How To: Make An Original Character

describing

So we've all been told in every 'How to' book ever to do this magical and mystical technique of 'SHOW NOT TELL'. Ok well maybe its not too magical but it is very useful when introducing your character.

This links back to the appearance chapter because you're going to want to tell your readers straight off the mark what your character looks like. But please, I am begging you, do not start any story with 'Hi my name is Kylie and I have blonde hair and green eyes and I eat carrots and I have a parrot called Fifi...'

But just like every literary technique out there, showing not telling can be overused. I suggests just slipping little details about your character appearance into sentences can work just as well. E.g

1st person

Winds whipped through my blond hair which seemed to have a life of its own...

Third person

The sun seemed to glint off the golden hairs that graced her head, there was something magical about the way her hair seemed to dance in the light breeze.

See that's way better than just saying it in her monologue at the start, all you have to do is slip it in sentences.

Another tip: don't have whole paragraphs just describing what your character looks like. That's boring and unnecessary. You don't need to describe what your character looks like right from the get go. Your reader just needs to know some of the basics, they don't need to be told right away that your character has 36 freckles exactly on their face and an unusual mole on their leg.