Top 7 How To Describe Hands 455 People Liked This Answer

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If two people are holding hands, they are holding each other’s nearest hand, usually while they are walking or sitting together. People often do this to show their affection for each other. She approached a young couple holding hands on a bench.A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers (Pentadactyly). The fingers of a left hand seen from both sides.Descriptors: olive, caramel, brown, black, tan, pale, white, yellowish, gray, ivory, pink, freckled, splotchy, smooth, flawless, rashy, wrinkled, dry, spotted, pocked, hairy, rosy, scarred, saggy, itchy, tingling, acne-spotted…

How to describe hands: 6 ways to make characters real
  • Learn how to describe hands to show characters’ background. …
  • Use words to describe hands that reveal personality. …
  • Describe your characters’ hand gestures. …
  • Learn from great authors: Read great hand description examples. …
  • Show characters’ age by describing their hands.

How do you describe holding hands?

If two people are holding hands, they are holding each other’s nearest hand, usually while they are walking or sitting together. People often do this to show their affection for each other. She approached a young couple holding hands on a bench.

How do you describe a finger?

A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers (Pentadactyly). The fingers of a left hand seen from both sides.

How do you describe skin?

Descriptors: olive, caramel, brown, black, tan, pale, white, yellowish, gray, ivory, pink, freckled, splotchy, smooth, flawless, rashy, wrinkled, dry, spotted, pocked, hairy, rosy, scarred, saggy, itchy, tingling, acne-spotted…

Why does my boyfriend rub my hand?

This is usually when the guy you’re with cares about you deeply and wants you to know that he’s there for you. If a guy you’re close with, holds your hand and rubs his thumb, it could be seen as a physically intimate gesture, signaling that he is into you and isn’t afraid to show his interest.

Why do guys like holding hands?

“Holding hands invokes a positive feeling about one another, so you both feel sexy and wanted. It’s almost like foreplay.” Cue all the feels: Just like massage, kissing, and hugging, “research shows that touch, like holding hands, releases oxytocin, a neurotransmitter that gives you that feel-good buzz,” says Coleman.

What does the 🤟 mean?

What does 🤟 I Love You Gesture emoji mean? A universal emoji! Or … is it? The love-you gesture or I love you hand sign emoji is the American Sign Language gesture for “I love you,” showing a hand with a raised index finger and pinky (little) finger and an extended thumb. It comes in a range of skin tones.

How do you describe your fingers moving?

Finger Movements

The fingers move in two main ways: flexion and extension. We flex our fingers to grab and hold onto objects and extend our fingers to reach out for things.

How do you write a body gesture?

The Top Five Tips For Using Body Language
  1. Use body language to add depth to dialogue.
  2. Use it because more than 50% of human communication is non-verbal.
  3. Use it to show how your character’s emotions affect their actions.
  4. Use it to help you show rather than tell your reader everything.
  5. Use it in moderation.

How do you describe an arm?

In common usage, the arm extends through the hand. The arm can be divided into the upper arm, which extends from the shoulder to the elbow, the forearm which extends from the elbow to the hand, and the hand. Anatomically the shoulder girdle with bones and corresponding muscles is by definition a part of the arm.

How would you describe an old hand?

People’s hands also reveal their age. An older character might have wrinkled hands, scattered with lines and sun spots, while younger hands could be plumper, softer.

How do you describe shaking hands?

A handshake is the act of greeting someone by clasping their hand in yours and giving a brief, firm, up-and-down shake. It’s fairly formal to greet another person with a handshake.

How do you describe a body in writing?

Adjectives for Body Shapes
  • Obese. It means very overweight. …
  • Stout. Maybe slightly fat but strong or solid looking. …
  • Paunchy. You know how some men gain weight? …
  • Big-boned. With a large body structure. …
  • Chubby. A little bit fat. …
  • Podgy. Also the same as “chubby.” …
  • Curvy. This can be used in two ways. …
  • Flabby.

How do you describe your body type?

Some alternative words are slim, slender, skinny, lean, wiry, petite, and lanky. In general, thin, slim, and slender are more positive, whereas skinny is often used as a criticism or negative point. The words lean and wiry mean that the person is thin AND muscular.

