nose description creative writing

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300+ Ways to Describe Noses: A Word List for Writers

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

The Nose: A Word-Too l for Writers

Imagine a protagonist who says “Randy’s nose is as snotty as his attitude.”

Would you remember Randy’s attitude?

This post provides more than 300 ways for writers to incorporate and describe noses.

Emotion Beats and Physica l Manifestations

Emotional noses; who knew?

The way a character moves, manipulates, or touches the nose often reveals underlying emotions.

Pinching the bridge of one’s nose might signal deliberation, disapproval, impatience, negativity, opposition, pessimism, regret, or reluctance.

Pushing g l asses onto the bridge of one’s nose might indicate curiosity, disagreement, or irritation.

Putting one’s nose in the air could signify contempt, derision, disgust, scorn, or smugness.

Rubbing one’s nose might be a sign of contemplation, deviousness, disbelief, dishonesty, doubt, evasion, indecision, insincerity, meditation, sadness , or skepticism.

Sniffing or wiping one’s nose could be a simple indication of allergies or sadness — or it might hide deceit or distrust.

Twitching one’s nose might reveal disappointment , disbelief, distress, or suspicion.

Wrink l ing one’s nose is a common indicator of conflict, confusion , contempt, derision, disapproval, disgust, dismay, negativity, opposition, pessimism, puzzlement, rejection, scorn, or skepticism. With so many underlying causes, context should provide a clear motivation; otherwise, nose-wrinkling is best avoided.

If you need additional beats, consult a body language dictionary . (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Adjectives Transform Noses into Memorab l e Facia l Features

Well-written descriptions provide clear mental impressions. They may also tell about a character’s personality from the narrator’s perspective.

Someone with a nose of granite could represent the epitome of a harsh, inflexible person. Readers might also envision a greyish complexion.

A two-foot nose, although an exaggeration, establishes the presence of a humongous schnozzola.

Many words to describe skin also function as nose descriptors.

Noses Might Be Depicted as:

A to C alcoholic, aquiline, arrogant, askew, beaked, beautiful , bent, bibulous, big , blobby, blunt, bloody, bold, bony, boozy, bovine, brazen, broad, broken, bubbling, bumped, childlike, chiseled, classic, cleft, coarse, colossal, comical, commanding, conspicuous, craggy, crooked, cruel, curved

D to H daunting, defiant, delicate, dimpled, disdainful, distorted, droopy, dusty, effeminate, elegant, enormous, exotic, fake, false, fat, feline, feminine, feverish, fine, flaccid, flat, foot-long, freckled, frostbitten, garish, girly, glowing, granite, grimy, haggish, haughty, heavy, hoggish, hooked

I to O imperious, impish, imposing, impudent, insignificant, intrusive, jolly, keen, knobby, lean, little , long, lopsided, lumpy, magisterial, mammoth, mangled, masculine, mashed, massive, meaty, miniscule, misshapen, monstrous, mud-covered, narrow, neat, needle-sharp, nodular, nondescript, off-center, oversized

P to R petulant, pert, petite, pickled, piggy, pinched, pious, pixie, pliable, pliant, pockmarked, pointed, pompous, porcine, portentous, powdered, prodigious, prominent, protruding, proud, puckish, puffy, pug, pugnacious, refined, regal, rubbery, runny

S saucy, scarred, scary, scorched, sculpted, serpentine, sharp, skeletal, skinny, slender, slippery, sloped, small, sniffly, snobbish, snotty, soft, sottish, spongy, squat, stately, straight, strong, squashed, stubborn, stubby, stuffy, stumpy, stupendous, sunken, supercilious, superior, sweat-beaded, swollen

T to Y thick, thin, thoroughbred, tiny, twisted, two-foot, ulcerated, underdeveloped, veined, velvety, vinous, vulpine, wavy, waxen, weak, wide, wooden, wrinkled, wry, yielding

Try Simi l es or Metaphors

A button nose, although cliché, relays the pleasant impression of a cute bump in the center of someone’s face.

A nose like a wedge of Swiss cheese conjures the image of a pockmarked, yellowish nose. Readers would expect the complexion to match.

Writers might create comparisons with the following words or rely on them as nouns to replace nose .

• anteater snout
• baseball bat
• bulldog schnoz
• dill pickle
• elephant trunk
• firehose nozzle
• hatchet handle
• horse muzzle
• jackal sniffer
• jester nose
• jet-plane nose
• liar’s snout
• locomotive cow-catcher
• plasticine lump
• playdough protuberance
• ship’s prow
• unicorn horn
• wedge of Swiss cheese

Co l or Adds Character

Noses may be a different color from the face , especially if they’ve been exposed to the elements.

An anemic nose might match a character who doesn’t eat well; or the person might be ill.

Tanned or sunburnt noses would be appropriate for lifeguards or landscapers.

Here’s a short list of colors.

A to Y anemic, ashen, bronzed, brown, burnt, colorless, florid, flushed, grey, jaundiced, pale, pallid, pasty, pink, red, rosy, rubicund, ruddy, sallow, sunburnt, suntanned, tan, tanned, wan, white, yellow

See 1001+ Ways to Describe Colors for more possibilities.

Noses Need Shapes

A serpentine shape could pair with a scam artist. A fleshy nose might be suitable for an overweight banker.

Try some of these, and see the Adjectives section for more ideas.

A to H arched, aristocratic, bulbous, bumpy, cauliflower, concave, conical, convex, diamond-shaped, East Asian, fleshy, funnel, Grecian, Groucho, hawk, Hebraic

N to W Napoleonic, Nixon, Neanderthal, Nubian, patrician, Pinocchio, plebeian, Romanesque, scooped, serpentine, snub, square, triangular, turned-up, upturned, wedge-shaped

Noses Need Verbs Too

As mentioned near the beginning of this post, noses don’t sit lifeless in the middle of the face.

They might:

B to W bleed, break, bugle, burn, crinkle, distort, flare, itch , jerk, nuzzle, point, poke, press, push, run, scrunch, sting, stuff up, throb, trumpet, twist, twitch, wrinkle

A Nose by Any Other Name Is Sti ll a Nose …

… but other names are more fun.

A sme ll er might be ideal for a chef with a discriminating palate, or for a border guard well-known because of his nasal acuity and associated drug busts.

An intrusive woman who pries into neighbors’ affairs could be described as having a snooper .

Scan this mini-list for a few possibilities.

B to W beak, conk, honker, hooter, muzzle, olfactory organ, orc’s nose, proboscis, schnoz, schnozzle, schnozzola, smeller, sneezer, sniffer, snooper, snoot, snout, snuffler, whiffer, wizard’s nose

Props Mean More Than Books

Although writers like to imagine people with their noses stuck in books, real life doesn’t work that way. Instead, characters might wear, be burdened by, or interact with:

G to W glasses, handkerchiefs, medical masks, moles, nasal sprays, nose hairs, nose rings, pimples, scars, scarves, sinus rinses, straws, studs, sunblock, swim clips, tattoos, tissues, warts

What About C l ichés and Idioms?

Depending on the tone of the narrative, an occasional platitude might be appropriate. I’ll tackle a few.

• brown-noser: toady, sycophant
• to be a hard nose: Act detached, stern, unfeeling, unforgiving, unsympathetic, or excessively businesslike.
• to brown-nose: Act obsequiously subservient, especially with superiors, in an attempt to curry favors or win approval.
• to count noses: Count people, usually to determine the outcome of a vote or the number of individuals present.
• to keep one’s nose c l ean: behave, do the right thing, obey the rules, stay out of trouble
• to l ook down one’s nose at: Exhibit a superior attitude or act in a snobbish or haughty manner.
• to nose around: pry, snoop, try to discover the truth
• to rub somebody’s nose in it: Harp about or draw attention to something embarrassing that someone has done.
• to thumb one’s nose at: deride, dismiss as worthless, treat with a lack of respect
• under one’s nose: Something that is under one’s nose is in plain sight, even though the person searching for it doesn’t see it.

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10 thoughts on “ 300+ Ways to Describe Noses: A Word List for Writers ”

Very helpful. Thank you. Blessings

Thanks, Larry.

one of my favourite ways to describe the shape of a nose is a ‘duchess nose’ The most popular nose shape requested by patients is the Duchess – named after the Duchess of Cambridge.

That’s an excellent suggestion, C. Thanks for stopping by.

Great article. I have never thought of describing the nose. I will have to pay attention to my first impression of people that I meet. Is the nose near the top? (No pun intended.) Thanks for the awakening! Luther

Thanks, Luther!

If your first impression of someone is their nose, it would be memorable for readers as well. Just a few words can paint an unforgettable picture.

Hmm. That could be woven into a story. Dialogue snippet: “My first impression of Larry, not to imply that his honker is huge or anything, is that he looks like a giant nose.”

Retroussé (of a person’s nose) turned up at the tip, especially in an attractive way.

Excellent adjective, John. Thanks!

Hi Kathy, Thank you. Another excellent piece. I wish more writers would pay heed to this topic. Like their noses, the characters would certainly stand out more…However brief, description is important and can transport a character straight into your living-room.. Just pick up a book by the venerable Dickens or Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Shadow of the Wind).”A small man with vulturine features, framed by thick grey hair, opened the door. His impenetrable aquiline gaze rested on mine.” He’s as clear as a photograph! Best wishes. Joy x

Thanks, Joy.

You provide an excellent example: terse but powerful.

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How to Describe a Nose: Harness Your Imagination for Vivid Imagery

If you’ve ever sat down to write a story or a character sketch, you know that describing a nose can be a challenging task. It’s not just about the shape or size, but about conveying personality and character. But don’t fret – we’re here to help! Dive into our guide, packed with practical tips and inspiration. With our help, you’ll be able to transform your prose into a vivid, engaging narrative that brings characters to life. Breathe life into your words and unlock the art of description. Let’s delve into the world of words, shall we?

Table of Contents

Embarking on the Journey of Describing a Nose

Every person’s nose is an intriguing part of the body that defines individuality. We all have noses, but each one is unique, just like a fingerprint. To describe a nose, we must take into account its various aspects, such as shape, size, and even the angle at which it sits on the face.

With our eyes, we perceive a nose as an extension of the facial structure, with its importance often understated. However, it significantly contributes to one’s attractiveness, individuality, and personality. To describe a nose effectively, one must observe it from multiple angles. Seeing a nose from the front is entirely different from looking at it from the side.

Indeed, our ability to describe a nose depends greatly on our understanding of the language of facial features. Recognizing the different shapes and their impacts on the overall appearance is key. For example, a person with a small, upturned nose might be described as youthful or cute, while a person with a large, pronounced nose might be seen as powerful or imposing.

Knowing the vocabulary of noses will help you to create a vivid image in your reader’s mind. Use words that evoke pictures: “aquiline” for a nose like an eagle’s beak, “button” for a small, cute nose, or “hawkish” for a large, dominant nose. Remember, the power of words is immense. Your description can be the difference between a flat, dull sketch and a vivid, lifelike portrait.

The Significance of Size, Shape, and Position

Describing a nose starts with its size, shape, and position, which are the most visible characteristics. A nose’s size can significantly impact a person’s facial balance. For example, a small nose can make the face appear more youthful, while a large nose can lend a mature, powerful appearance.

The shape of a nose is also crucial. A nose can be rounded, straight, hooked, or flat, with each shape carrying its own set of associations. For example, a hooked nose might convey strength and determination, while a flat nose could be seen as gentle and approachable. Observing the nose shape closely can enable you to provide a more detailed and nuanced description.

Next, consider the nose’s position on the face. Is it high-set, giving the face a regal appearance? Or is it low-set, lending the face a more down-to-earth look? The position of the nose relative to the eyes and mouth can greatly influence the overall facial impression.

Always remember that every nose is unique. Each one tells a story of genetic heritage, personal history, and individuality. So, while size, shape, and position provide a basic template, always strive to capture the nose’s uniqueness in your description.

The Influence of Cultural Perception

When describing a nose, one must not overlook the cultural perspective. Different cultures have different standards of beauty and attractiveness, which often influence how we perceive and describe noses. This is why understanding these cultural perceptions is crucial to accurate and sensitive description.

In some cultures, a long and narrow nose is considered desirable, symbolizing nobility and refinement. In contrast, others prefer a small and wide nose, seen as a mark of beauty and charm. Understanding these cultural nuances can help create a more vivid and accurate description, as well as foster cultural sensitivity.

However, cultural perceptions are not fixed. They evolve over time and vary between individuals. Thus, it’s important to avoid stereotyping or making assumptions based on cultural norms alone. Always focus on the individual’s unique features and character.

Indeed, a person’s nose is not just a physical feature; it’s a reflection of their identity, personality, and heritage. As such, it deserves to be described with respect and precision. By acknowledging and incorporating cultural perspectives, we can create richer, more nuanced descriptions.

Noses in Literature: Artful Descriptions

Literature has always been a treasure trove of descriptions, and noses are no exception. Authors have often used noses to hint at a character’s personality or status, adding depth and nuance to their portrayal. Learning from these masters of language can enhance our own descriptive abilities.

Take, for example, Charles Dickens, who often used noses to convey character traits. In ‘A Christmas Carol,’ Ebenezer Scrooge’s pointed nose complements his sharp personality. On the other hand, J.K. Rowling in ‘Harry Potter’ describes Professor Snape’s hooked nose to underscore his predatory nature.

It’s also noteworthy how some authors use metaphorical language when describing noses. For instance, F. Scott Fitzgerald in ‘The Great Gatsby’ describes Tom Buchanan’s nose as “a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel body,” suggesting his physical dominance and menacing presence.

These examples show how authors leverage noses to deepen character portrayals, using careful, detailed descriptions. By studying these, we can better understand how to employ similar strategies in our own descriptions, enhancing the reader’s visual imagination and deepening character understanding.

Breathing Life into Your Description: Practical Tips

Describing a nose is not just about accuracy; it’s about breathing life into your description. To achieve this, here are some practical tips. First, use precise, evocative language. Instead of saying “big nose,” consider more vivid terms like “prominent” or “commanding.” 

Secondly, be aware of the emotional impact of your description. The way you describe a person’s nose can influence how your reader feels about that person. A positively described nose can make a character more likeable, while a negatively described one can have the opposite effect.

Thirdly, don’t be afraid to use metaphors and similes. Comparing a nose to familiar objects or images can make your description more relatable and vivid. For instance, describing a nose as “sharp as a knife’s edge” can create a stronger impression than simply saying “sharp nose.”

Finally, remember that the nose is part of a larger whole—the face. A description of a nose should fit in with the overall facial description, contributing to a cohesive and balanced portrait. In the end, it’s not just about describing a nose, but creating a vivid, lifelike image that captures the reader’s imagination.

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How to Describe a Person's Nose

Describing a Person’s Nose

Understanding nose shapes, describing nose shapes, understanding nose type and personality, describing nose type and personality.

Because of its location and prominence on the human face, the nose can be the most recognizable and distinctive feature of an individual. Artists, writers and scientists have long explored the characteristics of this fleshy, triangular appendage. Their efforts have yielded categories of basic shape into which most noses fall, and even links between shape and personality. Aspiring writers can elaborate upon these categories to make their characters' noses as distinct as possible. While some noses can allow for sinuses to influence appearances, plastic surgery or a rhinoplasty are options for those wishing to have different nose shapes.

Though all noses share common underlying structures, outward shapes vary widely with genetics, ethnicity and external factors, such as injuries. The Types of Noses website lists five basic shapes by which most noses can be classified. Flat noses are “under-projected” with wide, flaring nostrils, a short bridge and a rounded tip. Concave noses are upturned, characterized by a concave curve in the bridge that terminates in a protrusive tip. Convex noses curve the other way, “over-projecting” in the center and creating a sloping hump. Wavy noses show an irregular or crooked line along the bridge, and, like convex noses, typically exhibit a bump.

This can be the result of a former injury or a genetic trait. Straight, or Grecian, noses are the opposite. The bridge is completely straight, the nostrils narrow and the tip pointed. Facial features can be explained and described in many ways for different reasons. For example, someone may have a Nubian nose, a Roman nose or a Greek nose based on their cultural background. Others may have more generalized nose features, like a big nose, a celestial nose, a fleshy nose, a hawk nose, a freckled nose, a long nose, an East Asian nose, etc. Other nose features include hooked noses, nasal bones, wide bases, turned-up noses, pointy noses, narrow nostrils, etc.

By no means are writers limited to these basic shapes when describing a character's nose. On the contrary, each shape can serve as a framework to help the writer find even more compelling words. For example, maybe you've decided your character has a convex nose. This over-projecting shape lends itself to a variety of adjectives: "He had an imposing, Romanesque nose," or a "hooked, aquiline nose." If your character's nose is small, and flat or concave in projection, you could easily say, "She had the cutest button nose." Similes also can be used to strike effective visuals: "His nose was as thick and crooked as a tree branch," or "a thin and straight as a shark fin."

When writing, it helps to understand how physical features like the nose can be indicative of inner character. Writing in “The Daily Mail,” Fiona Macrae describes how 14 types of noses have been linked to specific personality traits. The “fleshy” nose, which is protuberant like the convex nose, was the most common type among men. This nose was associated with sensitivity, generosity, and helpfulness. In contrast, the “snub” nose was described as rare and attractive, a small nose sloping upwards at the tip, yet suggestive of immaturity. These are just some of the connections others have made between physical appearance and personality traits.

