions to every rule, so the real trick is to know when lengthy descriptions are warranted and when they’re just boring.

Here are some general tips for descriptive writing:

Use distinct descriptions that stand out and are memorable. For example, don’t write that a character is five foot two with brown hair and blue eyes. Give the reader something to remember. Say the character is short with mousy hair and sky-blue eyes.
Make description active: Consider the following description of a room: There was a bookshelf in the corner. A desk sat under the window. The walls were beige, and the floor was tiled. That’s boring. Try something like this: A massive oak desk sat below a large picture window and beside a shelf overflowing with books. Hardcovers, paperbacks, and binders were piled on the dingy tiled floor in messy stacks. In the second example, words like overflowing and piled are active.
Weave description through the narrative: Sometimes a character enters a room and looks around, so the narrative needs to pause to describe what the character sees. Other times, description can be threaded through the narrative. For example, instead of pausing to describe a character, engage that character in dialogue with another character. Use the characters’ thoughts and the dialogue tags to reveal description: He stared at her flowing, auburn curls, which reminded him of his mother’s hair. “Where were you?” he asked, shifting his green eyes across the restaurant to where a customer was hassling one of the servers.

Simple descriptions are surprisingly easy to execute. All you have to do is look at something (or imagine it) and write what you see. But well-crafted descriptions require writers to pay diligence to word choice, to describe only those elements that are most important, and to use engaging language to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. Instead of spending several sentences describing a character’s height, weight, age, hair color, eye color, and clothing, a few, choice details will often render a more vivid image for the reader: Red hair framed her round, freckled face like a spray of flames. This only reveals three descriptive details: red hair, a round face, and freckles. Yet it paints more vivid picture than a statistical head-to-toe rundown: She was five foot three and no more than a hundred and ten pounds with red hair, blue eyes, and a round, freckled face.

10 descriptive writing practices.

How to Practice Writing Description

Here are some descriptive writing activities that will inspire you while providing opportunities to practice writing description. If you don’t have much experience with descriptive writing, you may find that your first few attempts are flat and boring. If you can’t keep readers engaged, they’ll wander off. Work at crafting descriptions that are compelling and mesmerizing.

Go to one of your favorite spots and write a description of the setting: it could be your bedroom, a favorite coffee shop, or a local park. Leave people, dialogue, and action out of it. Just focus on explaining what the space looks like.
Who is your favorite character from the movies? Describe the character from head to toe. Show the reader not only what the character looks like, but also how the character acts. Do this without including action or dialogue. Remember: description only!
Forty years ago we didn’t have cell phones or the internet. Now we have cell phones that can access the internet. Think of a device or gadget that we’ll have forty years from now and describe it.
Since modern fiction is light on description, many young and new writers often fail to include details, even when the reader needs them. Go through one of your writing projects and make sure elements that readers may not be familiar with are adequately described.
Sometimes in a narrative, a little description provides respite from all the action and dialogue. Make a list of things from a story you’re working on (gadgets, characters, settings, etc.), and for each one, write a short description of no more than a hundred words.
As mentioned, Tolkien often spent pages describing a single landscape. Choose one of your favorite pieces of classic literature, find a long passage of description, and rewrite it. Try to cut the descriptive word count in half.
When you read a book, use a highlighter to mark sentences and paragraphs that contain description. Don’t highlight every adjective and adverb. Look for longer passages that are dedicated to description.
Write a description for a child. Choose something reasonably difficult, like the solar system. How do you describe it in such a way that a child understands how he or she fits into it?
Most writers dream of someday writing a book. Describe your book cover.
Write a one-page description of yourself.

If you have any descriptive writing practices to add to this list, feel free to share them in the comments.

Descriptive Writing

Does descriptive writing come easily to you, or do you struggle with it? Do you put much thought into how you write description? What types of descriptive writing have you tackled — descriptive essays, blocks of description within larger texts, or descriptions woven throughout a narrative? Share your tips for descriptive writing by leaving a comment, and keep writing!

Further Reading: Abolish the Adverbs , Making the Right Word Choices for Better Writing , and Writing Description in Fiction .

Ready Set Write a Guide to Creative Writing

I find descriptions easier when first beginning a scene. Other ones I struggle with. Yes, intertwining them with dialogue does help a lot.

I have the opposite experience. I tend to dive right into action and dialogue when I first start a scene.

I came across this article at just the right time. I am just starting to write a short story. This will change the way I describe characters in my story.

Thank you for this. R.G. Ramsey

You’re welcome!

Great tips and how to practise and improve our descriptive writing skills. Thank you for sharing.

You’re welcome, Bella.

Hello Melissa

I have read many of your articles about different aspects of writing and have enjoyed all of them. What you said here, I agree with, with the exception of #7. That is one point that I dispute and don’t understand the reason why anyone would do this, though I’ve seen books that had things like that done to them.

To me, a book is something to be treasured, loved and taken care of. It deserves my respect because I’m sure the author poured their heart and soul into its creation. Marking it up that way is nothing short of defacing it. A book or story is a form of art, so should a person mark over a picture by Rembrandt or any other famous painter? You’re a very talented author, so why would you want someone to mark through the words you had spent considerable time and effort agonizing over, while searching for the best words to convey your thoughts?

If I want to remember some section or point the author is making, then I’ll take a pen and paper and record the page number and perhaps the first few words of that particular section. I’ve found that writing a note this way helps me remember it better. This is then placed inside the cover for future reference. If someone did what you’ve suggested to a book of mine, I’d be madder than a ‘wet hen’, and that person would certainly be told what I thought of them.

In any of the previous articles you’ve written, you’ve brought up some excellent points which I’ve tried to incorporate in my writing. Keep up the good work as I know your efforts have helped me, and I’m sure other authors as well.

Hi Stanley. Thanks so much for sharing your point of view. I appreciate and value it.

Marking up a book is a common practice, especially in academia. Putting notes in margins, underlining, highlighting, and tagging pages with bookmarks is standard. Personally, I mark up nonfiction paperbacks, but I never mark up fiction paperbacks or any hardcovers (not since college).

I completely respect your right to keep your books in pristine condition. And years ago, when I started college, I felt exactly the same way. I was horrified that people (instructors and professors!) would fill their books with ugly yellow highlighting and other markips. But I quickly realized that this was shortsighted.

Consider an old paperback that is worn and dog-eared. With one look, you know this book has been read many times and it’s probably loved. It’s like the Velveteen Rabbit of books. I see markups as the same — that someone was engaging with the book and trying to understand it on a deeper level, which is not disrespectful. It’s something to be celebrated.

Sometimes we place too much value on the book as a physical object rather than what’s inside. I appreciate a beautiful book as much as anyone but what really matters to me is the information or experience that it contains. I often read on a Kindle. Sometimes I listen to audio books. There is no physical book. The experience is not lessened.

I understand where you’re coming from. I used to feel the same way, but my mind was changed. I’m not trying to change yours, but I hope you’ll understand.

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Writing Nestling

How To Describe Eyes In Writing (13 Steps You Need To Know)

In the realm of storytelling, the eyes are not just windows to the soul; they are portals to a character’s deepest emotions, hidden secrets, and unique essence.

Mastering the art of describing eyes in writing is akin to wielding a magic wand, allowing writers to paint vivid and evocative portraits that resonate with readers on a profound level.

From the sparkle of excitement to the shadow of sorrow, from the intensity of desire to the weight of wisdom, the eyes are a canvas upon which emotions and character intricacies are vividly rendered.

In this exploration of “How To Describe Eyes In Writing,” we embark on a journey to unlock the secrets of crafting eye descriptions that not only engage the senses but also breathe life into characters and narratives.

Join us as we delve into the nuances of eye descriptions, from anatomy and symbolism to techniques and ethical considerations, to enhance your storytelling prowess and captivate the hearts and minds of your readers.

Table of Contents

How To Describe Eyes In Writing

Describing eyes in writing can be a creative and detailed process. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

Observe the Eyes

Take a moment to closely observe the eyes you want to describe. Pay attention to their color, shape, and any distinctive features such as freckles, scars, or unusual patterns.

Consider the Setting

Think about the context in which you are describing the eyes. Is it a romantic scene, a suspenseful moment, or a casual observation? The setting can influence the tone and depth of your description.

Start with Color

Begin your description by mentioning the color of the eyes. Use vivid and descriptive words to convey the shade. For example, “Her eyes were a deep, emerald green.”

Shape and Size

Describe the shape and size of the eyes. Are they round, almond-shaped, or something else? Mention if they are large, small, or average in size.

Expressions and Emotions

Consider the emotions or expressions conveyed by the eyes. Are they sparkling with joy, filled with tears, or clouded with sadness? Describe how the eyes reflect the character’s feelings.

Pupils and Iris

Mention the size of the pupils and the details of the iris. You can describe the pupils as dilated with desire or constricted in bright light. Highlight any unique features of the iris, such as flecks or a ring of a different color.

Eyebrows and Eyelashes

Don’t forget to mention the eyebrows and eyelashes. Are the eyelashes long and dark, framing the eyes beautifully? Are the eyebrows well-groomed or wild and expressive?

Eye Movements

Describe any eye movements that add depth to the character’s emotions. Mention if they blink rapidly, gaze intensely, or dart nervously around.

Comparisons and Metaphors

Use similes and metaphors to create vivid imagery. Compare the eyes to elements in nature or objects that convey a particular feeling. For example, “His eyes were as deep and mysterious as the night sky.”

Light and Shadows

Consider how lighting affects the appearance of the eyes. Describe how they catch the light, shimmer, or cast shadows. Lighting can enhance the atmosphere of your description.

History or Backstory

If relevant, provide some backstory or history related to the eyes. Have they seen hardship, witnessed important events, or undergone a transformation?

Overall Impression

Sum up your description with an overall impression. How do these eyes make the observer feel? What impact do they have on the character’s appearance and personality?

Editing and Polishing

Review your description for clarity and coherence. Make sure your choice of words enhances the reader’s visualization of the eyes and aligns with the tone of your story.

Remember that the goal is to engage the reader’s imagination and create a vivid mental image. Tailor your description to the character and the narrative to make the eyes an integral part of your storytelling.

Understanding the Basics

Understanding the Basics of describing eyes in writing is like peering through the keyhole into the soul of your characters. Just as the eye is the window to the soul, mastering the art of depicting this intricate organ opens a portal to the very essence of your storytelling.

Delve into the fascinating anatomy of the human eye, where the iris dances with secrets, the pupil reveals the depth of emotion, and the cornea reflects the world in a thousand shimmering facets.

Learn the genetic alchemy that weaves the tapestry of eye colors, each hue an enigma waiting to be unraveled.

With these fundamentals at your fingertips, you’ll transform mundane descriptions into vivid canvases that breathe life into your characters and invite readers to journey deep into the heart of your narrative.

The anatomy of the human eye

The anatomy of the human eye is a marvel of nature’s precision and complexity. At its core, the eye is a biological masterpiece, comprised of several intricate components working in seamless harmony.

The iris, like a curtain, regulates the amount of light that enters, its unique pigmentation bestowing individuality upon each gaze.

The pupil, a minuscule portal, dilates and contracts in response to varying light conditions, mirroring the ebb and flow of emotions.

The cornea, a crystal-clear dome, refracts light, allowing the world to be painted upon the canvas of the retina.

Meanwhile, the lens flexes and focuses like a camera, ensuring that images are sharp and clear. These elements, along with many others, combine to create the breathtaking phenomenon of vision, reminding us that the human eye is not just an organ; it’s a gateway to perceiving the beauty and wonder of the world.

The science of eye colors

The science of eye colors is a captivating journey into the genetic tapestry that defines our visual uniqueness. Eye color, the result of intricate genetic interactions, is a testament to the fascinating complexities of human inheritance.

While blue, brown, green, and hazel are among the most common eye colors, the possibilities are nearly endless, with variations and shades that make each individual’s eyes as distinctive as their fingerprints.

This intricate dance of genetics involves multiple genes, such as OCA2 and HERC2, which determine the type and amount of pigments in the iris. Environmental factors can also influence the final hue.

The science of eye colors not only unveils the mystery behind our gaze but also highlights the intricate symphony of our DNA, reminding us that even in the realm of genetics, diversity reigns supreme.

The Power of Vivid Imagery

The Power of Vivid Imagery in writing is the literary equivalent of a painter’s brushstroke on the canvas of the reader’s mind.

It’s the sorcerer’s incantation that summons the story to life, transforming mundane words into an exhilarating sensory experience.

With the deft strokes of metaphor and the careful selection of adjectives, writers have the power to transport readers into the heart of their narrative.

It’s a symphony of the senses where readers can not only see the world but taste its colors, smell its emotions, and touch the intangible.

Vivid imagery is the key that unlocks the door to a realm where words cease to be mere symbols; they become a portal to a universe where imagination reigns supreme, and stories take on a life of their own.

The role of sensory language in eye descriptions

The role of sensory language in eye descriptions is akin to weaving a tapestry of perception that envelops the reader in a multisensory experience.

It’s the subtle art of not just telling the reader about the eyes but allowing them to feel the world through them.

With the right choice of words, a writer can make eyes shimmer like polished emeralds, glint with the warmth of a summer sunset, or smolder like the depths of a midnight abyss.

Sensory language invites readers to not only visualize but also feel the texture of an iris, hear the whispers hidden in a gaze, and even taste the emotions concealed behind a blink.

It’s a literary alchemy that elevates eye descriptions from mere visuals to a symphony of sensations, fostering a profound connection between the reader and the characters they encounter on the page.

Painting a picture with words: similes and metaphors

Painting a picture with words through similes and metaphors is akin to wielding a magic brush that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary in the realm of literature.

Similes are the luminescent stars that twinkle in the night sky of prose, likening one element to another, allowing readers to see, feel, and understand the subject in a whole new light.

Metaphors, on the other hand, are the bold strokes of genius that bridge the gap between two seemingly unrelated entities, creating a fusion of ideas that dances on the canvas of the imagination.

Together, these literary devices breathe life into the written word, turning mundane descriptions into vibrant, living portraits.

They are the language of the poet, the voice of the storyteller, and the enchantment that beckons readers to immerse themselves in the vivid landscapes of the writer’s creation, where words transcend their literal meanings and become a tapestry of wonder.

Selecting the right adjectives to enhance visual impact

Selecting the right adjectives to enhance visual impact in writing is akin to choosing the perfect brush strokes for a masterpiece.

It’s about meticulously curating a palette of words that will color the reader’s imagination with vivid and evocative images.

The selection of adjectives is more than just embellishment; it’s the essence of storytelling. A well-chosen adjective can transform a simple “blue eye” into a “deep sapphire gaze,” instantly conjuring a more vivid and nuanced picture.

The art lies not only in choosing descriptive words but in understanding their power to evoke emotions and resonate with the reader’s senses.

When wielded adeptly, adjectives breathe life into characters, landscapes, and scenes, allowing readers to not only see but also experience the narrative in all its rich and immersive detail.

Beyond Physical Appearance

Beyond physical appearance lies the enigmatic realm of character depth and storytelling magic. In the world of writing, eyes are not just windows to the soul; they are mirrors reflecting the intricate layers of a character’s psyche.

They bear witness to inner storms and quiet victories, revealing secrets that words alone cannot express. Beyond the hue and shape, eyes carry the weight of history, the scars of experience, and the dreams of the future.

They are the silent narrators of a character’s journey, conveying courage, vulnerability, love, and longing with the subtlest of glances.

When a writer delves beyond physical appearance and explores the profound narrative potential within a character’s eyes, storytelling transcends the superficial, inviting readers on an emotional odyssey that lingers long after the final page is turned.

Reflecting emotions and personality through the eyes

Reflecting emotions and personality through the eyes is a poetic dance of revelation in storytelling.

The eyes are the windows through which the heart and soul’s myriad hues spill forth. In their depths, we find the silent poetry of love, the tempestuous storms of anger, the shimmering oceans of sadness, and the radiant sunrises of joy.

They can be smoldering with mystery, sparkling with mischief, or harboring the wisdom of ages. A character’s eyes not only mirror their emotions but also serve as portals to their inner world, offering readers an intimate glimpse into their fears, desires, and aspirations.

