Dressing Up Your Characters

Dressing up your characters so they won't be so plain.

Make them sparkle. Give them personality. Make them interesting.

You know what I mean.
Give them a special name.
Spice up their appearance, make them stand out in the crowd.
Give them special words to utter
Something that sets them apart from the rest.

Some examples are ...

Scarlet O'Hara and her fiddle de dee
Pippi Longstocking and her super strength and crazy pigtails

Spice up your characters with little quirks and mannerisms

Give them a flaw. The fact that they aren't perfect helps the audience identity with them.

Whatever trait you give your character, make it consistent throughout your story.
Or they could be fickle and unpredictable, making the reader never know what to expect from them. This would work good in a children's story.

They could have a certain style of dress that sets them apart from all others.

example:

I saw the shoes under the bathroom stall door. One pink and one yellow sneaker. It was Lucy, no one else in school wore two different colors of shoes. One week she wore red and blue and the next week green and brown. It was no mistake, Lucy was in there. I waited patiently for my best friend.

Give them outstanding or unusual character traits.

smart-------------- superstitious
forgetful ---------------clumsy
mischievous -----------boastful
messy ---------------excitable
humble -------------- boring
timid -------------- bossy
pitiful --------------curious


What does your character look like?

Close you eyes and create the image in your head. How do you see her?
Try to use other senses, don't rely only on visual description.
If you touched her, what would you feel? What would you hear or smell?

freckles
front teeth missing
frizzy hair
smooth skin
gum chewing, bubble popping
continually humming
cracks knuckles
smells like lavender bubble bath


Now using traits and as many senses as possible describe a scene with your character.