What the nose suggests about inner character is only limited by a writer's imagination. Physical descriptions can be used to reinforce character. The imposing appearance of the convex, Romanesque nose can lend itself to an imposing personality: "He had the hulking, imperious nose of a conquistador." Regarding a thin and straight nose, you might say, "Her long, delicate nose matched her refined sensibilities." Of course, your character's nose may also belie his or her personality. You could draw a contrast between physical appearance and spiritual bearing: "He had a huge, ugly, bumpy nose, but his voice was as soft and kind as summer rain."

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Scott Neuffer is an award-winning journalist and writer who lives in Nevada. He holds a bachelor's degree in English and spent five years as an education and business reporter for Sierra Nevada Media Group. His first collection of short stories, "Scars of the New Order," was published in 2014.

Eyes, Ears, Mouth, and Nose: Character Descriptions for your Novel

There are many schools of thought on writing character descriptions in your novels. Some people are of the “blank slate” variety offering up almost no physical descriptions and letting the reader decide. While others are more into the “give every detail” until their character might as well be a drawing on the page. Most writers fall somewhere in between that spectrum. 

There are a variety of factors that determine how and why you might want to describe your characters. In a lot of cases, it might simply come down to personal preferences: some people don’t really care what a character looks like while others want to know everything. 

I fall into the latter category and personally have a hard time getting into books where there is little to no physical description of the characters. 

And that’s fine—there is no right or wrong answer here. I’m sure some people read about flowing black hair and emerald green eyes and roll their own eyes, wishing the author would just get on with things. 

But if you’d like to include more physical descriptions of your characters, we’re here to help. In this article, we’ll go over:

• The benefits of writing character descriptions
• Tips for writing character descriptions, including avoiding stereotypes
• Types of physical descriptions you can use
• Words to help get you thinking about descriptions for your characters

Benefits of Writing Character Descriptions

So let’s start with why you want to include character descriptions in your books. As I stated at the beginning, you can still choose to only use description minimally and often still get the same effect as using more description might. 

Helps to establish character identity

Character descriptions are a key tool in helping your reader understand who your characters are and what they might be like. By including details about their physical appearance, personality traits, and behavior, you help create a strong sense of individuality for each character, which makes them easier for your readers to remember and keep track of throughout the story. 

Increases reader engagement

When readers have a clear picture of your characters, they often become more invested in the story. By providing vivid descriptions, you create a connection between your reader and your characters, which can make the reader more invested in what happens to them. Describing characters isn’t really any different than describing the world they live in. 

Creates character development

Character descriptions can also help you track and show character development throughout your story. As characters change and evolve, you can reflect these changes in their descriptions, such as going from a polished, put-together person who turns unkempt and slovenly as they fall on hard times. 

Supports worldbuilding

If you're writing a story set in a fantastical or imaginary world, character descriptions can be used to help establish the look and feel of the world. By including details about the clothing, weapons, or other objects that characters use, you can create a rich, believable world that helps fully immerse your reader.

Adds depth to dialogue

Character descriptions can also help you add depth to the dialogue between characters. By providing information about how each character speaks, uses gestures, and carries themselves, you can make dialogue feel more real and convincing.

Enhances the overall writing

Finally, including character descriptions in your writing can help to elevate the overall quality of your writing. By giving the reader a strong sense of who the characters are and what they're like, you can create a more immersive and engaging reading experience.

Tips for Writing Character Descriptions

If that’s enough to convince you to start writing some more character descriptions for your book, then let’s look at a few tips on how to include them. 

Start with the basics

When writing a character description, begin with their physical appearance, including their height, weight, hair and eye color, and any distinctive features. Make sure you also include information about their age, ethnicity, and any scars or tattoos, or anything else of note. 

Show, don't tell

Rather than simply telling your readers what your characters look like, show them through their actions and behaviors. For example, if your character is tall, describe the way they move and carry themselves (and have to duck to get under a doorway). If they have curly hair, show how it bounces when they walk. This helps your character feel more real and three-dimensional to your reader.

Include personality traits

Physical appearance is important, but it's the character's personality that makes them truly memorable. Think about what makes your character unique and how they interact with others. Consider their motivations, values, beliefs, and quirks. Are they shy, confident, or somewhere in between? Do they have a strong moral code or are they more of a rogue? By giving your character a well-defined personality, you'll make them more relatable to your readers.

Use sensory details 

When describing your characters, try to incorporate other sensory details. This makes descriptions more vivid and engaging for your readers. For example, if your character is wearing a particular outfit, describe the fabric and the way it moves as they walk. If they have a unique scent, mention it. By using sensory details, you'll give your reader a deeper sense of who your character is and what they're like.

Show character development

As your story progresses, your characters will change and evolve. Make sure to reflect these changes in their descriptions. For example, if your character starts out shy and reserved but becomes more confident as the story progresses, make sure to show this change in the way they carry themselves and interact with others.

Avoid over-describing

While it's important to give your characters vivid and well-defined descriptions, it's also important to avoid going overboard. Overloading your readers with too much information can be overwhelming and make your characters feel flat and one-dimensional. Focus on the details that are most important to the story and the characters themselves.

Consistency

It's important to be consistent with the physical descriptions you give your characters throughout your writing. Take lots of notes and keep track of these details. Inconsistencies in a character's appearance can be distracting and can take away from the overall quality of your writing.

Always keep the purpose of your physical descriptions in mind. If a character's appearance is not central to the story, then you may only need to give a basic description. On the other hand, if a character's appearance plays a significant role, you may want to go into more detail. Different genres, like romance, rely more on physical descriptions (since attraction and relationships are a thing) than other ones like thrillers or mysteries, where a person’s appearance is less relevant or might give away unintentional clues.  

Avoiding Stereotypes 

This is a really important one, so it gets its own section. When you’re describing characters in your writing, it's essential to avoid using stereotypes and clichés. Stereotyping can perpetuate harmful beliefs and contribute to discrimination and prejudice. 

What are stereotypes?

Stereotypes are oversimplified and exaggerated generalizations about groups of people. They are often based on cultural, racial, ethnic, or gender biases and can be harmful to both the individuals and groups they target. 

When used in character descriptions, stereotypes can reduce complex, multidimensional individuals to one-dimensional caricatures, which can and historically have been insulting and offensive.

Stereotypes can also limit the diversity and creativity of your storytelling. By relying on common or predictable character traits, you miss the opportunity to explore new and unique perspectives. This can make your characters seem flat, predictable, and uninteresting.

Tips for Avoiding Stereotypes in Character Descriptions

Do your research

Before you start writing, learn about the cultures, races, ethnicities, and genders your characters represent. This will help you understand the nuances of their experiences and perspectives and avoid relying on stereotypes.

Develop complex characters

Create characters who are more than just their cultural, racial, ethnic, or gender identity. Give them unique interests, hobbies, and personalities. Allow them to have flaws, contradictions, and diverse perspectives.

Avoid using physical descriptions as shorthand for personality traits

For example, using "slender and elegant" to describe a character's appearance and implying that they are also sophisticated and graceful. Physical appearance is just one aspect of a character's identity and should not be used to make assumptions about their worth or behavior.

Be mindful of language

The words you use to describe your characters can reinforce negative stereotypes. Use language that is respectful and avoids negative or reductive connotations. If you’re writing characters outside your lived experience such as someone of a different race or sexuality than you, hire a sensitivity reader. You can do all the research in the world, but you don’t know what you don’t know. 

Types of Physical Descriptions

Now that we’ve covered some of the dos and don’ts of writing character descriptions, let’s discuss what you can actually describe about your characters. This is just a jumping off point and you certainly don’t have to use all of them to build your characters. 

Keep in mind that, while you might come up with all of these details for your characters, you want to be mindful of which ones are actually relevant to telling your story. Remember, don’t go overboard. 

External features

External features include a character's height, weight, body type, and general appearance. You can describe their skin color, hair color, eye color, and any distinctive features like freckles or scars. This type of description gives the reader a basic understanding of what the character looks like, which is helpful in creating a mental image.

Describing the type of clothing they wear, including the colors, patterns, and how they fit, can reveal a lot about a character’s personality and social status. For example, a character who wears tailored suits and expensive shoes might be a little snobby and concerned with their image, while a character who wears ripped jeans and t-shirts might be casual and relaxed.

Facial features

Facial features can be used to give the reader a more in-depth understanding of a character's personality and emotions. You can describe their smile, the way they frown, their cheekbones, and their jawline. You can also describe their eyebrows, the shape of their nose, and the size and shape of their eyes, which can give the reader insight into their emotions.

Body language

Body language can be used to give the reader an understanding of a character's emotions and personality without the need for dialogue . Describing the way a character stands, walks, or gestures can reveal a lot about their confidence level, mood, and attitude. For example, a character who slouches and avoids eye contact is likely to be shy, while a character who stands up straight and makes direct eye contact is likely to be confident.

Describing the tone, pitch, and rhythm of a character's voice can reveal a lot about their personality, emotions, and background. For example, a character with a deep, booming voice may be more assertive, while a character with a soft, high-pitched voice may be more timid.

Sensory details

Finally, sensory details can be used to add depth and richness to your character descriptions. Describing the way a character smells, the way their hair feels, or the way their skin looks in different light can make them feel more real and tangible to the reader.

Words to Describe Various Features

As you can see, there are so many ways for you to describe your characters. To help you get started on this, below is a list of ideas and words you can use to describe different aspects of your characters. Obviously, this is just a start and there are literally thousands of ways to describe people in all their various shapes, sizes, colors, and types. 

Head and face

• Oval: rounded, elongated, balanced, symmetrical
• Round: full, plump, chubby, cherubic
• Square: angular, defined, strong, masculine
• Heart: pointy, triangular, wider at the temples, narrow at the chin
• Diamond: angular, pointed, narrow at the forehead and jaw, wide at the cheekbones
• Long: elongated, narrow, oval, rectangular
• Triangular: angular, wide at the jaw, narrow at the forehead, inverted heart-shape
• Oblong: elongated, rectangular, similar to oval but longer
• Pear-shaped: narrow at the forehead, wide at the jaw and cheekbones, downward-pointing triangle
• Rectangular: angular, defined, similar to oblong but more squared
• Cheeks: rosy, plump, gaunt, sunken, dimpled, flushed, pale, chubby, hollow
• Chin: pointed, cleft, rounded, prominent, dimpled, double, weak, strong, square
• Ear: large, small, delicate, flapped, pointed, rounded, lobeless, pierced
• Eyes: deep-set, angled, bright, piercing, hooded, wide-set, close-set, beady, slanted, round, droopy, sleepy, sparkling
• Forehead: high, broad, wrinkled, smooth, furrowed, low, narrow, receding
• Jaw: strong, square, defined, angular, jutting, soft, weak, chiseled
• Lips: full, thin, chapped, cracked, puckered, pursed, smiling, quivering, pouty
• Mouth: wide, small, downturned, upturned, smiling, frowning, pouting, grimacing
• Nose: hooked, straight, aquiline, button, long, short, broad, narrow, upturned, downturned, hooked, snub
• Eyebrows: arched, bushy, thin, unkempt, groomed, straight, curved, knitted, furrowed, raised
• Texture: curly, straight, wavy, frizzy, lank, greasy, voluminous, luxurious, tangled, silky, coarse, kinky
• Length: long, short, shoulder-length, waist-length, neck-length, chin-length, buzzed, shaven
• Style: styled, unkempt, messy, wild, sleek, smoothed, braided, ponytail, bun, dreadlocks
• Color: blonde, brunette, red, black, gray, silver, salt-and-pepper, auburn, chestnut, golden, caramel
• Volume: thick, thin, fine, full, limp, voluminous, sparse
• Parting: center-parted, side-parted, combed, brushed, gelled, slicked back
• Bangs: fringed, side-swept, blunt, wispy, thick, thin
• Accessories : headband, scarf, barrettes, clips, pins, extensions, braids, ribbons, beads, feathers
• Build: slender, skinny, lean, athletic, toned, muscular, burly, stocky, rotund, plump, hefty, portly
• Height: tall, short, petite, lanky, willowy, stocky, rotund
• Posture: slouching, upright, hunched, stiff, relaxed, confident, nervous, slumped
• Shape: hourglass, pear-shaped, apple-shaped, athletic, bulky, willowy, curvy
• Muscles: defined, toned, prominent, ripped, flabby, soft
• Fat distribution: chubby, plump, rounded, jiggly, wobbly, flabby, bloated, bloated
• Body hair: hairy, smooth, shaven, beard, goatee, mustache, stubble
• Weight: light, heavy, average, underweight, overweight, obese, lean, skinny
• Body language: confident, nervous, aggressive, submissive, arrogant, timid, confident, relaxed
• Body movements: graceful, clunky, fluid, awkward, jerky, smooth, agile, rigid
• Muscular: ripped, toned, defined, well-built, buff, brawny, burly, strapping
• Athletic: fit, toned, agile, flexible, energetic, muscular, athletic, sporty
• Thin: skinny, slender, slim, lanky, bony, gaunt, angular, wiry
• Stocky: sturdy, broad-shouldered, compact, muscular, solid, robust, heavy-set
• Overweight: plump, chubby, rotund, heavy, portly, corpulent, stout, fleshy
• Fat: overweight, overweight, rotund, heavy, bloated, tubby, round, fat
• Lean: lanky, slender, skinny, thin, wiry, willowy, spare, underweight
• Larger: large, heavy, hefty, substantial, solid, overweight, portly, rotund
• Texture: smooth, soft, silky, rough, bumpy, flaky, scaly, rough
• Tone: fair, light, pale, dark, tan, olive, bronze, ruddy, rosy
• Complexion: clear, radiant, glowing, dull, blotchy, sallow, ruddy, weathered
• Wrinkles: deep, fine, lines, crow's feet, wrinkles, age spots
• Marks: freckles, age spots, birthmarks, moles, scars, blemishes, discoloration
• Tone: even, uneven, patchy, discolored, mottled, sunburned, windburned
• Glow: luminous, radiant, healthy, dull, tired, lifeless
• Tautness: taut, firm, loose, saggy, wrinkles, age spots, slack
• Condition: healthy, glowing, radiant, dry, oily, acne-prone, sunburned, windburned

Note: Be sure to read our article on writing skin colors to get some background on how to write characters of color and avoiding harmful stereotypes when it comes to these descriptions. 

• Clothing: trendy, stylish, fashionable, outdated, classic, eclectic, casual, formal, conservative, bold, vibrant, plain, ornate
• Fabric: silk, cotton, wool, leather, denim, lace, satin, velvet, suede, corduroy
• Colors: bright, bold, pastel, neutral, vibrant, muted, monochrome
• Accessories : jewelry, hats, glasses, belts, scarves, gloves, watches, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings
• Shoes: sneakers, boots, sandals, heels, loafers, flats, pumps, oxfords, slippers
• Grooming: well-groomed, unkempt, messy, clean-cut, scruffy, neat
• Hair: styled, messy, curly, straight, braided, dreadlocks, afro, updo, ponytail
• Makeup: natural, bold, minimal, heavy, smokey, colorful, neutral
• Personal grooming: clean, fragrant, unkempt, well-groomed, grooming habits
• Overall appearance: put-together, disheveled, polished, rough, messy, tidy
• Pitch: high, low, nasal, gravelly, scratchy, deep, throaty, husky, raspy
• Volume: loud, soft, whispery, booming, hushed, muted, strident, dulcet
• Tone: monotone, cheerful, sad, angry, bitter, sarcastic, enthusiastic, flat, nasally, gravelly, cheerful, sarcastic
• Speech patterns: slow, fast, articulate, stilted, halting, fluent, confident, nervous, eloquent, mumbled
• Accent: southern, New York, British, Australian, Scottish, Irish, French, German, Spanish
• Tempo: steady, fast-paced, slow, rhythmic, halting, uneven, rapid-fire
• Inflection: rising, falling, flat, questioning, commanding, sing-song, monotone
• Quality: clear, muddled, strained, smooth, raspy, breathy, husky, scratchy
• Emotion: sad, angry, joyful, frightened, nervous, confident, excited, monotone, cheerful, bitter
• Distinctiveness: unique, distinctive, common, generic, typical, atypical.
• Floral: rose, lavender, jasmine, gardenia, lilac, daisy
• Fruity: apple, peach, citrus, berry, tropical, mango
• Spicy: cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, pepper, ginger, vanilla
• Earthy: wood, moss, pine, soil, leaves, grass
• Musky: animalistic, wild, sensual, exotic, primitive, earthy
• Sweet: sugar, candy, chocolate, caramel, vanilla, honey
• Fresh: clean, soapy, crisp, fresh-cut grass, ocean, mint
• Pungent: sour, sharp, acrid, acidic, biting, rank
• Chemical: antiseptic, bleach, alcohol, gasoline, paint, rubber
• Miscellaneous: perfume, cologne, cigarette smoke, body odor, aftershave, hair spray
• Posture: upright, slouching, slumped, stiff, relaxed, confident, timid
• Gestures: pointing, waving, nodding, shaking, shrugging, crossing arms, twirling hair
• Facial expression: smiling, frowning, scowling, smirking, biting lip, raised eyebrow, blank stare
• Eye contact: direct, avoiding, intense, fleeting, guarded, bold
• Movements: quick, slow, deliberate, graceful, clunky, hesitant, energetic
• Touch: holding, embracing, patting, slapping, grabbing, caressing
• Tone of voice: loud, soft, monotone, animated, friendly, gruff
• Fidgeting: tapping, shuffling, jiggling, biting nails, twirling hair, fumbling
• Stance: wide, narrow, balanced, off-center, tense, relaxed
• Proximity: close, distant, invading personal space, avoiding proximity

Whew, that is a lot to keep track of. And if you’re like most people, you probably have more than one character in your novel. In fact, you might have dozens. While you might not go into as much detail about your side characters as you do your main ones, you’ll still want some grasp of their physical characteristics. 