How do you define beautiful skin?

The Top 5 Qualities of Beautiful Skin
  1. Tone. An even skin tone is one of the most noticeable features of beautiful skin. …
  2. Texture. Beautiful skin also has an even texture, free of bumps and common skin problems like acne. …
  3. Moisture. Moisture is one of the keystones of beautiful skin. …
  4. Firmness. …
  5. Smoothness.

What are the 4 types of gestures?

McNeill (1992) proposes a general classification of four types of hand gestures: beat, deictic, iconic and metaphoric.

What your hand movements say about you?

Hands open and your palms at a 45-degree angle: Communicates that you are being honest and open. Hands open with palms down: Communicates that you are certain about what you are talking about. Palms facing each other with your fingers together: Communicates that you have expertise about what you are talking about.

What are hand gestures in communication?

A hand gesture is whenever you move your hand or head to express or emphasize an idea. And this is an important part of your overall body language. Here’s why: In a study by researchers from the University of Rome (Italians talk with their hands as much as we New Yorkers do hehe…)

What are examples of gestures?

Examples of communicative gestures are waving, saluting, handshakes, pointing, or a thumbs up. There are voluntary and involuntary gestures. Waving to a friend would be an intentional method of saying hello, while throwing one’s arms up in exasperation may be an involuntary reaction to feelings of frustration or anger.


How to Describe Hand Gestures in English
How to Describe Hand Gestures in English


How to Describe Hands: 6 Ways to Make Characters Real | Now Novel

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1 Learn how to describe hands to show characters’ background

2 Use words to describe hands that reveal personality

3 Describe your characters’ hand gestures

4 Learn from great authors Read great hand description examples

5 Show characters’ age by describing their hands

6 Use characters’ hands to show their emotional states

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How to Describe Hand Gestures in English – YouTube

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Finger – Wikipedia

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Contents

Land vertebrate fingers

Human fingers

Etymology

See also

Notes

References

External links

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Physical Feature Entry: Skin – WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

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Physical Feature Thesaurus: Hands – WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

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Describing Words – Find Adjectives to Describe Things

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How to Describe Hands for More Realistic Characters | StoryFlint

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Keep me in the loop

Why are a character’s hands so important to describe

How do you describe hands

Parts of the Hand

What can you convey when describing a character’s hands

Conclusion

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How to Describe Hands: 6 Ways to Make Characters Real | Now Novel | Book writing tips, Writing words, Writing dialogue

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How to describe hands: 6 ways to make characters real

Describing hands is useful for showing characters’ psychological traits and personality, age and more. Many amateur writers stop at describing eye colour or how characters say their dialogue. Yet there are many different physical details you can use to show a character’s nature. Read examples that show how to describe hands in such a way that your writing is rich and detailed:

1. Learn how to describe hands to show characters’ background

One purpose for describing hands is to tell readers about a characters’ background or vocation. If your protagonist is a chef in a fast-paced restaurant, for example, they might have a battle scar or two – a burn from a hot grill. Background you can draw attention to using hand description includes:

Work history (a manual labourer, for example, may have calloused hands from hard work)

Traumatic past events (for example, a character has a scar on his forefinger because his younger brother attacked him with a box-cutter in a major argument when they were kids)

Consider this example of hand description from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939), showing the protagonist’s background as a low-income farm worker:

‘His hands were hard, with broad fingers and nails as thick and ridged as little clam shells. The space between thumb and forefinger and the hams of his hands were shiny with callus.’

Steinbeck’s description makes it clear his character is accustomed to hard, physically-exacting work. This descriptive detail sets the tone for his character’s grueling journey.

2. Use words to describe hands that reveal personality

Like describing a character’s face (from ‘sallow’ to ‘gaunt’ to ‘youthful’), there are many words to describe hands that can help to flesh out your characters’ personalities.

For example, you could say:

‘He had impossibly enormous hands – his over-enthusiastic handshakes could definitely snap your wrist in two if you had weak bones.’

The size of the character’s hands conveys his strength. The hypothetical handshake goes further, implying the character is also an outgoing, enthusiastic person.

