Character description and sensory description in novel writing

Novel creation is a time-consuming and laborious work. In the process of novel creation, the author needs to do his best and make good use of all tools and methods to make the novel more vivid, interesting and attractive.


Novel writing is inseparable from description, especially character description and sensory description. Many times, the best description is to not describe.


1. Character description

Characters are the soul of the novel and the actors in the reader's heart. As a writer, breathing life into your characters is your most important job.


Character description includes appearance description, dialogue description, psychological description and so on.


Straightforward appearance description is the most common way of character description. Through the description of appearance, the reader can have a more intuitive understanding of the character, and can better show the character and attitude of the character.


Appearance descriptions can be short and straightforward, or long-winded. Brevity sometimes trumps detail. A simple description of a character's appearance or behavior can sometimes be a more effective way of showing a character's image.

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Extended analogy is another way to describe characters. Adding some anecdotes to the character description will help promote the development of the story and provide a reference for the subsequent development of the article.


Putting real people into the story is possible, but there are some risks that should be treated with caution. To add some historical figures to the story, you must do your homework in advance, and you must know the history of the historical figures and the era they lived in. Getting the characters to fit the background is the key to writing.


Dialogue description is the strongest and most powerful way to describe characters. Through the dialogue, the character's character can be fully presented, and the character's strengths and weaknesses are undoubtedly revealed in the dialogue.


Psychological description is also an effective way of description. Presenting the emotional changes of the characters and describing the psychological changes of the characters are equally effective for the shaping of the characters. Before conveying the characters or their situations to the readers, you need to know exactly the motives of the characters.


Letting the characters describe themselves is also a way to describe the characters. Sometimes it's a good way to draw characters into unrealistic fantasies, or to contrast them with who they think they are.


No one in real life is perfect, and neither should characters. The physical defects of the characters are not only reflected in the external image; sometimes the physical defects become the driving force for the growth of the characters, and sometimes they become the resistance.


Avoid creating stereotyped characters that will offend the reader. But occasionally it is possible to use pre-existing ideas in the reader's mind to shape the characters.






The sensory description


The success of a story or novel depends on many factors, but most importantly, bringing the reader into the story. When readers truly feel the true feelings conveyed by the story, they can truly integrate into the story and share the same fate with the protagonist.


Sensory descriptions in novels include descriptions of sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch and sixth sense.


Visual descriptions will give readers a more intuitive impression, because they are frequently used, often ignoring descriptions of other senses, resulting in some potential danger. Be careful not to overuse unusual and unexpected words for visual descriptions. These words are refreshing when they first appear, but can be extremely uncomfortable when used repeatedly. Learn to let the reader spot the nuances that appear in the story.


Aural description can stimulate the curiosity of readers and create suspense in the story. A person's voice is his best business card. From the voice, he can distinguish different emotions and feel different feelings. Letting readers know the type of music a character likes, or even a favorite song, is also an important part of expressing a person's character. Sometimes, emphasizing the missing effects of sound is the best way to deliver it, trying to make the sounds that have been pervasive all around play a unique role in fiction and stories.


Taste is also a common expression. What a person likes to eat and what they hate can also reflect a person's personality. Various delicacies and temptations of various flavors will also become the moving colors of the novel. Describing something that isn't delicious in a novel can also build context. Having a character's preference for one flavor or another can also leave a clear impression on the reader's mind.


Smell is the most nostalgic sense, and when it is fully used, it can evoke memories in the reader's heart. The taste of some simple ingredients when I was a child reminds people of the taste of my mother. This flavor is a symbol, describing some unspeakable emotion, and it builds the background of the story. When something happens in the story, you can help the reader recall how it feels, and if they haven't had a similar experience before, you need to help them create a "what if it would feel like" experience. The use of olfactory description can draw the reader's attention to a certain thing and create a specific character image in his mind.


Tactile description is also a common way of character description. When doing tactile descriptions, you don’t have to keep describing how your characters feel, but create a feeling for the reader that you want them to experience. If the reader has not experienced it in the past, you need to focus in your novel on the character's response to pain when they experience these pains or pains, rather than an actual description of the pain.


One of the best ways to describe a character is to use the sixth sense, which is also often used in fiction. The sixth sense is a kind of intuition, which can well shape characters and describe moving scenes.


Novels should be written with the target audience in mind. Readers of literary fiction are generally more receptive to long sensory descriptions, which give a clearer picture of where the story takes place. Readers of popular fiction also want sensory depictions, but they want the story to end as quickly as possible.


When presenting something to the reader, try to do it in a way they haven't seen it before. Good writers spend a lot of time developing metaphors, especially in sensory detail.


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