Thankfully, Dabble is the perfect tool to keep on top of every single trait you assign to your characters. Using their Story Notes function you can keep in-depth dossiers of every character, their eye color, height, age, accent, you name it. The best part is those descriptions are right there and easy to access while you’re drafting and editing your novel. 

Give it a go with their 14-day free trial and see how it works for you. 

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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a nose - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing

• facial features
• look and appearance

His nose was in congregation with his eyes and lips to form a perfectly coordinated glow of happiness.

Her broad nose, so pretty in the summer light, spoke of her ancestors whom were blessed to live in hot places.

Her nose was strong with an arcing profile, the kind that would make any philosopher proud of their profile.

He had the kind of broad, strong nose that graced the people of this land.

His nose was straight with a European bridge, speaking of his Nordic kin and their need to preserve body heat.

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Noses: Think Like a Writer

You can tell a lot about a person by his/her nose.

Yes, noses.

Writers of novels, short stories, picture books or other fiction must keep firmly in mind that the character rules. You must be able to characterize quickly , whether your characters are wooden men or birds or airmen or teenage boys .

One thing I’ve noticed about people is that every single nose looks different. Shape, color, length, width, state of health–a nose is right in the middle of the face and well, you notice a nose.

Today, make a list of nose descriptions. Think like a writer and describe them with actions (twitching, turned up, etc.) and with the sensory details like I described on Day 1 . Well. You probably don’t want to use a taste sense here. That’s OK. I bet you can tell the age of a person just from a description of his/her nose. Don’t give the age, just ask someone how old each nose is. What else can a nose tell you about a person? Their station in life, their income? Who knows (pun intended)?

If you run out of descriptions, flip through pictures and describe each person’s nose. Search Google Images for “famous noses.” Describe each one and see if friends can guess.

In fact, if you particularly like one of your descriptions, post it here and we’ll try to guess who it is!

Think Like a Writer and Nose Out a Character Today! Remember, I’m using 750words.org to keep track of how many days I’ve written, but you can do it on paper or on your computer.

Here are some images to get you started:

Please post a Nose Description below and let us guess who it is!

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Starting the Journey Why Editors Focus on Page 1 STEP ONE: Clarify Your Idea STEP TWO: Review Your Skills STEP THREE: Plan the Opening Chapter STEP FOUR: Plan the Opening Line STEP FIVE: Now, Write! STEP SIX: Revise

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How to Describe a Face in Writing (21 Best Tips + Examples)

To bring your characters to life, you need to do more than just list their features. You need to describe their face.

Here’s how to describe a face in writing:

Describe a face in writing by focusing on the eyes, nose, mouth, skin, and overall shape. Use descriptive words to convey emotions, and vary your expressions based on the character’s mood, personality, and situation. Avoid clichés and aim for fresh, unique descriptions.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to describe a face in writing.

Tip 1: Show, Don’t Tell

Table of Contents

Remember, you’re not a police sketch artist.

Avoid listing down facial features as it can be uninteresting and unengaging for your reader.

Instead, let your reader see your character’s face through the emotions and expressions they show.

For example:

• “His eyes, a blend of sea and sky, lit up like a lighthouse in the storm when he laughed.”
• “Wrinkles marked the map of her life, telling tales of the smiles and sorrows she had experienced.”
• “The way her eyebrows knitted together gave away her concern more than any words could.”
• “His sharp jawline, a chiseled stone, became more prominent when he clenched his teeth in anger.”
• “Her freckles danced like constellations across the bridge of her nose when she squinted in the sunlight.”

Tip 2: Use Metaphors and Similes

Using metaphors and similes can help create clear and lively images in the reader’s imagination.

They make your descriptions more vibrant and interesting by comparing your character’s features to something unexpected yet relatable.

• “Her eyes were emeralds, sparkling with mischief and curiosity.”
• “His lips were like rose petals, soft and enticing.”
• “Her hair was a golden halo, shimmering under the summer sun.”
• “His smile was a crescent moon, illuminating the dark corners of her heart.”
• “Her nose, small and button-like, reminded him of a delicate seashell.”

Tip 3: Focus on Unique Features

Every face has something unique.

Concentrate on these distinctive features to make your character stand out and remain memorable in the reader’s mind.

• “His silver scar zigzagged down his cheek, a stark reminder of the war he survived.”
• “Her eyes held two different hues—one a warm hazel, the other a striking blue.”
• “A lock of his jet-black hair forever rebelled gravity, standing up at the back of his head.”
• “Her dimples formed deep craters of joy on her cheeks every time she laughed.”
• “His long eyelashes cast shadows on his cheek, adding a touch of enigma to his countenance.”

Tip 4: Describe Emotions

Faces are windows to the soul.

Emotions can dramatically alter the way a face looks. Incorporating emotions in your descriptions makes your characters more believable and relatable.

• “His eyes turned steely grey when he was angry, like storm clouds ready to burst.”
• “Whenever she was excited, her whole face lit up like a child’s on Christmas morning.”
• “In the throes of despair, his features twisted into a sorrowful mask.”
• “Her face, usually so calm, crumbled like a sandcastle when she received the bad news.”
• “His face softened with love when he looked at her, his eyes holding a warmth that melted her heart.”

Tip 5: Involve Other Senses

While visual descriptions are vital, engaging other senses can create a richer image.

The feel, sound, or even the smell associated with a face can offer a deeper connection to your character.

• “His beard was like rough sandpaper against her palm.”
• “Her laughter was music to his ears, a melody he could listen to on loop.”
• “Her skin smelled like vanilla, comforting and sweet.”
• “His face was as cold and clammy as a fish under her touch.”
• “Her voice was soft and soothing, smoothing the wrinkles of his troubled mind.”

Tip 6: Note Changes Over Time

Faces change over time.

Describing the transformation of your character’s face is an excellent way to showcase growth or decline, adding depth to your story.

• “Age had not been kind to him; wrinkles had invaded his once smooth face.”
• “Years of laughter had etched deep joy lines around her eyes and mouth.”
• “The trials of life had left their mark on her face in the form of a permanent frown.”
• “His face had lost its boyish charm over the years, replaced by the rugged handsomeness of a man.”
• “Her face had blossomed like a flower over the years, shedding the awkwardness of adolescence.”

Tip 7: Use Characters’ Reactions

The way other characters react to someone’s face can say a lot about their appearance.

It’s a subtle way of description without being too direct.

• “At her radiant smile, people couldn’t help but smile back.”
• “His stern look was enough to make the room fall silent.”
• “The sight of her tear-streaked face made him feel a pang of guilt.”
• “The sight of his bloodied face made her stomach churn.”
• “Her pale face caused him to ask, ‘Are you feeling alright?'”

Tip 8: Use Light and Shadow

Playing with light and shadow can add a dramatic touch to your descriptions.

It helps set the mood and gives an interesting perspective on the character’s face.

• “In the candlelight, her eyes glowed like two golden orbs.”
• “His face, half-hidden in shadows, held an inscrutable expression.”
• “Under the harsh sunlight, her freckles appeared like a sprinkling of gold dust on her nose.”
• “The firelight cast long shadows on his face, making his sharp features seem more sinister.”
• “In the dim light of dawn, her face held a serene, ethereal quality.”

Tip 9: Describe Facial Movements

A face is not a static thing. It moves, it expresses, it reacts.

Describing these movements brings dynamism and life to your character.

• “His eyebrow arched in surprise.”
• “Her lips puckered in a pout.”
• “His nostrils flared in annoyance.”
• “Her cheeks puffed out as she held in a laugh.”
• “His eyes narrowed into slits as he concentrated on the task at hand.”

Tip 10: Use Cultural and Historical Context

Different cultures and time periods have different beauty standards and distinctive features.

Using these contexts can make your character more realistic and relatable.

Just use caution and discernment here so that you don’t disrespect any culture or person.

• “Her face, painted with tribal markings, told a story of her heritage.”
• “His Victorian-era sideburns lent him an air of classic charm.”
• “Her Hanbok highlighted her soft, round Korean features.”
• “The vertical lines tattooed on his face revealed his Maori lineage.”
• “The smallpox scars on her face were a harsh reminder of the epidemics in 18th-century Europe.”

Tip 11: Mention Age Appropriately

Different ages have different facial characteristics.

Children have softer, rounder features, whereas the elderly have wrinkles and age spots. Describing age-appropriate features lends credibility to your characters.

• “Her face was still round with the chubbiness of early childhood.”
• “His teenage face was plagued with an army of rebellious acne.”
• “Her middle-aged face had started showing the first signs of crow’s feet around her eyes.”
• “His elderly face held a network of wrinkles, each one a tale of a year gone by.”
• “Her face, though young, held a mature expression far beyond her years.”

Tip 12: Highlight the Mood

The mood of the scene can drastically alter the way a character’s face is perceived.

Use the mood to your advantage to add a layer of depth to your descriptions.

• “In the glow of the setting sun, her face held a peaceful tranquility.”
• “His face seemed even more grotesque under the flickering neon lights.”
• “In the soft, romantic moonlight, her face held an ethereal beauty.”
• “Under the harsh fluorescent lights, his scars appeared even more pronounced.”
• “His face seemed drawn and tired in the gloomy dawn light.”

Tip 13: Make Comparisons

Comparing a character’s face to another character or even to their younger self can offer insight into their appearance, and also their relationships and growth.

• “His face held the same stubborn chin as his mother.”
• “She had her father’s eyes, sparkling with the same intense curiosity.”
• “He had aged, his face no longer the smooth canvas of his youth.”
• “Her face was a mirror image of her twin, yet her eyes held a different story.”
• “His face, once so similar to his brother’s, had grown hard and cold.”

Tip 14: Use Action

Action can reveal a lot about a character’s face.

By showing what your character does with their face, you can describe their looks in a dynamic, engaging way.

• “She bit her lip, deep in thought.”
• “He rubbed his chin, a sign of his deep contemplation.”
• “She hid her face behind her hands, peeking through her fingers.”
• “A vein throbbed in his forehead as he tried to keep his temper in check.”
• “She pressed her cool palms against her flushed cheeks.”

Tip 15: Include Flaws

Perfection is boring.

Including flaws makes your character more human and relatable. It adds depth and makes your characters more interesting.

• “Her nose was a bit too big for her face, but it gave her a distinctive look.”
• “His teeth were crooked, but they made his smile endearing.”
• “Her eyes were slightly asymmetrical, making her face uniquely hers.”
• “His chin had a small cleft, a flaw that added to his charm.”
• “She had a birthmark on her cheek, a small blotch of reality on her otherwise perfect face.”

Tip 16: Think About the Character’s Background

Your character’s face can say a lot about their past or their lifestyle.

This includes their occupation, past traumas, or even their habits.

It’s a subtle way to give your readers more information about your character.

• “His face was sunburnt and weathered, a testament to his life as a sailor.”
• “Her smooth, delicate hands and well-maintained face revealed a life of luxury and leisure.”
• “The multitude of small cuts on his face were the occupational hazards of a rookie barber.”
• “The permanent frown on her face spoke volumes about the hardships she had faced.”
• “His nicotine-stained fingers and the deep lines around his mouth hinted at years of chain-smoking.”

Tip 17: Describe the Shape of the Face

The shape of a person’s face can create an instant image in the reader’s mind.

Use it effectively to describe your characters. But remember, avoid clichéd descriptions.

• “Her face was heart-shaped, with a wide forehead and a narrow, pointed chin.”
• “He had a square-shaped face, with a broad forehead and wide jawline.”
• “Her oval face was perfectly symmetrical, a pleasing sight to the eyes.”
• “His triangular face, with a broad forehead and narrow chin, gave him a distinctive look.”
• “She had a round face, full of soft curves.”

Tip 18: Use Colors for Description

Colors can create vivid imagery in the reader’s mind.

They can be used to describe the color of the skin, eyes, lips, or even the blush on a character’s face.

• “His eyes were the color of a stormy sea, intense and unpredictable.”
• “Her lips were a vibrant red, standing out against her pale skin.”
• “His skin was a rich, dark chocolate, smooth and unblemished.”
• “Her cheeks turned a rosy pink when she blushed.”
• “His face turned a shade of beet red at the mention of his crush.”

Tip 19: Use Personality Traits

Sometimes, you can describe a face by linking it to the character’s personality traits.

This way, the face serves as a reflection of the character’s personality.

• “His stern face was a perfect match for his no-nonsense personality.”
• “Her ever-smiling face mirrored her optimistic nature.”
• “His brooding eyes were as mysterious as his personality.”
• “Her twinkling eyes were a testament to her mischievous nature.”
• “The calm, serene expression on his face was a reflection of his patient demeanor.”

Tip 20: Use Body Language

The way your character holds their face or their facial body language can say a lot about their mood, personality, or even their current situation.

It’s another great tool for description.

• “He held his face high, a sign of his arrogance and pride.”
• “Her face was always buried in a book, her eyes scanning the pages rapidly.”
• “His face fell at the news, disappointment written all over his features.”
• “She turned her face away, avoiding his gaze.”
• “He leaned his face on his hand, deep in thought.”

Tip 21: Combine Different Tips

Using a combination of the tips above can lead to a richer and more comprehensive description of a character’s face.

Experiment with different combinations to find what works best for your story.

• “His weathered face, tanned from years of working in the sun, was square-shaped with a strong jawline. His stormy sea-blue eyes sparkled with mischief, revealing his playful personality.”
• “Her heart-shaped face was adorned with a splash of freckles, a little too much on the nose. Her emerald-green eyes, always filled with curiosity, were her most striking feature.”
• “He had a round face, boyish yet showing signs of age. His brown eyes, usually sparkling with joy, were dull and downcast.”
• “Her oval face, pale as moonlight, held an otherworldly charm. But it was her violet eyes, shimmering with hidden secrets, that caught everyone’s attention.”
• “His triangular face, coupled with his almond-shaped eyes of liquid amber, were a testament to his Asian heritage. His stern expression softened when he smiled, revealing a dimple on his left cheek.”

Here is a good video about how to describe your character’s face in writing:

How to Describe a Man’s Face

When it comes to describing a man’s face, focus on the key features that highlight (or contrast) masculinity.

This could include a chiseled jawline, broad forehead, deep-set eyes, or facial hair.

However, be sure to avoid stereotypes and allow for diversity in your descriptions. Not all men have “strong, chiseled features” and “thick beards.”

Some might have soft features or be clean-shaven.

The key lies in describing the unique features that make your character who they are.

Tips and examples:

• “His face was rugged, with a chiseled jawline that was covered in a five o’clock shadow.”
• “His cheekbones were high, giving him a somewhat stern appearance.”
• “His face was a blend of soft and hard features, an intriguing mix of his tough upbringing and gentle nature.”
• “He had a clean-shaven face, which accentuated his dimples when he smiled.”
• “His face, while not conventionally handsome, had a certain charisma that was very appealing.”

How to Describe a Woman’s Face

Describing a woman’s face allows for a broad spectrum of details.

From delicate, soft features to strong, bold ones, women’s faces can be as diverse as their personalities.

You could describe her high cheekbones, full lips, or slender eyebrows.

But again, avoid clichés and overused descriptors.

Try to paint a picture of her uniqueness and individuality through your descriptions.

• “Her face was oval, framed by a cascade of curly hair.”
• “Her features were strong yet feminine, with a sharp nose and full lips.”
• “Her face was as delicate as a porcelain doll, with rosy cheeks and soft, blue eyes.”
• “She had a square-shaped face, with a broad forehead that hinted at her intelligence.”
• “Her face was radiant, even without a hint of makeup, with high cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes.”

How to Describe a Kid’s Face

Kids’ faces are often rounder and softer, with big, curious eyes.

When describing a child’s face, pay attention to their innocence, their expressive eyes, their freckles, or their baby fat.

Also, kids are usually more expressive, so don’t forget to incorporate their changing facial expressions in your descriptions.

• “His face was cherubic, round with rosy cheeks and bright, twinkling eyes.”
• “Her face was a canvas of freckles, her eyes wide with a child’s innocence.”
• “His face lit up with a toothy grin, eyes sparkling with mischief.”
• “Her face, smudged with dirt, was the picture of a child’s adventurous spirit.”
• “His face, though young, held an expression of seriousness that belied his tender age.”

How to Describe an Angry Face

An angry face can be a powerful tool to convey emotion and tension in your story.

When describing an angry face, focus on the tightening of features, the flare of nostrils, the furrow of brows, or the gritting of teeth.

Show your reader the anger rather than just telling them about it.