Think of other personalities, as an exercise, and try to describe hands to match each type. For example, characters who are:

Cunning

Kind

Cruel

Promiscuous

This is a useful exercise for picturing your characters down to the finest details. A character who is cunning might have small, crafty hands, while a character who is kind might have large, generous hands.

Learn to Write Compelling Characters Get a workbook with exercises and videos on creating vivid, more memorable fictional characters. GET GUIDE

3. Describe your characters’ hand gestures

Movement and gesture makes characters animated, giving them life on the page. Describing hand signals and gestures is a useful way to show characters’ moods and intentions, or to amplify what they communicate to each other.

A sarcastic and negative teenage character, for example, might sometimes air quote for irony. Example:

“Don’t go in there. Mom’s having her ‘me time’,” Jen wiggled two-finger peace signs into air quotes. “Ever since she got back from that yoga retreat she thinks she’s Gandhi or something.”

Other hand gestures include:

Signs of aggression and conflict (showing the middle finger, drawing the finger across the throat)

Gestures that show personality (for example, a character who clicks their fingers whenever they say something sassy)

Hand gestures that are a character’s unique quirks (e.g. a character drums the tips of their fingers together in Mr-Burns-from-The-Simpsons-like rapture whenever they talk about food they love)

The important thing with describing hands is not to overdo it. When you introduce a character, a hand gesture could add punch. But like every device, if you use this element on every page it will start to irritate and lose its effect.

4. Learn from great authors: Read great hand description examples

Describing hands is something the great authors do well. Like in John Steinbeck’s example above, good description adds authenticating detail, making characters feel like flesh and blood.

Here, in Fahrenheit 451 (1953), Ray Bradbury describes the art of doing things by hand as something that imbues actions with spirit and enduring significance:

‘Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there.’

This captures something of the intimacy of hands (and the intimacy between grandfather and grandson), as does this quote by Barbara Kingsolver:

‘The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away.’

Think of the truth in this. Say, for example, you write a scene where one character tells another something that is painful to hear but important. For example, that the other is on a self-destructive path and alienating their closest friends. Having the truth-telling character reach out and take the other’s hand, or place a hand on their shoulder, creates intimacy and a sense of trust. It shows your character’s attempt to soften hard but necessary words.

Describing hands in metaphorical terms is also an effective way to show your characters’ feelings, hopes and failures. For example, read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s metaphor involving hands. Here, in The Beautiful and the Damned (1922), the protagonist Anthony Patch tells Dot, the woman he is having an extra-marital affair with, his feelings:

‘Things are sweeter when they’re lost. I know–because once I wanted something and got it. It was the only thing I ever wanted badly, Dot, and when I got it it turned to dust in my hand.’

Because Anthony is heir to his grandfather’s fortune, he is stifled by his own sense of impending wealth, becoming stuck in insubstantial pursuits (partying and drinking) and he struggles to find a vocation. Thus the metaphor of everything turning to dust in Anthony’s hands effectively shows the character’s inability to grasp a meaningful life, his inability to shape and control his own fortunes for the time being.

5. Show characters’ age by describing their hands

People’s hands also reveal their age. An older character might have wrinkled hands, scattered with lines and sun spots, while younger hands could be plumper, softer.

Of course, characters’ hands can also be incongruous with their biological age. For example, a young person who’s had a life of hard manual labour could be described thus:

‘Her hands were those of a much older woman, jabbed and poked as they were by needles in the dim light of the workshop where she tailored the clothing of investment bankers and opera-goers, often through the night until the morning risers wheeled their rattling bins onto the street.’

Are your characters’ hands fitting for their age, or do they show something telling in their contrast?

For example, an older, more privileged person might have younger hands due to having done little labour (or because they have an expensive beauty regimen). Think about what details such as these tell the reader about your characters.

6. Use characters’ hands to show their emotional states

The physical appearance and movements of characters’ hands reveal plenty about their emotional state. Beware clichéd hand gestures, however. For example, hand-wringing to show anxiety or distress. How many people do you know who actually wring their hands when distraught?

