Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Interesting Imagery

Being a woman sometimes I forget to include jewelry in my description of men's appearances. Depending on the character there are a few items that can really define what type of character the man in question is. If Michael adjusts the cufflinks on his sleeve as he studies his taylored Italian cut suit in the vanity mirror--maybe he's a dockworker, but he's a dockworker with some class and style when he wants to 'clean up'. Or maybe he's an international finance broker and cufflinks are a part of his everyday dress code. It can make things really interesting though, and adds a touch of character rather than just saying he straightened his tie and studied his clean cut suit in the mirror.

Maybe he's a heavy duty thug and adjusts fifty pounds of metal around his neck... hey, there are lots of ways to incorporate some sense of character in interesting ways without really coming out and telling the reader exactly what a person is like. Using such imagery is not only more interesting for the reader, it's a lot more fun to write.

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