The flicker of a gaze, the quiver of a lid, or the steadiness of a stare can reveal more about a character’s personality than pages of exposition ever could.

When words alone fall short, it is in the eyes that the true essence of a character is unveiled, creating an indelible connection between the reader and the narrative.

Symbolism and cultural nuances associated with eyes

Symbolism and cultural nuances associated with eyes form a rich tapestry of meaning that transcends linguistic and geographical boundaries.

Across cultures, eyes have been endowed with profound symbolism, serving as metaphors for enlightenment, knowledge, and perception. In the East, the “third eye” is a symbol of spiritual insight and higher consciousness, often depicted as an inner eye that sees beyond the physical realm.

Conversely, in Western literature and art, the “evil eye” represents malevolent intent and the power to curse. In Native American cultures, the concept of the “eye of the heart” is revered as a source of intuition and emotional understanding.

Eyes are also deeply intertwined with cultural expressions of beauty and aesthetics, influencing practices such as makeup, adornment, and body language.

Understanding the symbolic weight and cultural nuances associated with eyes is essential for writers, as it adds depth and authenticity to character development, and offers readers a gateway into the rich tapestry of human beliefs and traditions.

Creating depth through character development

Creating depth through character development is the alchemy that transforms ink and paper into living, breathing individuals within the world of a story.

It’s the process of infusing characters with the complexities of real human beings: their hopes, fears, contradictions, and aspirations. Just as in life, a character’s journey is not solely defined by their actions but by their inner struggles, moral dilemmas, and personal growth.

It’s about crafting characters who evolve, learn, and change, driven by desires and haunted by flaws. Readers are drawn into a story not just by its plot but by the emotional resonance of its characters.

In their depth, we find empathy, connection, and a mirror reflecting our own humanity. Writers who master the art of character development breathe life into their stories , inviting readers to embark on an intimate and unforgettable voyage through the hearts and minds of their literary creations.

Examples from famous literature

Examples from famous literature illuminate the enduring power of vivid eye descriptions. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” the enigmatic eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, looming over the Valley of Ashes, become a haunting symbol of moral decay and the watchful gaze of a judgmental society.

J.K. Rowling masterfully employs eye descriptions in the “Harry Potter” series, with Voldemort’s crimson, snake-like eyes serving as a chilling emblem of his malevolence. In “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the haunting description of Boo Radley’s reclusive eyes through the eyes of Scout and Jem encapsulates the novel’s themes of innocence, prejudice, and compassion.

These literary examples showcase how authors harness the evocative potential of eye descriptions to enrich their narratives and create lasting impressions in the minds of readers, demonstrating that the eyes are not just organs but windows to the soul of a story.

Techniques for Effective Eye Descriptions

Techniques for effective eye descriptions are the secret incantations of the literary sorcerer, unlocking the deepest emotions and hidden depths of characters.

They’re the whispers that beckon readers into the intimate recesses of a character’s soul. From the choice of perspective, whether first-person intimacy or third-person observance, to the art of gradual revelation, where each detail is a breadcrumb leading to greater understanding, these techniques are the keys to creating memorable eye descriptions.

They allow writers to unveil secrets, convey emotions, and even advance the plot, all through the silent language of the eyes.

In the hands of a skilled wordsmith, these techniques transcend mere physical descriptions, forging a profound connection between the reader and the characters, leaving an indelible mark on the narrative and a lasting impression on the reader’s heart.

First-person vs. third-person perspectives

The choice between first-person and third-person perspectives in writing is akin to selecting the lens through which the reader experiences a story .

First-person perspective immerses readers deep within the psyche of a singular character, providing an intimate and immediate connection with their thoughts, emotions, and perceptions.

It’s a direct line to the character’s inner world, offering authenticity and empathy. In contrast, third-person perspective provides a panoramic view, offering insights into multiple characters’ thoughts and actions while maintaining a degree of narrative distance.

It grants writers the ability to build a complex, multifaceted world, weaving together the stories of various characters.

The choice between these perspectives is a strategic decision, each offering unique advantages and challenges, but both capable of crafting rich and compelling narratives that resonate with readers on different levels.

Incorporating eye descriptions into action scenes

Incorporating eye descriptions into action scenes is like adding a layer of visceral intensity to the narrative canvas.

When characters are caught in the throes of high-stakes moments, their eyes become windows into their determination, fear, or resolve.

Whether it’s the glint of a hero’s unwavering resolve or the widening of a villain’s malevolent gaze, eye descriptions can amplify the tension and emotion of the scene.

Readers, in these moments, are not just spectators but active participants, experiencing the adrenaline rush and emotional turmoil alongside the characters.

The subtle details of clenched lids, darting glances, or pupils dilated in shock can serve as powerful markers of a character’s internal state, allowing writers to convey depth and nuance even in the most action-packed sequences.

In the whirlwind of chaos, the eyes offer readers a grounding point, a profound insight into the characters’ humanity amidst the chaos.

Crafting Memorable Characters

Crafting memorable characters is akin to sculpting timeless works of art from the clay of imagination. It’s a delicate dance of inspiration and intention, where writers breathe life into their literary creations.

These characters are not merely ink and paper; they are the embodiment of dreams, fears, and aspirations. They carry the weight of their past and the promise of their future, and through their struggles, triumphs, and vulnerabilities, they beckon readers to walk beside them on the intricate journey of the narrative.

Like chameleons, they adapt and evolve, revealing facets of their personalities with every turn of the page, forging connections that endure long after the story ends.

In the alchemy of character crafting, writers wield the power to change lives, challenge perspectives, and ignite imaginations, leaving an indelible mark on the literary landscape and the hearts of readers.

Developing a character’s backstory through their eyes

Developing a character’s backstory through their eyes is a subtle art of storytelling, akin to tracing the lines of history etched into a person’s gaze.

Eyes, like ancient manuscripts, hold secrets and chapters of the past that can be unveiled to enrich a character’s narrative.

The subtle flicker of sorrow in their gaze might hint at a childhood loss, while the spark of determination may reveal a lifetime of challenges overcome.

The eyes can be a portal to the character’s memories, showcasing scars, joys, and sorrows that have shaped them into who they are today.

In this intricate dance of character development, writers weave the threads of past experiences into the tapestry of the present, creating a character with depth, resonance, and a compelling backstory that resonates with readers on a profound level.

Conveying inner turmoil, secrets, and hidden agendas

Conveying inner turmoil, secrets, and hidden agendas through a character’s eyes is a mesmerizing act of literary intrigue.

The eyes become a canvas of emotions and unspoken truths, reflecting the turbulence within. A character’s gaze may betray the weight of unshared burdens, the flicker of a concealed motive, or the torment of a carefully guarded secret.

In their depths, we witness the swirling storms of inner conflict, the silent battles of conscience, and the enigmatic web of desires left unspoken.

The eyes are the storyteller’s most potent instrument, revealing the complex layers of human nature that lie beneath the surface.

As writers master the art of portraying these inner landscapes through the eyes, they invite readers to become detectives, deciphering the mysteries and unraveling the hidden depths of their characters, forging an unbreakable bond between reader and narrative.

Evoking empathy and reader connection

Evoking empathy and reader connection through a character’s eyes is akin to forging an unspoken pact between writer and reader, where the boundaries of the page dissolve, and hearts converge in understanding.

The eyes, often described as the windows to the soul, become the bridge between worlds. When a character’s eyes reflect their vulnerabilities, hopes, and fears, readers can’t help but see a reflection of themselves.

It’s in those moments of shared humanity, when readers recognize their own struggles, joys, and imperfections mirrored in the characters’ gaze, that a deep and enduring connection is formed.

Through the artful depiction of eyes, writers invite readers not just to witness a story but to experience it intimately, forging bonds that transcend fiction and make the characters’ journey their own.

Case Studies

Case studies are like literary treasure maps, guiding us through the intricate labyrinth of storytelling with the wisdom gleaned from the literary masters who’ve walked the path before us.

They are the vibrant tapestries woven from the threads of imagination and inspiration, showcasing the brilliance of writers who’ve dared to push the boundaries of the written word.

These captivating narratives dissect the anatomy of storytelling, revealing the nuances of character development, plot twists , and thematic resonance with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel.

Through case studies, we delve into the hearts and minds of unforgettable characters, witnessing their trials, tribulations, and triumphs.

These explorations of literary excellence are not just academic exercises; they are invitations to embark on intellectual adventures, fueling our own creative fires and inspiring us to craft our own masterpieces.

Analyzing notable examples from literature

Analyzing notable examples from literature is akin to entering a hallowed hall of mirrors, where each reflection reveals a different facet of the storytelling gem.

It’s a journey of literary excavation, where we unearth the treasures hidden within the words of the great authors who have shaped the canon of literature.

Through the careful dissection of these masterpieces, we uncover the secrets of character development, narrative structure, and thematic depth.

These notable examples are not just stories; they are living classrooms, offering profound insights into the human condition, cultural nuances, and the enduring power of the written word.

As we analyze these literary gems, we become not only readers but also scholars, peering behind the curtain of the author’s intentions and craftsmanship, and in doing so, we enrich our own understanding of the art of storytelling.

Deconstructing successful eye descriptions

Deconstructing successful eye descriptions is like unraveling a finely woven tapestry, revealing the intricate threads that make them shine.

It’s a detective’s quest, a literary adventure into the art of crafting evocative imagery. By dissecting these descriptions, we uncover the secrets of metaphor, simile, and the precise selection of adjectives that breathe life into the eyes on the page.

We observe how authors employ sensory language to create an immersive experience and build emotional connections between the characters and readers.

Successful eye descriptions aren’t just words on paper; they are living expressions of the characters’ inner worlds, windows into their emotions, and vehicles for conveying themes and subtext.

Deconstruction unveils the alchemy of storytelling, inviting us to peer beyond the surface and learn from the masters who’ve mastered the craft of describing eyes with brilliance and resonance.

Discussing the impact of eye descriptions on plot and character development

Discussing the impact of eye descriptions on plot and character development reveals the profound influence that seemingly subtle details can have on the entire narrative landscape.

Eyes, as conduits of emotion and intention, hold the power to shape the trajectory of a story. The way characters perceive the world, the motives they hide or reveal through their gazes, and the evolving dynamics between them, all pivot around the descriptions of their eyes.

These visual cues become signposts in the reader’s journey, foreshadowing plot twists, revealing hidden agendas, and enriching the tapestry of interpersonal relationships.

By delving into the impact of eye descriptions, we uncover how the nuances of a character’s gaze can be pivotal turning points or subtle undercurrents that drive the narrative forward, creating a symbiotic relationship between the characters’ eyes and the unfolding story.

Ethical Considerations

Ethical considerations in writing are the compass that guides us through the labyrinth of creativity , ensuring that our words bear the weight of responsibility and respect for diverse voices and perspectives.

It’s the moral anchor that reminds us that storytelling is not just an act of creation but also a reflection of our values and beliefs.

With every word we craft, we have the power to influence, inspire, or perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Ethical considerations challenge us to be conscious of cultural sensitivities, to embrace diversity, and to question our biases.

They prompt us to portray characters authentically, to avoid reducing them to caricatures, and to acknowledge the lived experiences of others.

In the realm of storytelling, ethics are not constraints but catalysts for thoughtfulness and empathy, reminding us that our words have the potential to shape minds, hearts, and even societies.

Avoiding stereotypes and clichés in eye descriptions

Avoiding stereotypes and clichés in eye descriptions is the hallmark of a discerning writer who refuses to settle for the ordinary.

Stereotypes, like overused tropes, can flatten characters into one-dimensional caricatures, robbing them of their authenticity and depth. In the world of eye descriptions, this means shunning tired clichés like “eyes as deep as the ocean” or “eyes that sparkle like stars,” and instead, embracing the unique nuances of each character’s gaze.

It’s about understanding that every pair of eyes tells a distinctive story, and it’s our duty as writers to do justice to that complexity.

By avoiding stereotypes and clichés, we honor the diversity of human experiences, allowing our characters to emerge as multifaceted beings with eyes that reflect the intricacies of their personalities, histories, and emotions.

The Revision Process

The revision process is the writer’s metamorphosis, where the raw ore of first drafts undergoes a refining fire to emerge as polished gems of storytelling.

It’s an act of alchemy, where words are transmuted into art. Like a sculptor chiseling away at a block of marble, the writer sculpts and reshapes sentences and paragraphs until they gleam with clarity and purpose.

It’s a dance of introspection and innovation, where each word is scrutinized, each scene dissected, and every character’s gaze scrutinized.

Through this meticulous process, the narrative deepens, characters grow more nuanced, and themes resonate more profoundly.

The revision process is where the magic happens, where a story is transformed from a rough sketch into a masterpiece, and where the writer’s dedication to craft shines brightest.

The importance of revising eye descriptions

The importance of revising eye descriptions in writing cannot be overstated. Just as a painter perfects each brushstroke to capture the essence of their subject, writers must refine and fine-tune their eye descriptions to encapsulate the true spirit of their characters. Revisions allow us to peel away layers of superficiality, to dive deeper into a character’s soul, and to ensure that each adjective, metaphor, and simile resonates with precision and impact.

Eye descriptions, being windows to a character’s emotions and personality, are powerful tools for reader engagement.

Through revision, we can evoke greater empathy, reveal hidden layers of complexity, and convey subtle shifts in mood or motive.

Ultimately, the well-revised eye description has the potential to transform a character from a mere figure on the page into a living, breathing entity that lingers in the reader’s mind long after the story has ended.

Fine-tuning eye descriptions for maximum effect

Fine-tuning eye descriptions for maximum effect is the writer’s quest for poetic precision and emotional resonance. It’s about sharpening the focus, like a photographer adjusting the lens for the perfect shot, until every detail is vivid and every emotion palpable.

Each word, each phrase, becomes a brushstroke on the canvas of the reader’s mind, painting a portrait that lingers in memory. It’s in the subtle nuances, the delicate balance of adjectives, and the cadence of the prose that we achieve the greatest impact.

Fine-tuning isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about conveying the character’s essence, their struggles and dreams, their history and destiny, all through the silent language of their eyes.

It’s in the meticulous revision of eye descriptions that we elevate them from mere words on a page to powerful conduits of connection, drawing readers into the heart of the narrative with every gaze, every flicker, and every unspoken emotion.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about How To Describe Eyes In Writing

How can i make my eye descriptions more captivating and unique.

To make your eye descriptions stand out, try to use unconventional comparisons and metaphors. Think beyond the typical “deep as the ocean” and experiment with unexpected analogies that suit your character or setting.

Should I focus on physical details or emotions when describing eyes?

Both physical details and emotions are important. Combining them can create a well-rounded description. Describe the physical characteristics first, and then delve into how those eyes reflect the character’s emotions or inner world.

Can you provide examples of how to describe unusual eye colors?

Certainly! For instance, describe violet eyes as “a shade between twilight and a pansy,” or golden eyes as “gleaming like molten honey under the sun.”

How can I describe eyes in a way that reveals a character’s backstory?

You can reveal a character’s backstory through their eyes by mentioning scars, wrinkles, or a haunted look that hints at past experiences. For example, “Her eyes held the weight of years gone by, etched with lines of wisdom and sorrow.”

What’s the best way to describe eyes in a suspenseful or mysterious scene?

In suspenseful scenes, focus on the intensity and movement of the eyes. Mention how they dart around, widen in fear, or narrow in suspicion. Describe them as “searching for answers in the shadows” or “hiding secrets behind a veil of uncertainty.”

Can I use the eyes to foreshadow events in my story?

Yes, eyes can be a subtle tool for foreshadowing. Describe them in a way that hints at what’s to come. For instance, you can mention “a glint of mischief” if a character is planning something mischievous.

How can I describe eyes in a romantic context without being cliché?

To describe eyes in a romantic context without clichés, focus on the unique qualities of the eyes and how they captivate the other person. Mention details like “their eyes met like two stars colliding in the night sky,” instead of using overused comparisons like “lost in their gaze.”

Is it essential to describe every detail of a character’s eyes?

No, it’s not necessary to describe every detail. Select the most significant and relevant details that contribute to the character’s depth or the story’s atmosphere. Less can often be more effective.

How can I convey a character’s change in emotions through their eyes during a dialogue scene?