This may be a tic people do exhibit, but try choose descriptions that aren’t stock phrases (‘she wrung her hands in dismay’). If you do use a similar gesture, think about how you can estrange it from the cliché and make it fresh again, by adding your own detail. For example:

‘She pinched her index finger, all the way to the tip and back down again, as though she was checking and double-checking for a kink or break, while she listened, brow creased, to the unsettling news.’

Other ways describing hands can show your character’s emotional state include:

Bitten nails – indicating an anxious temperament or habitual stress-coping mechanisms

Cracking knuckles – this tic can indicate either being absent-mindedly deep in thought or simmering, suppressed aggression

Drumming fingers on a surface – this could indicate impatience, restlessness or boredom

Including descriptions of what your characters do with their hands will add extra colour and specificity to your description. Remember to balance this type of description with others, so that your characters aren’t all hands. The key to good style is balancing the elements of writing – action, narration, description and more – so that nothing begins to read as the author’s pet technique or crutch.

Find more articles on how to describe characters on our character writing hub.

Ready to improve your characters? Join Now Novel and get helpful feedback on character description or brainstorm details for your characters using our helpful prompts and guides.

Wikipedia

Organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of humans and other primates

A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers (Pentadactyly).[1][2]

Land vertebrate fingers

The five-rayed anterior limbs of terrestrial vertebrates can be derived phylogenetically from the pectoral fins of fish. Within the taxa of the terrestrial vertebrates, the basic pentadactyl plan, and thus also the fingers and phalanges, undergo many variations.[3] Morphologically the different fingers of terrestrial vertebrates are homolog. The wings of birds and those of bats are not homologous, they are analogue flight organs. However, the phalanges within them are homologous.[4]

Chimpanzees have lower limbs that are specialized for manipulation, and (arguably) have fingers on their lower limbs as well. In the case of Primates in general, the digits of the hand are overwhelmingly referred to as “fingers”.[5][6] Primate fingers have both fingernails and fingerprints.[7]

Research has been carried out on the embryonic development of domestic chickens showing that an interdigital webbing forms between the tissues that become the toes, which subsequently regresses by apoptosis. If apoptosis fails to occur, the interdigital skin remains intact. Many animals have developed webbed feet or skin between the fingers from this like the Wallace’s flying frog.[8][9][10]

Human fingers

Usually humans have five digits,[11] the bones of which are termed phalanges,[2] on each hand, although some people have more or fewer than five due to congenital disorders such as polydactyly or oligodactyly, or accidental or intentional amputations. The first digit is the thumb, followed by index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger or pinkie. According to different definitions, the thumb can be called a finger, or not.

English dictionaries describe finger as meaning either one of the five digits including the thumb, or one of the four excluding the thumb (in which case they are numbered from 1 to 4 starting with the index finger closest to the thumb).[1][2][12]

Anatomy

Skeleton

Illustration depicting the bones of the human hand

The thumb (connected to the trapezium) is located on one of the sides, parallel to the arm.

The palm has five bones known as metacarpal bones, one to each of the five digits. Human hands contain fourteen digital bones, also called phalanges, or phalanx bones: two in the thumb (the thumb has no middle phalanx) and three in each of the four fingers. These are the distal phalanx, carrying the nail, the middle phalanx, and the proximal phalanx. Joints are formed wherever two or more of these bones meet. Each of the fingers has three joints:

metacarpophalangeal joint (MCP) – the joint at the base of the finger

proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP) – the joint in the middle of the finger

distal interphalangeal joint (DIP) – the joint closest to the fingertip.

Sesamoid bones are small ossified nodes embedded in the tendons to provide extra leverage and reduce pressure on the underlying tissue. Many exist around the palm at the bases of the digits; the exact number varies between different people.

The articulations are: interphalangeal articulations between phalangeal bones, and metacarpophalangeal joints connecting the phalanges to the metacarpal bones.

Muscles

[13] The precision of finger movements in space and time is highlighted in this motion tracking of two pianists ‘ fingers playing the same piece (slow motion, no sound).

