describing brown hair in creative writing

• Conjunctions
• Prepositions

Describing Words for Brown Hair – Examples & Tips

When it comes to describing brown hair, there’s a whole spectrum of adjectives that can capture its unique beauty. As someone who has always had a fascination with hair, I’ve come across countless words that perfectly depict the different shades, textures, and qualities of brown locks. In this article, I’ll be sharing some of the most captivating adjectives to help you paint a vivid picture of brown hair. Whether you’re a writer looking to add depth to your descriptions or simply someone who appreciates the richness of brown hair, this list will inspire you with its range of descriptive words.

Table of Contents

How to Describe brown hair? – Different Scenarios

When it comes to describing brown hair, there are many different scenarios that can come into play. It’s important to consider the context, the individual, and the specific qualities of their brown hair. Here are some examples of how you can describe brown hair in different scenarios:

• Shade of Brown

When describing the shade of brown hair, you can use adjectives that convey the specific color. For example:

• Rich chocolate brown
• Warm chestnut brown
• Light caramel brown
• Dark mahogany brown
• Texture and Feel

Describing the texture and feel of brown hair can help create a vivid image in the reader’s mind. Here are some adjectives you can use:

• Silky smooth
• Soft and velvety
• Wavy and tousled
• Thick and lustrous
• Hair Length

The length of brown hair can also be an important factor to consider when describing it. Use these adjectives to paint a clear picture of the length:

• Flowing and waist-length
• Short and cropped
• Shoulder-length and layered
• Long and cascading

Different hair types can greatly impact how brown hair looks and feels. Here are some adjectives to describe different hair types:

• Straight and glossy
• Curly and voluminous
• Fine and delicate
• Coarse and textured
• Highlights and Undertones

If the brown hair has highlights or undertones, it’s important to mention them. Use these adjectives to describe the highlights or undertones:

• Subtle golden highlights
• Auburn undertones
• Honey blonde streaks
• Coppery red accents

Remember, when describing brown hair, it’s important to be specific and choose adjectives that accurately capture the unique qualities of the individual’s hair. By considering the shade, texture, length, type, and any highlights or undertones, you can create a rich and detailed description that truly brings brown hair to life.

When it comes to describing brown hair, there are many adjectives that can capture its unique characteristics. Here are some describing words that you can use to paint a vivid picture of brown hair:

Describing Words for brown hair in English

• Shoulder-length
• Waist-length

Highlights or Undertones:

By using these adjectives, you can provide a more detailed and accurate description of someone’s brown hair. It’s important to remember that each individual’s hair is unique, so it’s crucial to choose adjectives that reflect their specific qualities.

Here are a few examples of how these adjectives can be used in a sentence:

• “Mary has silky , shoulder-length brown hair with caramel highlights.”
• “John’s dark brown hair is thick and naturally wavy .”
• “Samantha’s long , chestnut brown hair has a glossy shine to it.”

Using these adjectives will help you create a more comprehensive and engaging description of brown hair. Whether you’re writing a story, describing a character, or simply trying to express someone’s hair color, these words will help you paint a detailed picture in your readers’ minds.

Remember to be specific and choose the adjectives that accurately represent the unique qualities of the individual’s brown hair. By doing so, you’ll be able to provide a rich and detailed description that adds depth to your writing.

Adjectives for brown hair

When it comes to describing brown hair, it’s essential to choose the right adjectives that accurately capture its unique qualities. Whether you’re discussing the shade, texture, length, hair type, or highlighting undertones, there are numerous adjectives that can help bring your description to life.

Positive Adjectives for Brown Hair with 12 Example Sentences

• Lustrous : Her brown hair had a lustrous shine that caught everyone’s attention.
• Silky : The strands of her brown hair felt silky smooth against my fingertips.
• Glossy : With a touch of hair oil, her glossy brown locks looked effortlessly elegant.
• Soft : I couldn’t resist running my fingers through her soft, brown waves.
• Thick : His thick, brown mane made him stand out in the crowd.
• Vibrant : The vibrant brown color of her hair complemented her radiant complexion.
• Healthy : She took great care of her hair, and her healthy, brown tresses were proof of that.
• Shimmering : In the sunlight, her shimmering brown hair looked like a cascade of golden waves.
• Sleek : Her sleek, brown bob framed her face perfectly.
• Natural : The natural brown highlights in his hair gave him a sun-kissed look.
• Glamorous : Her glamorous, brown curls added a touch of sophistication to her overall style.
• Enchanting : The enchanting brown color of her hair captured everyone’s attention wherever she went.
• Dull : His dull, brown locks lacked the vibrancy that once defined his appearance.
• Frizzy : Despite her efforts, her brown hair remained frizzy and unruly.
• Greasy : I could tell by the greasy texture of his brown hair that he hadn’t washed it in days.
• Thin : Although she longed for thicker hair, her brown strands remained thin and delicate.
• Lifeless : Her once lively brown curls now seemed lifeless and flat.

Remember, when using these adjectives to describe brown hair, it’s important to consider the context and the specific qualities you want to emphasize. These adjectives can help you create a comprehensive and engaging description of brown hair that captures its unique characteristics.

Synonyms and Antonyms with Example Sentences

When it comes to describing brown hair, it’s important to have a variety of adjectives in your vocabulary. In this section, I will discuss some synonyms and antonyms that can be used to describe brown hair, along with example sentences. Let’s dive in!

Synonyms for Brown Hair

Here are some synonyms for brown hair that you can use to add variety and richness to your descriptions:

These synonyms can help you create vivid and engaging descriptions of brown hair, allowing you to capture its unique qualities.

Antonyms for Brown Hair

To provide contrast and variety in your descriptions, here are some antonyms for brown hair:

These antonyms can help you convey different shades and contrasts when describing brown hair, allowing you to paint a more complete picture.

Remember, when using synonyms and antonyms, consider the context and the specific qualities you want to emphasize. This will help you create comprehensive and engaging descriptions of brown hair.

Describing brown hair can be an exciting and creative endeavor. Throughout this article, we have explored a wide range of adjectives that can be used to capture the unique qualities of brown hair. From the shade and texture to the length and highlights, there are endless possibilities to describe this beautiful hair color.

By choosing specific adjectives, we can paint a vivid picture of someone’s brown hair. Whether it’s silky, chestnut-colored locks or tousled, chocolatey waves, these adjectives allow us to convey the distinct characteristics of each individual’s hair.

Remember, context is key when selecting adjectives for brown hair. Consider the qualities you want to emphasize and the scenario in which you are describing the hair. This will ensure that your description is accurate and tailored to the person you are describing.

So, the next time you find yourself needing to describe brown hair, refer back to this comprehensive list of adjectives. Let your creativity flow and use these words to bring your descriptions to life. Happy describing!

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Writers in the Storm

A blog about writing.

A Comprehensive Guide To Writing About Hair

The most popular post here at WITS is a very early post from Sharla Rae on writing descriptively about hair. This post is so amazing, we pulled it up from the archives and buffed it up a bit for you. What's included? Everything from basic descriptions and colors to word choices and hairstyle names. and descriptions.

Let's have a hair party!

A few basic do's and don't's.

The #1 thing about hair descriptions is Do Not overuse them. You do not want to be known as "hair girl "or "hair boy!"

#2 on the essential List: Hair descriptions are a part of the character so make them work harder by using them to describe the person “inside,” not just what the person looks like outside.

•  A tomboy might have a very short, non-nonsense haircut. Then again, she might hide long tresses under a ball cap, because secretly she’d like to be noticed as the girl she really is.
• A man who works as an executive might conform to a short, and very tailored look. Or, he wears expensive suits but he wears his hair a little too long because on the weekends he caters to his passion and joins his buddies for motorcycle road trips.

Alternative Generic Names For Head Hair

Descriptive Hair Phrases

Bangs obscured her eyes like a sheepdog Flaked with snowy dandruff Bleached, bottle baby Braid like a thick black rope Bundled at the nape Bun resembled a cow patty Cascading down her back Chemically damaged Coiled in a top-knot Crowning glory Curls foamed luxuriously Tendrils danced on the breeze Disheveled Downy hair sprinkled her arms Dramatic widow’s peak Elaborately dressed with ribbons Electrified Kewpie curls Smelled like burnt chicken feathers Snow drifts of dandruff Veiled her expression with Greased into a ducktail Flaming locks fluttered to the floor Fluffy Frizz job, bad perm Glossy locks lifted on the wind Grew like a thatch of straw on a roof Grizzled, gray hair Hair drooped around pale cheeks Hair like Rapunzel Hairy as a dog Hung like a dark river Kinky perm Knotted Left unbound to tumble Like a clown wig, artificial red, plastic shine and fuzzy Like a thatched roof Like she put her finger in a light socket Limp and lifeless Long, shaggy hippy look Lustrous as onyx stone Marcelled into fingerwaves Matted to the scalp Perm fried Prematurely gray Puffed like a bubble around her head Ragged bangs Rat’s nest Ringlets Shock of hair stood straight up Slapped her face like wet worms Sleek and chic Smooth honey dripped over her shoulders Spiky Mohawk style of a punk rocker Spilled out of the hat Spread like feathers on a pillow Standing on end Stiff in front like a cockatoo Straight as a wire Streaked, highlighted Stuck to her sweaty nape Tangled mane Tousled pixie Two-toned dye job Unconquered curls sprang loose Unruly swirl Old-lady blue rinsed hair Vibrant color and shine Wet with sweat White Pigeon Wings at temples Wispy ringlets Wondered what rubble lay beneath that mess Wreathed her face

Hair Texture Phrases

Baby fuzz Bleached hair like mushy wet works Blue feather hair of old lady Bristle top Broom chopped Cat-fur fine Cotton candy hair, fine Cottony Dandelion fuzz Down Gummy Horsetail coarse Moldy hay Short-cropped and stiff Soft and lush Soft curls and waves Yellow straw

Descriptive Hair Color Words & Phrases

Grays and Whites

Here is a wonderful link, shared with us by Erin Michelle (see comment below) from Writing With Color: Describing Natural Hair .

Professional Hair Color Descriptions

Ash blond -- Lacks red or gold highlights (verges on green tones); light mousy blond, medium and dark blond, dishwater, beige

Ash brown -- Browns lacking warm/red tones tones; light mousy brown, medium and dark brown

Black -- Different shades of black vary according to the amount of highlighting or pigmentation shadings present in the hair; black lacking all highlighting will be duller, ash shade; black containing a lot of red may appear as deep burgundy

Red -- Warm shades; berry, russet, strawberry (red-blonde), rusty orange, wine, carrot top, etc.

Towhead -- Whitish blond; usually an ash blond lacking warm tones but not always

Warm blond -- Blond with touch of gold and red; whiskey, wheat, honey, strawberry, brassy, golden etc.