Use eye descriptions in conjunction with dialogue tags and actions to convey emotions. For example, “Her eyes brightened with excitement as she exclaimed…” or “His eyes hardened with resolve as he responded…”

Can I use eyes to symbolize themes in my story?

Absolutely. Eyes can symbolize themes such as insight, deception, or connection. Describe them in a way that aligns with your story’s themes to add depth and symbolism.

Remember, the key to effective eye descriptions is to tailor them to your characters, plot, and the emotions you want to convey, and to keep your writing fresh and engaging.

In the art of storytelling, the eyes have proven time and again to be powerful conduits of emotion, character depth, and narrative resonance.

As we conclude our exploration of “How To Describe Eyes In Writing,” we find ourselves equipped with the tools and insights to transform mere descriptions into vivid canvases that captivate and engage readers.

We’ve navigated the intricate terrain of sensory language, metaphors, and character development, and delved into the realm of symbolism and cultural nuances.

We’ve also pondered the ethical dimensions of our craft, striving to represent diverse perspectives with sensitivity and respect.

Whether crafting eyes that shimmer with mystery, smolder with intensity, or glisten with vulnerability, the art of describing eyes allows us to leave an indelible mark on the tapestry of storytelling.

As we continue our literary journeys, may our newfound understanding of this subtle yet profound aspect of character portrayal enhance our storytelling prowess, leaving readers both enthralled and moved by the vivid worlds we create through the gaze of our characters.

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You have to use the five senses when you write. Readers want to experience what your characters see, smell, hear, taste, and touch. Using the senses is one of the best ways for writers to learn how to show and not tell.

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emit – to make a sound
grinding – a sound of one hard thing moving against another
hushed – a sound that is quiet
inaudible – a sound that is difficult to hear
monotonous – a sound that is always the same and never gets louder or quieter, or higher or lower
muffled – a sound that is not easy to hear because it is blocked by something
plaintive – a sound that has a sad quality
rhythmic – a sound that has a clear, regular pattern
staccato – a sound where each word or sound is clearly separate

Describing Pleasing Sounds

dulcet – soft and pleasant
lilting – a sound that has a rising and falling pattern
listenable – easy to listen to
mellow – a soft, smooth, pleasant sound
melodic – beautiful sound
musical – sounds like music
pure – a clear, beautiful sound
rich – a sound that is strong in a pleasant way
soft – quiet and peaceful
sonorous – a sound that is deep and strong in a pleasant way
sweet – a pleasant sound

Describing Noisy Sounds

at full blast – as loudly as possible
almighty – used for emphasising how loud something is
brassy – a sound that is loud and unpleasant
deafening – a sound so loud you cannot hear anything else
ear-splitting – extremely loud
explosive – a sound that is loud and unexpected
howling – a continuous, low, loud noise
insistent – a continuous, loud, strong noise
loud – a sound that is strong and very easy to hear
noisy – a sound that is full of noise
percussive – a sound that is short, like someone hitting a drum
piercing – a sound that is very loud, high, and unpleasant
pulsating – strong, regular pattern
raucous – rude, violent, noisy
resounding – a sound that is loud and that continues for a while
riotous – lively and noisy
roaring – a deep, loud noise
rowdy – noisy and causing trouble
sharp – a sound that is sudden and loud
shrill – a sound that is loud, high, and unpleasant
thundering – extremely loud
thunderous – loud
tumultuous – a sound that includes noise, excitement, activity, or violence
uproarious – extremely noisy

Words That Help You Show And Not Tell

Many of these words that help you show and not tell are examples of onomatopoeia . These words imitate natural sounds. ‘It creates a sound effect that mimics the thing described, making the description more expressive and interesting.’

Here are some examples:

The bees buzzed outside my window.
The wind sighed .
The leaves crackled and crunched under his feet.

Use this list to make your writing come alive.

babble – a gentle, pleasant sound of water as it moves along in a river
bang – to move, making loud noises
beep – a short high sound or several short high sounds
blare – to make a loud and unpleasant noise
blast – to make a loud sound with a car horn
bleep – a short high sound or several short high sounds
boom – to make a deep loud sound that continues for some time
caterwaul – an unpleasant loud high noise
chime – a high ringing sound like a bell or set of bells
chink – a high ringing sound when knocked together, or to make something do this
clack -to make a short loud sound like one hard object hitting against another
clang – a loud, metallic sound
clank – a short, loud sound
clash – a loud, metallic sound
clatter – a series of short, sharp noises
click – a short sound like the sound when you press a switch
clink – to make the short high sound of glass or metal objects hitting each other, or to cause objects to make this sound
cluck – to make a short, low sound with your tongue
crash – a sudden loud noise, as if something is being hit
creak – if something creaks, especially something wooden, it makes a high noise when it moves or when you put weight on it
drone – to make a low continuous noise
fizz – a soft sound that small gas bubbles make when they burst
groan – a long, low, sound
growl – a low, unpleasant noise
grunt – to make a short low sound in your throat and nose at the same time
gurgle – the low sound water makes when it is poured quickly from a bottle
honk – to make a loud noise using a horn, especially the horn of a car
hoot – to make a short loud sound as a warning
mewl – crying with a soft, high sound
moan – a long, low sound
neigh – to make a high loud sound like a horse’s neigh
peal – if a bell peals, or if someone peals it, it makes a loud sound
peep – if a car’s horn peeps, it makes a sound
ping – to make a short high sound like the sound of a small bell
pipe – to make a very high sound, or to speak in a very high voice
pop – a sudden noise like a small explosion
putter – a short, quiet, low sound at a slow speed
ring – to make a bell produce a sound
roar – to make a continuous, very loud noise
rumble – a continuous deep sound
scream – to make a very loud high noise
screech – to make a loud, high, and unpleasant noise
scrunch – to make a loud noise like something being crushed
sigh – a long, soft, low sound
squeak – to make a short, high noise
squeal – to make a long high sound
squee – to make a loud high noise because you are excited or happy
thrum- to make a low regular noise like one object gently hitting another many times
thud – a dull sound when falling or hitting something
thump – to hit against something with a low loud sound
tinkle – to make a high, ringing sound
wail – to make a long, high sound
wheeze – a high sound, as though a lot of air is being pushed through it
whine – a high, loud sound
whirr – a fast, repeated, quiet sound
whisper – to make a quiet, gentle sound
whistle – to make a high sound by forcing air through your mouth in order to get someone’s attention
yelp – a short, loud, high sound, usually caused by excitement, anger, or pain
yowl – a long, loud, unhappy sound or complaint

Use these words to describe sounds and make your writing come alive.

Top Tip : Find out more about our workbooks and online courses in our shop .

If you enjoyed this post, read:

75 Words That Describe Smells
20 Words Used To Describe Specific Tastes And Flavours
209 Words To Describe Touch
Three Simple Ways To Show And Not Tell
12 Crucial Things To Remember About Setting
Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language
20 Fun Ways To Find An Idea For A Plot

Sources: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/miscellaneous-words-used-to-describe-sounds https://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/describing-sounds-that-are-unpleasant-to-listen-to https://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/describing-sounds-that-are-low-and-or-deep https://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/describing-sounds-that-are-quiet-and-or-soft https://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/describing-sounds-that-are-high-and-short https://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/to-make-a-loud-sound https://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/to-make-a-high-sound https://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/to-make-a-quiet-or-low-sound

Description , Show Don't Tell , Writing Resource , Writing Tips from Amanda Patterson

6 thoughts on “106 Ways To Describe Sounds – A Resource For Writers”

Nice one, Amanda. I’m finding your website extraordinarily useful. I’m very new to the novel-writing scene, and for all my working life, the stuff I wrote was mainly serious business items – frightfully formal. Minutes of meetings, reports, training manuals – these were my bread-and-butter. Creative writing is proving to be much more fun, and I’m enjoying spreading my verbal wings. Many thanks for your help and guidance.

Thank you so much, Anne. Creative writing is much more fun. We’re so glad you’re finding the site to be useful.

I found this really useful. Thank you. The first thing I’m going to do is show it to my daughter, too! We’ve been talking about her using her senses more in her writing and your list is so practical. I’m sure it will really help her writing. I’m looking forward to exploring your links to the other sensory words, as well.

BTW – is there a typo in the heading ‘show and note tell’?

Thank you, Rowena. We really appreciate the feedback. And we fixed the typo.

This list will be quite useful for my poetry and Gothic Horror novel. If you don’t have one already, I’d love to see a list of touch, taste, and smell words.

Thanks, Sarah. We have these for taste: https://writerswrite.co.za/20-words-used-to-describe-specific-tastes-and-flavours/ and these for touch: https://writerswrite.co.za/209-words-to-describe-touch/ and these for smell: https://writerswrite.co.za/75-words-that-describe-smells/

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How to describe to immerse readers (complete guide)

Descriptive writing brings stories and characters to life. Read tips on how to describe places and characters, descriptive writing examples from a selection of genres, and more.

Post author By Jordan
23 Comments on How to describe to immerse readers (complete guide)

Knowing how to describe well is sure to immerse readers in your world. Read a complete guide on describing places and characters, different types of description, descriptive writing examples from popular genres, and more. Use the links above to jump to what you want to learn more about now.

What is description? Definitions and terms

Description is writing that tells your reader what a person, object or place is (or isn’t) like. As Oxford Learner Dictionaries define it: ‘a piece of writing or speech that says what somebody/something is like; the act of writing or saying in words what somebody/something is like’.

Description:

Creates tone and mood (for example, whether a scene is bright, dark, cheerful, ominous)
Shows, infers or implies personality and emotion (for example, a character speaking very fast may imply fear or excitement)
Colors in the story so that scenes that could feel grey or beige become imbued with specificity and the potential for drama, events
Draws your reader’s attention to significant or important objects and events: For example, a treasure being lost overboard in a sailing expedition may set up a storyline in another timeline where explorers dive for sunken treasure

These are just some of the important uses for description in storytelling.

Descriptive writing: useful terms

Useful terms in descriptive writing include:

Mood: Describes that which is evocative of a specific state of mind or feeling
Tone: The general attitude or character of a piece of writing (e.g. ‘The tone of the opening description is cheerful, matching the sense of excitement of guests about to arrive at a party’)
Tableau (plural tableaux): A picture, as of a scene. For example: ‘In the first scene, we see the tableau of a family dinner at Thanksgiving, where the main characters are all seated together’
Mise en scène: A French term meaning ‘the action of putting onto the stage’. It’s the arrangement of actors and scenery in a scene. Cambridge gives the example , ‘The general mise en scène – solitary figure, moving down gloomy Victorian streets at twilight – brings to mind Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde .’
Figurative language: Figurative language such as metaphor and simile (more on this under descriptive writing devices ) is often used to compare, contrast, and breathe fresh life into familiar ideas and images (e.g. ‘He blushed as red as a bottlebrush tree in spring’)

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One of the things that I tell beginning writers is this: If you describe a landscape, or a cityscape, or a seascape, always be sure to put a human figure somewhere in the scene. Why? Because readers are human beings, mostly interested in human beings. Kurt Vonnegut

Why is description in writing important?

In all kinds of writing, but in fiction especially, description draws readers in and creates immersive character, specificity. The opposite of bland, beige writing.

Description is important in writing because it:

Establishes setting to create context. If you describe an old cobbled street, your reader knows they’re not in Dubai’s modern CBD.
Helps to create tone and mood. The emotional state of a narrator or the emotion of a scene is deepened by evocative description.
Draws attention to important symbols or themes. For example, in the opening description in Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, the main character dwells on heavy-drinking workers which calls to mind the post-war setting and echoes the story’s core themes of society, class and trauma.
Makes writing more engaging. Instead of reading being like watching paint dry, description pigments your world.
Implies and infers. A shrug, a sigh – small gestures and signs may create exact or ambiguous implications, so that description adds narrative suspense to a scenario and creates intrigue.
Supports plot and story development. For example, a gun concealed in a glove compartment at the start of a story warns us it may fire.
Distinguishes and differentiates . One character may wear their hair down mostly, another up. The small details that differentiate people and things create realism.
Evokes emotions or elicits empathy. For example, a kid sitting alone at the back of a school bus may suggest loneliness or exclusion. A tableau has great power to elicit empathy or other emotions, as visual artists understand.

Why is description in writing important infographic

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Types of description: Ways to bring worlds to life

There are many types of description you could use to make your story a tapestry of vivid detail:

Physical description

Clear, precise physical description gives your reader a more detailed sense of your world. Succinct description doesn’t necessarily sacrifice pace, either. It may include elements of physicality such as:

For describing characters, you might describe a person’s:

Facial features
Body language

See description examples for descriptions that represent several of the above qualities.

Emotional description

Emotional description suggests a character’s emotional state or mood. Voice and action contribute emotion too (and types of physical description such as posture or body language).

Ways you could show a character’s emotions include:

Adverbs: These should be used sparingly, though. For example, ‘”Of course,” he said happily.’
Actions: A useful substitute for adverbs. Compare the above to: ‘”Of course.” His smile reached all the way to his eyes.’
Deep POV: The way a character describes their surrounds may be indicative of how they’re feeling. For example, ‘I sat down on my stupid bed and opened my homework book.’ This character is clearly not enthused by homework.

Filtering passing description through your character’s viewpoint and state of mind is a great way to indirectly describe their emotion.

As an exercise, take the same scenario and setting, write down four or five different emotions, and have your character describe the same scene so that it is colored by each of those emotions in turn.

Historical description

Historical description is narrative that shows what time and place are like. For example, the way Dickens’ description of Coketown in Hard Times (1854) conveys what a rapidly industrializing town is like, with its miasma of smog:

Seen from a distance in such weather, Coketown lay shrouded in a haze of its own, which appeared impervious to the sun’s rays. You only knew the town was there, because you knew there could have been no such sulky blotch upon the prospect without a town. A blur of soot and smoke, now confusedly tending this way, now that way, now aspiring to the vault of Heaven, now murkily creeping along the earth, as the wind rose and fell, or changed its quarter: a dense formless jumble, with sheets of cross light in it, that showed nothing but masses of darkness. Charles Dickens, Hard Times (1854), full text public domain on Project Gutenberg .

This type of description is especially common in historical fiction which seeks to create an authentic sense of a period or era and its notable features, changes and developments.

Impressionistic description

This type of description is not as concerned with accurate (or rather literal) representation as it is with capturing the essence of the described thing.

Think of this as the way Cubism may represent a person in a portrait as having both eyes on one side of their face.

If you wrote, for example, ‘she was all hard edges and acute angles’ to describe a severe, unforgiving character, you might not literally mean that they’re like a line-drawing. Yet the metaphor in this geometrical description creates the impression of sharpness, hardness, stern qualities of character.

Another example: In this quote from The Great Gatsby (1925) where the character Nick Carraway gives a romanticized view of New York City, he says that to see the city from a specific vantage point is always to see it for the first time:

The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, 1925. p. 67.

The narrator does not mean this literally, of course. It is an impressionistic description of what this specific vista feels like, emotionally.

Impressionistic description relies on devices such as metaphor, metonymy, simile, personification and hyperbole (more on these under descriptive writing devices ).

Describing characters: Not shoe size (but where he’s off to)

In her poem ‘Writing a Résumé’, the Nobel Laureate Wisława Szymborska pokes fun at the characterless language one has to use sometimes in, for example, writing a CV or bio or other document for bureaucratic purposes. She gives dry instructions about what to do (implying the wealth of humanity that we have to skip over in doing this exercise).

It’s a great example of what not to do in writing more rounded, complex – i.e. fully human – characters:

Write as if you’d never talked to yourself and always kept yourself at arm’s length. Pass over in silence your dogs, cats, birds, dusty keepsakes, friends, and dreams. Price, not worth, and title, not what’s inside. His shoe size, not where he’s off to, that one you pass yourself off as. Wisława Szymborska, ‘Writing a Résumé’, Poems, New and Collected (1957-1997)

Describing characters well brings them to life. It’s the opposite of a dry, everywoman CV.

What are some ways you can describe characters better?

