Halp

[delight]

Does anyone happen to have any online resources for writing physical descriptions? Or, for those of you who are visual artists, things you need to get in references or written desc?

My big problem is not being sure what to include in an in-depth description, because I have the great trifecta of severe visual impairment, aphantasia and prosopagnosia -- therefore visual things are pretty meaningless to me (in both directions: I also can't parse written physical description and just ask for a picture, which confuses people a lot when I say I have trouble seeing! if you send me a picture I can get my face real close to itand understand it, but a physical description doesn't help at all) and so I don't know what to include.

When an artist asks me for a detailed description, or a role-playing game requires 2-3 paragraphs on appearance in a character sheet, I ... have no idea what to put there besides coloring, height, weight/build/body shape and a little bit about dressing style. With medical-types I sometimes remember to put in a line about their hands.

And I really need a better cheat sheet of all the things I forget.

Comments

[ursula]

You could also think through information that you have about a character using other senses, and try to figure out which of those things would be clear to an observer. Can you feel your way into their body language and how they take up space, for example? What's their voice like? Do people have stereotypes about humans with similar voices (deep voice + beard, for example), and does your character fulfill or defeat those expectations?