Warm brown -- Brunette, dark or light brown that contains red or gold tones; varies from light to nearly black; reddish brown, chestnut, dark amber, auburn etc.

Hair Styles Modern And Historical

It’s impossible to name all the hairstyles but the selection here should be a good start. Many listed here also are known by other names.

[See of some these hairstyles here .]

Afro -- Unisex style borrowed from African-Americans; short and very curly, forming a bowl shaped profile; a pick is used to pull the hair away from the head and shape it

Asymmetric -- Hair is cut long on side of the head and short on the other.

Bedhead -- Popularized in 1990s by starlet Meg Ryan; short to mid-length shaggy cut worn jelled or moussed in tossed fashion

Beehive   -- A 60’s French twist coiled at the back of the head and rising above it to form a cone shape (see upsweep)

Bob -- Introduced in 1915 this short cropped hair style was popular during the 1920’s; also called the shingle bob, the shingle, the Eaton crop. It is often cropped at the jawline and aligned close to the face.

Bouffant -- Puffy hair style’ hair is backcombed or ratted then barely smoothed, resulting in a bubble affect

Bowl -- Most commonly worn by young boys. The bang area cut straight cross the forehead as if measured by turning a bowl upside down on the head. The top layers are longer and cut along the this bowl line around the head.

Braid -- Plaited hair

Bubble -- 60’s hairstyle, short to mid-length, ratted/backcombed to appear like a football helmet or bubble surrounding the head

Butch/flattop/crewcut -- A man’s style; usually cut with electric shears; very short and stands on end at the front of the head and his shaved close to the head on the sides; sometimes called a GI cut.

Buzz -  Modern slang for a hair shaved close to the head

Chignon -- Bun, usually at the nape or top of head; topknot

Conk -- African-American textured hair that is straightened

Cornrows -- Small tightly braided rows of hair that hug the scalp

Duck tail -- 50’s style worn by girls and boys alike; hair on either side of nape combed toward the center of the head; reminiscent of Elvis Presley, Fabian, Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds etc.

Farrah Fawcett -- Long layered hair flipped or feathered back off the face with a bang that feathers or rolls off the face as well; made popular by the TV star of the same name; late 70’s and early 80’s

Finger waved -- Usually short haircut in which a stylist uses lotion and her fingers to create deep waves that circle the head. Popular in the 1920s and 30s.

Flip -- Feminine hair style of the 50’s and 60’s; long hair usually shoulder length turned up at the ends, sometimes in a roll.

Fontange -- Worn 1690’s to 1710; a towering fountain of frills and complex, lacy intertwining shaped around a wire frame and considered the height of fashion; nicknamed by disdaining men, the “tower and the comet”

French twist/seam -- Hair swept back from both sides the head (front to back) and rolled down the center of the head into a roll or tucked to make a seam

Fringe -- Curly bangs worn in the 1880’s; in 1900’s worn straight; alternate name for bangs

Kiss curls -- Seen immediately after Civil War; ringlets of curls on the cheeks or forehead

London Cut -- Short female cut popular during the 1960s and early 70s. The hair was cut over the ears, leaving a fringe in front of the ears, often brushed toward the face or straight down. The nape hair was cut along the hairline like a boys but more rounded instead of squared off like a man’s neckline.

Mohawk -- Shaved head with a strip of hair growth down the center of the head from forehead to the nape

Pads -- Late 1830’s long coiled curls over the ears (looked like ear muffs); at the back of the head they were called a Grecian knot or psyche knot

Pageboy -- Introduced in late 1930s early 40’s; long, hair turned under, usually just touching the shoulders

Pigtails -- Same as pony tail only the hair is parted down middle and each section is cinched into its own tail above or below the ear

Pixie -- Female short cut; feathered around profile of face and onto cheek, short at the nape line; usually with full bang and combed forward onto face; also called an Italian cut; permed version called a poodle cut

Pompadour -- Style of wearing the hair high over the forehead usually in some type of rolled affect; in 1940’s women used rats (nylon mash) to roll the hair off the forehead and puff it; a version of this also worn during the 1700’s and early 1800’s by most and women; name comes from a lady of this era called Madame Pompadour

Ponytail -- Hair gathered together and cinched with a rubber band or barrette to make a tail at the back of the head; worn high or low; worn low it’s sometimes called a George (referring to George Washington) or a Paul Revere

Poodle cut -- Short, curly haircut

Powdered hair/wigs -- Unisex style worn from about 1760’s to 1820; after 1740 men were wearing shorter, simpler wigs and began to powder their own hair

Punk -- Usually short on top and styled with lotion to stand up off the head; often a mohawk fashion from forehead to nape; sometimes dyed bright neon colors of pink, purple, blue, orange etc.

Queue -- Pigtail, esp. that of a Chinese. (Chinese queue was braided) Men of Colonial America wore these as well, usually tied back with a ribbon and in some cases men wore a periwig styled with a queue

Roach -- Hair brushed into a roll

Sausage curl -- Long tube-like coils of hair; popular in early 1800’s; in the early 1970’s these were piled on top of the head in a cluster, esp. for formal dress for teens.

Shag -- Like a pixie, only long at the nape. Lengths vary from short to long layered cut; popular during the early 70’s

Skin heads -- Group of radical racist youths, men and women alike, who shaved their heads

Spaniel’s curls -- Late 1840’s into the 50’s; long thick curls worn by the ear (as worn by Elizabeth Barrette Browning)

Spit curls -- First seen in 1831; flat curls on women in front of the ear

Tonsure -- Shaven part of a monk or cleric’s head

Updo/upsweep -- Generic term for long hair styled high on top of head; hair might petaled (layered curls), barrel curled, arranged in a chignon, backcombed into a beehive or styled in French roll etc.

Wedge cut -- Also called Dorothy Hamill cut; short cut worn mostly by women; sides feathered off the face, back cut longer from the drown to the occipital bone, where its layered into a wedge; nape is trimmed close the head and short; a late ‘70’s and early 80’s style.

Do you see anything missing from this list? Are there modern styles we need to add? How do you decide what kind of hair to give your characters?

* * * * * *

Sharla Rae passed away earlier this year, but she (and her amazing lists) live on at WITS. She published four amazing historical romances. The latest, How To Fell a Timberman , is available on Amazon .

You can read more about her here .

13 comments on “A Comprehensive Guide To Writing About Hair”

This is too, too perfect for me because one of the questions in the reader's guide at the end of my forthcoming novel QUEEN OF THE OWLS is about how HAIR is used to convey different aspects of what it means to be a woman!! The protagonist changes her hair to symbolize a change she wants to make in her life. Her less-tightly-wound sister is always letting her hair fall, effortlessly, to her shoulders. And so on. (You'll just have to read the book to know more.) As women, hair matters to us; we say something about who we are, through our hair choices. So this is a cool dictionary! Thank you!!

How cool, Barbara! That's sounds like a great story.

What a great post! So incredibly thorough. The only thing I can think to add is black hair that has a blue sheen to it.

I find the descriptive hair phrases particularly helpful.

Yes, Sharla was amazing at this. This post is a summary of 17 pages from her "magic notebooks."

This is a great list! I want to point out one spelling error in the descriptive phrases. "Cupie" curls are actually "Kewpie" curls. Kewpie dolls were very popular in the early to mid 20th century. Spell check probably won't catch that.

Excellent catch, Belinda! I made the change. 🙂

Great idea, but this post was pretty exclusionary of POC har descriptors and I think it was neglectful to leave this out of the conversation (I'm a while lady, but I pay attention to this stuff).

Just for example -- there's a difference between dreadlocks (not even on this list) and locs, with an important distinction:

"With the trans-Atlantic slave trade in full force during the 1600-1800s, Africans brought to America (and other places around the globe) were unable to perform their normal hair grooming practices, and so arrived looking unkempt. After traveling months on ships with no hygiene available, hair appeared matted and locked. It's said that slave owners referred to the "dreadful" sight of the captives, thus the term "dreadlocks" and its negative association." ( https://www.byrdie.com/locs-or-locks-400267 )

Hair and the description of hair is such a huge part of the black community in particular, and has so many connotations for other non-white cultures as well, it was remiss to not include at least some links for white writers to explore, ESPECIALLY if you ever plan to write a POC character.

This post is a great place to start: https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/94390338957/describing-natural-hair

Erin, I appreciate you taking the time to leave this thoughtful comment and point out this oversight. I've added that excellent link to Writing With Color into the post. Although many of these descriptors apply to hair from any ethnic background, the post did not pay special attention to hair from persons of color. Thank you for speaking up!

It should be noted that these descriptors come from Sharla Rae's personal notebook and she tended to write early American historicals with a focus on Norwegians and Texans.

Thanks so much for visiting us here at Writers In the Storm.

Erin, I thought you might enjoy this book a friend of mine wrote for her daughter, Ava. It speaks about African-American hair in a very unique way. (Her daughter attends school in an Orange County district that is predominantly of Asian and Middle Eastern descent and Caucasian.)

https://www.amazon.com/Have-Make-Curly-Hair-Straight/dp/154306681X

Better than Thesaurus.com!!

Thanks, Karen! And things just got even more comprehensive some some great links in the comments. 🙂

spiral curls, popular in the 80s, but some of us have that in our natural curly hair

I think you're missing the mullet.

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KathySteinemann.com: Free Resources for Writers and Poets

Word lists, cheat sheets, and sometimes irreverent reviews of writing rules. kathy steinemann is the author of the writer's lexicon series..

400+ Words to Describe Hair: A Word List for Writers

(Discover even more words in The Writer’s Body Lexicon .)

Why Should You Worry About Your Characters’ Hair?

Audrey Hepburn said, “The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.”

Audrey was right, but people still judge others and make snap assessments based on appearance. Hair reveals personality and lifestyle. Along with the eyes and prominent facial features, it makes a huge impact. I suspect it’s part of the reason somebody coined the phrase bad hair day.

Capitalize on that in your writing.

Does your protagonist have blonde hair with dark roots? Maybe she’s a hard-working businesswoman with no time to make a salon appointment; or perhaps she’s a harried mother who can’t afford a dye job because of a financial crisis in the family.

An affluent hotel magnate could flaunt a perfectly styled toupee, every strand in place. A homeless person’s mane might be unkempt, with patchy straggles that smell like mold or trash.

Match the hair to each character’s persona. The way people maintain or ignore their hair provides clues about their life.

From some of the word lists that follow, I created three short paragraphs.

Dionne’s gunmetal ponytail flowed behind her while she sprinted after her prey — me. I crouched behind the trash bin, holding my breath , as she swished so close I could smell the death in her hair.

What do you see? Perhaps a cold-blooded assassin or serial killer? Now contrast with another paragraph.

Helena’s voluminous champagne curls cascaded over white shoulders, wafting a delicate aroma of honeysuckle into the sitting room as she swished in my direction.