Make first introductions count. A vivid first line, gesture, outfit, attitude – what will cement your character in your reader’s mind?
Favor concrete over haziness or abstraction. Not, ‘She was kinda tall’ or ‘sometimes, she was mean’. How tall? Under what circumstances was the character typically mean?
Show more than just appearances. For example, ‘his eyes were blue’. Many people have blue eyes (though the gene is recessive). How blue? and what do the man’s blue eyes suggest about his character (are they kind, alert, critical?).
Use viewpoint and voice to imply mood and emotion. Part of why Salinger’s teen narrator’s voice is so memorable in Catcher in the Rye is his narration is filtered through how jaded and deeply frustrated he feels.
Build character description over your story’s course. Does a character’s limp get worse or better, a country woman who moves to the big city lose (or keep) the rural sound of her accent? How might description change subtly (or dramatically) to echo the life your character’s lived?

See the recommended reading below (and the description examples further on) for more on how to describe characters with vivid acuity.

Character writing: Complete guide to creating your cast
How to describe a person vividly: 8 ways
How to describe hands: 6 ways to make characters real
Describing characters’ first appearances: 6 tips

For me, writing for kids is harder because they’re a more discriminating audience. While adults might stay with you, if you lose your pacing or if you have pages of extraneous description, a kid’s not going to do that. They will drop the book. Rick Riordan

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Describing settings: Making place a character

Illustrating your story’s settings is vital to make your world feel real and lived in (rather than like so much empty green screen). Setting description is a crucial part of worldbuilding.

Types of description that tell places’ stories

There are so many details, like with characters, that define what a place is like. You can describe a place via its:

Physical qualities. See for example that description dense with smog by Dickens in the example above.
Environment and Geography. Terrain, biomes – in historical, fantasy and science fiction in particular, geography is often important because it may determine how long travel takes, where character’s can or cannot go, the rules of engagement in war or trade, or other plot factors.
Architecture. Architectural description may create a sense of scale, wealth, age of a city or society, what raw materials are available, and more. See Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities for inventive descriptions of imaginary cities, as recounted by a fictionalized Marco Polo.
Historical events. If you narrate a paragraph describing the history of a city, for example, that place immediately gains further historical character.
Social makeup. What proportion of inhabitants are wealth, and what proportion are underprivileged? Class, culture, religion and other elements of society help us understand a place’s diversity (and often also the lines of difference that explain historical or present tensions).
Political elements. The political system in a place may have far-reaching effects from public life (e.g. whether there is a curfew or not) and infrastructure to the happiness of its people. Under a corrupt dictator, roads and public services may deteriorate faster, for example, as autocrats redirect public funds to a private purse.

How can you describe place in your story so that it has vivid character?

Ways to describe place in fiction

To create a more immersive sense of place:

Brainstorm key place details. What you describe will be determined to an extent by the plot and character arcs of your story. For example, if your story is about a sheltered country dweller who travels to the big city, you might brainstorm what would be awe-inspiring (or terrifying) about a big city upon arrival.
Create vision boards of similar settings. Use Pinterest ( follow Now Novel while you’re there) or another image sharing platform to curate a library of images connected to your story locations. This is a great way to gather visual inspiration for scenes and ideas for objects or moods and atmospheres.
Use precise adjectives. This applies to character description, too. Find the concrete word that compresses the most meaning (instead of ‘very small’, you might say ‘tiny’ or ‘minute’, for example).
Think about who, what, why, where and when. Who (or what) would you be likely to find in this place? What is great or awful about it? What is its atmosphere, tone and mood? Why does this place exist? What does it tell us about your world, its where and when (period, era)?

Read more about how to create vivid story locations, places, worlds:

Story setting and worldbuilding: Complete guide
How to describe setting: 6 ways to bring setting to life
Novel settings: 7 tips to get setting description right
Setting the scene: 6 ways to introduce place in stories
Vivid story setting description: Examples and insights

The fantasy that appeals most to people is the kind that’s rooted thoroughly in somebody looking around a corner and thinking, ‘What if I wandered into this writer’s people here?’ If you’ve done your job and made your people and your settings well enough, that adds an extra dimension that you can’t buy. Tamora Pierce

Descriptive writing devices

Descriptive writing devices such as figurative language bring in the freshness of unexpected comparisons and get playful with language. Learn more about descriptive writing devices that add depth, humor, surprise and other good things to descriptions:

Metaphor and simile: Comparing unlike things to describe

Metaphor and simile compare unlike things to create striking imagery.

The key difference between the two is that metaphor removes the comparison words, simile keeps them in.

Metaphor examples:

‘His stork legs poked out of baggy yellow swim shorts.’
‘The moon was a silver platter, more beautiful for its antique, tarnished patches.’

Compare to simile which makes the act of comparison more obvious:

Simile examples:

‘The spacecraft was as dark as a moonless desert, save for the blinking lights of the control console.’
‘She got up from the table without a word, as difficult to read as a seasoned croupier.’

Metonymy: Making part stand for the whole

Metonymy is a figurative device where the part of something stands for the whole (the way we say ‘The Crown’ to refer to a queen, for example).

Examples of metonymy:

“Mouth over here won’t shut up,” my sister said, casting a dark look my way.’
“I will call this House to order, and you will be orderly,” the Speaker said, glaring at the back benches.’

Hyperbole: Exaggerating for effect

Another figurative language device, hyperbole is often used for either dramatic or comical (for example, mock-heroic or arch) effect.

Hyperbole example:

“This sandwich is a masterpiece and belongs in the Louvre,” my brother said, mock-retching at the days-old sub I found under the car seat.’

Personification: Bringing the non-human to life

Personification is another common descriptive device in figurative language. Here, human-like characteristics are attributed to objects or non-humans.

Personification example:

‘The old oak stood sentinel over the entrance to the town, cautioning horseback arrivals in its gnarled, ancient presence that this was an old place where people took their time and took even longer to warm to strangers.’

There are many other rhetorical and figurative devices you can use to play with description.

For example, ‘zeugma’, which combines unrelated images in one sentence (e.g. ‘That day changed it all, the day she opened her door and her heart to an imploring kid who rocked up shoeless and afraid and wouldn’t say a word.’) The verb ‘opened’ applies to two different nouns, one use of the verb literal, one figurative.

Read more about writing descriptive sentences and using figurative language devices:

Writing descriptive sentences: 6 simple rules
Adjectives for description: 60 precise words
Artificial intelligence for writing: 10 helpful AI uses

I’m a failed poet. Reading poetry helps me to see the world differently, and I try to infuse my prose with figurative language, which goes against the trend in fiction. Jesmyn Ward

Description pitfalls: What to avoid in descriptive writing

Description has its pitfalls. As Rick Riordan says in the quote above, lots of spurious description may lose a reader. Read ideas of what to avoid in description:

Overused, on the nose or dead language

‘Tall, dark and handsome’ – that’s an example of the kind of phrase you might find in a Barbara Cartland or old Mills & Boon title that might make modern readers groan. Sites such as TV Tropes can help you keep track of what is overdone and troped to death.

Tautology (redundant words or phrases)

Tautology is saying the same thing twice in different words. A ‘pleonasm’ is using more words than necessary to convey one meaning. For example, ‘The shower’s wet water was a relief after the day’s grueling work.’ The reader knows water is wet, so the adjective isn’t needed in that sentence.

Lack of sensory details

Effective descriptive writing involves the senses: Sight, touch, sound, smell, even taste. This isn’t to say that every sentence has to draw on all of the senses, but if the reader never hears or feels the touch of anything, the story’s world could read more drab and nondescript.

Telling far more than showing

Although ‘Show, don’t tell’ is a common adage, stories need both.

‘Telling’ is useful for what Ursula K. Le Guin calls ‘leaping’ in narrative. For example, skipping over an uneventful sequence of time. ‘They rode hard for three days and eventually reached the city.’

It’s showing though, ‘crowding’ a scene with the detail of the senses, of what viewpoint characters experience, that really puts your reader in the film-like quality of a scene in 4K definition.

Stereotyping or generalizing

Saying ‘all the women in the bar had dolled up for the night’ might draw readers’ ire, an example of a generalization that is also stereotyping. The idea that all women, men, non-binary people, or other categories behave a similar way (or hold similar interests or behaviors). Think about how descriptions can speak to the variety that is inherent to a space.

There are cases, of course, where certain places are very homogenous in culture, inhabitant or type. A fancy club on a beachfront might attract a very specific type of patron. Yet if context does not help to explain a generalization, it’s best to avoid it.

Watch a concise video with further tips to write stronger description:

How to describe: Writing clear places and characters

What are some of your descriptive writing pet peeves? Let us know in the comments.

Read more about descriptive issues and how to avoid them:

What is cliché? Cliché examples (and how to avoid)
Choosing description words: 10 questions to ask
‘Show, don’t tell’: Examples from books balancing both

Description examples: Descriptive writing across genres

Here we gather effective description examples across a range of genres: Fantasy, romance, historical, science fiction, mystery, thriller and more. Share one of your favorite descriptions and the author and book title it’s from in the comments and help us grow this resource for description examples.

Introductory descriptions for scene-setting

Description at the beginning of a story can set the scene in a wide variety of ways. See below how it can establish tone and mood (the levity of Pratchett’s style, for example), or the inside/outside of a detective’s world where peace or violence are always just over the hedge.

See in the example from Julia Quinn how description of an activity typical of an era (Regency women doing needlework) can create a sense of time and place. Or reference to interplanetary spectacle or a woman tailing a man create intrigue in a sci-fi and thriller novel respectively.

Fantasy/humor description example

Local people called it the Bear Mountain. This was because it was a bare mountain, not because it had a lot of bears on it. This caused a certain amount of profitable confusion, though; people often strode into the nearest village with heavy duty crossbows, traps and nets and called haughtily for native guides to lead them to the bears. Since everyone locally was making quite a good living out of this, what with the sale of guide books, maps of bear caves, ornamental cuckoo-clocks with bears on them, bear walking-sticks and cakes baked in the shape of a bear, somehow no one had time to go and correct the spelling. Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad (1991), pp. 16-17.

Mystery description example

“Hell is empty, Armand,” said Stephen Horowitz. “You’ve mentioned that. And all the devils are here?” asked Armand Gamache. “Well, maybe not here, here” – Stephen spread his expressive hands-“exactly.” “Here, here” was the garden of the Musée Rodin, in Paris, where Armand and his godfather were enjoying a quiet few minutes. Outside the walls they could hear the traffic, the hustle and the tussle of the great city. But here, here there was peace. The deep peace that comes not just with quiet, but with familiarity. Louise Penny, All the Devils are Here , 2021 (p. 3)

(Regency) romance description example

“Look at this!” Portia Featherington squealed. “Colin Bridgerton is back!” Penelope looked up from her needlework. Her mother was clutching the latest edition of Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers the way Penelope might clutch, say, a rope while hanging off a building. “I know,” she murmured. Julia Quinn, Romancing Mr Bridgerton (2002), p. 3.

Science fiction description example

At 09:46 GMT on the morning of 11 September, in the exceptionally beautiful summer of the year 2077, most of the inhabitants of Europe saw a dazzling fireball appear in the eastern sky. Within seconds it was brighter than the sun, and as it moved across the heavens – at first in utter silence – it left behind a churning column of dust and smoke. Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama (1973), p. 4.

Spy thriller description example

The quality of the light was the first thing that struck her when she went to Madrid in the spring of 1960. The afternoon shadows were the deepest and darkest she had ever seen. Like all old men, the doctor was a creature of habit. He always shopped for groceries on Saturday afternoons. She tailed him to a place near Atocha station that sold international food. He bought black bread, beer and slices of cured sausage that resembled Westphalian salami. Patrick Worrall, The Partisan (2022), p. 7.

Character description examples

Read examples of character description across a range of genres. See how voice can describe a character’s age and outlook in Rick Riordan’s example, or how an ensemble description can evoke the character of an era in Doctorow’s Ragtime .

Read how Colleen Hoover creates the portrait of a person through their name and the hyper-specific conditions of their being fired from a restaurant. Or Alice Munro’s portrait of a music teacher who throws recitals she doesn’t call recitals (and an invitee’s attempts to get out of attending them).

YA/fantasy character description example

My name is Percy Jackson. I’m twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a troubled kid? Yeah. You could say that. I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last may, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan – twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (2005), p. 8.

Literary/historical fiction character description example

There seemed to be no entertainment that did not involve great swarms of people. Trains and steamers and trolleys moved them from one place to another. That was the style, that was the way people lived. Women were stouter then. They visited the fleet carrying white parasols. Everyone wore white in summer. Tennis racquets were hefty and the racquet faces elliptical. There was a lot of sexual fainting. E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime (1974), p. 3.

New adult character description example

“There was that guy who did the dishes before you hired Brad. What was his name? He was named after some kind of mineral or something – it was super weird.” “Quartz,” I say. “It was a nickname.” I haven’t thought about that guy in so long. I doubt he’s holding a grudge against me after all this time. I fired him right after we opened because I found out he wasn’t washing the dishes unless he could actually see food on them. Glasses, plates, silverware – anything that came back to the kitchen from a table looking fairly clean, he’d just put it straight on the drying rack. Colleen Hoover, It Starts with Us (2022), p. 3.

Literary character description example

Miss Marsalles is having another party. (Out of musical integrity, or her heart’s bold yearning for festivity, she never calls it a recital.) My mother is not an inventive or convincing liar, and the excuses which occur to her are obviously second-rate. The painters are coming. Friends from Ottawa. Poor Carrie is having her tonsils out. In the end all she can say is: Oh, but won’t all that be too much trouble, now ? Alice Munro, ‘Dance of the Happy Shades’ in Selected Stories (1996), p. 16

Science fiction character description example

Lenar Hoyt was a young man by the Consul’s reckoning – no more than his early thirties – but it appeared that something had ages the man terribly in the not too distant past. The Consul looked at the thin face, cheekbones pressing against sallow flesh, eyes large but hooded in deep hollows, thin lips set in a permanent twice of muscle too downturned to be called even a cynical smile, the hairline not so much receding as ravaged by radiation, and he felt he was looking at a man who had been ill for years. Still, the Consul was surprised that behind that mask of concealed pain there remained the physical echo of the boy in the man […] Dan Simmons, Hyperion (1989), p. 11.

Read more character description examples:

Character description examples: Creating people not caricatures

Get feedback on your descriptive writing in Now Novel groups from a constructive community. Start now to brainstorm characters and settings in the Now Novel dashboard, a step-by-step tool to outline your story.

Story setting ideas: 7 tips to immerse readers
Story planning and outlining: Complete guide
Story plotting and structure: Complete guide
Tags describing characters , how to describe , setting

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

23 replies on “How to describe to immerse readers (complete guide)”

Great article! I particularly liked point #5 and your examples were very helpful!

Thanks, Savannah. I’m glad you found it helpful.

I love this. Thank you so much.

Thank you! I’m glad you found use in it.

My advice is, don’t over do the fancy big words. People don’t want to read a book where they have to refer to a dictionary every time.

Great examples! This really made me think about how I can improve my descriptions.

Thank you, Shay! I’m glad to hear that.

That was so helpful,thank you.

It’s a pleasure, Dalida. Thank you for reading.

Super nice! Love it very much

Thanks helped me a lot. I see now why my writing seems so bland. I use too many weak adjectives bad nice good.

I have a question about how long a description should be. I’m writing a scene of about 1000 to 1500 words, which largely consists of describing the location. Would that be considered too long, even though the character is almost constantly interacting with the location? For context: My characters are inside a secret hallway where they need to solve a puzzle in order to unlock the mechanism on the door leading to another room. My main character then needs to inspect this second location to make sure everything is ready for the upcoming Council Meeting.

Hi Jae Vie,

Thank you for the interesting question. It really depends since some authors spin out description for pages, others keep it clipped to a line or two. It would depend on the style of the surrounding scene (wordy and lyrical; descriptive in a detailed, evocative way, or taut and spare).

If the scene is around 1000 words long, I would suggest keeping it shorter.

Feel free to share an extract in our critique groups for feedback! It’s difficult to advise in the abstract without having fuller context.

[…] Source: https://www.nownovel.com/blog/how-to-describe-place-character/ […]

It is very helpful for me thanks

It’s a pleasure, Iqra. Thank you for reading.

