Describing People: A Guide for Writers and Speakers

By Robert C. Brenner

An essential reference listing descriptive terms and expressions used by successful authors and writers to make their words come alive. These words break writer’s block and free your efforts to create content that produces mental images in the minds of readers.

Imagine clicking over to find multiple ways to describe a man, a woman, children, behavior, action and various ways to describe someone’s eyes, face, hair, mouth and even how they dress. This book covers almost 400 subjects with bookmarks and hyperlinks to enable easy access.

Describing People can stimulate the creative side of your brain and let enjoy a unique ability to make your writing interesting and memorable.

(Our content mining efforts continue as we capture more descriptive terms and expressions. Until we release another edition, all confirmed buyers who send us proof of purchase will be sent a complimentary addendum to this book.)

Give yourself permission to be creative. You’ll be glad you did.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert C. Brenner
• Release date: Jan 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9780929535302

Robert C. Brenner

Robert Brenner is an engineer, consultant, college professor, historical genealogist, and professional speaker with extensive experience in research and information publishing. A retired naval officer with distinguished service in both nuclear submarines and microelectronic research and development, he holds a bachelor's degree (BSEE) and two master's degrees (MSEE, MSSM). He was recognized a Very High Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) microelectronics pioneer by the DOD and served four years in R&D at TRW after a 23-year Navy career.He is the author of 56 books including Going Solar: a Homeowner’s Experience, Power Up! The Smart Guide to Home Solar Power: How to Make a Wise Solar Investment, How to Construct (and Use) the 45W Harbor Freight Solar Kit, Supernatural & Strange Happenings in the Bible, and Supernatural & Strange Happenings in the Family. In addition, he has written over 275 articles including over 50 articles for Survival Life.com and Survivorpedia.He taught computer technology and engineering subjects at the community college, university, and graduate school levels and has been a guest speaker at over 50 national conferences and symposiums. He is an avid supporter of solar technology and learns by doing. A futurist, he enjoys the challenge of research and is currently sharing his findings through his writing and public presentations. Professor Brenner can be reached at [e-mail].

Book preview

DESCRIBING PEOPLE

A Guide for Writing and Speaking

Terms & Expressions That

Create Vivid Mental Images

An Essential Reference for Those Who Write and Speak for a Living

ISBN 978-0-929535-30-2

©2023 All rights reserved. All contents and information herein are the sole property of Brenner Information Group. Reproduction, translation, or republishing of all or any part of this work is not authorized. Brief quotations of the material in this book may be used provided full prominent credit is given as follows: "From Describing People: A Guide for Writing and Speaking by Robert C. Brenner." For larger excerpts or reprint rights, contact the publisher ([e-mail]).

Notice: This is book is for your personal enjoyment only. A lot of hard work and substantial expense are behind its creation. If you would like to share this book with another person, please donate for an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please donate for your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author and the financial investment that made this research notebook possible.

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SOURCES FOR LIST ENTRIES

13th Century Italian expression

AFFAIRE ROYALE by Nora Roberts

AGENT TO THE RESCUE by Lisa Childs

Article by George Fuermann in Houston Post

Author

BACKDOOR SURVIVAL PREPPER’S GUIDE

CHANGING TIMES

Comment by Frank Norris

Comment by George Jean Nathan

Comment by L. V. Redman

Comment by William B. Robey

Comments by Anthony Thorne

Comments by W. Somerset Maugham

DEVOTED IN DEATH by J.D. Robb

FINAL TARGET by Iris Johansen

HIDEAWAY by Nora Roberts

GUIDEPOSTS Magazine Nov90

JEWELS OF THE SUN by Nora Roberts

Metaphor from Christian author, Patrick Morley

OUT TO CANAAN by Jan Karon

PIRATES by John Matthews

POWER PLAYS POLITIKA by Tom Clancy and Martin Greenberg

REAP THE WIND by Iris Johansen

RED STORM RISING by Tom Clancy

SOUTHWEST MAGAZINE, Oct 2018

STRANGERS by Dean R. Koontz

SUCCESS, November 1987

THE AUDUBON SOCIETY FIELD GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS Eastern Region