Another woman, perhaps affluent, in a long dress. This could work for the heroine in a Victorian novel.

Eddie’s pumpkin-orange hair bounced as he waddled toward me. The sickening stench of cigar smoke wafted from what I quickly realized was a poorly constructed toupee.

Did you envision a chubby man who chain-smokes cigars?

Judicious use of descriptors can augment a piece. However, beware of stacked modifiers . Consider these two paragraphs.

Bill’s balding, scraggly, dandruff-flecked salt-and-pepper hair barely covered his scalp, which reflected the fluorescent lights and made him look decades older than his professed age of thirty years.

All the commas in the description scream too much . Let’s try rewording it.

The fluorescent lights reflected off Bill’s scalp, which peeked through scraggly salt-and-pepper hair flecked with dandruff. Thirty years old? What a liar. He had to be at least fifty.

Same man, same basic description. Better phrasing. Although salt-and-pepper is cliché.

B to D balding, beautiful , bleached, bouncy, bristly, broken, brushed, buoyant, burnished, burnt, bushy, cascading, clean, clipped, clumpy, coarse, coiffed, combed, cropped, curly, damaged, damp, delicate, dirty, dull, dyed

F to P feathery, fine, flat, flowing, fluffy, frizzy, fuzzy, gelled, gleaming, glossy, greasy, groomed, heavy, highlighted, kinked, ironed, lacquered, limp, luscious, moussed, nappy, nubby, patchy, permed, plush, polished, puffy

S scorched, scraggly, severe, shaggy, shimmery, shiny, short, shoulder-length, silky, singed, slicked-back, slimy, sparse, spiky, springy, stiff, straggly, straight, straightened, streaked, sweaty

T to W teased, thick, thin, trimmed, uneven, unkempt, untamed, velvety, voluminous, wavy, wet, windswept, wild, wiry, wispy

Hair is usually a combination of a base color with highlights and lowlights that appear different in light or shadow. Study people on the street and in shopping malls. Visit YouTube. Scrutinize the offerings in a wig shop.

Some colors are considered cliché. Whenever you’re in doubt, click over to Google.

For instance, try the following searches, leaving the phrases in quotes for accuracy. The figures in parentheses are the number of results I received as I wrote this post.

“bleached blond” (1,010,000)

“champagne blond” (641,000)

“wheat blond” (348,000)

“bottle blond” (277,000)

“sun-kissed blond” (834,000)

“electric blond” (29,800)

Considering the frequency of each phrase, electric blond would be a more suitable choice than bleached blond.

Note: Although blond can describe the hair of either males or females, many writers prefer blond for males and blond e for females. Likewise with the hair or fur of gender-identified pets and animals.

Better than direct replacements, however, try exploiting the following suggestions as kernels, and brainstorm new color descriptions.

Blond/blonde amber, ash, blanched, bleached, bottle, brassy, bronze, champagne, dirty, electric, flaxen, frosted, gilded, ginger, golden, honey, peroxide, platinum, sand, straw, strawberry, sunkissed, Trump blond/e, wheat

Brown almond, caramel, chestnut, chocolate, cinnamon, dun, espresso, fawn, mahogany, mocha, mouse, nut, russet, sienna, taffy, tawny, umber

Black anthracite, charcoal, coal, crow, ebony, ink, jet black, midnight, obsidian, onyx, pitch, raven, sable, soot, tar

Grey/gray ash, charcoal, dove, graphite, gunmetal, iron, pewter, salt-and-pepper, shark, silver, slate, steel, tweed grey, wolf-grey, zinc-grey

Red auburn, brick, burgundy, candy, carrot, copper, crimson, fire red, fire-engine red, flame, flaming, ginger, maple-leaf red, pepper red, pumpkin, roan, rouge, rust, rusty, sorrel, titian, tomato

White angel, chalk, eggshell, foam, frost, gardenia, ghost, ivory, lily, lotus, paper, porcelain, Samoyed, sheet, skeleton, snow, starch, sugar, talc, wedding veil

See also 1000+ Ways to Describe Colors .

Styles and Cuts

A bowl cut imparts an instant image. Can you think of other everyday objects that would do the same?

Revise. Innovate. Invent.

A and B afro, beehive, Bettie Paige, Bieber cut, blunt cut, bob cut, bouffant, bowl cut, braided, brush cut, bun, burr, butch cut, buzz cut

C Caesar cut, chignon, chonmage, comb over, conk, cornrows, crew cut, cropped, crown braid, Croydon facelift, curtained

D to F devilock, dice bob, Dido flip, dreadlocks, ducktail, emo, Eton crop, extensions, fade, fallera, feathered, finger wave, fishtail braid, flattop, flipped, French braid, French twist, frosted tips, full crown

G to M G.I. cut, half crown, Harvard clip, hime cut, hi-top fade, induction cut, Ivy League, Jheri curl, layered, liberty spike, marcel waves, military cut, mod cut, mop-top, mullet

O and P odango, oseledets, pageboy, parted in the middle, payot, pigtails, pinned up, pixie cut, plaited, pompadour, ponytail, Princeton cut, psychobilly wedge, puffball, punk

Q to W queue, quaff, rattail, razor cut, recon, shag, shape-up, shingle bob, side parted, spiked, surfer hair, taper, tied back, tonsure, topknot, undercut, updo, wings

Hair damaged by over-perming won’t sway; it might ruffle, snarl, or tangle. Short hair could fluff, frizz, or spike. Curls might bounce, coil, or twist. Try the words here as starters for alternative suggestions from your favorite thesauruses.

B to R bounce, cascade, coil, curl, drape, drip, dangle, draggle, drift, droop, flap, flow, fluff, frizz, flutter, glide, knot, pour, puff, ripple, ruffle

S to W slap, slop, smother, snag, snarl, spike, spill, spiral, spring, stick, straggle, stream, sway, swing, tangle, trail, twist, unravel, wave, whirl, wiggle

Hair absorbs scent from the environment. House painters, garage mechanics, busy mothers, and hairstylists could smell of paint, grease, sour milk, or perm chemicals. You can often show readers a protagonist’s occupation without using a single word of tell.

Start with these ideas and analyze your characters’ environment for others.

A to C ammonia, antiseptic, apples, an ashtray, a bakery, bar vomit, beer, blackberries, bleach, car exhaust, cheap perfume, cigarettes, cigars, citrus, cotton candy

D to J death, decomposition, a forest, fresh-cut grass, a garage, gardenias, grease, gunpowder, honeydew melons, honeysuckle, a hospital, jasmine

L to S lavender, lemon cleaner, lilac, magnolia, mint, mold, moss, outdoors, paint, peaches, perm chemicals, pine, raspberries, roses, smoke, sour milk, sweat

Frequent Repetitions of Hair Will Annoy Readers

What about replacing it with nouns from this list?

B to W bristles, cap, cascades, coils, cloud, corona, corkscrew curls, fall, hairpiece, halo, mane, mass, mop, ribbons, ringlets, river, rope, snakes, spikes, spirals, sheet, spill, straw, stubble, tendrils, torrent, toupee, tresses, tufts, waterfall, weave, wig

Props to Augment Your Descriptions

Think of people you’ve met. What did you notice about their hair? What do you know about your own? Try these props.

• dandruff, flakes, flecks, lice, nits
• hair transplant, hair plugs
• fringe, bangs
• receding hairline, high forehead, sideburns
• split ends, humidity frizz, bald spot, alopecia
• itchy scalp, burning scalp, hives in hairline
• hairpins, barrettes, tiebacks, elastics, headbands
• feathers, flowers, garlands, bows, ribbons
• hats, berets, caps, kerchiefs, scarves, crowns, tiaras, fontanges

Now can you explain Lily Tomlin’s quote about hair? “If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in the library?”

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12 thoughts on “ 400+ Words to Describe Hair: A Word List for Writers ”

Please help me with this; describing a long luscious braid.

Well, Mahnoor, that would depend on context.

A long braid could be tight or loose, messy or neat, flyaway or smooth …

Does your character respond impulsively? Maybe make the braid flyaway and swinging.

Is your character priggish? The braid could be neat and secured by several elastics or bows.

The possibilities are many.

Thanks for stopping by, and stay safe!

Kathy, this is my attempt at describing hair. A tad unconventional possibly: “To tell the truth, Tulip didn’t feel exactly qualified for the post of beautiful maiden right now. After her tortuous trek through the Swamp, getting scratched by thorns, caked in mud, covered in evil, stinky, sticky slime, perhaps she wasn’t as attractive as she might have been. Worst of all, she could feel some creepy-crawling thing had taken up residence in her hair. She didn’t like to think what her once-beautiful hair looked like now. Probably like it had been dragged through a hedge backwards. The toad was thinking along similar lines. His idea of a beautiful maiden fitted the traditional view. Modern thinking had not reached as far as the Swamp. He had been expecting her to turn up a supreme vision of loveliness in a pretty dress, looking fresh and clean, and smelling of roses. She’d have long, shiny black hair, an ample bosom and, most important, full, red, luscious lips especially designed, with one kiss, to rid unfortunate creatures like him of witches’ curses. The sight of this mud imp, however, was a bit of a shock. He wasn’t thinking her hair looked as though it had been dragged through a hedge backwards; rather it looked more like the hedge it had just been dragged backwards through!”

I love it, Peter. A touch of the familiar with a twist of humor. Or maybe the prince-turned-toad is a Brit? It’s humour then. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!

thanks! I’m writing a book about alienation and being ‘nomal’ and this has really helped.

Great to hear from you, Lu. Good luck with your book!

Thank you for sharing with us this very helpful post! I’m a romance writer working on my next book, looking for new ways to describe hair. And I found the perfect resource here! Kindest regards Jackie

Thanks, Jackie.

Best of luck with your next book!

It really helped me do my descriptive Essay

Thanks, Lusanda!

I’m looking forward to your book of all of these!

Thanks, David. It should be released by the end of the month if all goes well.

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Hair - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing

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Gentle hair that tumbled in such rich autumnal hues, was the restful visual poetry of my soul, for that is how she was upon the day we fell in love.

If the origins of her hair were the black heavens, if the divine universe were woven into such buoyant threads and placed upon her head, it would explain so very much.

Hair sits in neat yet wild waves upon her dreaming head, for beneath it all is an ocean of creative conjuring.

Her hair was as black as the most pure of velvety nights.

The soft curls fell in cinnamon swirls to a face that was as sweet as a white chocolate button.

His hair moved in the wind as if it felt the need to add an exclamation point to his cuteness.

His hair was curls as jubilant as any storm-whipped sea.

When the grey roots of mama's hair began to show, she took to wearing a vibrant headscarf. She looked beautiful every day, the breeze billowing the ends of the long silk as if they were the ribbons of a kite.

Sarah's hair moved much as soft beach grass in the wind, back and forth, revealing and hiding the gold of her eyes.