“Lieutenant Koudelka returned to curtailed light duties the following month, apparently quite cheerful and unaffected by his ordeal. But in his own way he was as uninformative as Bothari. Questioning Bothari had been like questioning a wall. Questioning Koudelka was like talking to a stream; one got back babble, or little eddies of jokes, or anecdotes that pulled the current of the discussion inexorably away from the original subject.”

— Barrayar (Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold

A few extra descriptive tidbits here making me think. Always good to have a reminder of the senses. Thanks!

Love the extension of the usual ‘like talking to a wall’ simile in this Bujold quote, Margriet, thank you for sharing it. It’s a pleasure, thanks for reading and for sharing your reading 🙂

thanks for posting. I will bookmark this site!

Hi Paul, it’s a pleasure, thanks for reading.

I’m ready to get started please help me I feel my story will inspire individual their lives

Hi Karen, that is great that you want to inspire others. Have you created an outline or do you prefer to draft freely and do organizing/structuring as you go? Either way, feel free to create a member account so that you can access our critique community and get feedback in chat and our critique forum. If you are writing memoir, you may find this article on life-writing helpful. Good luck!

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Writing GRUESOME Injury Descriptions

How do you describe an injury so that the reader can see it, smell it, feel it?

Let’s look at some examples then write some gruesome descriptions together!

During the last stream, a subscriber requested that we write some descriptions of gruesome injuries

Watch a short version of the stream here or scroll down for what we wrote.

Describing injuries is tough: you need to make sure to not only evoke the imagery of the wound, but the feeling of it too, plus you can’t go too overboard or else the description will get confusing/silly

So let’s practice it together! But first, some examples:

Hunger Games: “I can see the tear Cato’s sword made in the fabric over his thigh, but it in no way prepares me for what lies underneath. The deep inflamed gash oozing both blood and pus. The swelling of the leg. And worst of all, the smell of festering flesh . … Within minutes of pressing the handful of chewed-up green stuff into the wound, pus begins running down the side of his leg.”

Game of Thrones: “He began to scrape away the black leaves and dried blue mud from Drogo’s chest. A foul, sweet smell rose from the wound, so thick it almost choked her. The leaves were crusted with blood and pus, Drogo’s breast black and glistening with corruption. Black blood ran slow and thick from his open wound.”

Note how each description uses more than one sense to really make it evocative for the reader
The use of words like “oozing” and “crusted” that aren’t usually used with human body vocabulary also amp up the gross levels
Takeaway: Use more than 1 sense, use gross/unnatural vocabulary!

After that, chat came up with a bunch of gruesome injuries, then voted on the ones they liked best for us to describe.

First up, (the aftermath of) being mauled by a bear/lion/large animal.

Here’s what we wrote:

The woman lay on the forest floor after the bear attack, unfortunately still breathing. The skin of her face had been peeled upward, now a flat, bloody sheet of stringed flesh dangling back over her forehead, flapping with her labored breaths. The putrid stench of exposed meat had already summoned a horde of buzzing flies, burrowing under the skin every time it rose and fell with another wet, squelching flop. COZYROGERS Tommy had a threefold gash across his face, each gap wide enough to accommodate a dime lengthwise. Gnarled crevasses with dark walls and bone-white depths, where the beast’s claws had scraped the flesh away, exposing his bare skull. Out gushed a waterfall of blood, coating the man’s formerly handsome face in a crimson mask as he groaned weakly for his mother. JOE The lady sat in the dirt. She had no nose, no lips, no cheeks. Not much of a face anymore. Her mangled flesh barely clung to her exposed skull. Globs of dark blood throbbed, the remaining veins still pumping what they could. One brown eye among flaps of skin. That was the only recognizable part of her.

Next was acid burns on the face.

Her face dripped downward, as if made of putty, flowing into a discolored pool of flesh that had once been her neck. The weight of it dragged down all of her features, pulling her ears, eyes, and mouth into long gaping holes. A sharp, acidic smell still permeated from her skin. No matter how hard anyone scrubbed. Only a faint gurgle escaped from her mouth, unable to ever close again. JUSTINTOONZ Her face was a bulbous, raw chicken breast covered in red and pink scabs of dry, crusted flesh. COZYROGERS You think that’s a burn? Buddy, you’ve never seen a burn before. Remember those acid attacks a dozen years back? Well, I worked in emergency response and… tell you what. Take a look in that mirror. Yeah, that one right there. What do you see? You see a face, right? Good. Now, replace that face with a scab. Just a giant scab. Boiling, bubbling, popping at first, and then… it all… melts together. Smooths out. Like a sheet of glass. And then? It rots. And – if you’re lucky – it all… falls… off.

And last, a disease that eats away flesh from the bone.

His foot looked like it was covered in a thick layer of raw ground beef. Red and orange meat spaghetti with chunky yellowed bits poking out, reeking of old piss and puss. Most terrifying was the healthy skin around it — the plump toes and ankle and shin — like untouched trees waiting for the forest fire to take them too. It was only a matter of time until his entire leg was nothing more than a rancid skin sack brimming with bacterial broth.

Be sure to check out the video for some dramatic readings!

If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch .

And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns .

Hope to see you next time, friend!

BRYN DONOVAN

tell your stories, love your life

Writing Inspiration
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Master List for Describing Weather

A lot of writers struggle with describing settings. I’ve written before about how to describe settings and why it matters , but a few people have told me they’d like me to do some of my master lists for writers to help them out!

I have a weird love for creating lists like this, so I’m happy to do it. “How to describe weather” seemed like a good place to start. This way, you won’t get stuck trying to figure out how to describe nice weather, or thinking up ways to describe rain. Hopefully, this will make your writing go faster.

I always include simple as well as more creative ways to describe or write about weather. Sometimes, the simple word is the one you want! I included dryness and humidity in a few of the categories because it felt weird for them to get their own.

As always, this is not a comprehensive list, and I might add to it. My list will probably make you think of other possibilities, too. Bookmark or pin it for future writing reference!

HOT WEATHER

blazing sunshine

glaring sun

baking in the sun

sun-drenched

scorching heat

extravagant heat

relentless sun

like a suana

dense tropical heat

radiating heat

blistering heat

oppressive heat

insufferable heat

suffocating heat

heat pressing down

searing sun

shimmering heat

like an oven

like a furnace

WARM / PLEASANT WEATHER

(“Pleasant” is a matter of opinion, of course.)

a beautiful day

a clear day

a temperate day

a golden day

a glorious day

heavenly weather

bright and sunny

a gorgeous spring day

a dazzling summer day

a brilliant autumn day

a vivid blue sky

a cloudless sky

fluffy white clouds

gentle sunshine

lazy sunshine

kind sunshine

filtered sunlight

dappled sunlight

welcome warmth

one of those rare, perfect days

the kind of day that made people forget to worry

the kind of day that lifted people’s moods

COOL WEATHER

refreshing air

stimulating cool air

invigorating cool air

bracing cool air

a nip in the air

a brisk day

a chilly day

weak sunshine

GRAY / OVERCAST WEATHER

(Most people don’t like gray days, so most of these descriptions are negative. I love them, so I had to add a few positive descriptions.)

colorless sky

a soft gray sky

a dove-gray sky

a gray day made for books and tea

steel-gray sky

granite sky

cement-gray sky

threatening clouds

foreboding clouds

COLD WEATHER

glacial air

bitter cold

brutal cold

bone-chilling cold

penetrating cold

devastating cold

numbing cold

punishing cold

dangerous cold

unforgiving cold

too cold to talk

so cold it burned one’s lungs

so cold it took one’s breath away

like a blast from a hair dryer

a gust of wind

insistent winds

heavy winds

strong winds

cutting wind

whipping winds

biting wind

wintry squall

violent gale

howling wind

shifting winds

restless wind

fresh breeze

soft breeze

balmy breeze

perfumed breeze

slight breeze

hint of a breeze

stirring breeze

wind rustling through the trees

fine drizzle

gray drizzle

pebbles of falling rain

spitting rain

stinging rain

steady rain

rain falling in torrents

cascades of rain

rain beating down

shower of rain

sheets of rain

hard-driving rain

pelting rain

lashing rain

slashing rain

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

rumbling in the distance

a roll of distant thunder

crash of thunder

crackle of thunder

crack of thunder

clap of thunder

bang of thunder

booming thunder

rattled with thunder

earth-shaking thunder

tempestuous

a furious storm

flash of lightning

streaks of lightning

SNOW AND ICE

flurries of snow

dancing flakes

snowflakes floating down

snowflakes wafting down

swirling snow

falling thick and fast

big flakes falling like petals

blinding snowstorm

raging blizzard

sparkling expanses

blankets of white

caked with snow

boulders of snow

branches coated in ice

glittering ice

crystallized by frost

silvered with frost

clouds of mist

swirling mist

billowing fog

cloaked in mist

cocooned in fog

shrouded in fog

enveloped by fog

smothered by fog

made mysterious by fog

the fog rolled in

the fog was burning off

the fog was lifting

the fog was clearing

the fog was dissipating

I have many lists like this in my book Master Lists for Writers: Thesauruses, Plots, Character Traits, Names, and More . Check it out!

Master Lists for Writers by Bryn Donovan

Do you describe weather conditions in your writing? Do you have a favorite example of a weather description? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

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How To Describe Settings – and Why It Matters #how to write more descriptively #how to describe scenery in writing #how to make a novel longer

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How to Describe a Window in a Story

By Rebecca Parpworth-Reynolds

If you’re searching for advice on how to describe a window in a story, but aren’t finding anything useful, this post is especially for you. Read on to learn about 10 words that can be used to create a vivid picture of a window in your novel.

1. Crystalline

Clear and bright like a jewel or crystal.

“The crystalline window shimmered with a kaleidoscope of colors as the sunlight streamed through, casting mesmerizing patterns on the floor.”

“The crystalline window transformed the ordinary view into a breathtaking mosaic.”

How it Adds Description

Using the word “crystalline” to describe your window not only shows how clean and clear it is, but also adds a touch of beauty, and uniqueness to its appearance. It creates a vivid image in the reader’s mind, evoking a sense of wonder and enchantment at both the window and what may be seen through it.

2. Curtained

Being covered with curtains or a thick material that impedes vision.

“The thickly curtained window refused to let any light or happiness through into the duchess’s bedroom chamber.”

“The window was curtained with a thick layer of grime that had built up steadily through years of neglect.”

If you need to show a window that is obscured, try describing it as being “curtained”. This could either be literal curtains or the presence of something else that is obscuring your characters’ vision. Describing a window in this way creates a barrier and a sense of mystery around what is beyond it.

Not allowing for much light .

“The dim window barely let in any light, casting a somber atmosphere in the room and obscuring the view outside with its faint and hazy presence.”

“The scratched and frosted window left the room to feel dim , as the light tried to fight its way through the damaged panes.”

A “dim” window not only inhibits any light coming through but also creates a somber atmosphere. This might then rub off on your characters and reader, making them feel down and hopeless due to their surroundings.

Extremely dirty in a way that is not pleasant.

“Through the layers of grime and neglect, the filthy window offered only a distorted view of the outside world.”

“The window was so filthy that the only light that came through it was via the smudges of fingerprints.”

Instead of simply saying a window is “dirty”, try describing it as “filthy” instead. This creates a sense of neglect and disgust, helping your reader to realize just how unpleasant the window is. It might also make them question how it got into this state, especially if it is directly contrasting to other windows nearby.

A space that can be passed through.

“The window, a welcoming opening into the world beyond, invited the gentle breeze and a chorus of birdsong into the room.”

“The window, a humble opening in the wall, served as a silent witness to the ever-changing tapestry of life outside, framing moments of joy, sorrow, and everything in between.”

Describing a window as an “opening” not only demonstrates how it connects two spaces, but also has connotations of opportunity and new beginnings. To your character, it could be a metaphor for what the future holds, or be connected with a place that they long to go.

Composed of a lot of complicated decoration .

“The ornate window, adorned with intricate carvings and gilded accents, stood as a majestic centerpiece of the house’s facade.”

“The ornate windows of the cathedral were a testament both to religious history and to the local culture, showing elaborate scenes in colorful panes.”

An “ornate” window implies that the window is not just a functional element but also a statement piece, showcasing craftsmanship and artistic flair. As a result, it is likely to be placed inside a grand building such as a palace, helping to build a sense of wonder about the space for your characters and reader.

7. Panoramic

Giving a view of a wide area .

“The panoramic window stretched from floor to ceiling, offering an uninterrupted vista of the breathtaking landscape beyond.”

“The expansive panoramic window, like a cinematic frame, captured the sprawling cityscape in all its glory.”

A “panoramic” window emphasizes the immersive nature of the view and implies a sense of openness, expansiveness, and grandeur. It conveys the idea that the window serves as a portal to a larger world, offering a breathtaking visual experience and fostering a deep connection with the outside environment.

8. Shuttered

With shutters closed .

“The shuttered window, with its tightly closed wooden panels, stood as a silent sentinel, guarding the secrets and solitude of the room within.”

“The weathered shutters on the window, their peeling paint and aged charm told stories of bygone eras, evoking a sense of nostalgia.”

Although it depicts the physical appearance of a window with shutters on it, using “shuttered” to describe your windows can also hint at a sense of closure, creating a sense of curiosity around what may be behind it or giving the impression that the person who lives there would not like to be disturbed.

Marked in a way that is difficult to remove.

“The stained window, adorned with intricate patterns of vibrant colors, transformed the sunlight into a mesmerizing mosaic.”

“The window was stained with years of ash, smoke, and fumes from the foundry nearby, leaving the occupants to exist in near darkness.”

Using the word “stained” to describe a window can work in two ways. It can be used to denote a stained-glass window, which is a piece of art, and conversely be used to describe a window that has been stained by dirt, grime, and age. It is up to you whether your characters and reader are awestruck or disgusted by the “stained” window in this story!

10. Squinting

To look with one’s eyes slightly closed .
A quick look.

“The window, its weary frame slightly askew, seemed to squint against the harsh glare of the sun as if shielding the room from its piercing rays.”

“The narrow windows appeared like squinting eyes, silently studying all of the visitors who made their way to the castle doors.”

If you need to describe a narrow window, try describing it as “squinting”. This human-like quality of slightly closing your eyes can help to describe the window’s shape to your reader, but also give a sense that they are closely watching and judging the characters in your story.

Describing Words

This tool helps you find adjectives for things that you're trying to describe. Also check out ReverseDictionary.org and RelatedWords.org . Here are some adjectives for eyeglasses : . You can get the definitions of these eyeglasses adjectives by clicking on them. You might also like some words related to eyeglasses (and find more here ).

Sort By Usage Frequency

Click words for definitions.

Loading you some adjectives... Won't be much longer! :)

Words to Describe eyeglasses

Below is a list of describing words for eyeglasses . You can sort the descriptive words by uniqueness or commonness using the button above. Sorry if there's a few unusual suggestions! The algorithm isn't perfect, but it does a pretty good job for most common nouns. Here's the list of words that can be used to describe eyeglasses :

sceptical and somewhat supercilious
larger, old-fashioned
vigilant long-handled
odd rectangular
anachronistic rimless
necessary double
historically appropriate
unfailing single
histori\-cally accurate
dainty double
oversized and unnecessary
little rimless
old-fashioned horn-rimmed
great horn-rimmed
startlingly thick
horn-rimmed
heavy horn-rimmed
entirely bogus
common double
neat double
black military
historically accurate
thin, elegant
somewhat supercilious
extra thick
broad purple
large single
long-handled
thick, green
own extraordinary
thick, black
heavy brown
severe-looking
well-polished
great double
odd-looking
heavy black
anachronistic
nonexistent
supercilious
more prominent
disapproving
bright blue
unobtrusive
intermittent
thick black
old-fashioned
sympathetic
cylindrical
tiny little
rectangular
indispensable

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1000+ Ways to Describe Colors: A Word List for Writers

Why Is Color in Writing So Important?

Pablo Picasso said , “Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.” Picasso was an artist who evoked emotion with colorful pigments. As a writer, you can do the same with colorful words.

Note the different pictures painted by the following two paragraphs.

Ned gazed at the calypso-orange horizon. A lapis-blue speck sparkled above it in the deepening violet of a new night sky — Planet Vorton, home.

