What character feature, if any, do you tend to focus on?

Physical features: hair, sometimes build. Anything that really stands out. That's all.

Not eyes. They're something I rarely notice about a person, and reading about a character's eyes (beyond a brief mention of color, perhaps) bothers me.

kkbe: I would never be so shallow as to focus on a physical attribute like eyes his gunmetal blues looking into my hazels or, God help me, hair. . . It was sandy blond and gently layered, parted slightly off-center, chin length and casually tucked behind his ears, with a lazy sweep across the forehead, and a balance of highlights and lowlights to give it a richness and depth so perfect that one might suspect it came from a bottle—a bunch of bottles—although I didn’t think so, especially when I noticed the same, soft colors in the shadows of his day-old beard and mustache: sandy blond, with subtle hints of platinum and ash, and unexpected dashes of honey and caramel, and delicate suggestions of butterscotch and wheat.

I wanted to touch it.

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CJ.Wolfe: I have to know, was that one the spot or from a project? I can't tell whether or not you're being serious or taking the mickey

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Hi, CJ.

I had no idea what "taking the mickey" was, so I looked it up.

I read your original question and my initial response was going to be something along the lines of: I--intellectually thoughtful writer that I am--focus on my characters' very interesting personalities, their quirks, their obvious weaknesses (my characters are usually hurt or damaged in some way, or odd, or unlikeable), but then I remembered that hair paragraph from my novel TWINK and I thought, that's B.S., kkbe. . .what a crock.

Anyway, I was being facetious there, CJ. I wouldn't dream of taking the mickey, except in reference to myself.

Hate to be predictable, but eyes.

I describe the eyes, then I usually move down to the hair.

Oh! If I don't focus on the eyes, it's definitely the clothes that a person is wearing. Usually on the first encounter, the person is wearing a color that would reflect their mood on a mood ring.

Vibe. What does this character feel like. This is nothing physical, but from it all of their physical attributes arise without confusion.

I figure readers will forget physical descriptions, but they'll less quickly forget how a character makes them feel. I also figure that if I tap the emotive tuning fork and hold it against the reader's brain, they'll hum in knowing tune.

If I describe a character as a collection of physical attributes, I don't know him any more than any other kind of object. A fork is a fork. Some are shiny. Some are plastic. But if I think of a tin-plated crap thing that made its way through the muddy trenches of WWI to a south Florida beach during the passing of a hurricane some 94 years later, well, now. That thing has history. That thing has character. It is the shape of its experience. That experience is more important than, more vital than, the shape. That experience leaks out in the details, however small, however fleeting, and those details show up whenever they're needed, and without deliberation.

More importantly, those details aren't simply descriptive. They're emotionally charged things driving home the vibe not just of the character, but hopefully the scene, the story.

In other words, I get the details of character from the inside out. Or at least I think I do. Maybe I should think about this some more.

Their... carriage, is that the word? I like going for little indications in the way characters carry themselves about. Ralph slumps and he shuffles down the street, eyes on the pavement. Maria teeters on her heels alongside him, attention fixed firmly on what the store windows have to offer. Okay, poor example. I've got nothing against physical descriptions but when writing I find it very difficult to find the right place for them early on. I fear mentioning that a character has, say, a mass of unkempt grey hair when a reader has happily been picturing them as completely bald.

Physical description usually involves hair and height. For behavior, I usually describe what the mouth, eyes, and hands are doing.

Usually, it's the way they dress. The features you're born with are one thing, but choice in clothing tells you more about a person, IMO.

Eyes.

Voice.

I am a sucker for a man's sexy eyes and a deep, throaty voice, but I focus on them regardless of the age or sex of the speaker.

I also like hands. The way someone walks. The tilt of the head. Even the way a character breathes.