Each finger may flex and extend, abduct and adduct, and so also circumduct. Flexion is by far the strongest movement. In humans, there are two large muscles that produce flexion of each finger, and additional muscles that augment the movement. The muscle bulks that move each finger may be partly blended, and the tendons may be attached to each other by a net of fibrous tissue, preventing completely free movement. Although each finger seems to move independently, moving one finger also moves the other fingers slightly which is called finger interdependence or finger enslaving.[14][15][16]

Fingers do not contain muscles (other than arrector pili). The muscles that move the finger joints are in the palm and forearm. The long tendons that deliver motion from the forearm muscles may be observed to move under the skin at the wrist and on the back of the hand.

Muscles of the fingers can be subdivided into extrinsic and intrinsic muscles. The extrinsic muscles are the long flexors and extensors. They are called extrinsic because the muscle belly is located on the forearm.

The fingers have two long flexors, located on the underside of the forearm. They insert by tendons to the phalanges of the fingers. The deep flexor attaches to the distal phalanx, and the superficial flexor attaches to the middle phalanx. The flexors allow for the actual bending of the fingers. The thumb has one long flexor and a short flexor in the thenar muscle group. The human thumb also has other muscles in the thenar group (opponens and abductor brevis muscle), moving the thumb in opposition, making grasping possible.

The extensors are located on the back of the forearm and are connected in a more complex way than the flexors to the dorsum of the fingers. The tendons unite with the interosseous and lumbrical muscles to form the extensorhood mechanism. The primary function of the extensors is to straighten out the digits. The thumb has two extensors in the forearm; the tendons of these form the anatomical snuff box. Also, the index finger and the little finger have an extra extensor, used for instance for pointing. The extensors are situated within six separate compartments. The first compartment contains abductor pollicis longus and extensor pollicis brevis. The second compartment contains extensors carpi radialis longus and brevis. The third compartment contains extensor pollicis longus. The extensor digitorum indicis and extensor digitorum communis are within the fourth compartment. Extensor digiti minimi is in the fifth, and extensor carpi ulnaris is in the sixth.

The intrinsic muscle groups are the thenar and hypothenar muscles (thenar referring to the thumb, hypothenar to the small finger), the dorsal and palmar interossei muscles (between the metacarpal bones) and the lumbrical muscles. The lumbricals arise from the deep flexor (and are special because they have no bony origin) and insert on the dorsal extensor hood mechanism.

Skin

Aside from the genitals, the fingertips possess the highest concentration of touch receptors and thermoreceptors among all areas of the human skin,[citation needed] making them extremely sensitive to temperature, pressure, vibration, texture and moisture. Recent studies[when?] suggest fingers can feel nano-scale wrinkles on a seemingly smooth surface, a level of sensitivity not previously recorded.[17] This makes the fingers commonly used sensory probes to ascertain properties of objects encountered in the world, making them prone to injury.

The pulp of a finger is the fleshy mass on the palmar aspect of the extremity of the finger.[18]

Fingertip wrinkling in water

Although a common phenomenon, the underlying functions and mechanism of fingertip wrinkling following immersion in water are relatively unexplored. Originally it was assumed[by whom?] that the wrinkles were simply the result of the skin swelling in water,[citation needed] but it is now understood that the furrows are caused by the blood vessels constricting due to signalling by the sympathetic nervous system in response to water exposure.[19][20] One hypothesis for why this occurs, the “rain tread” hypothesis, posits that the wrinkles may help the fingers grip things when wet, possibly being an adaption from a time when humans dealt with rain and dew in forested primate habitats.[19] A 2013 study supporting this hypothesis found that the wrinkled fingertips provided better handling of wet objects but gave no advantage for handling dry objects.[21] However, a 2014 study attempting to reproduce these results was unable to demonstrate any improvement of handling wet objects with wrinkled fingertips.[20]

Regrowth of the fingertips

Fingertips, after having been torn off children, have been observed to regrow in less than 8 weeks.[22] However, these fingertips do not look the same, although they do look more appealing than a skin graft or a sewn fingertip. No healing occurs if the tear happens below the nail. This works because the distal phalanges are regenerative in youth, and stem cells in the nails create new tissue that ends up as the fingertip.[23]