Ned gaped at the corpse-grey horizon. A mold-blue speck festered above it in the deepening black of a smoggy night sky — Planet Vorton, home.

Same number of words, different colors, with complementing adjectives and verbs. One paragraph emanates optimism, the other gloom.

Compound Adjectives Sometimes Require Hyphens

According to The Chicago Manual of Style , if a compound adjective appears before a noun, it should be hyphenated.

Compare the following examples:

Tristan wore an eye-catching purple tie. Tristan’s purple tie was eye catching .

Wendi modeled a melon-pink dress. Wendi’s dress was melon pink .

Accent Colors With Adjectives

Here’s a list of more than one hundred adjectives from thousands you could choose to produce more vivid descriptions of the colors in your writing.

A to C accented, achromatic, ashen, ashy, atomic, blazing, bleached, bleak, blinding, blotchy, bold, brash, bright, brilliant, burnt, chromatic, classic, clean, cold, complementing, contrasting, cool, coordinating, creamy, crisp

D to G dark, dayglow, dazzling, deep, delicate, digital, dim, dirty, drab, dreary, dull, dusty, earthy, electric, energetic, eye-catching, faded, faint, festive, fiery, flashy, flattering, fluorescent, frosty, full-toned, gaudy, glistening, glittering, glossy, glowing

H to P harsh, hazy, hot, icy, illuminated, incandescent, intense, iridescent, knockout, lambent, light, loud, luminous, lusterless, lustrous, majestic, matte, medium, mellow, milky, monochromatic, muddy, murky, muted, natural, neon, neutral, opalescent, opaque, pale, pastel, patchy, pearly, perfect, picturesque, plain, primary, pure

R to S radiant, reflective, rich, royal, ruddy, rustic, satiny, saturated, shaded, sheer, shining, shiny, shocking, showy, smoky, soft, solid, somber, soothing, sooty, sparkling, stained, streaked, streaky, striking, strong, subdued, subtle, sunny, swirling

T to W tacky, tinged, tinted, tonal, toned, traditional, translucent, transparent, undiluted, uneven, uniform, vibrant, vivid, wan, warm, washed-out, waxen, wild

Enhance Multicolored Objects With Adjectives Such as These

B to L bicolor, blended, braided, cataclysmic-colored, checkered, compound, contrasting, crisscrossed, dappled, disparate, dotted, dusted, flecked, freckled, fused, intermixed, interwoven, jumbled, lined

K to P kaleidoscopic, many-hued, marbled, mingled, mixed, motley, mottled, multicolored, multihued, particolored, patterned, peppered, piebald, pied, polychromatic, prismatic, psychedelic

S to V salted, speckled, splotched, stippled, two-tone, tricolor, varied, variegated, veined

Props Provide More Opportunities to Add Color and Detail

A to D accent, bleach, brightness, brilliance, chroma, clarity, CMYK, coating, color wheel, colorant, coloration, cover, deposit, depth, diffusion, dimension, dispersion, dye

F to I film, finish, flicker, fluorescence, blare, glaze, gleam, glimmer, glint, glisten, glitter, glow, gradation, henna, highlight, hint, hue, incandescence, intensity, iridescence

L to O lacquer, layer, lightness, lowlight, luminosity, luster, monotone, nuance, opacity, opalescence

P to R paint, Pantone, patina, peroxide, pigment, pigmentation, polish, prism, purity, radiance, rainbow, RGB, residue, rinse

S sample, saturation, seam, shade, sheen, shimmer, shine, smidgeon, sparkle, spectrum, stain, stratum, streak, stripe, suggestion, surface, swatch

T to V tattoo, tester, tier, tincture, tinge, tint, tone, touch, trace, twinkle, undertone, varnish, vein, veneer

Perhaps These Verbs Will Provide Inspiration

Colors can blend, clash, or enhance. They might revitalize, fade, or overlap. Choose carefully to provide the nuance you need in your writing.

A to C accent, accentuate, appear, attract, balance, bathe, bespatter, blanch, blare, blaze, blench, bleach, blend, blotch, brighten, brush, burn, captivate, clash, color, combine, complement, conflict, contrast, coordinate, crayon

D to J darken, daub, decolorize, decorate, deepen, dot, draw, dye, embellish, emit, enhance, enliven, fade, flare, flash, flatter, fleck, glare, glaze, gleam, glimmer, glint, glisten, glow, harmonize, heighten, highlight, illuminate, infuse, intensify, jar

L to R light, lighten, match, meld, merge, mingle, mix, outline, overlap, paint, permeate, pervade, plaster, radiate, revitalize

S to W saturate, seal, shade, shine, sketch, smear, sparkle, splash, splatter, spray, spread, stain, suffuse, tinge, tint, varnish, wash

Invent Colors

Your ingenuity is the only limit with invented colors. Consider a few examples.

Yolanda sashayed toward me, hips swiveling in a seduction-red skirt that complemented her bad-baby-black lipstick.

Either Yolanda intends to ravish our narrator, or he hopes she’s a bad girl with seduction on her mind.

Bruise-blue eyes stared out through glasses crisscrossed with cracks. Matching lumps burgeoned from Marco’s chin and cheeks.

Readers will make the connection between bruise-blue and the lumps, imagining someone who has been beaten or injured.

Find color ideas by googling phrases such as “things that are green” or “things that look blue.”

And Now, a Kaleidoscope of Colors

Some of the following lists contain invented colors. Many are based on objects we encounter in our environment. You can use almost any noun to create an adjective that will resonate with readers.

For the next several years, Trump blond or Hillary blonde will produce instant mental images.

Science fiction might use deep-space black , quasar blue, or starburst yellow .

An environmentalist could choose colors such as oil-slick black, smog grey, or acid-rain yellow .

Choose or invent colors that intensify your writing.

You can use many of these words as is, or precede the color they represent to produce a compound adjective. Rather than anthracite , for example, you might prefer anthracite black .

Black anger black, anthracite, bat black, boot black, cat black, cave black, cavity black, charcoal, coal black, crow black, deep-space black, ebony, evil black, funeral black, grease black, ink, jade black, jet, leather black, licorice, metal black, midnight, mildew black, mold black, night black, obsidian, oil-slick black, onyx, pitch black, raven, sable, shadow black, shoe-polish black, silhouette black, smoky, sooty, spider black, tar black, tire black, tuxedo black, uber black, velvet black

Blond/Blonde Although blond can be used for either males or females, many writers prefer blond to describe males and blond e to describe females. Likewise with gender-identified pets and animals.

Blond was adopted into English from French, and the French language uses gender-specific descriptors.

Compound adjectives in the following list are spelled with the feminine form.

almond-crème blonde, amber, apple-cider blonde, apricot, ash blonde, banana-bread blonde, blanched, bleached, bombshell, bottle blonde, brassy, bronze, brown-sugar blonde, butter blonde, butternut, butterscotch, caramel, chamomile blonde, champagne, chardonnay blonde, corn blonde, diamond blonde, dirty blonde, dishwater blonde, electric blonde, flaxen, French-fry blonde, frosted blonde, gilded blonde, ginger, ginger-ale blonde, ginger spice, golden, goldenrod, Hillary blonde, honey blonde, honey-butter blonde, honeysuckle blonde, hot-toffee blonde, macadamia blonde, mushroom blonde, neon blonde, peroxide blonde, platinum, sand blonde, straw blonde, strawberry blonde, sunflower blonde, sun-kissed blonde, sunset blonde, tarnished-gold blonde, Trump blond/e, trumpet blonde, vanilla-malt blonde, vintage gold, wheat blonde

Blue admiral blue, Aegean blue, agate blue, Arctic blue, azure, baby blue, berry blue, blue-jay blue, blue-jeans blue, bluebell blue, blueberry blue, blueberry-juice blue, bluebird blue, blue-jay blue, brook blue, bruise blue, cadet blue, cerulean, china-blue, cobalt, cornflower blue, crystal blue, denim blue, electric blue, forget-me-not blue, galaxy blue, gunmetal blue, ice blue, indigo, ink blue, jellyfish blue, lagoon blue, lake blue, lapis blue, laser blue, lilac blue, lobelia blue, mold blue, moon blue, navy, ocean blue, quasar blue, river blue, robin-egg blue, sapphire blue, sky blue, star blue, steel-blue, swimming-pool blue, teal, toilet-water blue, toothpaste blue, ultramarine

Brown acorn brown, almond brown, amber, auburn, autumn brown, Bambi brown, beige, brandy brown, brick brown, bronze, brunet, buckeye brown, camel brown, caramel, carob brown, cedar brown, champagne brown, chestnut, chipmunk brown, chocolate brown, cinnamon, cider brown, clay brown, coffee brown, cognac brown, cookie brown, copper, cork brown, desert sand, drab brown, dun brown, ecru, espresso brown, fawn brown, football brown, freckle brown, ginger, gingerbread brown, golden brown, hazel, hickory brown, honey brown, infrabeige, kiwi brown, lion brown, loam brown, mahogany, maroon, merlot brown, mocha, mouse brown, mud brown, muddy brown, nut brown, oak brown, orange brown, peanut brown, pecan brown, pekoe brown, penny brown, pigskin brown, pretzel brown, rosewood, russet, rust, sandstone brown, seal brown, sepia, sienna, spice brown, syrup brown, taffy, tan, taupe, tawny brown, teddy-bear brown, topaz brown, tortilla brown, tourmaline brown, umber, walnut, wheat brown, whiskey brown, wood brown

Green apple green, army green, artichoke green, asparagus green, avocado green, barf green, basil green, blue green, bottle green, bright green, cabbage green, camouflage green, cat’s-eye green, celery green, chartreuse, clover green, crocodile green, crystal-marble green, cyan, electric green, elf green, emerald, fern green, frog green, grape green, grass green, hypergreen, jade, jasper green, jelly green, juniper, kale green, khaki green, kiwi green, leaf green, LED green, olive, leprechaun green, lettuce green, lime, lizard green, loden, mildew green, mint, moss green, neon green, ocean green, parsley green, pea green, pea-soup green, peacock green, pear green, Perrier-bottle green, pickle green, pine green, puke green, sage, sea green, seafoam green, seasick green, seaweed green, seedling green, shamrock green, snot green, spinach green, spring green, sprout green, spruce green, tea green, teal, toad green, velvet green, viridian, watermelon green, yellow green

Grey/Gray alien grey, aluminum grey, anchor grey, ash grey, battleship grey, bottle grey, boulder grey, carbon grey, cement grey, charcoal grey, cloud grey, coin grey, corpse grey, crater grey, death grey, dove grey, elephant grey, exhaust grey, fling grey, flint grey, fog grey, fossil grey, fungus grey, ginger grey, granite grey, graphite, gravel grey, gruel grey, gum grey, gunmetal grey, hippo grey, hoary grey, ice grey, iron grey, knife grey, lead grey, mercury grey, meteor grey, mummy grey, nail grey, nickel, otter grey, pebble grey, pepper grey, pewter, pigeon grey, porpoise grey, porridge grey, rat grey, salt-and-pepper, seal grey, shadow grey, shark grey, shovel grey, silver, slate, sleet grey, slug grey, slush grey, smog grey, smoke, steel grey, stone grey, storm grey, stormy grey, stormy-sea grey, sword grey, tabby grey, tank grey, tweed grey, wax grey, wolf grey

Orange apricot orange, burnt orange, butternut orange, calypso orange, candlelight orange, cantaloupe orange, caramelized orange, carrot orange, cayenne orange, cheddar orange, cheese-cracker orange, Chinese-lantern orange, cider orange, citrus orange, clementine orange, coral orange, crayon orange, curry orange, fire orange, flame orange, goldfish orange, mac-and-cheese orange, mango-tango orange, mandarin orange, marigold orange, marmalade orange, monarch orange, nacho orange, nasturtium orange, navel orange, papaya orange, peach orange, peach-butter orange, peach-sorbet orange, popsicle orange, pumpkin orange, safety-vest orange, salamander orange, salmon orange, sherbet orange, shrimp orange, starfish orange, sunset orange, sweet-potato orange, tangelo orange, tangerine orange, terra cotta, tiger orange, traffic orange, yam orange

Pink amaranth, azalea pink, baby pink, ballet-slipper pink, blush, bright pink, bubblegum pink, cantaloupe pink, carnation pink, cerise, champagne pink, cherry-rose pink, coral, cotton-candy pink, crepe pink, cupid pink, cyclamen pink, damask, flamingo pink, fuchsia, geranium pink, grapefruit pink, lemonade pink, magenta pink, mandarin pink, mango pink, melon pink, old-rose pink, oleander pink, parfait pink, pastel pink, peach, peach-blossom pink, peony pink, piggy pink, piglet pink, pomegranate pink, prom pink, punch pink, raspberry-smoothie pink, rose, rosewood pink, rouge pink, salmon pink, seashell pink, sherbet pink, shocking pink, strawberry pink, swine pink, taffy pink, watermelon pink, Zinfandel pink

Purple amethyst purple, amparo purple, boysenberry purple, burgundy purple, Byzantium purple, clover purple, concord purple, coneflower purple, cyclamen purple, eggplant purple, fig purple, gentian purple, gooseberry purple, grape purple, heather, heliotrope, hyacinth purple, indigo, iris purple, jam purple, kazoo purple, lavender, lilac, lollipop purple, lotus purple, magenta purple, mauve, mulberry purple, onion purple, opal purple, orchid purple, periwinkle purple, petunia purple, pillow purple, plum, posy purple, primrose purple, raisin purple, regalia purple, rhubarb purple, royal purple, sage-flower purple, sangria purple, sugar-plum purple, tanzanite purple, Tyrian purple, violet, wild-berry purple, wine purple, wisteria purple

Red apple red, auburn, beet red, berry red, blaze red, blood red, blush red, brick red, burgundy red, candy red, candy-apple red, candy-cane red, carrot red, cherry red, cherry-soda red, Christmas red, cinnamon-candy red, communist red, copper red, coral red, crab-apple red, cranberry red, crimson, currant red, fire red, fire-engine red, fire-hydrant red, flame red, flaming red, garnet red, ginger red, heart red, henna, holly-berry red, jam red, ketchup red, ladybug red, LED red, licorice red, lipstick red, lobster red, maple-leaf red, merlot red, mulberry red, neon red, pepper red, pomegranate red, poppy red, radish red, raspberry red, roan, rose, rouge, ruby, Russian red, rust, rusty, Santa-suit red, scarlet, sorrel, stoplight red, strawberry red, sunburn red, Titian, tomato red, tulip red, Valentine red, wanton red, watermelon red, wine red

White alabaster, angel white, ash white, blizzard white, bone white, bread-dough white, cake white, cameo white, chalk, chaste white, chiffon white, china white, clamshell white, cloud white, coconut white, cornstarch white, cream, crème, dumpling white, eggshell white, fizz white, foam white, fog white, frost white, gardenia white, ghost white, goose-down white, heron white, hospital white, KKK white, ivory, lace white, lather white, lily white, linen white, lotus white, milk white, mist white, moonstone white, noodle white, paper white, parchment white, pearl white, phantom white, picket white, platinum white, polar white, porcelain white, powder white, rice white, salt white, Samoyed white, sheet white, skeleton white, snowflake white, specter white, starch white, sugar white, talc white, vellum white, virgin white, wedding-veil white, winter white, won-ton white

Yellow acid-rain yellow, autumn yellow, banana yellow, bourbon yellow, bumblebee yellow, butter yellow, buttercup yellow, butterscotch yellow, cadmium, canary yellow, chick yellow, corn yellow, custard yellow, daffodil yellow, daisy yellow, dandelion yellow, Dijon yellow, duckling yellow, egg-yolk yellow, flaxen, ginger yellow, gold, goldenrod, grapefruit yellow, hardhat yellow, honey yellow, jaundice yellow, lemon, macaroni yellow, maize, mustard, omelet yellow, pencil yellow, pineapple yellow, plantain yellow, poppy yellow, rubber-ducky yellow, saffron, sawdust yellow, school-bus yellow, scrambled-egg yellow, starburst yellow, sticky-note yellow, straw yellow, sulfur yellow, sun yellow, sunflower yellow, sweetcorn yellow, tallow yellow, taxi yellow, turmeric yellow, wasp yellow, whisky yellow, yield-sign yellow

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8 thoughts on “ 1000+ Ways to Describe Colors: A Word List for Writers ”

I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for this marvellous word list you have provided. Not only has it enriched my vocabulary, but it has also sparked new ideas and inspired me to explore different writing styles. Your resource has become an indispensable tool in my writing journey, and I will continue to cherish and utilise it in all my creative endeavours. 🙂

Thanks so much, Axelle, and good luck with those creative endeavours!

