Descriptions...

As a wise man once said, "A picture can tell a thousand words".

Envisioning a character is usually alot easier than making it come alive in a description, especially when it comes to details. And since I usually use art to help me envision my character, I usually come upon traits or accessories that is seemingly impossible to describe in words - at least if you want your description short and concise, or at least so short that people do not fall asleep reading it. This in turn leads to compromising, where I cut down my description, where I try to find more powerful words, where I delete and erase - all the time trying to keep a flow in the description.

How do you people make it work?

Well, I really tend to create new characters when I have a spur of the moment idea, that I consider really great RP. I don't know how, but things just start to come to mind. Most of my descriptions take less than five minutes, because the ideas are fresh in my mind. Something that I find helpful, is if I'm in a boring class, I'll start thinking about an idea for a character, and write the description out, along with any applications they might have, IE- restring, qrace, qclass, etc.

As a wise man once said, "A picture can tell a thousand words".

How do you people make it work?

I find a picture that suits the character I want, and describe it, head to toe.

I've always liked to draw, I try and envision a char's desc as I would draw them, then write it out spicing it up a bit with some fancy lingo, and I always try and write it so that when read, it kinda flows.

I have a formula that I tend to stick to, I suppose it is my "style", though a lot of people use it.

General info - Body Size, Shape, Racial info

Face Specifics - Appearance, Hair, etc

Clothes (if applicable) - Clothing, Armor, Identifiers

Typically, I avoid His, Her, She, He, It, and Its like the plague. More often, I open with something descriptive and I tend to use no more or less than 2-3 similes per desc (eyes and hair tend to be my most common).

I used to draw them up, but now I just sit back and envision them in their adventures. Tends to work for me, though I have issues with Elves - they are always so bland!

As a wise man once said, "A picture can tell a thousand words".

Envisioning a character is usually alot easier than making it come alive in a description, especially when it comes to details. And since I usually use art to help me envision my character, I usually come upon traits or accessories that is seemingly impossible to describe in words - at least if you want your description short and concise, or at least so short that people do not fall asleep reading it. This in turn leads to compromising, where I cut down my description, where I try to find more powerful words, where I delete and erase - all the time trying to keep a flow in the description.

How do you people make it work?

• Describing in excruciating detail many of the smaller features of a character is difficult to make entertaining, so that's out.

• This goes with the one above. Paint the character's equipment with BIG strokes. Describe a detail or two, but don't go on and on about everything.

• Elves with luscious lips and flaxen hair and a sad look in their eye make me puke.

• Metaphors are good, but don't go overboard. One per paragraph (every 4-5 sentences), MAYBE two. This is important.

• Give the character feeling. Don't just dryly describe how they look, give their features meaning. Very lightly hint at why they look the way they do. Use only a single word or two when adjusting descriptive phrases, no more.

I know what you mean. It's one thing seeing your character in your head, but it's another thing to describe it in a way that will do that image justice. Especially trying to find that balance between having it too long or too short.

I follow CruelEduct's method almost to a tee, however I personally like to brush over the details, and only focus on something that, well, you notice. Think about real life - when you look at somebody, it's quite rare that you really focus on any aspect of them unless it stands out in someway. It's usually like "Yea, she's got big blue eyes and blonde hair..wait, what's that? Why has she got three lips? And they're really puffy and dark red and..."

Unless there is a reason for me to accent it in someway, I will usually keep things simple enough, just like you would think when looking at someone. After all, if your character has fairly normal facial features but then a grotesque looking growth protruding 7 inches from it's chest, you can bet a lot of emphasis would be placed on the growth as opposed to the face..instead of describing every single part of the person in excruitiating detail.

Just my own view anyway,

Dey

EDIT: And, I would say don't worry too much about having a long description unless it's ridiculously long. I love reading a well-written description regardless of it's length, and I'm not the only one. More often than not, (I'm just making a generalisation here) the people who will take the time to 'bio' you and read your description are the type of people who will take the time to read a long one (assuming it's well-written to some degree).

notepad, i have a dozen notepad documents full of descriptions. As an idea comes i just head to notepad and save em. Then when i am ready to make a new toon i rifle through the descriptions i have written and find one that fits, modify it and im off to the races...

As a wise man once said' date=' "A picture can tell a thousand words".[/quote']

http://mcsweeneys.net/2006/4/5ryan.html

WC

http://mcsweeneys.net/2006/4/5ryan.html

WC

That ruled.

That poor child....

lmao. My dad criticised the way i made cereal just like that, just last week.