One hand scrunched into that tumble of hair, those curls that defied rules and gravity with equal contempt. As she pondered, that great brain of hers solving problems that had defied geniuses for all our age and more, she'd never been more beautiful... my philosopher...

If a beam of light could weave itself into a strand, that was her hair; I always felt it glowed from within rather than relying on the sunshine. It was as if the universe had conjured her matter in a ripple of laughter - as if all she was composed of was a sort of musical and loving happiness.

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WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Physical Attribute Entry: Hair

March 9, 2013 by BECCA PUGLISI

Physical description of a character can be difficult to convey—too much will slow the pace or feel ‘list-like’, while too little will not allow readers to form a clear mental image. If a reader cannot imagine what your character looks like, they may have trouble connecting with them on a personal level, or caring about their plight.  One way to balance the showing and telling of physical description is to showcase a few details that really help ‘tell the story’ about who your character is and what they’ve been through up to this point. Think about what makes them different and interesting. Can a unique feature, clothing choice or way they carry themselves help to hint at their personality? Also, consider how they move their body. Using movement will naturally show a character’s physical characteristics, keep the pace flowing and help to convey their emotions. Descriptors :  curly, ringleted, straight, kinky, wavy, wild, lank, blunt, tame, bushy, frizzy, silky, long, short, flowing, buzzed, cropped, chopped, coifed, styled, gelled, loose, flat, shiny, dull, bouncy, thin, thick, wiry, dyed, streaked, layered…

Things Hair Does  (and other words/phrases to describe those actions)

• Flip : toss, jerk, flick, shake,
• Blow (in the wind) : float, flutter, sail, waft, fly, skim, whip, tear, thrash, twirl, buffet, lash, shimmy, sway, slap, flap

Key Emotions and Related Hair Gestures:  

• Though hair doesn’t do much on its own, people often touch their hair to indicate certain emotions. When nervous or feeling insecure,  people do pretty much anything with their hair, such as touching, patting, twisting, pulling, compulsively braiding/unbraiding, pulling, jerking, and finger-combing their locks.
• At times of high anxiety or stress.. .

Clichés to Avoid : Bleached blondes that are dumb or gullible; sexy, sassy redheads; lice as a sign of dirty hair…

HINT:   When describing any part of the body, try to use cues that show the reader more than just a physical description. Make your descriptions do double duty.  Example:  I tried not to stare at the matriarch’s hair but didn’t quite succeed. It was the color of rich loam without a hint of white—a glossy shade that inspired both envy and debate among the village women. My mother liked to say that no one Bentri’s age kept such hair naturally .

BONUS TIP: The  Color, Texture, and Shape Thesaurus  might help you find a fresh take on some of the descriptors listed above! 

Describe your character’s features in a way that reveals more than just a physical description. Show what he looks like while also reinforcing his personality and emotional state, thereby doing more with less.

Need concrete examples of how to describe your character in a compelling, magnetic way? Good news!  This thesaurus has been integrated into our online library at  One Stop For Writers . There, you can find help with  metaphors and similes , as well as the best ways to  describe your character using movement.  The entire Physical Feature collection is cross-referenced and linked for easy navigation. If you’re interested in seeing a  free  sampling of the updated Physical Feature Thesaurus and our other descriptive collections, head on over and register at One Stop!  

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers —a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

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Reader Interactions

November 6, 2013 at 9:44 pm

I used to chew my hair. I liked the crunchy texture.

March 10, 2013 at 6:01 pm

Great one Becca–there is so much we do with our hair–it really is a way of expressing who we are!

March 10, 2013 at 3:26 am

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

March 9, 2013 at 4:55 pm

Cynthia, you’re right. That’s a point I hadn’t considered, which would bring the percentage of redheads higher. Even considering that, though, I stand by my opinion that there are far more redheads in literature than are represented in the general population :).

March 9, 2013 at 3:27 pm

Nice. This is the kind of thing I try to work on with on edit pass.

March 9, 2013 at 1:34 pm

Always find these posts very useful. Thank you=)

March 9, 2013 at 1:12 pm

My character does tons of stuff with her hair. How much is too much!Trying to figure it out. It is definitely her tic. Great post.

March 9, 2013 at 11:33 am

Are red heads really that rare? That makes me feel special 🙂 Stereotypes aside I think certain hair colors DO give impressions. I gave each of my characters their hair and eye color for a reason. My heroine has big brown eyes, because I wanted them to capture, and be all-encompassing. Her honey-blonde hair too, was meant to give an impression of softness.

March 9, 2013 at 10:21 am

My cheerful counter to the 2% statistic is that it doesn’t seem to consider that not all redheads have been that way since birth.

There was an MFA class at Vermont College that had a half dozen redheads.

Many of my friends are redheads. How many of them are natural? I’d never ask. But if you’re scanning the general U.S. populace…

March 9, 2013 at 10:20 am

Good stuff. Keep ’em coming:)

March 9, 2013 at 9:25 am

Thanks for sharing your tips.

March 9, 2013 at 8:07 am

Excellent, as always.

March 9, 2013 at 6:14 am

Great one!!

March 9, 2013 at 5:58 am

This comment has been removed by the author.

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How to Describe Hair in Writing: Tips, Examples & Techniques

By Happy Sharer

Introduction

Writing effective descriptions of hair can be challenging, but it is an important skill to master if you want to write vivid, captivating stories that draw readers into the world you’ve created. Whether you’re describing a character’s hair or the setting of your story, it’s essential that you know how to accurately portray this important element. In this article, we’ll explore several tips and techniques to help you describe hair in writing with clarity and precision.

Using Sensory Language

When describing hair, it’s important to use words that evoke the senses. This will help readers get a clear image of what you’re trying to portray. For example, when describing curly hair, you could say “it was tightly coiled like a spring” or “it cascaded down her back in gentle waves.” You could also use words such as “silky” or “lustrous” to evoke a feeling of smoothness and shine. Additionally, you could incorporate sound and smell into your descriptions by saying things like “the wind made her hair rustle like a field of grass” or “her hair smelled of freshly cut lemons.”

Comparing Hair to Elements in Nature

Nature is full of wonderful elements that can be used to effectively describe hair. To find the best comparisons, think about the texture, color, and movement of the hair you’re trying to portray. For instance, if you’re describing dark, straight hair, you could say “it was as black as a raven’s wing” or “it hung like a curtain of midnight.” You could also use elements from the sea to describe wavy hair, such as “it crashed against her shoulders like a stormy ocean” or “it shone like the sun on a ripple of waves.”

Focusing on Texture and Color

Texture and color are two of the most important aspects of hair that need to be accurately portrayed in writing. When it comes to texture, there are many different types, such as curly, wavy, straight, coarse, fine, and more. Make sure to use specific words that clearly convey the texture you’re trying to describe. For example, you could say “her hair was a wild tangle of curls” or “it was as soft and silky as a feather.” When it comes to color, try to use words that accurately describe the hue. For instance, you could say “it was a deep mahogany brown” or “it was a bright, fiery red.”

Incorporating Metaphors and Similes

Metaphors and similes can be incredibly effective when describing hair. They provide readers with a vivid image of what you’re trying to portray. For instance, if you’re describing long, blonde hair, you could say “it was a river of golden silk” or “it cascaded down her back like a waterfall.” To make your metaphors and similes even more effective, you could use elements from nature, such as “it shone like the sun on a field of wheat” or “it was as wild and untamed as a thunderstorm.”

Utilizing Personification

Personifying hair can help make your descriptions even more vivid and captivating. To do this, you could give the hair its own personality or characteristics. For example, you could say “her hair was rebellious and unruly” or “it seemed to have a mind of its own.” You could also use words such as “playful” or “mischievous” to give the hair a unique personality. Additionally, you could use verbs such as “dancing” or “twirling” to give the impression that the hair is alive and has a life of its own.

Describing the Way It Moves

The way hair moves is an important aspect of hair that needs to be accurately described in writing. To do this, you could use words such as “swirling” or “undulating” to give the impression of movement. You could also use words such as “billowing” or “flowing” to evoke a sense of gracefulness. Additionally, you could use phrases such as “it swayed in the breeze” or “it blew in the wind” to give the impression that the hair is being moved by an outside force.

Describing hair in writing can be a challenge, but with the right techniques, you can create vivid, captivating descriptions that draw readers into your story. By using sensory language, nature comparisons, metaphors and similes, personification, and descriptions of movement, you can accurately portray any type of hair. With practice and patience, you’ll be able to craft beautiful descriptions that bring your stories to life.

(Note: Is this article not meeting your expectations? Do you have knowledge or insights to share? Unlock new opportunities and expand your reach by joining our authors team. Click Registration to join us and share your expertise with our readers.)

Hi, I'm Happy Sharer and I love sharing interesting and useful knowledge with others. I have a passion for learning and enjoy explaining complex concepts in a simple way.

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Tricks for Describing a Character’s Appearance (With Examples)

Introducing a new character to your story can be difficult. There’s a lot that goes into it, and to make matters worse, you only have one chance to give readers a good (and memorable) first impression of that character. One of the ways you can do this is by giving them a distinct appearance, but many writers tend to fall short of describing appearance well. 

We’ve all heard the same cookie-cutter descriptions for characters a million times before. Golden hair, a heart-shaped face, a chiseled body, piercing eyes, yadda yadda… The problem with these descriptions is that they’re bland, they’re cliché, and they don’t really help your characters stand out. 

However, if you break from clichés, you can create uniquely vivid descriptions that will give your characters life. There are endless ways you can describe characters, and I’m not going to walk you through how I would describe every single possible human feature (or humanoid, animal, alien, etc). For one thing, that would take too long, but for another thing, descriptions are based on more than just the character’s physical appearance—their personality plays a part too. 

Tips for Describing a Character’s Appearance in a Story

There are a number of things to keep in mind when describing a character’s appearance. Here are just a few general tips before we dive into some more specific techniques for describing different parts of a character’s appearance. 

Don’t Make Everyone a Supermodel

This is probably one of the most (if not the most) important things to remember when describing a character. You should never objectively describe your characters as flawless. Humans aren’t perfect, so if you describe your characters like perfect little supermodels, they just won’t feel authentic. Worse still, they won’t stand out from the protagonists of every single young adult novel out there. You need to make them distinct, and to do that, you need to give your characters flaws . And I mean real flaws, not fake flaws that are actually just endearing traits packaged like flaws. 

Don’t Dump Everything Out at Once

Describing your characters is important, but you need to be able to keep it concise. No one wants to read a 7-page summary of every detail of a character’s appearance. You can go in-depth, sure, but don’t put your readers through a word-avalanche just for them to figure out what the character looks like. 

Remember, you can reveal more about the characters over time. When you introduce a character for the first time, you should focus on the things a person would naturally notice first, such as their face, hair, clothing, voice, and general energy. You can further elaborate on their appearance later when it is relevant, and describe their gait, posture, temperament, and more. 

