When I say “the Basics of Character”, I mean a snapshot picture of them: their appearance. What they look like without any physical moving characteristics and without considering what’s on the inside. Everything discussed in this post also isn’t recommended to be vomited onto the reader in one go, but can be given incrementally and then used consistently to maintain the character’s image.

Here’s how I “just make up characters”.

Even with an empty character with just a body and no mannerisms, there’s a lot to consider when creating a character. It’s not just “their eyes are this colour, their hair is this colour and their skin is this colour”. Even when actually picking the colours, we’re not just looking at the kid’s colour wheel.

Picking Colour

What kind of brown is their hair? Is it caramel? Mahogany? Russet? Bronze? Has it got dashes of red in the sun? Or is it black until the light shines through it, and then you question reality as you realise it’s just the richest brown you’ve ever seen?

What about their eyes? Do they say something? Are they one colour, or do they have flecks of something else? How are they shaped? How are they held? Maybe they’re narrowed because they’re always annoyed? Maybe they just need glasses? Do they have glasses? Their brows?

Considering Colour

Now, here’s the important part of picking, changing and keeping colour. Think about your audience, think about who you are, and think about what the story is saying. Think about your preconceived notions about colour in humans and how they’re translated to your readers. And this isn’t limited to your main characters.

Who are you representing? Who are you? Are you throwing in some stereotypes or dynamics that might have racial undertones? Do all of your character designs rely on “dark is evil and light is good”?

Physical Landmarks

Do they have scars? Where? Can we see them in this snapshot or are they hidden? Have they got age? Maybe they’ve got freckles or blotchy birthmarks? And then what about structure? The face, the body and whether or not they have any physical aspects that stand out. Perhaps they only have one leg, or there’s clear permanent injury to their eyes?

What’s their build? Their stature?

What about their cheekbones, their nose and their brows? Are there consistent ethnicity markers? Or are you just throwing colours on them and forgetting about that? Maybe they’re blended to make up a multi-cultural individual?

What about the way they hold themselves? How do they stand? Where are their hands in this snapshot? How’s their hair? Neat, messy? Usually spiked?

Dressed to Impress

How do they dress? Style? Colour? Tidy? Unkempt? Maybe they like warm tones? Maybe they dress “normal”? Maybe they wear their heart on their sleeve and you can see their nationality, their sexuality or their gender? Maybe all three? Maybe they’re in a sports team?

Research

And this all doesn’t come from “just making stuff up”. You need to sift through colours and styles and considerations. Especially if you want to pin-point what that person you’re creating looks like. It’s easy to say “she’s got black hair, tanned skin, green eyes and a bit of a slouch”, and let your readers use their imagination, but sometimes they don’t want to, sometimes your character then just looks like a mob character, and they’re a bit forgettable or easy to mix up with others.

Put it all together, what do you have? What does your character look like?