Hi I'm new here, so I guess I should say a quick hello. I've been lurking for a while but have just joined since I've hit a problem of my own. I've spent some time creating a character image using one of the face generators available on the internet but wanted to make sure I'm not walking into a generic cliché. Basically, I'd like you to have a look at the picture attached (pretend it is a school/passport photo if it helps) and tell me what you think about him based on his appearance (age/job/personality/relationships - anything that enters your head). If multiple people guess my idea for him just by seeing his face, then I obviously haven't been imaginative enough. Realism is very important to me, so I hope you understand why I'm asking for help You can go into detail if you like, but try to keep it as close to the impression you get from the image as possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I don't want to move forward with my story until I know who I'm writing about!
He looks fine to me. Bookish, serious, quiet, maybe on the nerdy side a bit. Seriously though, this is not an issue to worry about. Readers don't need a big lengthy description: simply mentioning his brown hair at once point in passing, and his glasses at another point, etc -- will give the readers enough info to piece together their own mental picture. Make sure the physical description is conveyed naturally, not in a huge infodump. That's the most important thing. And, of course, welcome to the forums. I hope you pick up great advice and have lots of fun here.
Ooh I always wanted to be a psychological profiler. Judging by his centre path hairstyle, he's a neatfreak, concerns himself more with order, and perfection, than pride and style. The trim around his ears indicates a fear of experimentation. Lives a bland unadventurous life. He's shy, afraid to take risks, prefers to blend into a crowd, petrified of the spotlight. Boring, brown glasses. Again he uses it as his mask to conceal his emotions from the world. He doesn't want the world to notice the lack of confidence in his gaze. The pink mottling of his nose suggests an allergic rhinitis. As a child he was plagued by sickness. Spent much time in a hospital bed, has a low immunity. Perhaps he was born premature. Susceptible to multiple lower respiratory tract infections. This accounts for his narrow, dimmunitive frame. Was teased a lot at school, hence the lack of confidence. He doesn't smile too often because there's very little about the world that makes him happy. I'll stop there. First impressions...
If I may say so, you're wasting your time. The character's physical appearance is one of the least important aspects of a character, unless that appearance is specifically tied to the storyline (like Powder or the Hunchback of Notre Dame).
He's cute He looks like a really mousy, "bookish" type, so it'd be cool if that wasn't the case at all. Maybe he seems quiet and everything at first, but he's really a totally spun-out drug dealer or thug or something. Sorry for getting off-topic, but where'd you find this face generator? I've never heard of one before, but it looks neat.
I agree with Mallory and Cogito- avoid infodumping on appearances, and try not to stress too much about getting it 'exactly right'. Even if you said "He sneezed, wishing for the millionth time his nose wasn't so big," some readers will go on picturing his nose small and dainty. I've done it a few times myself. And because sometimes the reader will just figure their visual of the character is better than the what you're describing them to look like. But that aside... The pic of your character creeps me out. Like goosebumping hard over here. He looks like he'd be really smart, and maybe even charming enough to be capable of having friends, but would rather spend his time emmulating Hannibal. Brains for dinner, anyone?... Hmm... The perfect sociopath. Also, what's this face generating website? Sounds like fun!
Hi Thanks for all the replies, especially The-Joker's which made me laugh Really, I'm not worrying about the description for the story or the readers at the moment as this is a brand new project. One of my biggest flaws as a writer is to get far more excited about characters from other fandoms then my own original ones, which leads me to give up on writing my own stories a lot of the time and then go back to fanfiction. I'm trying to create a character I would really want to stick with first, because I think it will help me enjoy the writing more and finish one of my own stories. The website was called Morphases
Hello and welcome! I purposely haven't read any other posts on this thread yet so my first impression isn't tainted by others thoughts. My first impression/gut reaction to the face was: The eyes hide something sinister. The studious look of the face/hair etc seemed innocent but there's trouble behind the eyes. I wouldn't trust this character. There's a casual confidence about this appearance - the glasses are well placed, clearly show the eyes in full, the hair is parted and arranged in a style but not perfected with gel etc. I think I may have got an initial sense of sinister and it's tainted how I see everything about the guy now! lol. The young mans overall look reminds me of a lad in the mid 1990's. Fascinated to see what everyone else put now! lol. Edit: Just read the other posts. Really interesting how everyone says mostly different things. There are certainly some things that come through to most interpretations. Also, although it is true that this exercise may not be that helpful to your writing of the character description I believe that it can help inspire thinking around character which, in turn, can help develop stories. I really enjoyed this thread anyway and I am sooo going to check out that website! Thanks.