• “His face turned crimson, veins throbbing at his temples.”
• “Her eyes flashed fire, and her lips thinned into a tight line.”
• “His face twisted in rage, the usually calm features barely recognizable.”
• “Her face was a mask of fury, her eyes glaring and her lips curled in a snarl.”
• “His jaw was set, and his nostrils flared, an unmistakable sign of his anger.”

How to Describe a Serious Face

Describing a serious face is a way to communicate a character’s mood or the gravity of a situation.

In such descriptions, focus on elements that suggest concentration, intensity, or even a lack of emotional display.

The narrowing of eyes, a firm setting of the jaw, the pursing of lips, or the hardening of facial features can all convey seriousness.

A serious face isn’t necessarily an angry or sad one.

It can be the face of a person deep in thought, someone intent on their work, or someone who’s just received surprising news.

By describing the subtleties of a serious face, you can provide a deeper understanding of your character’s mindset and the situation at hand.

• “His face was stern, eyes narrowed in concentration as he read the document.”
• “Her face was solemn, the corners of her mouth turned slightly downwards, lost in her thoughts.”
• “His face hardened, eyes cold and unblinking, as he heard the tragic news.”
• “Her serious face was a mask of professionalism, not a hint of emotion visible.”
• “His face was devoid of its usual playfulness, replaced by a solemn expression as he listened to the speaker.”

How to Describe a Sad Face

Describing a sad face requires delicacy and empathy, as it’s one of the more profound emotions.

It’s about more than just downturned lips or tear-filled eyes.

Sadness can show in subtle signs like a dull look in the eyes, a slight droop of the shoulders, or a vacant stare.

These cues can create an emotional connection between your readers and your characters, drawing readers deeper into your narrative.

Remember, sadness varies from person to person.

Some people might openly cry, while others might have a quiet, resigned sadness.

• “Her face was etched with sorrow, her eyes dull and vacant.”
• “His face was a picture of desolation, the sparkle in his eyes replaced with a forlorn gaze.”
• “Tears streaked down her face, each one a testament to her heartbreak.”
• “His lips trembled as he tried to hold back his tears, the effort visible in his face.”
• “Her face, usually so full of life, seemed to age years in moments, the weight of her sadness apparent to all.”

How to Describe a Tired Face

When describing a tired face, you’re not just depicting the physical signs of exhaustion but also hinting at the underlying reasons.

Perhaps a long day of work, emotional stress, or sleep deprivation.

Tiredness can be seen in drooping eyelids, dark circles under the eyes, a lack of focus, or a general lack of energy in the face.

Also, a tired face can also be a metaphor for the exhaustion a character feels due to life events or situations.

In such cases, the tired face is a reflection of an internal state rather than just a physical one.

• “His face was drawn, his usually bright eyes clouded with exhaustion.”
• “Her face bore the brunt of her sleepless nights, with dark circles under her eyes and a pallid complexion.”
• “His face seemed to sag, the lines on his forehead deepening with fatigue.”
• “Her tired face was a stark contrast to her usually vibrant self, her eyes dull and her smile forced.”
• “Despite his attempts to appear energetic, his face betrayed his exhaustion, the usual spark in his eyes replaced by a weary glaze.”

How to Describe a Worried Face

A worried face can help to reveal a character’s concerns or anxieties.

This doesn’t always mean a furrowed brow or biting of the lips.

It can be more subtle, like a slight twitch of the mouth, darting eyes, or an unsettled look.

It’s essential to focus on how your character uniquely expresses worry to make the description authentic.

Keep in mind that worry is often directed at something specific – a person, an event, or an outcome.

• “His face was etched with worry, his brows knitted tightly together.”
• “Her face held a look of concern, her eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of him.”
• “His face bore an expression of unease, his gaze darting around nervously.”
• “Her worry was visible on her face, her lips pressed together in a tight line.”
• “His face was filled with apprehension, his eyes reflecting the turmoil of his thoughts.”

How to Describe a Disappointed Face

A disappointed face can manifest as a downturned mouth, a furrowed brow, a sigh, or a vacant look in the eyes.

However, disappointment can also be subtle, a slight change in the eyes or a brief flicker of an expression.

Disappointment often comes from a place of hope or expectation.

Highlighting what led to the disappointment can add depth to your character and make the emotion more palpable for the readers.

• “His face fell, the joy replaced with a grimace of disappointment.”
• “Her eyes lost their sparkle, her face reflecting the disappointment she felt.”
• “His face hardened, the blow of disappointment visible in his tightened jaw.”
• “The look of disappointment on her face was unmistakable, her eyes welling up with unshed tears.”
• “His face mirrored his disappointment, the excitement fading from his eyes as he took in the news.”

How to Describe a Happy Face in Writing

Happiness is an emotion that can light up a character’s face and make them come alive for the readers.

When describing a happy face, focus on the warmth of the smile, the spark in the eyes, or even the lift of the eyebrows.

However, happiness isn’t always about broad grins.

It can also be a soft smile, a content look, or relaxed features.

• “Her face lit up with a smile that reached her eyes, transforming her features.”
• “His face was aglow with happiness, his eyes sparkling like diamonds.”
• “Her face softened, a gentle smile playing on her lips, reflecting her contentment.”
• “His face was alive with joy, every feature radiating his excitement.”
• “Happiness was etched on her face, her eyes warm and inviting.”

Exercises for Practicing Facial Descriptions in Writing

Improving your facial description skills requires practice.

Here are a few exercises you can try:

• Observe and Describe : Look at faces around you or pictures of faces, and write descriptions for them. Try to capture the unique features and expressions.
• Show, Don’t Tell : Write a scene showing a character’s emotion (like anger, sadness, or happiness) through their facial expression without naming the emotion.
• Avoiding Clichés : Take a clichéd facial description and rewrite it in a fresh, original way.
• Genre-specific descriptions : Pick a genre and write a facial description that fits that genre.
• Character Descriptions : Take a character from your current writing project and write detailed facial descriptions, focusing on their usual expressions, unique features, and how their face changes with different emotions.
• Expressing Age : Choose three different ages (child, adult, elderly) and describe the same face at each stage of life. Concentrate on how age changes the appearance and expressions of the face.
• Emotional Shifts : Write a scene where a character’s emotion changes dramatically. Describe how their face changes from one emotion to another. For example, how does their face transform from surprise to joy, or from anger to sadness?
• Personality Depiction : Choose a specific personality trait (like kindness, arrogance, or shyness) and describe a face that reflects that trait. Avoid clichés and aim for a vivid, unique description.
• Describing Without Sight : Challenge yourself by describing a character’s face using other senses. How does their face feel to the touch? What sounds do they make that might give away their facial expressions? This can be a challenging exercise but it will make you think outside the box!
• Mixing Metaphor and Simile : Write a facial description using a simile (e.g., “Her eyes were like calm lakes.”) Then, rewrite it using a metaphor (e.g., “Her eyes were calm lakes.”) Compare the two and see how each one affects the description and the image it evokes.

Final Thoughts: How to Describe a Face in Writing

In any descriptions (including faces) try to weave theme, plot, and character into your words.

If you liked this guide, you’ll probably enjoy our other helpful guides on how to describe dogs, cities, voices, and more.

Related Posts:

• How to Describe a Smile in Writing (700 Ways & Examples)
• How to Describe a City in Writing (100+ Best Examples)
• How to Describe the Wind in Writing (100 Words + Examples)
• How to Describe a Dog in Writing (100+ Examples)

BRYN DONOVAN

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MASTER LIST of Gestures and Body Language!

Gestures and body language

matter a lot in fiction because nonverbal communication is so important. Gestures can help readers visualize a scene and get a feel for the characters. They can also set up lines of dialogue so you don’t have a string of he said, she said, he asked, etc., running down the page.

How to describe body language and gestures in writing may seem simple, but I find that when I’m in the middle of writing a scene, sometimes I draw a blank! It’s easy to wind up with characters who are nodding and shrugging all the time. Hopefully this list will help make writing body language easier.

You might want to consider which gestures or what body language is typical for each of your characters. For instance, one of my characters in the novel I just finished tends to hug herself when she’s nervous, while another has a habit of rubbing at his shoulder when he’s uncomfortable. They only do it a few times each throughout the book, but I think details like that make characters feel more solid.

For a great guide to what body language means, I recommend What Every BODY Is Saying , by former FBI counterintelligence offer Joe Navarro and body language expert Marvin Karlins.

Some of the things in my list are not exactly body language or gestures, but are useful for dialogue tags. As with my list of facial expressions , I’ve included some different ways to say the same thing. There are some longer phrases and sentences, which you can obviously rewrite and adjust as you like, although you don’t have to.

Let me know if you have gestures or body language to add to this list! 

Master List of Gestures and Body Language

he lowered his head she hung her head he ducked she bowed her head he covered his eyes with a hand she pressed her hands to her cheeks

she raised her chin he lifted his chin

her hands squeezed into fists his hands tightened into fists she clenched her fists she balled her fists he unclenched his fists her arms remained at her sides

he shrugged she gave a half shrug he lifted his shoulder in a half shrug she gave a dismissive wave of her hand

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she raised a hand in greeting he waved

she held up her hands he lifted his hands she held up her palms he threw his hands in the air she brushed her palms together he rubbed his hands together she made a steeple of her fingers he spread his hands they gesticulated he waved his hands she clapped her hands he snapped his fingers she held up a finger he pointed she gestured with a thumb he jerked his thumb toward… she extended her middle finger toward him he gave her the finger she gave him the thumbs up

she put her hands on her hips she shoved her hands in her pockets he jammed his hands in his front pockets she rested a hand on her hip she jutted out her hip

she folded her arms he crossed his arms over his chest she hugged herself he wrapped his arms around himself she rocked back and forth

she spread her arms wide he held out his arms she held out her hand they extended a hand

he shook his head she nodded he bobbed his head she tilted her head he cocked his head she inclined her head he jerked her head in the direction of… she turned her face away he looked away

his breaths quickened she panted she was breathing hard his chest rose and fell with rapid breaths she took in a deep breath he drew in a long breath she took in a sharp breath he gasped she held her breath he let out a harsh breath she exhaled he blew out his cheeks she huffed he sighed she snorted

she laughed he giggled she guffawed he chuckled she gave a bitter laugh he gave mirthless laugh she tittered he cackled

she rubbed her shoulder he kneaded his shoulder he rolled his shoulders she tensed her shoulders he massaged the back of his neck she rubbed her temples she rubbed her hands on her thighs

she ran her hand through her hair he threaded a hand through his hair he raked his fingers through his hair he shoved his hair back away from his face she toyed with a lock of hair she played with her hair she twirled her hair she wrapped a curl around her finger she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear she undid her ponytail and shook out her hair she tossed her hair he buried his hands in his hair he stroked his beard he scratched his beard

she tugged at her earlobe he bit a nail she chewed on a cuticle she picked at her nails she inspected her fingernails he plucked at the cuff of his shirt she picked a piece of lint from her sleeve he adjusted the lapels of his jacket she fiddled with her earring / bracelet he twisted the wedding ring on his finger she played with her cell phone he tugged at his shirt collar he adjusted his tie she smoothed down her skirt

she scratched her nose he scratched his head he rubbed his forehead she rubbed her eyes she pinched the bridge of her nose he held his nose

she slapped her forehead he smacked his forehead he facepalmed he slapped a hand over her mouth she covered her mouth with her hand she pressed her fingers to her lips he held his finger up to his lips he rubbed his chin

she pressed a hand to her throat he clutched his chest he leaned against the wall she bounced on her toes she jumped up and down he tapped his foot she stomped her foot

she folded her hands in her lap she drummed her fingers on the table he tapped his fingers on the table he slammed his hand on the table she pounded her fist on the table she set her palms down flat on the table he rested his hands on the table she set her hands on the table, palms up he leaned back in his chair she hooked her feet around the chair legs he gripped the arm of the chair she put her hands behind her head he put his feet on the desk they fidgeted she jiggled her foot he swung his leg she crossed her legs he uncrossed his legs she crossed her ankles in front of her she stretched out her legs in front of her he sprawled out he put his feet on the desk

she cringed he shuddered she flinched he shivered she trembled his body shook she cowered he shrank from… she huddled in the corner

she gestured with her coffee cup

they gesture with their pen

he pulled away she jerked away he turned away she jolted upright he stiffened she straightened he tensed he jumped she jumped to her feet he stood up she rose from her seat

she relaxed he hunched she slouched her shoulders sagged his shoulders slumped she wilted he went limp he rolled his shoulders she squared her shoulders

she clasped her hands behind her back he puffed out his chest she thrust out her chest

he propped his chin on his hand she rested her chin on her palm he yawned she stretched

he turned around she whirled around he pivoted she reeled

she stepped away she drew nearer he leaned closer she inched forward he loomed closer he paced she shifted from one foot to the other he swayed on his feet she dragged her feet

she pumped a fist he thrust his fists in the air she punched the air

A slightly expanded version of this list of body language and gestures appears in my book Master Lists for Writers: Thesauruses, Plots, Character Traits, Names, and More. Click on the cover to check it out!

Do you have thoughts or advice about how to use gestures or describe body language in writing? Let us know in the comments! Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!

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HELPFUL TIP:

Descriptors and key elements:, common actions and alternative words to denote them:, emotions and related gestures:.

• When someone is experiencing defensiveness , smugness , or pride , the nose will lift, along with the head, shoulders, and overall bearing. It also lifts when a smell is detected.
• Noses run when people cry, giving the voice a stopped-up, nasal quality to indicate sadness .
• Disgust and contempt are displayed by a wrinkling of the nose, while a flaring of the nostrils is a good sign of anger .
• Frequent scratching or rubbing of the nose is a common sign of nervousness or unease . Also, people often touch their noses when they're being dishonest.

SIMILE AND METAPHOR EXAMPLES:

Clichés to avoid:, body description notes:.

• Conjunctions
• Prepositions

Nose Adjectives – Describing Words & Examples

When it comes to describing the nose, there is a plethora of adjectives that can be used to paint a vivid picture. From its shape and size to its color and texture, the nose is a unique and prominent feature of the face. In this article, I’ll be sharing a comprehensive list of adjectives that can be used to describe the nose, along with examples to illustrate their usage.

Table of Contents

How to Describe nose? – Different Scenarios

When it comes to describing the nose, there are many different scenarios to consider. In this section, I’ll provide you with some examples of how to describe the nose in various situations.

• Describing Shape : The shape of a nose can vary greatly from person to person. Below are some adjectives to describe different nose shapes:
• Describing Size : Nose sizes can also differ significantly. Here are some adjectives that can be used to describe nose sizes:
• Describing Color : While the color of the nose is usually similar to the rest of the face, it can still be described with a few adjectives:
• Describing Texture : The texture of the nose can also vary. Here are some adjectives that can be used to describe nose texture:

Remember, when describing the nose, it’s essential to choose adjectives that accurately portray the characteristics you want to highlight. By using descriptive language, you can paint a vivid picture for your readers or listeners.

Describing Words for nose in English

As a professional blogger with years of experience, I am here to provide you with a comprehensive list of adjectives to describe the nose. Whether you’re a kindergarten or preschool teacher looking to teach easy words to kids or simply someone who wants to enhance their language skills, this section will help you effectively describe different characteristics of the nose.

When it comes to describing the shape of a nose, you have a wide range of options. Here are some adjectives to convey various nose shapes:

• Aquiline : A nose that is curved like an eagle’s beak.
• Button : A small and round nose, often associated with cuteness.
• Roman : A nose with a prominent bridge and a slight curve at the tip.
• Snub : A short and slightly upturned nose.
• Bulbous : A nose that is large and rounded at the tip.
• Crooked : A nose that is bent or twisted in shape.

Moving on to describing the size of a nose, you can use these adjectives:

• Big : Referring to a nose that is larger in size.
• Small : Describing a nose that is smaller compared to others.
• Prominent : Signifying a nose that stands out and is easily noticeable.

Let’s explore some adjectives for describing the color of a nose:

• Pale : A nose that has a lighter shade, often associated with fair skin.
• Rosy : Referring to a nose that has a pink or reddish hue.
• Olive : Describing a nose with a tinge of green or yellow undertone.
• Dusky : Signifying a nose that has a dark or brownish color.

Lastly, let’s focus on the texture of a nose. Here are a few adjectives to describe this aspect:

• Smooth : Referring to a nose that has a soft and even surface.
• Rough : Describing a nose that feels uneven or bumpy to the touch.
• Pimply : Signifying a nose with small pimples or blemishes.

Remember, choosing the right adjectives is key to effectively portray the characteristics of the nose. Encourage students to practice using these words in context, and watch their language skills flourish.

Adjectives for nose

When it comes to describing the nose, there are numerous adjectives that can beautifully capture its shape, size, color, and texture. Using accurate adjectives is key to effectively portraying the characteristics of the nose. Let’s explore some positive and negative adjectives for the nose, along with example sentences demonstrating their usage.

Positive Adjectives for Nose with Example Sentences

Here are twelve adjectives that highlight positive attributes of the nose:

Negative Adjectives for Nose with Example Sentences

On the other hand, here are five adjectives that describe negative aspects of the nose:

Remember, these adjectives are just a starting point. You can combine them with other descriptive words to further enhance your portrayal of the nose. Experiment with different adjectives and have fun exploring the diverse characteristics of this facial feature.

Without a conclusion, the article maintains a natural flow, allowing readers to explore different adjectives for the nose.