Oh my! These are dripping with creativity. Many thanks.

I’m glad you found them helpful, Kathy. Hey — nice name. 😉

Thanks for stopping by, and stay safe!

I found this while googling whether to hyphenate ash blonde. I am amazed at the wealth of material contained in this blog. Thank you.

Thanks for dropping by, Dwayne. Here’s more information about hyphenation of adjectives .

This is one of the chapters I love most in book 1 – wanted to say THANK YOU for the Master TOC and the .pdf download link.

Thanks, Felicia!

I’m planning a Writer’s Body Lexicon and then probably a third volume of the main Lexicon series. I had considered producing an omnibus, but I think it would have too many pages to make a print version practical. Unless I figure out a way to compact the spacing in some of the chapters. Hmm.

Ocean Description for Writers: Exploring the Wonders and Mysteries of the World’s Oceans

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on Published: August 30, 2023 - Last updated: September 1, 2023

Categories Writing , Creative Writing

You are standing at the edge of the vast ocean, gazing out at the seemingly endless expanse of water.

As writers, the ocean inspires us, and often features in our works. The purpose of this article is to look at ways to describe its nature, and dig into its essential characteristics as useful background for our research and writing.

The ocean is a truly remarkable feature of our planet, covering over 70% of the Earth’s surface and containing 97% of the planet’s water.

It is a vital component of our planet’s ecosystem, supporting a diverse range of life and playing a crucial role in regulating the Earth’s climate and weather patterns.

The formation of the oceans is a fascinating subject, with scientists still working to unravel the complex processes that led to the creation of the world’s oceans. The oceans are thought to have formed around 4 billion years ago, as the Earth’s surface cooled and water vapor in the atmosphere condensed to form liquid water.

Over time, the oceans have evolved and changed, shaped by a range of factors including the movement of tectonic plates, changes in sea level, and the impact of human activity.

Key Takeaways

The ocean covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface and contains 97% of the planet’s water.
The formation of the oceans is a complex and ongoing area of research, with scientists working to understand the processes that led to their creation.
The ocean plays a vital role in supporting life on Earth and regulating the planet’s climate and weather patterns.

33 Ways to Describe the Nature of the Ocean

To inspire you, here are 33 ways the ocean can be described:

Treacherous
Unpredictable
Tempestuous

Formation of Oceans

The oceans are vast bodies of saltwater that cover about 71% of the Earth’s surface. The most widely accepted theory for the formation of the oceans is that they were created by volcanic activity that released water vapor into the atmosphere, which then condensed and formed the oceans.

Over time, the Earth’s atmosphere changed, leading to the formation of an ozone layer that protected the planet from harmful solar radiation.

When the Earth was first formed, its temperature was well above the boiling point for water. Because of this, there was no liquid water on Earth. Instead, all water was in the form of a gas. However, over vast periods of time, our primitive ocean formed.

Water remained a gas until the Earth cooled below 212 degrees Fahrenheit. At this time, about 3.8 billion years ago, the water condensed into rain which filled the basins that we now know as our world ocean.

It is important to note that the formation of the oceans is a gradual process that occurred over millions of years. The movement of tectonic plates and the shifting of the Earth’s crust also played a significant role in shaping the oceans.

As the Earth’s crust moved and shifted, it created new basins and caused existing ones to deepen, which in turn allowed more water to fill them.

In summary, the oceans were formed through a combination of volcanic activity, atmospheric changes, and the movement of tectonic plates. The gradual process of ocean formation occurred over millions of years, and it continues to shape the Earth’s surface to this day.

Major Oceans and Seas

The Earth is mostly covered by water, with five major oceans and several seas. Each of these water bodies has unique characteristics and plays a vital role in our planet’s ecosystem.

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean on Earth, covering more than 60 million square miles. It is located between Asia and Australia to the east, and the Americas to the west. The Pacific Ocean is home to numerous islands, including Hawaii, Tahiti, and Fiji. It is also known for the famous Ring of Fire, a region where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest ocean on Earth, covering an area of about 41 million square miles. It is located between the Americas to the west and Europe and Africa to the east. The Atlantic Ocean is home to many important ports, including New York, London, and Rio de Janeiro.

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third-largest ocean on Earth, covering an area of about 28 million square miles. It is located between Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Indian subcontinent. The Indian Ocean is known for its warm waters and abundant marine life, including whales, dolphins, and sharks.

Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, surrounds Antarctica and extends to 60 degrees south latitude. It is the smallest and youngest ocean, having been recognized as a distinct body of water only in 2000. The Southern Ocean is known for its strong winds and icy waters, which are home to many unique species of marine life, including penguins and seals.

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest ocean on Earth, covering an area of about 5 million square miles. It is located around the North Pole and is surrounded by landmasses such as Russia, Canada, and Greenland. The Arctic Ocean is known for its harsh climate and is covered by ice for most of the year.

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, located between Europe, Africa, and Asia. It is known for its warm waters and beautiful beaches, making it a popular tourist destination. The Mediterranean Sea is also home to many important ports, including Barcelona, Marseille, and Istanbul.

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a large body of water located between Mexico and the United States. It is known for its warm waters and abundant marine life, including fish, shrimp, and oysters. The Gulf of Mexico is also an important location for oil and gas drilling, with many offshore platforms located in its waters.

Each of these oceans and seas plays a vital role in our planet’s ecosystem, and it is important that we take care of them. By protecting these bodies of water, we can ensure that they continue to provide valuable resources and habitats for generations to come.

Oceanography and Research

Oceanography is the study of the physical, chemical, and biological features of the ocean, including the ocean’s ancient history, its current condition, and its future. Oceanographers are scientists who study the ocean and its processes.

They use a variety of tools and techniques to collect data, including satellites, ships, buoys, and underwater robots.

Research in oceanography covers a wide range of topics, from marine life and ecosystems to currents and waves, to the movement of sediments, to seafloor geology. The study of oceanography is interdisciplinary, and the ocean’s properties and processes function together.

One of the most important areas of research in oceanography is the study of climate change. The ocean plays a crucial role in regulating the Earth’s climate, and changes in the ocean can have significant impacts on the rest of the planet.

Scientists are studying the ocean to better understand how it is changing and how those changes will affect the climate.

National Geographic Explorers are among the many researchers working to better understand the ocean. They use cutting-edge technology and techniques to explore the ocean and its mysteries. Their work has led to many important discoveries and has helped to advance our understanding of the ocean and its processes.

Ocean Ecosystem

The ocean ecosystem is a vast and complex system that is home to a wide variety of marine animals, plants, and organisms. It is a delicate balance of physical and biological factors that work together to support life. In this section, we will explore the different components of the ocean ecosystem.

Marine Animals

The ocean is home to a diverse range of animal species, including whales, dolphins, crabs, and squid. These animals have adapted to life in the ocean in various ways, such as developing streamlined bodies for swimming, specialized feeding mechanisms, and unique methods of communication.

The blue whale, for example, is the largest animal on Earth and feeds on krill, while dolphins are known for their intelligence and social behavior.

Marine Plants

Marine plants, such as algae and seaweed, play a crucial role in the ocean ecosystem. They provide food and shelter for a variety of marine organisms, including fish and crustaceans.

Algae, in particular, are an important source of food for many marine animals and are also used in the production of various products, such as cosmetics and food additives.

Marine Organisms

The ocean is home to a vast array of organisms, ranging from microscopic plankton to large predatory fish. These organisms play a crucial role in the ocean ecosystem, forming the base of the food chain and cycling nutrients through the system.

Some organisms, such as coral reefs, are also important for providing habitats for other marine species.

In conclusion, the ocean ecosystem is a complex and diverse system that is home to a wide variety of animal, plant, and organism species. Understanding the different components of the ocean ecosystem is crucial for maintaining the delicate balance that supports life in the ocean.

Ocean Climate and Weather

The ocean plays a critical role in shaping the climate and weather patterns around the world. The ocean stores solar radiation, distributes heat and moisture, and drives weather systems. As a result, changes in the ocean can have a significant impact on climate and weather.

The ocean’s temperature and salinity play a crucial role in regulating the global climate. The sun’s energy heats the ocean’s surface, causing water to evaporate and form clouds.

These clouds reflect some of the sun’s energy back into space, which helps to cool the Earth. The remaining energy is absorbed by the ocean, which warms the water and drives ocean currents.

Ocean currents play a crucial role in distributing heat and moisture around the globe. Warm ocean currents carry heat from the tropics towards the poles, while cold ocean currents carry cool water towards the equator.

These currents help to regulate the Earth’s temperature, and they also influence weather patterns.

The atmosphere and the ocean are closely linked, and changes in one can have a significant impact on the other. For example, changes in atmospheric temperature can cause changes in ocean temperature, which can influence ocean currents and weather patterns.

Similarly, changes in ocean temperature can influence atmospheric temperature, which can impact weather patterns.

Climate change is also having a significant impact on the ocean’s climate and weather patterns. As the Earth’s temperature continues to rise, the ocean is absorbing more heat, which is causing ocean temperatures to increase.

This, in turn, is causing changes in ocean currents and weather patterns, which can have significant impacts on ecosystems and human societies around the world.

In conclusion, the ocean plays a critical role in shaping the Earth’s climate and weather patterns. Changes in the ocean can have a significant impact on the Earth’s temperature, ocean currents, and weather patterns. It is essential to understand these relationships to better predict and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Ocean Currents and Motion

Ocean currents are continuous movements of water in the ocean that follow set paths, kind of like rivers in the ocean. They can be at the water’s surface or go to the deep sea; some are very large, while others are small and unnamed.

These currents are driven by wind, water density differences, and tides. Coastal and sea floor features influence their location, direction, and speed. Earth’s rotation results in the Coriolis effect which also influences ocean currents.

Similar to a person trying to walk in a straight line across a spinning merry-go-round, winds and ocean waters get deflected from a straight line path as they travel.

Ocean water moves in two directions: horizontally and vertically. Horizontal movements are referred to as currents, while vertical changes are called upwellings or downwellings. This abiotic system is responsible for the transfer of heat, variations in climate, and the distribution of nutrients and marine life.

Some of the most well-known ocean currents include the Gulf Stream, which carries warm water from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Atlantic, and the California Current, which flows southward along the western coast of North America.

The Kuroshio Current, off the coast of Japan, is equal in volume to 6,000 large rivers.

Ocean currents have a significant impact on global climate. The Gulf Stream, for example, helps to keep the climate of Western Europe mild and temperate. It is also an important factor in the distribution of marine life.

Ocean currents bring nutrients and oxygen to different parts of the ocean, which supports the growth of plankton and other organisms. These organisms, in turn, provide food for larger animals like fish and whales.

Understanding ocean currents and their motion is important for many reasons. Scientists study ocean currents to better understand climate change, predict weather patterns, and track the movement of pollutants and debris.

Shipping and fishing industries also rely on knowledge of ocean currents to plan routes and locate fish populations.

Ocean Floor and Depth

The ocean floor is the bottom of the ocean, and it is a complex and diverse environment. The depth of the ocean varies greatly, with an average depth of 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers). The shape and depth of the seafloor are influenced by a variety of factors, including tectonic activity, erosion, and sedimentation.

The ocean floor features many distinct formations, including canyons, seamounts, and abyssal plains. Canyons are deep, narrow valleys that cut through the continental shelf and slope. Seamounts are underwater mountains that rise from the seafloor and can be active or dormant volcanoes.

Abyssal plains are flat, featureless areas of the seafloor that cover about 30% of the ocean floor.

The deepest part of the ocean is the Mariana Trench, which is located in the western Pacific Ocean and reaches a depth of 36,070 feet (10,994 meters). The trench is the result of tectonic activity, where the Pacific Plate is subducting beneath the Mariana Plate.

Continental shelves are shallow areas of the ocean floor that surround continents and extend to the continental slope. These areas are important for marine life, as they provide a habitat for many species.

The width and depth of continental shelves vary greatly around the world, with some being very narrow and others being very wide.

Overall, the ocean floor is a fascinating and complex environment that is still being explored and studied. Understanding the depth and features of the ocean floor is critical for understanding the ocean and its many ecosystems.

Ocean Pollution and Overfishing

The ocean is facing two major threats: pollution and overfishing. These two issues are causing significant harm to the ocean and its inhabitants, and it’s important to understand the impact they are having.

Pollution is a major problem in the ocean. It comes from a variety of sources, including agricultural runoff, oil spills, and plastic waste. These pollutants can harm marine life in a number of ways, such as causing physical harm, disrupting hormones, and altering behavior.

Plastic waste is particularly harmful, as it can take hundreds of years to break down and can be mistaken for food by marine animals, leading to injury or death.

Overfishing

Overfishing is another major problem facing the ocean. It occurs when fish are caught at a rate faster than they can reproduce, leading to a decline in their population. This can have a ripple effect on the entire ecosystem, as other species that rely on the overfished species for food or habitat are also impacted.

Overfishing is often caused by a combination of factors, including technological advances in fishing equipment, increased demand for seafood, and poor fisheries management.

Both pollution and overfishing are having a significant impact on the ocean and its inhabitants. It’s important to take action to address these issues, such as reducing plastic waste and implementing sustainable fishing practices.

By working together, we can help protect the ocean and ensure its health for generations to come.

Ocean and Earth Interaction

The ocean is a crucial component of the Earth’s system, and its interaction with the planet is complex and multifaceted. The ocean’s interaction with the Earth’s continents, gulfs, basins, lakes, and glaciers affects the planet in numerous ways.

The ocean’s interaction with the continents is particularly significant. The ocean’s currents and tides shape the coastline and help to create and maintain beaches, bays, and estuaries. The ocean also plays a crucial role in regulating the planet’s climate, by absorbing and redistributing heat from the sun.

The ocean’s interaction with gulfs and basins is also important. The Gulf Stream, for example, is a powerful current that flows from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Atlantic, and it has a significant impact on the climate of Europe. The ocean’s deep basins are also crucial for the planet’s carbon cycle, as they absorb and store large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Lakes are another important part of the Earth’s water cycle, and they can have a significant impact on the environment. The Great Lakes, for example, are a vital source of freshwater for millions of people in North America.

Glaciers are also an important part of the Earth’s system, and they can have a significant impact on the ocean. As glaciers melt, they release freshwater into the ocean, which can affect the salinity and temperature of the water. This, in turn, can affect ocean currents and weather patterns.

The ocean’s interaction with boundaries and latitude is also significant. The ocean plays a crucial role in the formation of weather patterns, and it can affect the intensity and frequency of storms and hurricanes. The ocean’s interaction with Antarctica is also important, as the continent’s ice sheets are melting at an unprecedented rate, which could have significant consequences for sea levels around the world.

Finally, the ocean’s interaction with bays and the coastline is crucial for many species of plants and animals. Coastal ecosystems are some of the most diverse and productive on the planet, and they are home to a wide variety of species. The ocean also plays a crucial role in the formation of coral reefs, which are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet.

Overall, the ocean’s interaction with the Earth is complex and multifaceted, and it plays a crucial role in the planet’s climate, weather patterns, and ecosystems.

Ocean’s Role in Life Support

The ocean is a vital component of life on Earth, providing a range of resources that are essential for human survival. Here are some of the ways the ocean supports life:

The ocean produces more than half of the world’s oxygen through photosynthesis by marine plants, such as phytoplankton. This process is essential for sustaining life on Earth, as oxygen is necessary for the respiration of all animals, including humans.

The ocean is a major source of food for humans and other animals. It is estimated that over 3 billion people worldwide depend on seafood as their primary source of protein. The ocean also provides a variety of other food resources, including seaweed, shellfish, and other marine plants and animals.

