Face Descriptions

Describing a character's face can be a tricky business.  You want to give the audience something to latch onto, but too much detail is boring to read and it can clash with the audience's fictive dream.  Half the fun of reading is getting to see things your unique way, and as writers we interfere with that at our own peril.

So how best to describe a character's appearance?  For my full answer to that, you'll have to check out my post on The Inverse Coco Chanel Principle, but suffice it to say that one or two details is usually enough to spark the reader's imagination, and the reader will fill in the rest.

But what details do you pick?  That's up to you.  As I've said before, different characters have different telling details about them.

But when it comes to faces, there are really just a few areas that you could describe, and there are a handful of fairly universal terms you can apply.  Collected here are a few charts I've culled from the internet, which I use as a starting point when I'm describing faces.  Usually one or two of the details here is more than enough, but it helps to have a visual aid when deciding which details to mention.