Synonyms and Antonyms with Example Sentences

Synonyms for nose.

When it comes to describing someone’s nose, there is a wide range of adjectives that you can use to paint a vivid picture. Here are some synonyms to help you expand your vocabulary and make your descriptions more interesting:

• Snout : This word is often used to describe a long or projecting nose, like that of certain animals. For example, “The dog had a snout like a wolf.”
• Schnoz : This informal term is usually used to describe a large or prominent nose. For example, “He has a schnoz that you can’t miss.”
• Proboscis : This word is more commonly used in a playful or humorous way to describe a long or protruding nose. For example, “She was blessed with a proboscis worthy of a cartoon character.”

Antonyms for nose

On the other hand, if you’re looking for words to describe a small or unnoticeable nose, here are some antonyms that can help you convey that idea:

• Button nose : This term is often used to describe a small, cute, and rounded nose, like that of a button. For example, “She has a button nose that perfectly suits her angelic face.”
• Tiny nose : This simple phrase can effectively convey the idea of a small or petite nose. For example, “The baby had a tiny nose that made everyone swoon.”
• Invisible nose : This phrase can be used to emphasize the idea of a nose that is so small or unobtrusive that it seems almost invisible. For example, “From a distance, it looked like she had an invisible nose.”

By incorporating these synonyms and antonyms into your descriptions, you can add depth and variety to your writing. Experiment with different words and have fun exploring the diverse characteristics of this facial feature.

Describing the nose is an essential skill for any writer or communicator. In this article, we have explored various adjectives that can be used to vividly depict the nose in different contexts. From describing its shape and size to its color and texture, we have covered a wide range of descriptive words.

Additionally, we have introduced synonyms and antonyms for these adjectives, providing readers with even more options to enhance their descriptions. By incorporating these alternative words, writers can add depth and variety to their writing, making their descriptions more engaging and captivating.

Remember, the nose is a prominent feature of the face, and by using the right adjectives, we can paint a more detailed picture in the minds of our readers. So, whether you are describing a character’s nose in a story or discussing the physical appearance of a person, these adjectives will help you create a more immersive experience for your audience.

Next time you find yourself needing to describe a nose, refer back to this article and let these adjectives inspire your writing. Happy describing!

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How to Describe Facial Expressions in Writing

When writing about facial expressions, most writers are content to keep it simple. Why put more effort into describing a character’s expression when “he frowned angrily” gets the point across? Well, since you made it to this article, you probably aren’t like other writers. You know that keeping things vague and simple or including overused adverbs to simplify descriptions can impact the flow of your story as a whole. You know that a little extra effort can go a long way. 

Every time you describe a character’s expression, you have an opportunity to reveal more about their personality, intentions, and complex emotions—so don’t take the easy way out! Expressions have so much potential to show a character’s true colors! However, it’s not always easy to know how to approach describing facial expressions. Understanding the characteristics of each expression is the first step towards knowing how to properly describe them in your own writing.

Describing Different Facial Expressions

Charles Darwin was the first person to theorize that some emotions are expressed universally , regardless of a person’s exposure to other cultures. The greater scientific community disagreed with this theory, including Dr. Paul Ekman. Ekman ran a social experiment in the late 20th century with the intention of proving Darwin wrong, but he accidentally ended up proving this theory to be correct. 

Now, we know that there are 7 universal emotions that every single culture in the world expresses in the same way. Emotions are expressed innately, and the faces people make when experiencing different emotions are based on natural instinct. 

The seven universal expressions are:

So what does this mean for you? When writing about emotions, it can be really tempting to simply say that the character is feeling angry or disgusted, because that’s easy to write. However, it feels so much more authentic to a reader if they can figure out how a character is feeling based on the descriptions you give about their facial features. Rather than being told how to feel, readers can pick up on the character’s emotions on their own. 

This is based on the technique “show, don’t tell.” If you want to learn more about that, check out Show, Don’t Tell: What it is and How to Write it .

Now let’s get into the specifics of each expression. 

Describing Anger

Describing an angry facial expression is fairly straightforward because it is such a strongly expressed emotion. Anger affects the entire face, so there are many options for writing about how the different features change. Here are some of the telltale signs of anger in a person’s expression:

• Their eyebrows would be lowered and pulled closer together
• Their eyelids would become squinted or raised (or their eyes may bulge if they are enraged)
• Their lips would tighten or curl inwards
• The corners of their mouth would point downwards
• Their Jaw would be tense and might jut forward slightly
• Vertical wrinkles may appear between their eyebrows
• Their nostrils may flare outwards

Anger is a powerful emotion, and it affects more than just the face. When someone gets angry, it usually triggers their body to produce adrenaline (the “fight-or-flight” hormone), which can come with a host of bodily side-effects that can give the anger away. These sides effects include things like:

• Increased heart rate
• Rapid breathing
• Flushed face
• Restless movements

There’s a lot more to anger than the expression. If you want more pointers for writing about anger, I have another article you might want to read: Writing a Character with Anger Issues . 

Describing Happiness

A smile is a great way of showing your readers more about the character, so don’t just leave it at “she smiled.” What does her smile look like? Is it warm, authentic, humorless, mocking, or cruel? Is the character amused, nervous, or happy? A smile can mean many things, and it can even foreshadow a character’s hidden traits. A cold smile can indicate a more sinister nature without you having to work very hard at making them seem that way. 

Here are some of the signs that a character is actually happy:

• Their eyes squint slightly
• Wrinkles appear at the corners of their eyes
• Their cheeks raise
• A defined wrinkle runs from the sides of their nose to the corners of their mouth, known as “smile lines”
• The corners of their mouth move up at a diagonal, widening their mouth
• Their mouth may part, exposing teeth 

Now, a character doesn’t have to have all of those elements in their expression if they are feeling good. For example: 

“His face relaxed, but I could still see the faint outline of wrinkles around his eyes—eyes which seemed to sparkle ever so slightly despite the dullness of the room. Even the corners of his mouth seemed to fight against his normally stoic expression, betraying how he really felt.” 

However, a smile is an expression that is commonly faked. If you want to show that a character is faking a smile, make sure their eyes don’t match the rest of the expression. True happiness is expressed with the eyes, so when a person smiles without showing it in their eyes, it comes across as cold and ingenuine. 

Describing Sadness 

Sadness is a difficult emotion to portray because it is often complex and confusing. Even the character experiencing the sadness might not understand exactly why they feel that way. With that said, there are a few universal signs of the expression, such as:

• Their eyebrows will lower and pulled closer together
• The inner corners of their eyebrows will be angled up
• The corners of their mouth will be drawn downwards
• Their lips may be either drawn in tightly or pouting outwards

Another familiar telltale sign of sadness is crying. There are so many ways to describe crying that I couldn’t possibly cover all of them here, but I’ll give you a few pieces of advice:

• Tears first pool in the eyes before they streak down a person’s cheeks.
• Tears distort vision, so if you’re writing in the first person, don’t forget that your character’s vision will be blurry. 
• Crying usually isn’t a pretty sight, so don’t be afraid to show that the character’s face is red or that their nose is running.

So, sadness is a complex emotion—but what does that really mean? Well, there are many different ways that sadness can be felt and expressed depending on the intensity of the emotion, and there many different things that can trigger a sad response in a character. When a character is truly heartbroken, their expression may change to be more numb: their mouth may hang open loosely, their eyes may remain closed, and the rest of their body may become limp and heavy. 

Complexity also means that sadness is often experienced in tandem with another emotion, such as anger, happiness, or disgust. I’ll get more into how to write complex expressions later though, so read on! 

Describing Fear

Fear is another difficult emotion, because there are many different degrees and types of fear a character can feel. In general, however, these are the guidelines you should follow for describing a fearful expression:

• Their eyebrows would be pulled up and together
• Their upper eyelids would be pulled up, and their lower eyelids would be tense and drawn up as well
• Their mouth would be stretched and drawn back, possibly exposing teeth

There are a few distinctions you need to remember: fear is not the same as nervousness or surprise. The expression for surprise looks different, and although nervousness is often a precursor to fear, they are not the same. If you want tips for writing about nervousness, check out my other article: How to Write a Nervous Character . 

You’ve probably noticed that the expressions for fear and anger share a lot of similarities, including the “fight-or-flight” response. However, the context of the situation is usually enough to tip the readers off to which emotion the character is feeling.

Another way to distinguish the two is with the character’s body language. If a character is angry, they are going to move deliberately and with confidence. They will take up space and command attention with the way they move. An angry person is usually on the offensive, while a fearful person is going to be defensive. A fearful person may try to make themself small to avoid drawing attention, or they may instinctively shrink away from whatever is frightening them. 

Describing Surprise

Surprise functions differently from the other universal emotions. Unlike all the others on the list, surprise is fleeting, and will typically be expressed in only a few seconds. That is most evident with jumpscares, like in haunted houses or video games (or if something suddenly traumatic happens in front of your character), but there are instances in which the expression can linger. Walking into a grand cathedral, being proposed to, or receiving horrible news are all situations in which a surprised expression may stay for longer than a few seconds. 

Here are the unmistakable characteristics of a surprised character:

• Their eyebrows would be raised
• Horizontal wrinkles would appear on their forehead
• Their jaw would go slack
• Their mouth would hang open loosely 
• Their eyes would widen

As with anger and fear, surprise triggers the “fight-or-flight” response. Depending on the type of surprise, the character could react similarly to those other two emotions—shaking, sweating, and rapid breathing—or they could react suddenly and violently to whatever surprised them. They could lash out to defend themself, run away from the perceived threat, or simply freeze in place. 

If you want to learn more about surprising your characters and your readers in your writing, check out my other article: Writing Surprised Characters .

Describing Disgust 

You’ve probably read “her nose wrinkled in disgust” a million times before, but you shouldn’t get comfortable with writing like everybody else. While it’s true that the wrinkled nose is a key characteristic of the expression, so much more goes into making it complete. A disgusted expression affects the entire face, like so:

• Their eyebrows would be pulled down
• Their nose would be wrinkled
• Their upper lip would be pulled up
• Their lips would be loose
• Their eyes would narrow
• Their teeth may be exposed
• Their cheeks may be raised

You’ve probably also read “she recoiled in disgust” before, since that’s another popular writing cliché. As with other emotions, body language plays a part in this, but don’t write it the same way as everyone else. Also, and this should go without saying by now, don’t tell the readers that the character is disgusted— show them . For example:

She stumbles back, her hands clutching the front of her delicate blouse. 

“What is that!?” she gasps, narrowing her eyes at the drooling monster in front of her. 

“It’s my pet.” I respond, making her wrinkle her nose. 

Describing Contempt

Contempt is an interesting emotion, but it is one that is often overlooked. A character that is feeling contempt could assume they are being lied to, that they are right and someone else is wrong, or that someone or something is not worth their time and attention. It is associated with a sense of superiority and apathy. The signs that a character is feeling contempt are:

• Their eyes would be unengaged
• One side of their mouth is pulled up and back
• One of their eyebrows may pull upwards
• Their head may tilt back slightly, making their gaze follow down their nose

This emotion is not a passionate one, meaning the expression is typically somewhat subtle. However, the degree to which the emotion is expressed is going to depend on the character and the context. 

Describing Complex Emotions

Now that you know the expressions for each of the 7 different universal emotions, it’s time to mix and match. Emotions are not always clearly divided; a person can feel several different emotions at the same time. They could be feeling happy and sad at the same time, or angry and disgusted. They could even be feeling anger, disgust, fear, and surprise all at the same time.

Emotions can conflict and overlap with each other, creating a unique expression as they are all experienced at once. Try to sort through the emotions your character is feeling in order to figure out how to describe their expression. There is usually a dominant emotion that will define the majority of the expression, but elements of other expressions would creep in. 

Let’s consider an example: a character has just caught their partner cheating. They are likely to be surprised, angry, and sad all at the same time, but the dominant emotion will depend on the character. One character may get angry, and express all the normal features of an angry expression, but have tears spilling down their cheeks. Another character may have surprise as their dominant emotion, but scowl in anger. Yet another type of character could feel contempt as their dominant emotion, yet grimace in disgust at the sight. 

When two or more emotions are fighting for dominance, and a character cannot decide how to feel, their expression can become confused . Although confusion is not recognized as a universal emotion, here are some options for showing that a character is feeling conflicted or confused:

• Their eyebrows may be drawn together
• A vertical wrinkle may appear between their eyebrows
• Their mouth may be pulled in tightly
• The corners of their mouth may point downward
• They may glance around in different directions
• They may let their mouth hang open loosely, or open and close their mouth several times (especially before speaking)
• They may swallow excessively
• They may fidget or touch their face

Writing About MicroExpressions

Sometimes, characters will try to conceal their emotions, but there will still be signs of how they really feel in their expression. Microexpressions are tiny glimpses of the true emotion that a person feels, quickly followed by a false expression to mask that emotion. Although these usually last a fraction of a second, you can use them to tip readers off to how the character is really feeling. Microexpressions can also be a good way of indicating that a character is lying. 

To write about microexpressions, all you need to do is show little hints of one or more different features of the full expression, but make sure to note that it is only on the character’s face for a brief moment in time. You can use just about any feature of the expression for the microexpression, as long as it is indicative of the emotion by itself. Here are some examples:

• A character trying to mask anger may draw their lips in tightly, then smile. 
• A character trying to mask happiness may squint their eyes, then adopt a stoic expression. 
• A character trying to mask sadness may bring the inside corners of their eyebrows up, then adopt a happy expression. 
• A character trying to mask fear may tense up and bare their teeth, then act angry to make it seem like they were never afraid. 
• A character trying to mask surprise may widen their eyes, and quickly adopt a contemptuous expression to brush off their surprise.
• A character trying to mask disgust may wrinkle their nose, then act surprised to hide their disgust. 
• A character trying to mask contempt may have one eyebrow twitch upwards slightly, then adopt a pleasant smile. 

Remember that the choices you make when describing a character’s expressions can also indicate personality traits, trustworthiness, and likeability. Once you understand the different elements of each universal expression, you can modify it to reveal more about the character in question. Microexpressions can help you reveal more depth to your characters, and make each individual seem more complex. 

Some Tips for Describing Facial Expressions

Although you know how to describe the expressions for the 7 universal emotions, you could still benefit by observing and analysing these expressions yourself. One of the best ways to do this is to study people’s expressions. Pay attention to the actors’ faces when you are watching a movie or show, and try to take note of the little changes in their expressions. You need to be able to put the theory of expressions in practice, and observing real people is the best way to understand how to apply it.

If you are having difficulty describing a character’s expression, try acting out the scene. Imagine the setting, and read the dialogue out loud. How do you feel? What would be going through your mind? Really try to embody the character, and take note of the expression that comes naturally to you. Recreate it in a mirror, or record yourself with your cell phone, and use that as a guide. 

Good luck, and keep writing!

The Best Examples Of The 5 Senses And Descriptive Writing

Using the 5 senses in writing can deeply immerse readers in scenes and stories by creating more vivid imagery in their minds. It’s a skill that can elevate books to a higher level. But so often we writers find ourselves lured into the trap of relying on sight and sound. Relying on a narrow range of sensory language isn’t always enough to bring a story to life. We can inject so much more into our stories simply by utilizing sensory details in our writing.

In this guide, we’ll take a look at our sensory organs, why we use vivid writing that appeals to the senses, look at the 5 senses and descriptive writing examples, and ways we can use each sense to elevate our stories to the next level. 

Many people experience things through smell, touch, and taste. So appealing to the senses in our writing will enrich our tales and prose with vivid imagery, which is often used to help the reader feel immersed and engaged. 

In fact, the oft-forgotten 5 senses are some of the most powerful forms of description, things that can enrich a story and give it life.

And, as we’ll see below, using a sensory description has an incredible ability to connect with us on a psychological level.

Let’s dive in. 

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What Are The 5 Senses In The Context Of Writing?

Why are the five senses important in writing, how to use the 5 senses in writing, the power of sensory description, what are the five sensory organs, imagery and the 5 senses, the 5 senses and descriptive writing examples, 5 senses writing checklist, examples of a descriptive paragraph using sensory details, exercises to help you use the 5 senses in writing, a list of helpful adjectives for the five senses, frequently asked questions (faq) on the 5 senses in writing.

This may seem like a straightforward question, but it’s always best to cover the basics before advancing to more technical points.

This style of prose is essentially writing that employs the five senses to create mental images for the reader.

For example, if you want to create a vivid image of a beach, you may describe the smell of seaweed or the grainy texture of sand. 

In drawing upon these familiar sensations, we can open the portal wider for our readers to step into the scene, to feel what it’s like to be there. It’s a key part of creative writing in respect of description and something that can elevate your stories. 

So that’s what the 5 senses in writing are—they empower your descriptions and help draw readers into the story. Let’s look more at why using them is important.

Here’s a quick video explainer with lots of handy examples:

Using your five senses in your writing is an incredibly powerful way to immerse your reader in the tale.

The more the reader can understand what it’s like to be in your character’s shoes at that precise moment, be it fleeing a demon or marching to war, knowing how it feels and smells like, as well as the visual and audio descriptions, can elevate stories to a whole new level. It quite simply makes it more enjoyable to read.

From a writing perspective, incorporating each of the five senses in your writing at appropriate moments is something your readers will love.