There is one exception here I want to highlight. If you are telling a story from the first-person perspective, and you want to illustrate a character’s obsession with another person, hyper-fixating on the details can be a good way to show this. It can make the character seem creepy , and it can foreshadow the protagonist doing something bad to the person they are obsessing over. 

Don’t Sell Them Short

Opposite to the point above, you shouldn’t make your introductions too short. To some extent, it can be good to leave some parts of the character’s appearance up to the reader’s imagination. However, you should give them something to help them visualize the characters in the beginning. Otherwise, if you later reveal that the character has dark hair, all the readers that imagined them with light hair might have a difficult time accepting that. 

Descriptions are important, and they help to include a reader in the narrative. Like a well-described setting, vivid characters can help immerse readers into the world and make them part of the story. 

Use Their Personality

A character’s personality can have a large impact on how they are perceived, and therefore should alter the words you use to describe them. Two characters might have similar features, but based on their personality, you would describe them differently. 

For example, two characters might both be tall, but one would be described as “awkward and long” while the other is “towering.” In this case, the characters’ levels of confidence impact how they are perceived. For another example, think about two characters who both have light skin. You could describe one as looking like “porcelain” and describe the other one as “pasty,” depending on their other traits. Those two descriptions create very different perceptions from each other.   

Use the Point of View

If the character in question is being described from the first-person perspective of another character, then the protagonist’s opinions should sneak into the description. Your protagonist probably isn’t going to objectively evaluate the other person—they’re likely to rely on stereotypes, biases, and things they have heard from others about the character they’re looking at. Rely on that to make the description fit into the story more organically. 

Here are some examples: 

• She had no right to have such a disarming smile.
• His expression was empty—just like his head.
• His dark, tangled hair reminded me of a swamp.
• She didn’t even wear any makeup! But even more frustratingly, she didn’t really need it.
• They looked divine… like I wasn’t even worthy to look upon them. 
• He looked like the type of person to stare at his own reflection before getting in the shower. 
• They were short and stocky, but they could still probably beat me in a fight. 

Remember, your protagonist can make speculative judgments about the character they’re looking at. You’re telling the story as they experience it, so their judgments are part of the narrative!

“…he was greeted by the barista—a young teen who had not yet matured enough to be handsome. Once his soft cheeks hollowed and his jaw squared, and the childish optimism fled his eyes, then he would have the chance to smolder. That crooked smile would win over many hearts in the blink of an eye, but not just yet.”  – excerpt from a draft

Keep the Description Balanced

A good rule of thumb when describing characters (or anything else really) is to create a balance of concrete details and flowery imagery. You should alternate between those two, as well as general and more specific details, to make the description flow more naturally, and to make it more interesting to read. 

Imagine reading a description like: 

“His hair was red and curly. His eyes were large and green. He had freckles, but they weren’t that noticeable. He was tall but very thin.” 

That’s so dry, and it’s not fun to read. Compare that to a description that varies how the information is provided:

“His hair was like a massive red bush surrounding two wide, green eyes. Freckles faintly dotted his cheeks, but they were only really visible in the sunshine. His long, lanky body and large hair made him look a bit like a big red lollipop—which was only heightened by his tendency to blush often.”

Wasn’t that a lot more fun to read? Not only does it make the character description more interesting, but it also influences a reader’s perception of what the character is like. Certain words help readers to gauge what kind of person this character is. The first example gives no indication of personality, but the second one uses words like “sunshine” and “lollipop” to associate the character with lively, happy things. Additionally, using words like “lanky” and “blush” suggests that the character is awkward or shy, saving you the time of having to spell that out for readers. 

Give them Something Special

One helpful thing that I’ve learned over the years is that you should give your main character some distinctive feature that sets them apart from the other characters around them. Diverse descriptions are great, but it never hurts to make your main character a little more unique. This could be something like a distinctive scar, a tattoo, a weird eye color, a patch of silver or white hair, a missing or extra finger, a birthmark, or something else along those lines. That can make them stand out more, and it can be a really clear indicator that they are special. 

Although your story won’t suffer if you don’t give your main character a distinct feature like this, it is usually a good bet—especially if you think your story could ever conceivably be adapted into a visual medium, like a comic, animation, or film. That character could become iconic. People may just see your character somewhere and that alone could motivate them to read or watch the whole story. As another plus, it could give you a cool opportunity for your story’s cover. 

How to Describe a Character’s Face

When describing a character’s face, the easiest way to do that is to first break the face down into its essential parts: the eyes, the mouth, the nose, and the facial structure.

So let’s start with the eyes since they are the focal point of the face. Stay away from the descriptions you’ve heard a million times, like “piercing” or “doe-eyed.” The eyes are the window to the soul, and they can tell a reader a lot about a character. Instead of “piercing,” try “icy” or “sharp,” and instead of “doe-eyed,” try “wide,” “innocent,” or “full of wonder/awe.” The goal is to describe the character in a unique way to make it more interesting to read, while still creating a vivid image of that character. 

You can describe the shape, color, and depth of a character’s eyes, but you should be careful not to rely on insensitive generalizations. For example, instead of “Asian” eyes, use “almond-shaped” or “mono-lid.” Not all Asian people have mono-lids, so simply using the word “Asian” to describe the character’s eyes doesn’t actually narrow down what they look like. 

That goes for all the other features of the face, too. Though it is true that some features are more prominent in certain races, nothing is inherent. You shouldn’t rely on the character’s race or ethnic background alone to be the basis of your description. Saying that a character is Japanese or Jamaican without giving other details doesn’t do any more for the character’s description than saying they are European or white. Doing this only encourages your readers to stereotype your characters, even if that wasn’t your intention. 

With that said, don’t get too caught up in describing every detail of a character’s face. Give the most important information, such as the eyes, face shape, scars, and other notable details or imperfections, then move on. If a character has an exaggerated feature, such as a large nose or bushy eyebrows, then that’s important to mention too.

How to Describe a Character’s Hair

There are lots of different types of hair colors, textures, thicknesses, and shines, so try not to make all your characters have the same kind of hair—unless they’re related or part of a small, isolated community, of course. Hair can be curly and blond, sleek and black, coily and auburn, and even dyed wild colors. Making your characters’ hair more distinct will make them easier for readers to visualize, especially if you introduce many characters at one time. 

Beyond the basics, you can use words to describe a character’s hair that reflects who they are as a person. For example, describing a character’s hair as springy or bouncy could indicate the character is upbeat and moves excitedly. Slick, greasy, or wispy hair could suggest an untrustworthy or sneaky character. The words you use to describe the character’s hair will be subliminally applied to the character themself. 

How to Describe a Character’s Clothes

Clothing is an important element of self-expression, and what your character decides to wear can reflect a lot about them. However, unlike with the character’s face, you should not spend a lot of time describing their outfit. For one thing, they’re probably going to change their outfit at some point in the story—likely more than once. Secondly, readers just won’t care unless you give them a good reason to. 

If you want to describe what your character is wearing, make sure to keep it short. If it’s just a simple way of helping the reader visualize the character’s style, present the information objectively and in only a paragraph or two, such as: 

“She wore short-shorts and a denim jacket, and pink thigh-high socks that she had to keep pulling up because they always slipped down to her knees. Her tennis-shoes were white and bulky, as was the belt bag she wore off to one side. This free, laidback style was completed by the two messy buns her faded purple hair was pulled up into.”

However, there are a few times in which you can use clothing to explore more complex ideas in the story. For example:

• An article of clothing might have special significance to a character. It could have been handed down from a relative, it could be a favorite shirt, or it could be meaningful in other ways. That would merit drawing more attention to it. 
• An article of clothing might have special significance to the story. This could be a type of ceremonial outfit, a piece of magical armor, or something along those lines. That would require a more thorough in-depth description of the item. 
• An article of clothing may be unfamiliar to most of your readers, such as a specific cultural outfit or an unusual costume, in which case a descriptive explanation could help illustrate what it looks like. 
• A particular outfit could draw attention to a character, such as an attractive or surprising outfit, that could merit taking more time to describe it (and explain why it garners the character extra attention). 

How to Describe a Character’s Body

Describing a character’s body is fairly straightforward. Like with many other aspects of a character’s appearance, there are a few methods you can use to approach describing their body. You could take the objective approach, which would do just fine in most cases, or you could toy with your readers’ perceptions. 

I’ll start out with a word of caution. Too many times, I’ve seen unrealistic descriptions of characters’ bodies. Whether it’s a waist that’s impossibly thin or muscles like a bodybuilder on a teenager, people tend to push the boundaries of what the human body is even capable of. You need to keep your characters within the limits of what’s actually possible, unless you have a good reason for doing otherwise (genetically modified supersoldier, not actually human at all, etc). 

Now, as with some other aspects of the character’s appearance, you can get away with a simple, objective description, like “tall and muscular” or “short and curvy.” Honestly, that’s usually all you’ll need to do. However, bodies are commonly associated with physical attractiveness, and if attraction is the point of your description, you need to take a different approach. 

Writing about attraction is tough (which is why I go more in-depth about how to write about attraction in my other article, Romance 101: How to Write Characters Falling in Love ). You’ll want to highlight the positives of the character’s body—the elements of them that have caught your protagonist’s attention. Whether it’s biceps, legs, or a large chest, you’ll want to describe it in detail, as well as highlight what it is about them that has the protagonist so interested. Here’s an example:

“He was tall and sturdy, and even in this relaxed environment, his pose held power. The way his shirt stretched taut around his shoulders when he shifted snagged and held my attention—I couldn’t help but stare. Did he pick that shirt on purpose? He had to know the thin fabric clung close to his body, showing off every rippling muscle underneath…” 

How to Describe a Character’s Posture and Body Language

Body language is an often overlooked element of describing a character, but you should give it some thought even if you don’t intend to draw a lot of attention to it in the story. How does your character stand? How do they emote? Do they gesture when they speak? Do they fidget? Try to envision what they look like when they are waiting, actively engaged in a passionate conversation, and when they are uncomfortable. 

People move in different ways, even if they aren’t thinking about it. Come up with a list of movements and behaviors that are typical for the character, and utilize those movements to make dull scenes and conversations more interesting. Instead of just dialogue, you can give readers more to imagine as your character shifts their weight, runs their hand through their hair, or twists the hem of their shirt. This can also help to establish the tone of the conversation.  

A person’s body, personality, and mood will all influence how they move. If you establish a baseline for how the character stands and behaves when they are in a neutral mindset, this will help you keep them consistent over time by casually mentioning their body language throughout the story. As a bonus, it can also help you tip readers off if you want them to notice that something is bothering the character. If you have established that a character is pretty relaxed in most situations, readers will instantly notice if they exhibit anxious body language even if you don’t draw a lot of attention to it. 

