This week, when capturing descriptions of people in your notebook, pay particular attention to people's hands. Some things to get you started noticing:
- Length of fingers
- Jewelry, tattoos
- How well tended the fingernails are, color, length, shape
- Wrinkles
- Stains, dirt
- Prominence of knuckles
- Coloration, smooth or splotchy
- Prominence of veins
- Moles, warts, rashes
- Calluses, scars, blisters, scratches (and think about the causes)
- How they're held (tight, relaxed)
- How they move
- Whether the person need to use her hands to talk
This is a continuation of ideas for a Writer's notebook that I've been posting each Saturday. Click on Writer's notebook to the right to see them all.
soft, blunt hands with the dark hair from his arm creeping halfway across the back
ReplyDelete* slivers of white at the ends of her fingers
* wide silver ring on her smallest finger
* chewing with his fist resting against his mouth as though about to cough
* pinky extended he tapped his glasses into place and flicked at his cheeks
* hands with fingers like knobby twigs vined with prominent veins
* silver band as wide as her finger was thick
* making his point with a wagging finger
* hands hidden in his pockets
* fists shoved into his crooked arms
* pale splatter of freckles
* fingers held in a loose fist as she ate alone
* fingers tucked into her back pockets, thumbs twitching in freedom
* claws of her hands drooped at the ends of her arms
* hands tucked between her thighs
* bracelet of braided thread
* heavy workman’s hands smoothed his neatly trimmed hair
* veins like the branches of a slender tree on the backs of his hands
* idly stirring and stirring and stirring as he read
* finger brushing his upper lip, thumb brushing fingertips
* grasping hands clutched behind his back
* hands clutched high on her chest as she waited
* pinky supporting his clutched cup
* she held the pages with long clustered fingers
* fingers clutching the bottoms of her sleeves
* fingertips twitching as she walked
* thumbs tucked in his front pockets, fingers hanging on from the outside
* fingernail circles at the end of sausage fingers