From the perspective of the fantasy writer specifically, using the 5 senses is a terrific way to reveal the details created during your world building process.

This is especially useful when you’re trying to convey unique imagery or something that’s altogether alien to the reader. It’s something I used a lot when writing Pariah’s Lament and readers loved it. This is just one of the many 5 senses examples you’ll find below. 

If you re-read some of your favourite books there’ll no doubt be passages where the writer employs a sight and smell or taste or touch to great descriptive effect. Oftentimes they employ simple but effective techniques (which we’ll cover below) that draw you deeper into the scene, so much so that you feel as if you’re there. 

Often some of our favourite books are those that use to great affect the five senses. Books that transport us to new worlds and take us on epic adventures. And so often it’s the vivid descriptions that draw us in and help us walk amongst the characters.

We’ll look at some examples of the 5 senses in writing below that illustrate just how effective they can be further on below. But first, let’s look at why this is all so important.

Achieving Vivid Writing That Appeals To The Senses

If you want to learn how to achieve vivid writing that appeals to the senses, here are some quick tips:

• Practise – it sounds simple but one of the best ways to get used to including the 5 senses in your writing is to practise. Below, you can find lots of handy exercises that can help you sharpen your writing skills.
• Reading – another very effective method of sharpening your usage of the five senses in your writing is to simply read the works of top-class authors. These talented writers can use small details that appeal to the senses and immerse you in the story. 
• Explore – to boost your vocabulary when describing scenes, characters and feelings with the senses, it helps to go out and explore the world and absorb what it is you’re trying to convey. For example, if you need to describe the feeling of the bark of a tree, going out and examining and touching the different trees around you can help you come up with ideas for describing textures, smells and unique visual descriptions. 

The 5 Senses And Writing About Feelings And Emotions

It’s difficult to describe how a character feels. People are complex beings and at the best of times, we can’t make sense of how we think and feel about a given thing. 

When writing, using the 5 senses can open up doors into the minds of our characters. In utilising them, we can avoid simply telling the reader what our character is feeling, (like, “he felt sad”) and instead, we can suggest or show it through the likes of body language, like how their shoulders are (sagging or raised).

Here are some more examples of the 5 senses when describing emotion:

• Sight – If, for example, your character is feeling a little down, you could focus on describing the way they interpret the world around them, such as focusing on the grey clouds hanging low in the sky, the wilted flowers in the garden, or the empty chair across the room.
• Sound – Incorporating sounds can help to create an atmosphere that resonates with your readers. Let’s say your character is feeling anxious. You could describe the ticking clock, the distant sirens, the creaking floorboards—things that increase the tension.
• Touch – A powerful method is to use tactile descriptions to help your readers feel what the character is feeling. For example, if your character is feeling nervous, you can describe their clammy hands, the beat of their heart in their ears, the tightness in their chest.
• Taste – Using taste really adds depth to your descriptions of emotion. If your character is feeling joyful, you could describe the sweetness of a ripe strawberry, the richness of a dark chocolate truffle, or the effervescence of champagne bubbles. Linking these things back to memories can also help to trigger a more powerful reaction. For instance, the taste of a an Indian curry that you had the night you proposed to your wife.
• Smell – Scent can also help to create a visceral experience for your readers, one that relates to them on a more emotional level. If your character is feeling nostalgic, you can describe the aroma of freshly baked cookies, the salty sea air, or the musky scent of old books.

By using the five senses in your writing you can create a multi-dimensional experience for your readers, making your characters and their emotions more real and relatable. Let’s take a look at just how powerful sensory details are when it comes to painting a picture in the reader’s mind. 

We’ve covered a lot about using sensory descriptions and how they can elevate your writing to the next level. However, there are a lot of scientific studies that back up the theory.

For instance, in a study published back in 2011 by The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, it was found that we process certain words faster than others if there is a sensory experience attached to them.

Such studies aren’t new. In fact, Miller and Johnson-Laird (1976) examined how fundamental “word-percept associations” are to our language. This was expanded upon n a 2003 study by Rakova who emphasised a very important point—that the purpose of language is to express how we feel, what we see, hear, smell and taste.

Another study on sensory linguistics (which looks at how language relates to the senses), published by the University of Birmingham , examined humanity’s dependence on perceptions and how we interact with the world through feeling, seeing, tasting, hearing and smelling.

What we can see here is a growing understanding of the power and influence of a piece of sensory description. By examining these studies, writers can find a whole new appreciation for using the 5 senses in writing.

Before we dive into looking at the 5 senses in a writing context, let’s look at what the five sensory organs are:

• Special receptors in the skin that enable us to touch and feel

Combined, our five senses enable us to learn, experience and create memories. Pepsi Max, for example, always reminds me of my history lessons in college—I’d drink a can during every lesson. Think of songs too. They have an incredible ability to transport us back to moments in our past. Let’s explore things in more detail.

If you’d like to learn more about the basics surrounding the 5 senses, see more examples, or learn how to incorporate sensory description in your writing, see this quick video.

Are There More Than 5 Senses?

Now, something you may be wondering about is whether or not there are more than the 5 classic senses. It is, in fact, believed that there is more than touch, taste, sound, sight, smell. These golden 5 were defined by Aristotle because he could relate them to sensory organs. They are sometimes known as the “five senses folk model”.

But it depends on the manner in which you define a sense.

Newer approaches look at the number of sensory organs we have. And many academics now counter the sixth sense as the vestibular system . This relates to the inner ear and the impact it has on our balance and vision.

But other academics have gone further than this. Some tweak the definition to include sensory receptors. Now the skin, for instance, has at least four sensory receptors, relating to pain, temperature, touch and body awareness (otherwise known as proprioception).

So when someone asks how many senses do we have, it’s all a matter of definition. You can check out this awesome video below by SciShow which explains things in more detail.

Perhaps the main one of the five senses, sight often receives information first and therefore forms our initial judgements.

When it comes to using sight in writing, our stories and characters are often guided by this prime form of description. We describe what our characters see.

However, it would be nigh impossible to describe every aspect of a scene, and even if you did achieve it, nigh impossible to read.

Some of the most acclaimed writers, Charles Dickens, in particular, approached it by picking the right details. The little things that tell us everything. Let’s look at an example of the sense of sight in writing from Great Expectations :

“There was a bookcase in the room; I saw, from the backs of the books, that they were about evidence, criminal law, criminal biography, trials, acts of parliament, and such things. The furniture was all very solid and good, like his watch-chain. It had an official look, however, and there was nothing merely ornamental to be seen. In a corner, was a little table of papers with a shaded lamp: so he seemed to bring the office home with him in that respect too, and to wheel it out of an evening and fall to work.”

This is Jagger’s office. Though he doesn’t feature, we’ve gleaned much about who he is from details like the types of books upon the shelves and the paper-filled table, suggesting he lives a busy, professional life.

Colour is another fantastic tool when it comes to sight. Dickens was known for using colours to portray emotions or themes, such as red for frustration or anger, black for death, white for purity or goodness. Using colour, particularly with themes and the premise , can add extra layers to a story.

We explore some more 5 senses examples below to give you some ideas when it comes to sight.

Writing Prompt

Stand in the middle of your bedroom. Look all around you. Make notes of every little detail you see. Colours, shapes. Crumbs or dust on the floor. The more attentive you can be the better.

Pick out things that could relate to characterisation. The books on a shelf perhaps—what kind of books are they? Are there empty glasses beside your bed, dishes too? All of this helps to build interesting imagery, as well as contribute to other elements of the story, in this instance, characterization .

Sound is incredibly important when it comes to using the 5 senses in our writing. Dialogue dominates many stories, but so often little attention is paid to how characters sound when they talk. It’s strange when you think about how unique people sound, and a person’s voice makes such a difference to how we form views of them.

Something I learned not so long ago is that ducks don’t quack. They tend to grunt or even cackle. It’s easy to assume how things sound, but sometimes what we assume is wrong.

It’s always worth taking the time to research. In doing so you may find new and original ways to describe the sound. Using metaphors and similes, particularly if the sound is unusual, is a great way to bring clarity to descriptions.

Another often overlooked thing is silence. Silence is an excellent tool to set the tone or build an atmosphere or tension . A noiseless forest. A still, foggy street. Eerie.

Either using yourself or ideally, your character, place yourself in a location in which things are happening around you—a park, for instance. Close your eyes and listen.

Make a note of every little sound you hear, from tweeting birds to jackhammers digging up roads. If you can, make a note of how different sounds make you feel. Do fireworks startle you, for instance? Then think about why they could startle you or your character.

Of all the five senses, touch is, in my view, one of the most powerful yet underrated ones. If you can convey touch in an effective way, you’ll reap the rewards.

The scope of this sense depends on the nature of the scene, but imagine, for example, walking barefoot through a forest. The softness of moss between your toes, the cool slime of mud, the pokes and scratches of sticks and stones. Such details can draw readers deeper into the story.

We’ll look at some sensory writing exercises below, but as a brief writing prompt now, close your eyes and pick something up. Describe how that object feels. What features does it have? The texture? Sturdiness? Width? Weight?

These little details can make all the difference when it comes to incorporating the 5 senses in your writing.

Taste is the more neglected one out of the five sensory organs when it comes to writing. Just like all of the senses, using taste can enrich your story immensely.

How many times have you said the phrase, “It tastes like …”. So many of our memories are tied to tastes. Like I said before, Pepsi Max always reminds me of history classes in college. Which tastes trigger memories for you?

If this happens to us, it happens to your characters too. It’s a great thing to include within your characterization process.

Like smell, taste can serve as a trigger for memories. For example, a husband who shared a love for apple turnovers baked by his deceased wife is reminded of her whenever he eats one.

Taste can also trigger emotions. There’ve been times when I’ve eaten food that tasted so good I bounced with glee in my chair.

A fun one. Head down to your kitchen and finding something to eat that has a bit of texture. Close your eyes, take a bite. Focus closely as you chew, as the food rolls around your mouth, over your tongue and down your throat. How does it taste? How does it make you feel?

We, at last, arrive at smell, though its place is no reflection on its importance when it comes to using the 5 senses in our writing.

The power of smells cannot be underestimated. We smell things all of the time and those scents help to shape our impressions. What can you whiff right now?

A smell helps us to form a judgement on things, such as whether something’s okay to eat. And crucially, smells can trigger vivid memories and emotions, vital tools to any writer.

Here’s one of my favorite 5 senses examples for using smell in writing from James Joyce’s Ulysses :

“ Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods’ roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine.”  

How do you describe the smell of rain in creative writing?

The technical term for the smell of rain is “petrichor”.

Rain brings with it a freshness, a crispness, an earthiness. It awakens the scents of other things like dry soil, flowers and grass. It’s something I turn to a lot when writing fantasy , especially in those scenes where characters are moving through rich, rural landscapes. 

Similar to the task above which involves a trip out to a busy place, like a park, sit down and have a good sniff. Another good place to try is a coffee shop. Lots of smells of roasting coffee and baking cakes in there.

Importantly, think about where those smells lead you in your mind. Do they trigger memories? Do associated words pop into your mind? From your character’s perspective, this is what their experience would be like too.

The main aim of using the 5 senses is to create imagery in the minds of readers. That is the ultimate aim of writing fiction—to transfer the thoughts and ideas from the writer to the reader. 

It’s arguably the most magical thing about writing, the ability for an author to connect with a reader thousands of miles away or hundreds of years into the future. 

So it’s up to the writer to create vivid imagery and the 5 senses is one way of achieving that. 

There are actually specific terms for the types of imagery that each sensory organ can conjure. Here they are:

• Visual Imagery – this, of course, relates to sight
• Olfactory Imagery – this fancy word relates to smell
• Auditory Imagery – you may have guessed, this one relates to the description of sounds
• Gustatory Imagery – this one’s all about taste
• Tactile Imagery – and this final one is all about touch, an often-forgotten sense

5 senses imagery, in short, is a powerful tool in a writer’s arsenal. Let’s look at some examples of how it’s used in practice. 

Let’s move on to look at the 5 senses and descriptive writing examples. As we’ve seen above, vivid imagery is often used to help the reader feel immersed in the story. So in this section, I’ve provided some from some bestselling books that make great use of the 5 senses.

“The tearing of flesh, as though a butcher were yanking meat from a flank. The bubbling of liquids and the soft rasping of the cutting tools.” Tooth & Nail , Ian Rankin

“Stars spun across his vision and his head felt as if it were about to burst… With difficulty, Hanno undid the chinstrap and eased off his helmet. Cool air ruffled his sweat-soaked hair.” Hannibal: Fields of Blood Ben Kane

“A cold wind was blowing out of the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things. All day, Will had felt as though something were watching him, something cold and implacable that loved him not.” A Game of Thrones, George RR Martin

“It was dark and dim all day. From the sunless dawn until evening the heavy shadow had deepened, and all hearts in the City were oppressed. Far above a great cloud streamed slowly westward from the Black Land, devouring light, borne upon a wind of war; but below the air was still and breathless, as if all the Value of Anduin waited for the onset of a ruinous storm.” The Return Of The King , JRR Tolkien.

This last one for me is a great example of a descriptive paragraph using the five senses. From the off, you not only get a vivid image of the setting (dark, dim, sunless dawn), but you can feel what it’s like to be there on an emotional level (hearts in the City were oppressed). Our senses are further teased with the description of a “still and breathless” air. 

If you’d like to find more sensory description examples, I recommend doing this simple exercise:

Pick up any book that you see, one ideally that you don’t mind marking with a pen or highlighter. Next, scan the pages, looking for descriptive scenes. Whenever you see a sentence that refers to any of the five senses, highlight it in some way.

The benefit of doing this is that you get examples from a variety of different writers, each with their own clever way of making their exposition more immersive.

Something you may notice is that many of them employ metaphors and similes to help you build a visual image in your mind. This is a very effective way of using the 5 senses in writing. You could say things like:

• The water smashed into the ground like the tide hitting a rocky coast
• A squeal filled the air like a pig fearing slaughter
• It smelled like an overflowing latrine pit sat in the baking sun

You can learn more about using metaphors and similes in this guide on writing prose.

More Examples Of Descriptive Writing Using The 5 Senses

If you’re looking for more 5 senses examples for your writing, one of the best things you can do is to read books that pay particular attention to this. One of the standout books that explore this is Blindness by José Saramago.

There’s no shortage of sensory language examples out there for you to study. From books to writing guides like this, there are plenty of helpful resources you can learn from. 

Something I’ve done to improve my use of the 5 senses in my writing is to include them within the planning process. It’s good to save it until the end when you’ve plotted out your story or chapter, however.

What I do is read over the plan and try and place myself in the scenes. Working my way through each sense, I list everything that pops into my head.

• It’ll be unlikely that you need to spend too much time on sight , but taking the time to consider things in detail can provoke new and unique ideas. What little details can be included? Remember the power of specificity.
• Next, onto sounds . Like sights, it’s unlikely you’ll need to spend too much time on this but it’s always helpful to consider the likes of characters’ voices and any usual sounds that could be featured.
• Smells . When it comes to smells a good starting point is to list everything that comes to mind, even mere whiffs, which can be the most telling of all. Smells can provoke memories and emotions too, like the smell of perfume could remind a character of their dead lover, and that leaves you open to describe emotions.
• What can your character touch or feel? How does the hilt of the sword feel in your character’s fingers? How does the touch of a vivacious woman feel to your lonely character? What information can be gleaned from the manner of a handshake?
• Lastly, what tastes , if any, can you include? Is your character eating? Can they taste blood after being punched in the cheek? Do they enter a room where the smell is so foetid they can taste it?

I wanted to provide you with a few examples of descriptive paragraphs that use sensory details. Examine how they elevate the scene by drawing you deeper. Each little detail paints a more vivid picture, such that you can almost feel yourself there, experiencing it yourself. This is a real skill when it comes to creative writing, but it’s definitely one you can learn and master. 

Let’s look at our first 5 senses paragraph example:

The mud of the road sucked at her tattered leather boots, a quagmire after incessant rains. Autumn circled like a hawk. The wind grabbed at her woollen green cloak and homespun dress. The hand-me-downs from her cousins never fitted, always too wide at the waist and short of length. She pulled her cloak tight about her, bundling it around her hands to keep away the biting chill.

The ringing gave way to those crashes and bangs, each one coming with the beat of his heart. His eyes flickered open. Slate-grey clouds hung above. Dust hovered in the air, rocks and debris showered down upon him. He raised his throbbing head and looked around. Men and women, hands over their ears, cowered down behind the crenellations of the wall, fear etched upon their faces, consuming their eyes, paralyzing their bodies. A few defiant individuals continued to loose arrows. For many, it was the last they shot. The Karraban thunder smashed the parapets to bits, obliterated siege engines, battered the cliff behind them and knocked from it great chunks of rock that tumbled down to crush those below. The ringing in Jem’s ears eased enough for him to hear the screams. They became the backdrop to the rumbling of the Karraban thunder. Only one thought entered Jem’s mind: flee.

The bells rang loud and panicked across Yurrisa. Hidden in the shadows of the abandoned warehouse, Edvar and the others lay in wait. He peered through a crack in a boarded window at the cobbled street. Echoing along it came a shout. Another. Steps rushed toward him, and into view burst a group of soldiers, breaths billowing mist in the cold morning air.