How to Describe an Attractive Character

Describing an attractive character isn’t all that different from describing any other character. You still shouldn’t make them flawless, but you can put off mentioning their more negative qualities until later—especially if another character is looking at them through rose-colored glasses . 

One recommendation that I have for describing a character who is supposed to be extremely attractive is to keep their description vague. Beauty is subjective, so each reader is going to have a different idea of what “attractive” means. By all means, describe the basics of their appearance, such as hair color, eye color, skin tone, and whatnot, but don’t dive deep into the shape of their features. This will leave a little bit up to the reader’s imagination, and they will fill in the gaps in the character’s description with the traits that they find most attractive. 

Another helpful tip is to utilize the reactions of background characters to establish that the character is, in fact, attractive. Other people staring at the character or nudging and whispering to each other about them would help your reader understand that the character is good-looking, and alter their mental image of them accordingly. 

The Importance of Creating Vivid Visual Descriptions for your Characters

Creating vivid visual descriptions for your characters is incredibly important for a number of reasons. For one thing, being able to imagine the characters will help draw your readers into the story and immerse them in the world. Additionally, by giving your characters more distinct appearances, they will stand out more from each other, and from characters in other stories. The more complex and interesting the character, the more likely they are to stick in a reader’s mind for years after they finish reading the story. 

Good luck with writing your descriptions! I know you’ll write something great.

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The Do’s of Writing People of Color: Describe Your Characters

Diversity makes stories better, plain and simple. This year, we’ve partnered with the good folks at Writing With Color to get some advice on how to write stories populated with people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. In the third part of her “Do’s of Writing People of Color” sub-series, founder Colette Aburime   goes over how to describe characters of color in your writing:

One key to strong representation is making the race of your characters undisputedly clear. So clue your readers in! Not only is it nice for People of Color to read descriptions of themselves as awesome everyday people, but there’s a consequence to being vague: Most readers will assume the characters are white. 

Society ensures we view white people as the default. That default human is probably also straight, cis, able-bodied, etc. until proven otherwise. This way of thinking won’t dissolve overnight.

When describing your characters

• Make their races clear early on once they’re introduced.
• Sprinkle in a few more reminders throughout the story.

Ways to show race:

• Physical descriptions - You can describe hair, skin tone, and facial features to create a picture for readers. It isn’t foolproof, though. For example, dark brown skin and curly hair may point to a Person of Color, sure, but not an exact race or ethnicity. It’s wise to pair physical details with other means.
• Culture - Cultural elements can seamlessly indicate race. They’re already part of your character’s identity, so it’s bound to come up! Think family names, clothing, holidays, traditions, language, food, heirlooms…
• Social issues - What social issues directly affect the character? What about relatives in other countries? Even a national disaster could show background, like a hurricane affecting your character’s family in Mexico. 
• Activities - The character could be involved or have met someone through a PoC-specific organization. Think student unions, activism, local businesses Facebook groups, professional meet-ups…
• Cover art - If your book cover features your characters, I urge you to make sure they look the part. Even if you have little say in the final product, remind your publisher of their races and ask they take care to be accurate. Say no to white-washed book covers! 
• Say it in story - Don’t be afraid to just state it. I highly recommend doing so at some point in the story. There’s many ways to work in a mention. Create a situation that makes sense to the story. See these examples:
• “The woman turned to face me. She was Black, I think, with a short coily afro and a dimple in her smile that took my breath away.” 
• “It felt awkward, being the only woman in the room, let alone an Indian woman.”  
• “I was born of a Korean mother and a German father.”
• Say it outside the pages - These days allow more interaction between authors and their readers. Use social media or a webpage to share character profiles, your celebrity dream cast, share commissioned art, and clarify questions. 

Use one or more of these methods. At the least, I recommend a combination of physical descriptions and outright stating race whenever the story allows.

Characters of Color in Fantasy

Alternative or fantasy settings may have different concepts of race. Perhaps there’s no word for human ethnicities or countries. Never fear—racial coding is here!  Racial coding means providing hints that your character is the equivalent of a human race. You can use physical, cultural and geographical parallels to help readers make a conclusion. 

Now, go forth and describe your characters. We wanna see them!

Related Articles on Writingwithcolor:

Describing Characters of Color:

• Writing With Color Featured Description Posts 

Fantasy Coding Advice on Writing With Color:

• PoC in Fantasy When Their Country/Continent Doesn’t Exist
• Describing POC without stating Race  
• Writing With Color “Coding” Search  

Colette Aburime is the founder of WritingWithColor, a writing advice blog focused on diversity. She studied creative and professional writing in college, and writes (or rather, dreams of writing) in her free time. Colette is a big fan of romance and fantasy and lives out her fairytale in a humble cottage in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. She spends happily ever after with her prince, plants, and a feisty cat. Check out WritingWithColor on Tumblr and Twitter .

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How to Describe Hairstyles in Writing

By Isobel Coughlan

Do you need some help in describing the hairstyle of a character in your story? In this post, we explain how to describe hairstyles in writing using the following 10 words.

1. Extravagant

Something that’s impressive , elaborate, or costs a lot of money.

“The young girl looked into the salon and admired the extravagant hairstyles. She wished she could have her hair professionally styled.”

“Your hair is looking rather extravagant this morning. Did you take inspiration from the latest fashion show?”

How it Adds Description

“Extravagant” shows that the character’s hair is elaborate and detailed, and therefore, it might impress other characters in the book. An “extravagant” hairstyle might have more volume, lots of color, or many accessories. Sometimes, “extravagant” hairstyles might cost a lot, and this may frustrate the character who has to pay for the service.

2. Conventional

Something that’s normal or ordinary .

“John’s hair was always conventional . Many thought he was a square for ignoring the trends, but he wasn’t comfortable with taking risks.

“Penelope secretly wished her daughter would opt for conventional hairstyles. But she had to admit, there was a strange charm to her neon yellow mohawk.”

Not all hairstyles are dramatic or unique, and you can show a character plays it safe with their locks via “conventional.” Characters with “conventional” hairstyles might follow the rules and avoid making controversial statements. They could also value tradition, and therefore, they don’t try out any modern hair trends.

3. Flammable

Something that catches fire or burns easily.

“Do you need any more hairspray, Ella? Your hair is positively flammable !”

“Wendy had to steer clear of the smokers outside of the club due to her flammable hair.”

If a character’s hairstyle uses a lot of hairspray, it’s more likely to catch fire . In pop culture, it’s common to call these kinds of styles “flammable.” This shows they’re at risk of burning, but it also portrays how much time and effort has gone into styling it via hairspray. Characters with “flammable” hair might value style over comfort, which shows they care what others think of them.

Something that might shock or anger others.

“Andrew stocked up on bleach, dye, and scissors. He was ready to create the most daring hairstyle in the world.”

“The woman looked around the room at the young students. Each had a daring hairstyle, and she wondered how they all persuaded their parents to approve the cut.”

Hairstyles that are deliberately shocking can be called “daring.” For example, this could include bright colors, shaved patterns, or experimental cuts. Sometimes, a “daring” hairstyle will even anger a more conservative character, as it doesn’t fit within their traditional worldview.

5. Minimalist

A style that takes inspiration from minimalism and uses simple elements.

“The boy wanted his life to be simple and straightforward, so he opted for a minimalist haircut.”

“Verity’s blunt bob was endearingly minimalist . Not many people could pull off such a simple hairstyle.”

You can show a character has a very simple hairstyle via the adjective “minimalist.” This shows that the cut is very simple or doesn’t include over-the-top details. A “minimalist” cut doesn’t mean they’re boring, though. It can be a style statement that illustrates their commitment to being fashionable without effort.

6. Feminine

Something that had qualities associated with women .

“Grace tied an ornate bow onto her head to complement her feminine haircut. She instantly felt silly and longed to cut it all off.”

“Billy’s long, hippy locks made everyone stare. Some even called his hair feminine , but he knew he was channeling the rock legends of the past.”

The adjective “feminine” can show your reader that the hairstyle in question mimics qualities typically associated with womanhood. This could be because it’s long or delicately styled. Some characters might embrace the “feminine” style. In contrast, others might be uncomfortable with it, especially if they don’t resonate with womanhood.

Hair that looks shiny, smooth, and healthy .

“The TV showed images of dancing girls and their sleek hairstyles. This enraged Jenny, even though she knew their hair didn’t really look like that.”

“Maintaining sleek hair was Beth’s only life goal. Every morning, she woke up, brushed her tresses fifty times, and generously applied argan oil.”

“Sleek” describes hairstyles that are very healthy and shiny, which further implies that the character either takes care of their hair or uses expensive products to keep it looking smooth. Other characters might be jealous of someone with a “sleek” hairstyle, as they may secretly wish their hair looked better.

Something that is very firm and doesn’t bend.

“Hailey, you’ve gone overboard with the gel again! Your hairstyle’s so stiff that it’s not even moving with the wind!”

“The makeup artist made sure the actor’s hairstyle was stiff enough to withstand the on-set wind machine.”

If a hairstyle has lots of products in it (e.g., gel, mousse, or hairspray), it becomes hard or “stiff.” “Stiff” hairstyles are great if you want to keep everything in place, but they don’t always look good. Therefore, a character with “stiff” hair might be unhappy with their look, and others might laugh at their failed hairstyle.

Hair that’s very tightly curled or unruly .

“Sam wanted to leave the salon with beachy curls, but instead, she was left with a rushed and frizzy hairstyle.”

“We need to get out of the humidity now. My hairstyle has turned frizzy !”

When a hairstyle becomes “frizzy,” it means the style is either losing shape or becoming curlier than planned. This can happen due to humidity, time, or lack of product. A character will probably become annoyed or upset when this happens, as “frizzy” hair isn’t usually in fashion.

10. Voluminous

Something that’s extremely large .

“Every day, Simon backcombed his hair until it reached his trademark voluminous style.”

“As the old man walked down the street, he couldn’t help but notice the kids were all wearing their locks in voluminous hairstyles.”

“Voluminous” shows that the fictional hairstyle is very tall or wide to the point that it stands out from the rest. If a character chooses to wear a “voluminous” style, they might like attention and look different. This may also imply that they’re confident, as they’re not scared of being different.

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How to describe hair in writing to readers [2023].

Describing hair in words is not easy for a reader without a picture.

Phrases for Hair Movement

You must find great phrases to convey a person's hair movement and hairstyle to a reader. It can also be related to the activity, whether natural hair movement or movement due to dancing.

Some phrases to describe hair movement are:

• Flowing in the wind
• Breezing in the air
• Blown on the wind
• Moving fluidly
• Featherweight 
• The wind running through hair
• Spectacular 
• Swinging side-by-side
• Lightweight

Phrases for Beautiful Hair 

To describe beautiful hair requires positive phrases and adjectives and should be used with other words on hair texture and length for readers to visualize.

