Justanothergirlsblog - =A Weird Girl=

“And so it seems I must always write you letters that I can never send.”

— Sylvia Plath 

Writing Character Appearance

~tstrangeauthor on Instagram~

Oh, to dramatically look in a mirror and discover an increasingly relevant truth about myself. If only I were the main character, but that role is taken by you. But yes! Character descriptions are needed to, well, imagine the character, and they can be very difficult especially in first person, so here are some ways to introduce descriptions and some ideas for what to include!

Mirrors. They’re valid, and they can be done right. However, they’re easy and as a reader, I can find it boring when a character is just staring at themselves in the mirror, admiring their features often in great detail because it’s usually not how people do it. 

Ok, it’s first person and don’t want to just start listing hair colors. Here are some other ways that are more exciting then a mirror but do the same thing!

Storefront’s windows

Puddles/Bodies of water

Glass orbs/ornaments

Polished things (floors, boots)

Makeup mirror (still a mirror, but good for focusing on more up-close facial features like if they’re important)

Other people’s eyes ( “I imagined how he must see me, just another red-scaled draconian with a fondness for gold”)

Screens (black phone/TV/computer screens)

Facetime/zoom (cue Google Meets flashbacks)

Photographs

These aren’t the only options obviously, just ideas :)

You can also bring it up just casually. Like “She struggled to tie her short-hair back” or “I could feel my skin burning from the sun through my shirt.” 

What to describe?

The most important thing as a reader (imo) is skin color/texture, size, and hair color/texture/length. These give me a very basic visual of a character, and tbh, most other stuff I just make up in my own head cuz I forget it and lets be honest, you don’t notice eye color on a first meeting.

*Remember to remind your readers throughout your book of your character’s physical traits

Some more unique/rememberable things to bring up in your characters appearance for a vibe

Nail polish/other makeup

Acne! (please give your characters acne or acne scars!)

Literally anything other than Smooth Baby Skin 0 People Have, and If They Do Then Lucky Them!

Clothing! Basic, but important! (Clothing helps with setting too! And character dev)

Piercings/Tattoos

Jewelry

Face structure

Smile/teeth

Body hair

Again, list is limited! Anything I missed/you wanna see, add it to the comments! Hope this helped some of you and catch you on the flip side

“Sometimes the smallest things take the most room in your heart.”

— Winnie the Pooh 

“Do you think the universe fights for souls to be together? Some things are too strange and strong to be coincidences.”

— Emery Allen 

How to come up with a story title

By Writerthreads on Instagram

I’ve identified a few types of story titles, and I’ll briefly describe them below:

Common saying/phrase

Eg. When the Cows Come Home, Cruising for a Bruising

Usually, the saying might describe the events of the book or men’s something

Something with a character’s name

Eg. The Redemption of Fletcher Cheung (my old title), Harry Potter and the _______

Or literally the character’s name

Eg. Oliver Twist, Doctor Strange, Hansel and Gretel

A location

Eg. Schitt’s Creek, The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Secret Garden

Choose an location where a part of the plot takes place. It would help if that location has a unique name (eg. Earhart High School would be boring).

A memorable line

Eg. The Stars are Burning (my WIP lol), To Kill a Mockingbird

Use a memorable or important line, or a version of it. Bonus points if it’s in the first or last sentence of the book!

Use an allusion

Eg. These Violent Delights, The Grapes of Wrath

An allusion is a reference to or a phrase taken from an external source. The title usually alludes to something in the plot or a main theme.

If all else fails...

Use an unusual word

Warning: this makes the title less memorable, imo

Use a song title or lyric

Warning: copyright?? Also it might be cliche.

Now that we’ve covered the main types of titles, let me give you some advice on book titles;

Long titles

They’re hard to remember and hard to type/say, which reduced visibility. Try to shorten the title if you can :)

Make it interesting

Eg. Gone With the Wind

Titles that use poetic language, vivid imagery, or a bit of mystery tend to be alluring to potential readers.

Use alliteration

Eg. The Count of Monte Cristo

Alliteration is especially popular because it’s punchy and sounds good lol.

Anyways, this is all I can think of! Comment below your book title(s) and anything I’ve missed.

“Don’t listen to yourself; listen to the advice that you give others.”

— Michael Lottner 

I think its amazing that no one knows who you are but you. No one else knows the stories you create, the feelings you have at 3am, the song stuck in your head, your favourite childhood book. So stop allowing people to tell you what you should be or what you are because they don't know.

every writing tip article and their mother: dont ever use adverbs ever!

me, shoveling more adverbs onto the page because i do what i want: just you fucking try and stop me

“You’re always haunted by the idea you’re wasting your life.”

— Chuck Palahniuk