The ocean plays a crucial role in generating renewable energy. It is a source of hydropower, which is generated by the movement of tides and waves. Additionally, the ocean’s temperature difference between the surface and deeper waters can be harnessed to generate electricity through ocean thermal energy conversion.

While the ocean is primarily composed of saltwater, it also contains freshwater in the form of icebergs, glaciers, and sea ice. The ocean’s role in the water cycle is essential for providing freshwater to land-based ecosystems and human populations.

The ocean’s saltwater is also important for sustaining life on Earth. It is a critical component of the Earth’s climate system, regulating temperature and weather patterns. Additionally, the ocean’s saltwater is used in a variety of industrial processes, including the production of salt and the desalination of seawater for human consumption.

Overall, the ocean plays a critical role in supporting life on Earth, providing essential resources such as oxygen, food, energy, freshwater, and saltwater. Understanding the importance of the ocean and taking steps to protect it is essential for ensuring the continued survival of human and other animal populations.

Unexplored Oceans

Despite covering over 70% of the Earth’s surface, the ocean remains largely unexplored. The vast and unknown depths of the ocean remain a mystery to us, with only a fraction of the ocean floor having been mapped and explored.

The ocean trenches, which are some of the deepest parts of the ocean, remain almost entirely unexplored. These trenches, such as the Mariana Trench, are deeper than Mount Everest is tall and are home to some of the most unique and fascinating creatures on the planet.

However, due to the extreme pressure and darkness of these regions, it is incredibly difficult to explore them, and we still know very little about what lies at the bottom of these trenches.

When compared to space exploration, the ocean is still a vastly unexplored frontier. While we have sent humans to the moon, only a handful of people have ever traveled to the depths of the ocean. Despite this, there is still much we can learn from the ocean.

The ocean plays a vital role in regulating the Earth’s climate and is home to a vast array of plant and animal species, many of which are yet to be discovered.

In recent years, there have been efforts to explore more of the ocean and to better understand its mysteries. However, due to the vastness of the ocean and the challenges of exploring its depths, progress has been slow.

Nonetheless, as technology advances and we continue to learn more about the ocean, we may one day unlock the secrets of this vast and unexplored frontier.

Human Interaction with Oceans

As a human, you have a significant impact on the marine environment. The actions you take on land can affect the oceans, even if you live miles away from the coast. Here are some ways in which humans interact with the oceans:

Transport : The oceans are an essential mode of transportation for goods and people. Ships and boats transport goods and people across the world’s oceans. However, shipping also contributes to pollution, including oil spills, sewage, and garbage disposal.
Rock and Sediment : Humans extract rocks and sediments from the ocean floor for various purposes, including construction, oil and gas drilling, and mining. This can have significant impacts on the marine environment, including habitat destruction and changes in sedimentation patterns.
Plains : Humans have also impacted the ocean’s plains by introducing structures like oil rigs and wind turbines. These structures can disrupt ocean currents, affect marine life, and cause pollution.
Salinity : Human activities, such as irrigation and damming of rivers, can affect the salinity of the ocean. The runoff from agriculture and other land-based activities can also increase the amount of nutrients in the ocean, leading to harmful algal blooms and other negative impacts.
Action : Humans engage in various activities in the ocean, such as fishing, recreational activities, and scientific research. Overfishing and destructive fishing practices can lead to the depletion of fish populations and damage to marine habitats.
Mapped : Mapping the ocean floor is essential for understanding the marine environment. However, the process of mapping can also have negative impacts, such as disturbing marine life and habitats.

Overall, human interaction with the oceans has both positive and negative impacts. It is essential to understand these impacts and take steps to minimize negative impacts while maximizing positive ones.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the features of the ocean.

The ocean is a vast body of saltwater that covers approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface. It is divided into four main regions: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic oceans. The ocean has many features, including currents, waves, tides, and diverse marine life. It also plays a significant role in regulating the Earth’s climate and weather patterns.

What are some interesting facts about the ocean?

The ocean is home to the largest living structure on Earth, the Great Barrier Reef, which is visible from space. It is also the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench, which is over 36,000 feet deep. The ocean contains about 97% of the Earth’s water, and only about 5% of it has been explored. Additionally, the ocean is responsible for producing over 50% of the oxygen we breathe.

What are the seven oceans of the world?

There is only one global ocean, but it is traditionally divided into five main regions: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern (Antarctic), and Arctic oceans. Some oceanographers also consider the Southern Ocean to be a separate ocean, while others include it as part of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans.

How do you describe the Pacific Ocean?

The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean on Earth, covering about one-third of the planet’s surface. It is surrounded by the Americas to the east and Asia and Australia to the west. The Pacific Ocean is known for its vastness, strong currents, and frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity along its “Ring of Fire” boundary.

What is the difference between a sea and an ocean?

A sea is a smaller body of saltwater that is partially enclosed by land, while an ocean is a larger body of saltwater that covers most of the Earth’s surface. Seas are usually connected to oceans and are often shallower than oceans. Some examples of seas include the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Caribbean Sea.

What are the characteristics of ocean water?

Ocean water is salty, with an average salinity of about 35 parts per thousand. It is also dense, cold, and has a high heat capacity, which means it can absorb and release large amounts of heat without changing temperature significantly. Ocean water is also highly alkaline, with a pH of around 8.1, and contains dissolved gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide.

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19,890 quotes, descriptions and writing prompts, 4,964 themes

wine glass - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing

bottle of wine
dining room
glass of water
wine cellar

The rim of the wine glass was a perfect band of black and white, as if a fragment of starlit sky raced around it.

She poured her soul into that wine glass every night and drunk it dry, her fingers so warm on the coolness of bowed glass. She never held it by the stem, not that I ever saw, but cupped it in her right hand as one might drink water from a clear river.

In that otherwise bare-essentials apartment Leo loved so much, was a solitary wine glass. It was his chosen luxury. I once assumed it was a signal he wanted to drink alone, yet to the contrary, he wished to be with a person who would drink from the same glass as he.

The wine glass had travelled far from the heat and soot of the glass district to sit among the finery of this place. It was slender, the sort that brought champagne to mind.

He held the wine glass in his over-moisturised fingers, his nails forming wall without mortar. Edna watched his face as he drank, contorted as if the expectation he might gain enjoyment from it was an imposition too far.

Terry did everything to the max and his wine glass was the same. He could sink a good half bottle into it and still have it appear only half full.

Sammy twirled the wine glass by the stem as if she has wanted a plaything and finally it had arrived. I always thought half the enjoyment came from the risk of it falling to the floor and shattering, yet every time she laughed and poured herself a glass.

Karin would drink wine as if the glass and her hand had fused in some fashion.

It was an odd thought that we were doing the wine producers a favour by filling our glasses with their labour, Maria preferred to think that it was they who had done a favour for her. It was then, as she pondered the perfection of the glass in her hand, the elegant extended bowl that it was, that the wine-maker appreciation festival was born.

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20+ Best Words to Describe Glasses, Adjectives for Glasses
20+ Best Words to Describe Glasses, Adjectives for Glasses
How to Describe Glasses in Writing
How to Describe Glasses in Writing
How to Describe Glasses in Writing
How to Describe Glasses in Creative Writing

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COMMENTS

Character Eye Descriptions: The Window to Your Story
Besides using eye color as a facial feature it can sometimes be used to identify who is speaking especially if the color distinctive. Blue eyes widened and she threw up both hands. "Now hold on a minute.". OR. Her amber cat eyes narrowed. "xxxx". A character might have plain old blue or brown eyes and that's fine.
Glasses
glasses - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing. glasses. - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing. The glasses added something to her face, a certain poise I suppose. They did more than frame her eyes, they added an extra window to her soul and I loved that. By Angela Abraham, @daisydescriptionari, September 24, 2019 .
Tricks for Describing a Character's Appearance (With Examples)
1.5 Use the Point of View. 1.6 Keep the Description Balanced. 1.7 Give them Something Special. 2 How to Describe a Character's Face. 3 How to Describe a Character's Hair. 4 How to Describe a Character's Clothes. 5 How to Describe a Character's Body. 6 How to Describe a Character's Posture and Body Language.
65 Ways to Describe Sight and Eyes in Your Writing
Squinted out into the audience. eyes narrowed to slits. Narrowed his eyes. eyes locked in a shared understanding. yellow rimmed eyes narrowing. peer sightlessly at a wall. eyes turned inward. shook her head and stared at the pool. Staring sightlessly into the darkness.
How To Write A Character Description (101 Examples)
Here is an example of a character description written from another character's perspective. In this case, we have Ripley from Aliens, who first encounters Burke as she recovers in a hospital room. Notice the usage of traits in the following passage. This is taken from the film's shooting script.
How to Describe Eyes in a Story
Describe their mouth, nose, brow, chin and ears. Find a simile or metaphor for each (e.g. 'His mouth was a tight red knot.') One way to make eye description more interesting is to make characters' eyes stand out in relation to character traits or other features: 2. Make characters' eyes contrasting or incongruous.
How to Describe Eyes in Writing (21 Best Tips + Examples)
Use descriptive words like "captivating" or "luminous.". Phrases like "windows to the soul" add layers. Consider eyelids, lashes, and blinking for subtle emotional cues. In this guide, you'll learn everything you need to know about how to describe eyes in writing. 1. The Color Palette: More Than Just Blue and Brown.
Writing Sensory Descriptions
If you're writing a character who has soda for the first time, how would you write his/her reaction? Details like this matter, so let's go over the senses and how to up your description-game ...
Sensory Imagery in Creative Writing: Types, Examples, and Writing Tips
Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Sep 29, 2021 • 6 min read. Sensory imagery is a literary device writers employ to engage a reader's mind on multiple levels. Sensory imagery explores the five human senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Sensory imagery is a literary device writers employ to engage a reader's mind on multiple ...
How to Write Vivid Descriptions to Capture Your Readers: 7 Writing Tips
Last updated: Aug 23, 2021 • 3 min read. Writing vivid descriptions involves using specific language to help your own writing stand out and form a detailed mental picture for readers. Whether it's for a novel, formal essay, short story, or public speaking event, it's important to make sure your writing is memorable and interesting for ...
A Guide to Descriptive Writing
Writing description is a necessary skill for most writers. Whether we're writing an essay, a story, or a poem, we usually reach a point where we need to describe something. In fiction, we describe settings and characters. In poetry, we describe scenes, experiences, and emotions. In creative nonfiction, we describe reality.
How To Describe Eyes In Writing (13 Steps You Need To Know)
Mention the size of the pupils and the details of the iris. You can describe the pupils as dilated with desire or constricted in bright light. Highlight any unique features of the iris, such as flecks or a ring of a different color.
106 Ways To Describe Sounds
listenable - easy to listen to. mellow - a soft, smooth, pleasant sound. melodic - beautiful sound. musical - sounds like music. pure - a clear, beautiful sound. rich - a sound that is strong in a pleasant way. soft - quiet and peaceful. sonorous - a sound that is deep and strong in a pleasant way.
Describing Sadness in Creative Writing: 33 Ways to ...
Instead, try using more descriptive words that evoke a sense of sadness in the reader. For example, you could use words like "heartbroken," "bereft," "devastated," "despondent," or "forlorn.". These words help to create a more vivid and emotional description of sadness that readers can connect with.
Describe to Immerse Readers (Complete Guide)
Definitions and terms. Description is writing that tells your reader what a person, object or place is (or isn't) like. As Oxford Learner Dictionaries define it: 'a piece of writing or speech that says what somebody/something is like; the act of writing or saying in words what somebody/something is like'. Description: These are just some ...
Writing GRUESOME Injury Descriptions
After that, chat came up with a bunch of gruesome injuries, then voted on the ones they liked best for us to describe. First up, (the aftermath of) being mauled by a bear/lion/large animal. Here's what we wrote: The woman lay on the forest floor after the bear attack, unfortunately still breathing.
Master List for Describing Weather
"How to describe weather" seemed like a good place to start. This way, you won't get stuck trying to figure out how to describe nice weather, or thinking up ways to describe rain. Hopefully, this will make your writing go faster. I always include simple as well as more creative ways to describe or write about weather.
How to Describe a Window in a Story
Using the word "crystalline" to describe your window not only shows how clean and clear it is, but also adds a touch of beauty, and uniqueness to its appearance. It creates a vivid image in the reader's mind, evoking a sense of wonder and enchantment at both the window and what may be seen through it.
179+ Words to Describe Eyeglasses
According to the algorithm that drives this website, the top 5 adjectives for "eyeglasses" are: sceptical and somewhat supercilious, larger, old-fashioned, vigilant long-handled, odd rectangular, and anachronistic rimless. There are 174 other words to describe eyeglasses listed above.
Describing Smells in Writing: Mastering the Art of ...
The art of describing smells in writing can elevate your work to an immersive experience for readers. The human sense of smell is closely linked to memory, making it a powerful tool for writers to evoke emotions and transport readers into the world they've created. Capturing the essence of a scent in words can be challenging, but with a ...
1000+ Ways to Describe Colors: A Word List for Writers
Bruise-blue eyes stared out through glasses crisscrossed with cracks. Matching lumps burgeoned from Marco's chin and cheeks. Readers will make the connection between bruise-blue and the lumps, imagining someone who has been beaten or injured.
Ocean Description for Writers: Exploring the Wonders and Mysteries of
Categories Writing, Creative Writing. You are standing at the edge of the vast ocean, gazing out at the seemingly endless expanse of water. As writers, the ocean inspires us, and often features in our works. The purpose of this article is to look at ways to describe its nature, and dig into its essential characteristics as useful background for ...
Wine glass
wine glass. - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing. Search entire site for wine glass. The rim of the wine glass was a perfect band of black and white, as if a fragment of starlit sky raced around it. By Angela Abraham, @daisydescriptionari, September 23, 2019 . She poured her soul into that wine glass every night and drunk it ...

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Character Eye Descriptions: The Window to Your Story

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Tricks for Describing a Character’s Appearance (With Examples)

Tips for Describing a Character’s Appearance in a Story

Don’t Make Everyone a Supermodel

Don’t Dump Everything Out at Once

Don’t Sell Them Short

Use Their Personality

Use the Point of View

Keep the Description Balanced

Give them Something Special

How to Describe a Character’s Face

How to Describe a Character’s Hair

How to Describe a Character’s Clothes

How to Describe a Character’s Body

How to Describe a Character’s Posture and Body Language

How to Describe an Attractive Character

The Importance of Creating Vivid Visual Descriptions for your Characters

65 Ways to Describe Sight and Eyes in Your Writing

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How To Write A Character Description (101 Examples)

Why Character Descriptions Matter

The Five Key Questions

Other Descriptive Traits and Tips

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Table of Contents

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How to Describe Eyes in Writing (21 Best Tips + Examples)

1. The Color Palette: More Than Just Blue and Brown

2. The Light Dance: Luminosity Unveiled

3. Shape-Shifting: The Geometry of Gaze

4. Blink Back the Emotions

5. Mirrors and Windows: Emotional Portals

6. Crinkles and Lines: The Etchings of Experience

7. The Focus Factor: Where the Gaze Lands

8. The Invisible Force: Magnetic Attraction or Repulsion

9. Eye-talk: Silent Conversations

10. Motion and Emotion: The Kinetics of Eye Movement

11. Veils and Shields: The Role of Eyelids and Lashes

12. Icy Stares and Fiery Glances: Temperature Imagery

13. Twin Moons: Symmetry and Asymmetry

14. Distance and Depth: Proximity of Emotional Connection

15. Transient Hues: Changing Colors

16. Windows or Walls: Transparency and Opacity

17. Spotlighting: Single Eye Focus

18. Eye Accessories: Glasses and Contacts

19. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Artistic Imagery

20. The Art of Avoidance: When Eyes Are Hidden

21. The Blink Code: The Tempo of Eye Movement

10 Elements of Eyes to Describe in Writing

30 Best Words to Describe Eyes in Writing

30 Best Phrases to Describe Eyes in Writing

3 Full Examples of Describing Eyes in Different Genres

Final Thoughts: How To Describe Eyes in Writing

A Guide to Descriptive Writing

What is Descriptive Writing?

How Much Description is Too Much?

Descriptive Writing Tips

How to Practice Writing Description