Some phrases to describe beautiful hair are

• Silky smooth
• Alluring wavy hair
• Magnificant
• Lovely Tresses

Phrases for Hair Colors

For describing hair color, one tip is to look at hair dye colors for ideas too.  

How to describe hair color in writing 

• Light Golden Brown
• Umber Brown
• Ebony Brown
• Raven Brown
• Snowy White
• Silver Gray Hair
• Bleach White
• Ombre Purple
• Chestnut Red
• Crimson Red
• Mahogany Red

You should also be familiar with the different textures of the hair and different styles of hair. 

What you should keep in mind is that when using the adjectives to describe the hair, you should not overdo it, just make sure that you are giving enough description of the hair for the purpose of the writing.

You can do research about the phrases that can be used in the description of the color or the texture and the style of the hair, using the specific phrases that are understandable in the world of beauty is very important. You should also note the colors of the hair, they are different.

Tips used in writing hair descriptions

• Combination of words

You should know well how to combine different phrases to give a detailed description of the hair you are trying to describe. 

A combination of different phrases is able to give a reader a full description of the hair, for example, using a description like; ‘braided black hair’ or 'straight hair' will let a person knows more about the black hair.

• Find the work that has been done 

If you just can’t describe hair well it is advisable that you check out the descriptions that have been done to see how things are done.

The hairstyle could be dreadlocks on African American hair,  natural afro Hair common in black women, cute hairstyles with short hair, box braids, crochet braids, pixie cut, plaited, ponytail, permed hair, French braids, Dutch braids (read our posts on the different in   French and Dutch braids  and   history of European braids ).

How to describe hair texture

There are very many textures that you need to check out because you will need to know every before attempting to describe any, you should check on the thickness of the hair, check on the density, and determine how the hair is curly. There are three types of texture that you will have to dwell on in your descriptions; these are the thick texture, the medium texture, and the fine texture.

• Thick texture - this is the kind of hair that has all the layers of hair, if you make a description as thick then the hair is really a lot of the head. The hair holds water for a long time compared to other textures
• Medium texture - the hair might not be as thick as the first texture but it has just enough to cover the head well, it has two layers unlike the thick texture, The hair is lighter then the thick texture, this means that it can be changed into many styles.
• Fine texture - the hair has only one layer, this means it is very light; it is very delicate just like that one of a young child, this hair cannot be able to stand straight on the head. It can have a problem with using many products.

How to describe the smell of hair

Describing smell can be difficult for a reader to relate because unless you get the right words to describe the smell.

A good way is to use food like honey, refreshing cucumber which is infused in shampoo.

Observe the smell, then you will need to find the right description words to able to describe, check out for better adjectives and nouns that can fit the description. You should note that only accurate descriptions will communicate the intended message.

How to describe curly hair

Here are some ways you can describe curly hair:

• Her curly hair cascaded down her shoulders in tight, glossy ringlets.
• His voluminous, corkscrew curls gave him a distinctive and charming look.
• She had shoulder-length hair with loose, beachy curls that framed her face beautifully.
• The little girl's adorable face was accentuated by her bouncy, golden curls.
• His thick, curly mane seemed to have a life of its own, adding to his charismatic personality.
• Despite the slight frizz, her long, S-shaped curls added a touch of elegance to her appearance.
• The natural shine of her coiled curls gave her hair a lustrous and healthy look.

Hope you find this guide useful for your writing ideas.

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How to Write About Character Skin Color in Your Novel

The world is full of so many people of different backgrounds, races, and nationalities. But traditionally, popular fiction has centered mostly around the white experience, white characters, and white authors. If you don’t believe me, who are the five most famous authors you can think of? 

Are they all (or mostly) white? Do they write mostly white characters? Are they set in Europe, North America, or another western-based world in the case of fantasy or sci-fi? Do you see what I mean?

If you’re reading this article, maybe it’s because you’d like to broaden your horizons and include more diverse characters in your own works—specifically more BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) characters.

That’s great—our fiction should reflect the world as it is and that means including people of various ethnic backgrounds and skin tones. But the history of writing about people of color is kind of… awful and it’s important to remember that you can’t just throw in a BIPOC character without giving some serious thought to how you represent and describe that character.

That’s where I’m hoping to help you today. Just remember, this is a process of constant learning and things in this area are always changing. What might be “okay” today might not be okay next year, and it’s up to you to continue to educate yourself.

It’s also important to remember that you might mess this up and someone might call you on it, and that’ll feel kind of terrible, but it’s okay. It happens. 

Everyone, even writers of color, gets it wrong sometimes. What’s important is that you don’t get defensive or argue. That you listen carefully to what you’re being told, internalize it, educate yourself, and think about how you can do better next time.

With all that said, here’s what we’ll cover in this article to help you get it more right than wrong:

• Introductory tips for writing characters of color
• The history of characters of color in fiction
• Why you shouldn’t use food to describe darker skin tones
• Strategies for writing about characters of color
• Words you can use to describe black and brown skin tones

Introduction to Writing Characters of Color

Before we dive in further, let’s look at a few things to keep in mind when writing about characters of color:

Don't ask BIPOC to educate you

There are countless resources online, like this one, where you can research this yourself. That’s because it’s exhausting for BIPOC to always be the “teacher” when it comes to these issues, especially when there are plenty of resources where you can find the information on your own. Once you’ve done your own thorough and thoughtful research and you have questions, there are additional resources you can use to get those answers. (More on this below.) 

Don't speak over BIPOC

And don't decide your opinion is more right or valid. If someone from a community tells you something is problematic, then it is. Full stop. If you aren’t from that community, then you do not have the knowledge to challenge them on their words.

Don't treat BIPOC as a monolith

Having said that, BIPOC within a certain community are not a monolith and what isn’t okay for one person might not bother another. This is where writing characters of color can be challenging. There are many layers and nuances to writing people of color, and there are often multiple answers to every question you have. Sorry. No one said this would be easy. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to do the homework, though.

Also remember, there is huge diversity within different races and ethnic groups. Saying someone is “Asian” or “African” isn’t enough. There are so many various cultures, skin tones, and physical features within these massive continents that simply reducing your character to just one word becomes problematic and assumes everyone with darker skin is the same.

Describe all skin tones

If you’re going to describe the skin tones of black and brown people, then you also must include skin descriptions for the white characters in your story. Otherwise, you’re contributing to the idea that white is the default, and anyone who isn’t is “other.” (We’ll talk a bit more about this below.)

Don't avoid describing skin tones

Don’t avoid describing characters of color because all of this scares you a bit. It’s important to show representation and diversity in fiction. If you leave it up to the “reader's imagination” then most people will invariably default to thinking the character is white (and that doesn’t do anyone any favors). As a BIPOC person myself, even I do it sometimes because white media is so dominant that it’s just what everyone is used to, and it’s hard to break free of that.  

And finally, two last things I want to point out:

• Do not describe characters of color as “colored.” That’s ancient, racist language and not how we refer to BIPOC in the year of our lord 2023.
• Just because someone within a certain community uses words that are generally problematic, like chocolate or coffee (more on this later) in reference to skin tone, doesn’t mean you get to do it, too. There are different rules if you are part of a community or not.

The History of Writing About Character Skin Color in Fiction

The history of writing about skin color in fiction is a complex topic that reflects long-standing societal biases and prejudices surrounding race and ethnicity. All too often, people of color are depicted in a way that reinforces harmful stereotypes and prejudices.

One of the earliest examples of writing about skin color in fiction is in ancient Greek literature, where people of color were often depicted as exotic, primitive, and inferior to white people. This trend continued throughout the centuries, with people of color being depicted in ways that reflected and reinforced the dominant societal views of the time.

During the colonial era, people of color were frequently depicted as savages or barbarians, reflecting the attitudes of the colonizers and their conquests. This portrayal of people of color as inferior and barbaric was used to justify the colonization and exploitation of their lands and resources, a practice that hasn’t really changed much even today.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, people of color were often depicted as stereotypes in fiction, with characters being reduced to a single defining characteristic, often their race or ethnicity. These stereotypes promoted  harmful societal biases and prejudices and contributed to the marginalization and othering of people of color.

How the representation of skin color has changed in fiction

Thankfully, things are changing in how people of color are depicted in fiction being written today. 

There has been a greater, if slow, effort to write about people of color in more authentic and respectful ways in fiction. This involves acknowledging and challenging those harmful stereotypes and prejudices of the past, and striving to create more complex and well-rounded characters who are representative of the diverse range of experiences and communities that exist in the world.

One significant and important change has been the inclusion of more diverse and representative voices in fiction. This includes seeing more authors of color being published, as well as more characters of color being depicted in a wide range of roles and experiences. 

This shift is helping to challenge the dominant narrative and create a more inclusive and authentic representation. We’re seeing a similar phenomenon in movies and TV shows as well. 

In addition, there is greater emphasis on the importance of intersectionality in fiction. Intersectionality refers to the overlapping and intersecting identities that individuals may have, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and class.

In the past, people of color were often depicted in fiction in a way that ignored the complexity and intersectionality of their identities, thus reducing them to one-dimensional characters who served only as a backdrop to the main characters or sometimes as a reductive plot device. 

The Black best friend who’s there only to get killed, just so the main white character can find their motivation, would be a good example of this.

Challenges of Writing About Skin Color in Fiction

As I said at the outset, including characters of color and getting it right isn’t easy. But writing sensitively and accurately about people of color is important. It doesn’t matter that it’s “just fiction.” 

By doubling down on harmful stereotypes and prejudices in your writing, you’re contributing to those same harmful beliefs being perpetuated in real life. Where real, actual people are really, actually harmed by that.

To avoid perpetuating these harmful stereotypes, it is important to do thorough research and create well-rounded and multi-dimensional characters who are representative of the diverse range of experiences and communities that exist in the world.

Cultural Appropriation

Another challenge of writing characters of colors is avoiding cultural appropriation. This is a phenomena when dominant group (i.e., white people) take elements of a marginalized group's culture (i.e., BIPOC) without understanding or respecting the context and significance of those elements.

In writing, cultural appropriation can take the form of using stereotypes, misrepresenting cultural practices and beliefs, or co-opting the experiences and struggles of marginalized groups. This last point is important. 

It really isn’t the place of a white person to write a story of how a Black person experiences racism in the world. It’s just not. Not only because someone who’s never experienced racism can’t truly understand it, but also because it is not the dominant group's place to tell that story, and it’s definitely not their place to make money off that story.

Another challenge of writing characters of color is tokenism. Tokenism refers to the practice of including one or a few characters from a marginalized group in a story in order to appear diverse or progressive, without giving those characters the depth, complexity, and agency that they deserve. Remember that best friend example I stated earlier? That would definitely be an example of tokenism.