Brain representation

Each finger has an orderly somatotopic representation on the cerebral cortex in the somatosensory cortex area 3b,[24] part of area 1[25] and a distributed, overlapping representations in the supplementary motor area and primary motor area.[26]

The somatosensory cortex representation of the hand is a dynamic reflection of the fingers on the external hand: in syndactyly people have a clubhand of webbed, shortened fingers. However, not only are the fingers of their hands fused, but the cortical maps of their individual fingers also form a club hand. The fingers can be surgically divided to make a more useful hand. Surgeons did this at the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery in New York to a 32-year-old man with the initials O. G.. They touched O. G.’s fingers before and after surgery while using MRI brain scans. Before the surgery, the fingers mapped onto his brain were fused close together; afterward, the maps of his individual fingers did indeed separate and take the layout corresponding to a normal hand.[27]

Clinical significance

Anomalies, injuries and diseases

Radiograph of Type 1 Syndactyly

A rare anatomical variation affects 1 in 500 humans, in which the individual has more than the usual number of digits; this is known as polydactyly. A human may also be born without one or more fingers or underdevelopment of some fingers such as symbrachydactyly. Extra fingers can be functional. One individual with seven fingers not only used them but claimed that they “gave him some advantages in playing the piano”.[28]

Phalanges are commonly fractured. A damaged tendon can cause significant loss of function in fine motor control, such as with a mallet finger. They can be damaged by cold, including frostbite and non-freezing cold injury (NFCI); and heat, including burns.

The fingers are commonly affected by diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and gout. Diabetics often use the fingers to obtain blood samples for regular blood sugar testing. Raynaud’s phenomenon and Paroxysmal hand hematoma are neurovascular disorders that affects the fingers.

Research has linked the ratio of lengths between the index and ring fingers to higher levels of testosterone, and to various physical and behavioral traits such as penis length[29] and risk for development of alcohol dependence[30] or video game addiction.[31]

Etymology

The English word finger stems from Old English finger, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *fingraz (‘finger’). It is cognate with Gothic figgrs, Old Norse fingr, or Old High German fingar. Linguists generally assume that *fingraz is a ro-stem deriving from a previous form *fimfe, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe (‘five’).[32]

The name pinkie derives from Dutch pinkje, of uncertain origin. In English only the digits on the hand are known as fingers. However, in some languages the translated version of fingers can mean either the digits on the hand or feet. In English a digit on a foot has the distinct name of toe.

See also

Notes

References

Physical Feature Entry: Skin

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: olive, caramel, brown, black, tan, pale, white, yellowish, gray, ivory, pink, freckled, splotchy, smooth, flawless, rashy, wrinkled, dry, spotted, pocked, hairy, rosy, scarred, saggy, itchy, tingling, acne-spotted…

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

Shiver : shudder, jitter, tremble, quiver, tremor

: shudder, jitter, tremble, quiver, tremor Tingle : prickle, sting, tickle, prick

: prickle, sting, tickle, prick Blush : flush, bloom, gild, pinken, stain, tint, tinge

Key Emotions and Related Skin Verbs:

Fear : a tightening sensation, prickling or tingling, the hair rising on the arms and back of the neck, over-sensitivity to stimuli, shuddering/trembling/shivering, numbness in the extremities, a sensation of the skin “crawling”

: a tightening sensation, prickling or tingling, the hair rising on the arms and back of the neck, over-sensitivity to stimuli, shuddering/trembling/shivering, numbness in the extremities, a sensation of the skin “crawling” Embarrassment…

Clichés to Avoid: alligator skin, peaches-and-cream complexion, skin that’s paper thin…

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: Lines meandered over her skin, intersecting with scars and puckering where they criss-crossed. It was a roadmap of her past, marking not only the pain but also the changing points that had made her the woman she was today.

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. writershelpingwriters.net/

So you have finished reading the how to describe hands topic article, if you find this article useful, please share it. Thank you very much. See more: Words to describe hands, Describe hands, Describe your hands, words to describe beautiful hands, Describe a beautiful hand, How to describe clothing in writing examples, How to describe gestures, How to describe a dress

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