THE CAPTAIN FROM CONNECTICUT by C.S. Forrester

THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE by Catherine Coulter

THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck

THE MYSTERN OF THE SPIRAL BRIDGE by Franklin W. Dixon

THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER by Tom Clancy

THE LIVING REED by Pearl S. Buck

THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS by Allen Chapman

THE RISE OF MAGICKS by Nora Roberts

THE SANDS OF TIME by Sidney Sheldon

THE SECRET WAYS by Alstair MacLean

THE TARAHUMARA INDIANS by Marjorie Wildcraft

THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT by John Steinbeck

THE WOMAN WHO SMASHED CODES by Jason Fagone

Transliterated Chinese phrase from TV series Firefly

TOWARD MORE PICTURESQUE SPEECH - Reader’s Digest

TREASURE ISLAND by Robert Louis Stevenson

WATCHING FOR THE WIND by James G. Edinger

WHITE FANG by Jack London

THE SKY AND THE FOREST by C. S. Forester

THE WHEELS OF IF by L. Sprague de Camp

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

DESCRIPTIONS

Female

Male

Other People Related

Action

Behavior

SUMMARY

ABOUT THIS AUTHOR

OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION

How to Use This Book

This book is for anyone creating or speaking the written word. It’s intended for authors, teachers, reporters, researchers, law enforcement professionals, investigators, copy writers, public speakers, and you.

Good writing comes from good rewriting. And the best writing creates a mental image of what the author is trying to describe. It should involve and capture the attention of the reader.

When you read descriptions in this book; you’ll recognize even more ways you can describe people, places, and things, and you’ll get ideas how best to do this. Through this process your words will come alive in your content and in the minds of your readers or listeners. You really can create some of the finest prose that will surprise even you.

During research for this book, I avidly consumed the works of writers like Pearl S. Buck, Samuel Clements, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemmingway, Iris Johansen, Jack London, C.S. Lewis, C. S. Forrester, Nora Roberts, J.D. Robb, Tom Clancy, W. Somerset Maugham, and Barbara Cartlin. And less known authors when they had moments of creative writing like Alstair MacLean, Anthony Thorne, Dean R. Koontz, Lisa Childs, John Matthews, L. Sprague de Camp, L. V. Redman, Patrick Morley, H. C. Witwer, Hannah Rothschild, Richard Sherman, and Jan Karon. I even researched magazines like Guideposts, SuccessChanging Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Daily Reckoning, and one of my favorites, The Reader s Digest with their highly successful Towards More Picturesque Speech. I also found some T’s and E’s (terms and expressions) in newspapers like The Wall Street Journal and travel magazines like Southwest Magazine.

No potential source was left out in my research. If it contained descriptions, I sought to find and record them. I was consistently on the lookout for new entries. Some of the entries were created after a flash of my creativity.

For books that I had purchased, I highlighted the words in them that were descriptive. My wife asked me not to highlight in her favorite books, so I cut apart and used strips of Post-It Notes

to tag Ts and Es that I found while examining them. Some books that I scoured ended up having a lot of strip tags sticking out the side marking the pages. Just by looking at a printed book from the side, I could quickly tell how descriptive the author was.

I occasionally captured terms expressed by well-known speakers and online commentators. Every written word, every comment, every known source was monitored and scoured, and the nuggets captured to create my database. As of this moment it contains almost 7,000 entries that represent the most descriptive language used by writers, speakers, and people who earn (or earned) their living with words.

There are a number of ways to describe certain subjects. Here are examples:

behavior 282

eyes 70

face 60

You’ll find good ways to express your thoughts in "Describing People a Guide for Writing and Speaking."

On following pages you’ll find descriptive text captured during hours of research. Today, our research continues, and free addendums will be released periodically to buyers who have registered their email with us ([e-mail]) until we produce another complete update. The following should stimulate your mind to create even better content. Go for it! Have a descriptive future.