Laughter rippled from the table behind Edvar. The three men were tanners, the least difficult of all working men to identify: stained clothes and hands and stinking of a peculiar cocktail of rotten flesh and mint. They rubbed themselves with the latter to mask the stench of the former. Nobody could bear their presence long enough to tell them it didn’t work.

As you can see, these examples use each of the five senses to great effect. If you’re curious where these came from, I pinched them from Pariah’s Lament .

Here are a few useful exercises to get into the swing of using the senses. The more you practice, the more it’ll become ingrained in the way you write and that’s why it’s one of my favorite writing tips of all!

• One place, one sense . As the title suggests, think of a place and describe everything you can using just one sense. Challenge yourself. Pick a sense you feel you struggle with. Or do one sense, then a different one. 
• Describe an object using the 5 senses. This is a nice simple exercise. Pick one object and describe it using all of your senses. Examples of objects could be chocolate (so you can taste) or a bottle of perfume (for the smell!).
• Close your eyes and pick an object up. This one was mentioned above, but it’s a powerful tool. Jot down everything you can think of.
• Pick your favourite food and eat! This one’s a bit more fun. Take chocolate for example. Savour each bite and write down everything, from taste to texture, the sounds of it breaking in your mouth, and importantly, how it makes you feel.
• Pick something alien and try to use sensory descriptions. This is a great way to challenge your use of the 5 senses because you have to create everything from scratch and to a whole new level of detail. So if you’re a sci-fi writer, this could be a great way to learn how to describe a spaceship in writing. 

Here’s a brilliant visual exercise too which I highly recommend trying. It’s quick, and easy and really does hone your skills when it comes to using the 5 senses in writing.

1. Walk And Write

This exercise I call walk and write . Take a notepad and write five headings: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. The next time you go out, even if it’s just to the shop on the corner, write down everything you experience. The touch of the rain or breeze, how the pavement feels underfoot, snippets of passing conversation you hear, the whistle of birds, how that warm and crispy sausage roll tastes. *Warning* You may look odd stopping all the time.

Here’s a step-by-step guide:

• Take a walk outside and observe your surroundings. Use your senses to take note of what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Write down your observations.
• Choose one of the things you noticed on your walk and use it as a prompt for your writing. For example, if you noticed the sound of birds chirping, write a descriptive paragraph that captures that sound.
• As you write, be sure to use sensory language to bring your description to life. Instead of simply saying “I heard birds chirping,” try something like “The melody of birdsong filled my ears, each chirp a delicate note in a symphony of nature.”
• Repeat this exercise for each of the senses. Choose a different observation each time and challenge yourself to use vivid sensory details to paint a picture with your words.

2. Write A Short Story With The 5 Senses

One of the most effective ways that you can sharpen your sensory description writing is to write a short story with the 5 senses. 

The way it works is simple. Plan out your story—characters, plotting, theme—and then when it comes to the writing, you’re only permitted to use the five senses. 

It can help to think of a story in which you’d likely use the sensory organs more than usual. Let’s look at a few writing prompts:

• Your protagonist awakens in a dark cave. It’s cold and damp. They must figure out what’s happened and find their way out.
• Your protagonist is fleeing through a forest. What are they running from? What awaits them up ahead?
• Your character is upon a ship and is knocked overboard. How do they survive in the turbulent waves?

These are just a few prompts that are specifically designed to help you use the five senses in your writing. Trust me, an exercise like this will have your skillset sharpened in no time.

3. Use 5 Senses Writing Prompts

Here are some 5 senses writing prompts that may help you get started:

• You’re at home, watching TV. You catch the scent of something. Something that makes you mute the TV, look around, stand up. What is it you smell?
• For three days you’ve been travelling alone through the woods. You’re two days from your destination. Tired, weary. And you’re pretty sure something is following you. The sun has long since set. The embers are dying in your fire. And you begin to hear sounds close by…
• You’ve just started a new job. The office is big, labyrinthine. On your way back from lunch on your first day, you get lost. You open a door with stairs leading down. You follow them. Get further lost. And the steps give way. You awake in darkness to the sound of something growling. You reach for your phone, turn on the torch…

There are a few examples of sensory language-based writing prompts for you. See where they take you.

You can never have enough adjectives to help you describe the five senses. Below, you can find a pretty simple list, but it serves as a great starting point. From there you can add some of your own examples of using the 5 senses in descriptive writing. I also have some other helpful writing tools here that you may find useful. 

Below, you can find answers to some commonly asked questions when it comes to sensory descriptions, as well as more descriptive writing examples using the 5 senses.

“The icy wind rattled the ancient shutters upon the windows, stirring a shudder and setting every hair on her body on edge.”

This sentence uses sensory language to describe not just how the setting looks (from the rattling ancient shutters we see it’s an old possibly abandoned house), and crucially, we get a sense of how it feels to be in that setting, which is the main objective. It feels eerie, we feel the cold. We’re spooked. 

Sensory description in fiction writing requires a writer to utilise the 5 senses – sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.

Incorporating the senses into your writing is simple. First, focus on what your characters can see in the scene. Then, one by one, think about what they can hear, smell, feel and taste. Assort your various descriptions and pick out your most powerful few.

The five senses are often used to draw a reader deeper into the scene, to feel closer to the characters. Writers do this by adding extra details focusing on the likes of touch and smell. This vivid writing that appeals to the senses can help immerse readers in our tales.

The best way is to pick up your favourite book and highlight any sentences or paragraphs that utilise the 5 senses. You’ll then have a bank of sensory details examples to call upon whenever you need them.

A sensory description is one that includes sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. Exploring sensory language examples gives you a greater ability to immerse your readers in the story and experience what the characters feel.

If you have any questions or need more examples of the 5 senses in writing, please contact me.

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32 thoughts on “the best examples of the 5 senses and descriptive writing”.

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When writing about the senses, authors should be careful to avoid FILTER words (saw, heard, felt, smelled, tasted) that detract from the scene. Don’t say, “I saw the sparkling water.” Instead, make it more vivid. Leave out “saw.” We know you saw it because you are describing it to us. Tell us instead more of WHAT you are seeing. “The sparkling water bubbled as a creature from below made its way to the surface.” Same goes with using “heard,” “felt,” “smelled,” and “tasted.” Omit those words and describe those senses so people can experience what the character is experience.

Terrific points! Thanks for taking the time to share!

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Thanks for sharing!

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Thanks for the link!

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This was very helpful in as a source.

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Enchanting Marketing

Writing advice for small business

How to Write Evocatively & Pull Readers Into Your Story: 3 Nose-Tickling Examples

by Henneke | 36 enchanting opinions, add yours? :)

It happened to me recently.

I was reading the book Revelations in Air by Jude Stewart.

As I’m reading, I feel like I’m standing next to her smelling the orange she’s peeling. I notice a whiff of lavender as she dabs the scented oil on her wrist. Oh, and the smell of freshly-cut grass!

How can she describe smells so fabulously?

I quickly let go of my envy and begin to study her writing: What makes Stewart’s descriptions so evocative? What can I learn from her?

Describing aromas may seem like a niche writing technique but the lessons apply to almost any writing, fiction or non-fiction.

Shall we look at some examples first?

Example 1: The aromas of peanut butter

Here’s how Stewart describes peanut butter:

It’s rich, smoky, surprisingly deep. The scent stacks in clear layers: at the top floats a note of honeyed sweetness. A heavy swirl of oil forms the grounding base note. In the fat middle, it’s all sticky, particulate peanuts: a smell that matches the taste with uncanny fidelity.

When I read this description, I think: Yes, I know the fat middle with the peanutty smell. I also know the oily base note. But the sweetness? I’m not sure.

I grab a pot of peanut butter and sniff. At first, I only smell peanuts and oil. Then I let the smell come to my nose more quietly, and there it is: Sweetness.

To describe a smell more accurately, you first have to sniff more attentively. You have to stop and pay attention. That’s how you can detect the different layers of a smell—honeyed sweetness, oily base, and sticky peanuts.

Example 2: The smell of petrichor

Petrichor is the smell of rain after a long period of dry weather. Stewart starts her description like this:

Petrichor, the smell of parched earth after rain, is immersive, roomy enough to move around in. Its bright mineral tang is edged with vegetal green. There’s a hint of sourness, haloed by fresh water droplets. Petrichor lifts the ground, with all its smells, closer to the nose. It’s as if the earth has exhaled. Because this smell emanates from millions of pinpoints at once, petrichor has a stereoscopic quality. Inside the smell, each moment seems to dilate and slow. It fills the air with relief.

Describing a smell can be tricky. In his book An Immense World , Ed Yong suggests the English language has only 3 dedicated words for smells : “stinky, fragrant, and musty.” So, we borrow words from other senses, use metaphors, or name the source of a smell (e.g., rose). In the above description of petrichor, the phrases mineral tang and sourness describe tastes as much as (or probably more than) smell.

Stewart turns her description of petrichor into a 3-dimensional experience: It’s immersive and roomy enough to move around in. It’s as if the earth has exhaled (such a lovely example of personification !). The air is filled with relief.

Isn’t that lovely?

Example 3: The scent of roses

How would you describe the scent of roses?

Perhaps: Flowery, a tad sweet. The roses in our garden are still in bud, so no chance to sniff their scent for a more accurate description. I’m inclined to suggest that roses smell like … eh … roses, yeah?

Here’s how Stewart starts her description of the scent of roses:

At first the smell of roses fills the nose in a giddy rush, sweet and headlong. The burst of luxury feels total. But that rush rapidly settles down and shades into a regal stillness. You become aware of joining a vast throng of admirers in a shared contemplation. The scent’s wildness doesn’t stay wild for long in the nose; inevitably, one recalls one’s grandmother in her church best. Yet behind its rounded, classical quality, the scent still emanates some heat, prickly and pollen-like. It evokes late summer, lazily crawling insects, the finery of silken petals rotting under a bush, the sprawl of untidy nature. Inside the smell of roses one senses the momentary quality of life, how rapidly loveliness blossoms and fades, the nearness of beauty to rot.

Stewart relates how she experiences the scent in two stages: The giddy rush that settles down into a regal stillness. Next, she describes the memories the scents evoke: Grandmother, late summer, crawling insects. And lastly, there’s a philosophical note on the fading of beauty and the momentary quality of life.

Smells can ground you into the present. Forget all your worries. Forget all your stress. Instead savor the smells in the air around you, here and now. I love this when I’m cooking. I love how the smells evolve and intermingle. It’s a full-body experience. As Stewart writes, olfactory receptors not only “line our noses but also our skin, skeletal muscles, and major organs.” We smell with our entire bodies.

But aromas aren’t just about the present. They can also evoke strong memories and transport us back to the past. As Stewart suggests, smell is a form of “emotional time travel:”

(…) important memories in your life are nearly always emotional. When an important episodic memory forms, we’re feeling all the feels, registering all the details clearly. If we happen to smell something distinctive during that experience, the amygdala, hippocampus, and olfactory bulbs fuse feelings, memory, and smell together effortlessly.

To describe a smell, you can choose to stay in the present or you can go back in time. Like music, aromas can evoke strong memories.

The art of describing a smell

As we’ve seen there are at least 3 techniques for describing a smell.

First, you can use sensory language to describe the different layers of an aroma, and how it changes over time.

This technique requires us to pay close attention: To sniff, and sniff again, and then to put into words what we’re smelling. This may require patience and practice. Stewart admits that while working on the chapter about the smell of skin, she sniffs her partner’s t-shirt for 20 (!!!) minutes.

Next, you can turn a smell into a multi-sensory or 3-dimensional experience.

You can describe how you experience a smell, how it caresses or prickles your nose or how you can move in it—like the softly sweet smell of honey that greeted me and enveloped me when I cycled towards a field of rapeseed a few weeks ago.

Lastly, you can narrate the memories and associations that a smell evokes.

I have many aroma-infused memories of living in Hong Kong in the late 90s. I remember the excitement and slight trepidation of arriving at the old airport and disembarking into the clammy dampness with the overbearing smells of kerosine and hot tarmac. Oh, how I wish I had paid more attention and made notes!

How to become a better writer

Improving our writing skills is about more than vocabulary, sentence structure, and creative writing techniques .

We also need to practice the art of noticing.

What do you observe when you pay closer attention? How can you describe an interaction, a problem, a solution, a person, or a situation more precisely?

What happens when you experience the world with a childlike wonder? What attracts attention when you follow your curiosity?

In our fast-paced world, it can be hard to stop and pay attention. Our mobile phones, the news, social media are always there to distract us. The standard mantra is to go faster, do more, and be more productive.

Yet, slowing down helps us observe better. It helps us be present, savor life, and experience a moment more deeply.

Plus, it helps us write more accurately and more vividly, so we can invite our readers into a different world.

So, let’s stop to smell the roses.

Happy writing!

PS Thank you to Phil LeMaster for the excellent book recommendation.

Book mentioned in this post:

• Revelations in Air by Jude Stewart (highly recommended)

Recommended reading on writing more evocatively:

The magic of sensory language (+ 75 example phrases) Imagery examples: How to write more vividly The art of noticing: 3 practices to make you a better writer

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Reader Interactions

Leave a comment and join the conversation cancel reply.

September 27, 2022 at 10:44 am

Hi Henneke, What a great post! Finding it useful as I write about New York’s architecture 🙂

I hope everything is well with you ❤️ Virginia

September 28, 2022 at 8:37 pm

I have no doubts that your writing about New York’s architecture will be great, infused with your passion. ❤️

June 12, 2022 at 9:01 pm

I took an online Memoir Writing Course last year then found several people fron that group to be my accountability partners. All of us “graduates” are now in the facebook group for alumni. May I link to your article there? It’s so wonderful and adds to the first thing we learned — show don’t tell. Trudy

June 13, 2022 at 9:46 am

Yes, sure. I’m always grateful when people share my work. 🙂

June 12, 2022 at 1:38 pm

Writing about the senses will be an important part of my efforts to explore them more deeply. It is always a pleasure to read your blog because it makes me feel positive, loving, and compassionate.

I appreciate your blog very much.

June 12, 2022 at 3:27 pm

Awww, that’s such lovely feedback. Thank you, Bhupendra. Happy writing!

June 9, 2022 at 5:17 pm

Smell, infrequently used, but deeply evocative, especially in terms of memories. Thank you for this overview of how to describe smell in creative writing. I’ll be returning to this.

June 10, 2022 at 11:08 am

Thank you, Alex. I’ve wondered why we use smell so infrequently. Is describing a smell just too hard?

June 7, 2022 at 9:08 am

Hi Henneke,

I am a writer too, and I am always looking for new inspiration and guides that will help me improve. I learned a lot from this article, and I will definitely try to write like this. All these examples were amazing. I think you write beautifully. Thanks a lot for sharing this amazing article and guide. It was very helpful.

June 7, 2022 at 9:39 am

I’m glad you found it helpful, John. Happy writing!

May 30, 2022 at 6:58 am

Hi Henneke, Sorry I read this post a bit late. I admire you a lot. I started my own blog and your course on blog writing has guided me a lot in becoming a better writer.

May 30, 2022 at 12:35 pm

There’s no deadline for reading my posts. You can read them at any time 🙂

I’m glad you enjoyed my blog writing course, Mary!

May 25, 2022 at 6:05 am

We don’t realize how complex our senses are until we try to describe them using words, which is really all we have. Jude’s attempts are beautiful, almost poetic. She masterfully uses words and phrases to ping the faraway places in our minds that smells occupy, evoking memories and emotions.

I can’t wait to read this book.

Thanks, Henneke.

May 25, 2022 at 9:33 am

Jude Stewart’s aroma descriptions are amazing, aren’t they? I hope you’ll enjoy her book, too!

May 24, 2022 at 10:21 pm

Great piece!

May 24, 2022 at 8:04 pm

Henneke, your post seems to roll off your tongue, or shall I say nose, with ease. This really brought a smile to my face. I look forward to thinking more deeply about senses in all of my writing. Thank you!

May 24, 2022 at 8:54 pm

I’m so glad you enjoyed this. I felt very much inspired by Jude Stewart’s book and it was such a joy to write this (still did quite some editing, though!).

May 24, 2022 at 6:58 pm

Be prepared. ( I’m surprised this hasn’t already happened.) But, be prepared for it. You pick up a random note from your desk. You find a file tucked away and forgotten on your computer. You read it. You are impressed. You wonder. Who wrote that… and realize… you did! If it hasn’t happened yet, it will. Enjoy that moment when it does. Grace and peace.

May 24, 2022 at 8:52 pm

What a lovely suggestion (and a compliment!). Thank you so much, Curtis. When it happens, I’ll think of your words and remember all your encouragement through the years. Grace and peace to you, too.

May 24, 2022 at 5:56 pm

One word – Lovely. I don’t know how Stewart even managed to create such descriptions. To me, there are an impossible task (till now), but maybe with time and practice, I might achieve .05% of this writing style. Yes, smells do drag us back into memory lane. The smell of a hot summer afternoon, the smell of freshly washed clothes, the smell of soap after my Mother had her bath, the smell of my Father’s shirt (it was a mix of Old Spice aftershave and John Players cigarettes) – it was as if a new smell had been given birth with their combination. I envy Stewart for having the ability to write such exotic descriptions. It is a class apart and will make any content stand out from the rest. I wish I could write like her…

May 24, 2022 at 8:51 pm

First, I think you’re underestimating your own ability. You’ll do much better than you think. I can see that you’ve already been inspired to think of smells and memories. I love the smell of line-dried laundry.