And finally, you don’t want to fall into the trap of portraying people of color as "other." This happens when people of color are depicted in a way that emphasizes their difference from the dominant group, or when their culture or ethnicity is used as a defining characteristic.

This can be harmful because it reinforces the idea that people of color are not part of the "normal" or "default" group, and can contribute to othering and marginalization. Remember when I said above that if you’re going to describe black and brown skin tones, you also need to describe white ones? This is exactly what I meant.

Using Food to Describe Skin Tone

This gets its own section because using food to describe black and brown skin tones has been so prevalent in fiction, but it is extremely problematic. Why? Using food to describe darker skin tones is a form of colorism, which refers to the preference or discrimination towards people with lighter skin tones. 

This is a harmful and offensive practice that perpetuates negative stereotypes and reinforces harmful societal biases.

Words like cocoa, chocolate, coffee, caramel lead to fetishization of people of color. It implies the ability to consume them—something that has happened figuratively through colonization and slavery for centuries. 

Speaking of slavery, when referring to Black people by these words, it’s important to remember that these items drove the slave trade then and still do today. Don’t use them. And as I said above, if a Black or brown person uses those words to describe themselves or people within their scope, that’s different. It doesn’t mean you get to do it, too. 

Additionally, using food to describe darker skin tones reduces people to a single physical characteristic, rather than recognizing them as multi-dimensional human beings. It objectifies and dehumanizes people of color by treating them as nothing more than a skin color rather than complex and individual individuals.

Another issue with using food to describe darker skin tones is that it also reinforces harmful stereotypes about people of color. These stereotypes often portray people of color as exotic or primitive, and can be used to justify discrimination and prejudice. By using food to describe darker skin tones, we are perpetuating these harmful stereotypes and contributing to the marginalization of people of color.

And finally, using food to describe darker skin tones is also problematic because it implies that there is something inherently wrong or undesirable about darker skin tones. This reinforces the societal biases that prioritize lighter skin tones as more attractive and desirable and can contribute to feelings of inadequacy and self-hatred among people of color.

How to Write About Characters of Color

So we’ve talked at length about what not to do when writing characters of color, but how do you write them then? Here are some tips for including characters of color in your stories.

Do thorough research: It is important to go beyond superficial stereotypes and tropes and gain a deeper understanding of the cultures, histories, and experiences of the characters you are portraying. This can involve reading books, articles, and other resources written by people of color, as well as consulting with people who are knowledgeable about the cultures and communities being represented. Remember that if you’re asking BIPOC to help you, you should be compensating them for their time, knowledge, and emotional energy.

Avoid cultural appropriation: Don’t appropriate cultures that don’t belong to you. Don’t try to write about the experiences of people of communities you don’t belong to. As a general rule, it’s okay to include people of color in your stories—and you should!—but don’t try to write about the struggles people of color experience if you aren’t a part of that community.  ‍

Avoid tokenism: Avoid tokenism by giving your characters of color a full range of experiences, motivations, and personalities, rather than using them as props or plot devices.

Hire a sensitivity reader: Get professional feedback from people who belong to the communities you’re writing about. This can help identify any problematic or offensive elements in your writing and can also provide valuable insights and perspectives that can help to make your characters more authentic and well-rounded. You can also join the group Writing with Social Awareness , where members of various marginalizations are willing to help you navigate the complexities of writing these characters. 

Acknowledge your personal biases: We all internalize these harmful beliefs because we’ve been exposed to them so often. It’s important to look inward and challenge your own preconceived notions about various groups of people. This can be uncomfortable work, but it’s an important step in writing characters of color with authenticity. To do this, seek out books and articles written by BIPOC on these subjects. You can also take a class or course to learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Words You Can Use

We talked about not using food to describe characters of color. And of course, avoiding harmful stereotypes. So what words can you use? While this is, of course, not an exhaustive list, this can hopefully get you started.

Hopefully by now, you’re feeling a bit more confident about writing characters of colors in your own works of fiction. While it’s not an easy task, it is definitely an important one and worth taking the time and care to do it right.

If you found this article useful, we write new ones just like it every week to help you improve on your writing craft. Sign up for our newsletter to get them delivered straight to your inbox and check out DabbleU to look through our past articles. 

Nisha J Tuli is a YA and adult fantasy and romance author who specializes in glitter-strewn settings and angst-filled kissing scenes. Give her a feisty heroine, a windswept castle, and a dash of true love and she’ll be lost in the pages forever. When Nisha isn’t writing, it’s probably because one of her two kids needs something (but she loves them anyway). After they’re finally asleep, she can be found curled up with her Kobo or knitting sweaters and scarves, perfect for surviving a Canadian winter.

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vintage_fairy Member

How can i describe african american hair properly.

Discussion in ' Character Development ' started by vintage_fairy , Nov 26, 2021 .

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_798bd4e9110ecada787f9f1b30efc941'); }); For my story, I'm trying to describe my Black main protagonist, Safiya's, hairstyle when she becomes a Princess at the end of the story, but I don't know how to describe it since she's my first main character of color. The story takes place three years after the events of the first story and how she's settled down with her new leadership role as Princess and has married her best friend, Emelyn, in a grand ceremony and is training to be the future Queen of her ancestral homeland, but describing the style is tricky. And here's a picture if you guys want to see it. Mind you, that's also the makeup she's wearing. Also, this is what her hair looked like in her past life when she was a Princess before her death. I forgot to include that one too.  

Catriona Grace Mind the thorns Contributor Contest Winner 2022

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_798bd4e9110ecada787f9f1b30efc941'); }); Dozens of tresses twisted into ropes, some piled into a loose coronet atop her head and others trailing over her shoulders.  

evild4ve Critique is stranger than fiction Supporter Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_798bd4e9110ecada787f9f1b30efc941'); }); With description there isn't any credit whatsoever for projecting our exact mental images into the reader's mind. If our mental images mattered, we'd be painters not writers. The description of the character's hair is really a description of the character's self. Even moreso than people's physical hair is an expression of their self. Catriona's description I think illustrates this and I hope it's okay to use this to try and how even in a literal/objective description, the describing-words all carry value-judgements into the character's personality. Dozens of tresses twisted into ropes, some piled into a loose coronet atop her head and others trailing over her shoulders. Twisted Piled Some loose...others trailing Coronet So this is someone who is casual about power. "Coronet atop" her head introduces some formality, but there's ambivalence and it's possibly 2 formal/smart words outweighed by 4 casual/messy. One of the challenges with description is that every reader receives every word with a slightly different secondary register. Some might feel "rope" is a reminder of the ruler's power over capital punishment and feel 3 formal words where I feel 2. Writers have to push continually to introduce some element of control over the reader's subjectivity. No description of the character's hair can stand in isolation from the other descriptions of the character: they all have to push in the same direction for any of it to stick. The OP's question, arguably, is unanswerable in fiction: a catalogue of hairstyles might use objective/literal description but in fiction this hair is always somebody's hair. Someone (Seven Crowns I think?) recently posted about the importance of descriptions doing 'double duty'. If the description of the hair isn't somehow moving the story's artistic goals forward: I say don't describe her hair. Instead describe something that somehow moves the story's goals forward. I believe powerful writing is aware of the reader's subjectivity and gives them free reign to imagine whatever silly little head-pictures they want while the story puts its full weight behind character and themes. "Make my hair a provocation!" And they did, oh my Worst-Despised. Some saw on her a memorial of eta vines; others the web of Anansi. To all, it was an escalation: until the transgressive hints and whispered innuendoes became as mysterious as the hair. In ways like these, Princess Safiya found out which courtiers were trolling her.  

Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_798bd4e9110ecada787f9f1b30efc941'); }); Here's an article giving a brief history of braids: The Fascinating History of Braids You Never Knew About It doesn't specifically mention micro braids, which is what the picture shows (Or they could also be micro dreads, you should look into those too), but elsewhere I ran across the fact that they became popular in the early 1980's, which is when I started seeing them. I don't know if or how long they were around before that, but it also mentioned that they're frequently added on using a weave or artificial hair extensions, probably because the process of creating them from a person's own hair is very laborious and takes all day. Also of course it allows people with short hair to have braids. And of course it also explains why you'll see women who have short hair show up one day with these elaborate long braids, often in outlandish colors. Weaves have made hair styling into a candybox wonderland for anyone. So there's a good chance micro braids didn't come into existence until the modern era, or weren't very popular previously. But this can give you some direction in which to turn your research.  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_798bd4e9110ecada787f9f1b30efc941'); }); I see your point, evild4ve, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I simply described the physical attributes of the hairstyle in the photo without any attempt or intent to impart value judgments about the person who grew the hair. By the way: I have hair that falls to the top of my thighs. I generally confine it to a single braid, lacking an inhouse hairdresser to arrange it into coronets, be they twisted, loosely piled, or cemented into place with hairspray and gel.  

Chromewriter Contributor Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_798bd4e9110ecada787f9f1b30efc941'); }); Her hair exudated power. They were braided into multiple parts that were fashioned in an artful display; a mass of hair at the top that stuck out over the crown and the rest fell past her shoulders. She looked regal as Medusa. Best I got. I suck.  

J.T. Woody Book Witch Contributor

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_798bd4e9110ecada787f9f1b30efc941'); }); Those arent braids but faux locs (extra hair added in and twisted to resemble locs or "dread locs"). Basically, fake locs. I've had dreadlocs for 6 years. You can describe them as cords or lengths of tight curls (if you held up one of my locs and looked at it, you'd see a bunch of curls matted together). Does she have locs through out the story? Because if not, then this style is not believable at all. It takes 6 months to a year to loc your hair (longer if you have a softer curl pattern). The locs will then grow like that and will need to be retwisted. Mine took 6 years to get to the length on the picture and they started out chin length when i got them Faux locs, though, take a few hours to do and are temporary. So to describe faux locs, just say hair was added to lengthen the cords of her hair and wound up atop her head.  

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_798bd4e9110ecada787f9f1b30efc941'); }); evild4ve said: ↑ Someone (Seven Crowns I think?) recently posted about the importance of descriptions doing 'double duty'. If the description of the hair isn't somehow moving the story's artistic goals forward: I say don't describe her hair. Instead describe something that somehow moves the story's goals forward. I believe powerful writing is aware of the reader's subjectivity and gives them free reign to imagine whatever silly little head-pictures they want while the story puts its full weight behind character and themes Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_798bd4e9110ecada787f9f1b30efc941'); }); Xoic said: ↑ probably because the process of creating them from a person's own hair is very laborious and takes all day. Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_798bd4e9110ecada787f9f1b30efc941'); }); J.T. Woody said: ↑ Npe. Would still take all day if it was your own hair, too. Click to expand...

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('funpub_798bd4e9110ecada787f9f1b30efc941'); }); Xoic said: ↑ Huh? You said nope and then repeated what I just said. Click to expand...

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