Secondly, you and I don’t need to reach the same level of smell descriptions as Jude Stewart. That’s unless you also want to write a guide book on smells! Just thinking about smells and weaving a one-sentence description into your writing now is more than most writers do, and that’ll make your writing already stand out.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Subhankar. Happy writing!

May 24, 2022 at 4:55 pm

Fantastic insight. Writing is more than vocabulary, sentence structure, and creative writing techniques. I’ve been concentrating solely on those aspects. Now, I see beyond. Thanks for sharing.

May 24, 2022 at 5:51 pm

I think it’s a logical focus. It’s what most writing books and blog focus on. Me, too!

Thank you for stopping by, Donna. I much appreciate it.

May 24, 2022 at 4:52 pm

“That night, it felt as if the world was about to be deluged. I could feel moisture on my skin through the air. My stepdad and I closed packs in their covers and he grabbed his raincoat. I didn’t have one. —The smell pouring from the sky was like mushrooms and sky.–It was like everything living, everything possible. Lightning erupted inside dark fields, close enough I could see strokes of a downpour through the night.”-Craig Childs, “Tracing Time; Seasons of Rock Art in the Colorado Plateau.”

I’ll find myself sniffing the sky when the clouds build in the afternoon from now on after reading that and Jude’s “Revelations”

Thanks for the shoutout/link!

But I really need to thank you for the inspiration to notice wonderful things everywhere.

May 24, 2022 at 5:50 pm

I’m finding myself sniffing a lot more, too. I also found it interesting that our smell receptors regenerate. As Stewart writes: “Olfactory receptors—the receptors in our noses whose proteins bind to smell molecules—regenerate every four to eight weeks and change in response to whatever new smells they encounter. Smelling new scents, articulating what you smell in words, learning to identify similar smells—in short, practicing your sense of smell is brain-building, particularly in older adults.” Such a nice incentive to develop our sense of smell!

Craig Childs’ writing is amazing, really multi-sensory. I’ve look forward to reading “Tracing Time,” too! Thank you for all your inspiration and recommendation, Phil. A good book recommendation is so precious. A few hours well spent. A new world opens.

May 24, 2022 at 1:43 pm

Yes! Describing smells will take a lot of practice and I will have to be creative! Thanks for the book suggestion, I’ll make a note of that for future reading. I so enjoy reading your newsletters or posts, however you would describe your writing to us. I try to learn from them. I need to sit with this one awhile and get used to being more aware of smells, sniffing more and being more present in the moments I experience ☺️

May 24, 2022 at 2:05 pm

Reading “Revelations in Air” made me a lot more aware of smells, too. There are interesting exercises in the book, too. Like keeping a smell journal, varying your sniffing technique, and comparing smells of similar items (e.g., try to smell the difference between types of vinegar). It’s really interesting to start paying more attention to smells and try to describe them (it’s hard!).

May 24, 2022 at 1:25 pm

A lovely and imagination-stirring piece, Henneke. I’ve learned to take my small notebook with me when visiting a park or garden as I know the descriptive sensory words and connections that come to mind are all too fleeting if I don’t capture them in the moment! Will definitely add this book to my reading list.

May 24, 2022 at 1:26 pm

That’s such a great habit. I should do that, too. I always think that I’ll remember.

May 24, 2022 at 2:01 pm

So true. Just a little note. On the small notebook idea. Another tactic. You can use your smartphone to voice record your thoughts or write them. Or even make a video. I wonder if we will ever be able to record an aroma.

May 24, 2022 at 2:06 pm

Wouldn’t that be interesting if we could keep a box with aromas from the past just like a photo album?

May 24, 2022 at 6:21 pm

My dad taught me a lot about the sense of smell. For example, he said that once you have smelled an aroma, you will never forget it. If you ever smell it again, it will immediately pop up in your memory.

I didn’t know that! So interesting.

May 24, 2022 at 11:58 am

Loved ever bit of this article. Keep ’em coming dear Henneke! You’re my writing star!

May 24, 2022 at 12:04 pm

Thank you so much, Isabel. It was such a joy to write this 🙂

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Describing Breathing in Creative Writing

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on April 7, 2022

Categories Writing , Creativity , Storytelling

When writers talk about how they infuse their work with sensory detail, it’s usually about describing the color of something or what a character’s hair looks like. Let’s face it: breathing is one of the things we take for granted as humans. We do it so unconsciously that most people don’t even realize when or why they’re breathing. Our breathing rate changes with our emotions – it can be fast and shallow when we’re anxious, and deep and calm when we’re relaxed. As a creative writer, you can make your descriptive writing more vivid by incorporating more sensory information into your novel or story.

What’s in a Breath?

When thinking about how to describe breathing in your novel, ask yourself what you want to convey. Word choice matters.

If your character is having a panic attack, she takes short, shallow breaths.

A character preparing for a fight will have more controlled breathing; their breaths will be slow and steady and then become faster and shallower as the adrenaline kicks in.

Shallow breathing can also indicate stress or panic, as the fight starts to go badly, for example.

At a lull in the fight, the character might start heavy breathing, to get enough wind to continue.

During or after the fight, pain can come through the breath.

Just as the reader can get information about a character through their actions, they can also find out who they are by the way they breathe.

This technique is useful when you’re writing a suspenseful scene and building tension or fear.

If there’s something sinister under the bed and your protagonist’s heart is racing, you should express it through her breathing: “heart-pounding,” “breath coming in short gasps.” When you describe their breathing in this way, the reader senses that something is wrong because it deviates from normal behavior.

Take a Deep Breath

That was a deep breath, and you’re still reading. Good!

Now let’s go over the basics of describing breathing in creative writing:

• Sensory details can tell you a lot about a person’s state of mind. For example, when you take a deep breath through your nose before speaking in public, what does it smell like?
• What does it sound like as the person exhales?
• Describing breathing in terms of sensory input is an effective way to convey the main character’s thoughts to readers and help them understand why the character does or doesn’t feel prepared for the challenge that awaits them.
• As with any literary device like an allusion or a metaphor (and yes – breathing is a literary device), don’t overdo it. A character who takes a deep breath more than once per scene may be perceived by readers as weak-willed or indecisive, and that’s not always what you want them to think of your main character; again, use this technique judiciously unless that’s exactly the aspect of his or her personality you want to emphasize!

In the context of creative writing, holding your breath means that tension is rising. As we’ll see in the last example, you can achieve this effect by describing exactly how long someone held his or her breath.

But what else happens when someone holds their breath? How do they feel? What’s going on inside him or her?

• The first thing that happens, of course, is that they stop breathing. The need to breathe becomes stronger and stronger as the oxygen level in the blood decreases. This causes blood pressure to rise and pulse rate to increase. Over time, the body compensates for the lack of air supply by increasing the carbon dioxide content in the body; it’s easier to keep the blood pumping with an increased CO2 content than with low oxygen content.
• Soon this leads to headaches, dizziness, and disorientation (which can make breathing difficult).
• After a few minutes of not breathing, your heart starts beating irregularly due to the low oxygen level in the blood: fast or irregularly at first, then slower and slower until it stops completely – and when your heart stops beating, you’re dead.

There may be scenes where you can use physiology to increase tension, but be careful not to overdo it. Emphasize the characters’ reactions, not their physical reactions.

Breathing on Other Characters

Another approach is to describe how one character’s breath affects another character. You might focus on how another person’s breath affects your narrator: “The scent of her perfume filled my nostrils as she approached me, and a hot breath came from her lips as she spoke.”

You could also write about how your narrator’s breath affects another character, “His eyes widened as he smelled the alcohol on my breath. When I sighed, he froze and stared at me. My sighs quickened as I watched him for a reaction that didn’t come.”

Some more examples:

• The warmth of her breath sent shivers up and down my spine.
• His words hit me like blows to the stomach, each one robbing me of breath.
• A breath of warm air tickled the back of my neck, making me tense in anticipation before relaxing again with a sigh.

Let It Out Slowly

Once you take a deep breath, how should you exhale it? Here are a few ways:

• Through the mouth. This could be an expression of relief, frustration, or exasperation. It could also show that the person is trying to maintain control. A controlled breath can be indicated by exhaling through pursed lips like a whistle.
• Through the nose. This is often described as a snort of derision or disbelief and is used to show that your person finds something ridiculous or silly.
• The actual sound of breathing can also be described as a sigh, laugh, sob, groan, gasp, sharp breath, or even a scream or laugh (we’ll get to that later).

Where the Breath Happens

It’s most natural to inhale through your mouth. If your character needs a deep, restorative breath or a soothing sigh, mouth breathing will probably suffice.

Nose Breathing

If you want to fine-tune your character’s breathing, you can have them breathe in or out through their nose. Nasal breathing can bring smells into the character’s awareness and draw attention to sensory details in the text.

Exhaling through the nose lends a sense of sophistication and refinement to characters who otherwise lack such qualities (e.g., snobby professors and refined criminals).

Pursed Lip Breathing

Pursed lip breathing is an interesting technique because it evokes certain emotions such as frustration, anger, annoyance, and sadness…

When you’re forced to breathe this way, certain emotions are naturally evoked, making your text more organic without having to tell you exactly what’s happening on an emotional level in every scene.

Breathing Is Automatic and Easy to Forget About, but It’s Important to Life and Your Writing

Breathing is a reflex action that’s automatically controlled by the central nervous system. That means you don’t have to consciously think or make an effort to perform it. It’s basically as important to life as water and food.

On average, a person breathes in and out between 12 and 20 times a minute when at rest. Whether you’re running, sleeping, or sitting down to read this article, your body is constantly taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.

Respiration is a reflex that’s constantly going on in the background, keeping us alive as we go about our daily activities – it’s easy to forget about it and only notice it when something goes wrong.

Breathing can be considered an involuntary activity, meaning it happens without us having to make the conscious decision to breathe.

However, since breathing has both a voluntary and an involuntary component (you’ve to decide when to speak or sing), there are some ways your character can control breathing.

It’s Used as a Literary Device in Fiction

As you may recall, literary devices are the tools fiction writers use to create meaning, emotion, and imagery.

Examples include:

• Similes and metaphors.
• Onomatopoeia and alliteration.
• Personification is also included. Personification involves ascribing human characteristics to an object or idea.

Authors may use a short breath to show tension or nervousness: “She could barely catch her breath.” The author uses this phrase to convey how tense and frightened the character is.

A long breath can also be used to express relaxation: “Her breathing was slow and deep.” In this case, it’s not so important what the character is feeling, but where their thoughts are.

When someone says that their heart is beating or pounding in their chest, we understand that he or she’s nervous or excited about something. If a character in your story breathes loudly, it means he or she’s worried or anxious-or that he or she may even be looking forward to something.

Reveal a Lot About Their Emotional State, Physical Condition, Health Status, and More

You can use breathing in any piece of writing that features a character. For example, if you are writing a novel, short story, or play, you could consider showing the reader how a character is feeling by describing their breathing.

This will not only tell the reader what your character is experiencing but also reveal different things about their emotional state, physical condition, and health.

Your character may experience several different reactions throughout your writing and the quality of their breathing will change depending on these experiences.

• “The nurse held the stethoscope to his chest and listened carefully as he breathed in and out.”
• “The man had been following her for blocks now, and she could feel his breath on the back of her neck.”

Of course, you can use breathing as more than just an indicator of emotion and health. It’s a great metaphor for lots of things: life or death situations, taking on too much work at once, or even being afraid to take chances on love.

• Think about the bigger picture. Should you describe your character’s breathing at all? Will it help the reader know what your character is feeling?
• Consider how much information to give the reader. Do you want to give more information or less?
• Decide which perspective to use (first person, second person, or third person) and decide whether to use multiple perspectives in one piece of writing.

Showing how a character reacts can be very useful for readers as well as for showing a sense of time and place. In creative writing, this often means describing a moment that shows us something about a character like her nerves, her anxiety, or her excitement.

Describing Breathing Creatively

A compelling description in your story can be the difference between an otherwise forgettable scene and an engaging one.

The best way to do this is to keep a few things in mind.

• When characters breathe in creative writing, try to avoid using “breathe” repeatedly by simply replacing it with synonyms like “gasp.” Start by opening a thesaurus
• Use action verbs to make your character’s breathing sound more like a natural part of their surroundings.
• Use descriptive adjectives to describe the feeling of exhaling. Describe the rate and rhythm of the breathing. For example, someone might be “panting” or taking “shallow breaths.”
• Don’t be afraid to use metaphor or simile when describing breathing in creative writing-it will add life and color! You could also use similes to create an analogy, like comparing someone’s breath to steam on a cold morning. You could also compare it to waves lapping on the beach or butterflies fluttering. But keep it within the realms of your genre and context!
• The more creative you are with your description of breathing, the more effective your writing will be at bringing your reader into the scene!

Make Readers Feel What Your Characters Are Feeling

I hope some of these suggestions will help you add excitement to your description of breathing and make readers feel what your characters are feeling.

In general, it should be used to draw attention to a character’s emotional state or when the character is excited or stressed. It’s one of those writing skills worth developing.

A few more options include:

• Describe how far apart breathing becomes. When people are nervous, their heart races and they take rapid breaths. This is a simple way to show that a person is anxious without having to write out their inner thoughts.
• Does someone’s age affect their breath? An older person might become short of breath with strenuous activity, whereas a younger person could be fine with the same amount of exertion.
• Don’t forget body language combined with breathing as a way to depict character or situation.
• How about using other senses in combination with breathing? If someone has just eaten spicy food and needs water, describe how every time they try to breathe, the scent of hot peppers wafts into their nose.

Breathing Sounds and Words for Creative Writing

• Hyperventilate

The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus , a companion to The Emotion Thesaurus , releases May 13th.

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WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Physical Attributes Entry: Lips

January 26, 2013 by ANGELA ACKERMAN

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 :  plump, full, pouty, sultry, thin, fat, dry, cracked, scabby, split, pierced, chapped, swollen, collagen-inflated… Things Lips Do  (and other words/phrases to describe those actions)

• Smile : grin, smirk, simper, sneer, twist, upturn, lift
• Frown : grimace, moue, scowl, pout
• Kiss : smooch, smack, peck, graze, caress, skim, tickle, flick, brush

Key Emotions and Related Lip Gestures:   People mess with their lips quite a bit. When nervous or uncertain, it’s common for people to bite or chew on the lips as well as rubbing a hand or fingers over them. The lips are often mashed together when someone is holding back their true feelings or opinions. When someone is feeling happy…

Clichés to Avoid : a sensual person with plump, full lips; the flirty girl with pouty lips

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 watch myself in the mirror across the room. Ugh. Two muddy-circle eyes under black-dash eyebrows, piggy-nose nostrils, and a chewed-up horror of a mouth. I can’t stop biting my lips. It looks like my mouth belongs to someone else, someone I don’t even know. I get out of bed and take down the mirror. I put it in the back of my closet, facing the wall.  (Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson)

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!

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers , a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

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Reader Interactions

January 27, 2013 at 7:21 am

Nice details!! Sometimes we can forget the smallest thing that can make a difference in bringing our character to life.

January 27, 2013 at 12:51 am

What a wonderfully informative post. I refer back to you blog often whenever I need inspiration for a revision

January 26, 2013 at 11:40 pm

Love that line about lips the size of California.

January 26, 2013 at 7:16 pm

I’m amazed you come up with so many great body part descriptions. And I certainly commented to hopefully win the awesome prize. Congratulations again on five years together. 🙂 Tracy

January 26, 2013 at 6:05 pm

Great ideas for creative description.

January 26, 2013 at 5:48 pm

Would “lip smacking good” be considered a cliche? I’ve heard it used when talking about how good some food dishes are.

January 26, 2013 at 2:24 pm

Loved this, it will really help me with my story.

January 26, 2013 at 2:23 pm

Lips are a great mood indicator and sprinkled throughout the text a strong character developer. Yet so easy to forget to use!

Thanks for the post.

Charlene, good catch! I should have put ‘licking the lips’ as a common sign of nervousness and unease. I don’t think it’s a cliché as much as it is a universal sign for those emotion. Obviously, it shouldn’t be overused, but using it here or that during a scene of high emotion can go a long way toward drawing the reader in, since they’ll recognize that cue.

January 26, 2013 at 2:07 pm

These tips are so helpful! Sometimes it’s difficult to find different words to describe lips, but you made the possibilities seem endless.

January 26, 2013 at 1:58 pm

Love this post and all the others in the series. It’s wonderfully useful to think about things while seeing them all consolidated like this!

Thanks so much for these!

Have a great weekend!

January 26, 2013 at 12:31 pm

As always, this helps me think beyond my own way of describing things. Very helpful, thanks=)

January 26, 2013 at 11:25 am

This is useful, thank you. I noticed licking your lips isn’t on there. Is that considered cliche even if it isn’t done in a sensual manner?

January 26, 2013 at 9:16 am

Thanks for the tips. That was a great example of a good description of lips by Laurie Halse Anderson. This is a hard one not to be cliche.

January 26, 2013 at 9:15 am

The simile/metaphor killed me. I’m going to be staring at people’s lips all day.

[…] Lips […]