TERMS AND EXPRESSIONS

Words, Phrases, and Expressions that Describe

Female

Girl

Mother

Waitress

Woman

Friend

Fruit Growers

Male

Boy

Man

Gender Not Specified

Child

Criminal

Farmers

Fruit Growers

Guests

In-Laws

Musicians

Park Rangers

People

Prisoner

Rental Car Agent

Seamen

Soldier

Student

Terrorist

Person – Other

Accolade

Action

Accept

Active

Adopt

Agitate

Arrest

Ask

Astounded

Attack

Awake

Barter

Bend

Birth

Bite

Bleed

Blink

Blush

Bond

Breathe

Brush

Build

Bury

Carry

Caught

Change

Cheat

Cheer

Chew Out

Circle

Clasp

Clear Throat

Climb out

Clutch

Collapse

Comb

Command

Cook

Cover

Crowd

Cry

Curious

Dance

Deceive

Decide

Defend

Demand

Descend

Detect

Dig

Doze

Dream

Drink

Drive

Drop

Duck

Eat

Enter

Examine

Exhale

Exit

Express

Extinguish

Faint

Fall

Farm

Fatigue

Feel

Feeling

Feint

Fight

Fist Bump

Fisted Hands

Flee

Float

Flush

Fly

Follow

Fork in Air

Freeze

Gaffe

Gardening

Gather

Gesture

Grab

Greet

Grin

Grow

Guide

Hand to

Hands Together

Handshake

Hang

Hear

Hesitate

Hide

Hire

Hold

Home from School

Horseback Riding

Huff

Hug

Hurry

Inhale

Interest

Jab

Jerk

Jiggle

Jingle

Jog

Jump

Kick

Kill

Kiss

Knock

Knock Down

Know

Laugh

Lead

Lean Forward

Lick

Lie

Lift

Like

Listen

Look

Love

Lower Face

Lower Head

Make Coffee

March

Massage

Meditate

Meet

Miss

Moisten Lips

Movement

Mow Grass

Mumble

Mutiny

Negotiate

Nod

Open

Overpower

Pace

Panic

Park

Pat

Plan

Play

Point

Poke

Polish

Pour

Press

Primp

Puff

Punch

Pursue

Push

Quote

Raise

Ran

Reach

Read

Realize

Recline

Recognize

Relax

Research

Ride

Rock

Rub

Run

Rush

Rutting

Sad

Salute

Scowl

Scratch

Scream

Search

Sedate

See

Shake

Shine

Shook

Shoot

Shop

Shot

Shrug

Shudder

Shuffle

Sigh

Silent

Sing

Sip

Sit

Sleep

Slink

Smile

Smirk

Sneak

Speak

Spot

Spray

Squeeze

Squirm

Stamp

Stand

Standoff

Stare

Start

Steeple

Stiffen

Store

Stretch

Stride

Strike

Stroke

Study

Swallow

Swat

Sweep

Swell

Swing

Swirl

Tap

Taste

Tempt

Threaten

Think

Tilt

Torment

Torture

Toss

Travel

Tremble

Trot

Turn

Twist

Twitch

Type

Unpack

Unpeel

Visit

Waddle

Wade

Walk

Walked

Walking

Wash

Watch

Wave

Whisper

Wipe

Work

Wrestle

Write

Yawn

FEMALE

GIRL: Exhausted and winded, he shouted his daughter’s name again, his voice cracking, fresh tears blurring his vision as he collapsed on his knees. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. Baby? he said, sounding as if he’d been jolted out of a trance. It was his daughter. He covered her hand with his own. He needed to touch it, to feel her, before he would let himself believe she was really standing there. ? My God, I thought you … your mother … His daughter nodded wordlessly, crying, tightening her grip on his shoulder. Her cheek and forehead were gashed and the sleeve of her tattered coat was soaked in blood, but she was alive. She helped him to his feet and then he was crushing his daughter to him, feeling her chin press into the hollow of his neck, feeling the warm flood of her tears against his face. (Source: POWER PLAYS POLITIKA by Tom Clancy and Martin Greenberg)

GIRL: pretty girl with skin like white rose petals. (Source: DESPERATION IN DEATH by J.D. Robb)

GIRL: She was a gorgeous young mixed race girl with happy eyes and a shy smile. (Source: DESPERATION IN DEATH by J.D. Robb)

MOTHER: Ma called them back, held up their faces with a hand under each chin, and looked into their nostrils, pulled their ears and looked inside, and sent them … to wash their hands once more. (Source: THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck)

MOTHER: One mother claims she suffers from a low-grade infection. Every time she sees her son’s report card, she gets sick. (Source: TOWARD MORE PICTURESQUE SPEECH – Reader’s Digest)

WAITRESS: A single waitress navigated the tables in high red heels, a short black skirt, white shire, and red bow tie. She served on of the tables what looked like decent bar food and a carafe of white wine. (Source: ABANDONED IN DEATH by J. D. Robb)

FRIEND: Jewish friends showed their esteem for each other by always walking hand-in-hand. No one ever slept in the dark, a lamp was always burning in the family sleeping quarters. Bread was never cut; it was broken in wedge shape so that it could be used as a spoon for dinner, and was dipped into a common dish. (Source: THE DAY CHRIST DIED by Jim Bishop)

FRUIT GROWERS: Behind the fruitfulness are men of understanding and knowledge and skill, men who experiment with seed, endlessly developing the techniques for greater crops of plants whose roots will resist the million enemies of the earth: the molds, the insects, the rusts, the blights. These men work carefully and endlessly to perfect the seed, the roots. And there are men of chemistry who spray the trees against pests, who Sulphur the grapes, who cut out disease and rots, mildews and sicknesses Doctors of preventive medicine, men at the borders who look for fruit flies, for Japanese beetles, men who quarantine the sick trees and root them out and burn them, men of knowledge. The men who graft the young trees, the little vines, are the cleverest of all, for theirs is a surgeon’s job, as tender and delicate; and these men must have surgeons’ hands and surgeons’ hearts to slit the bark, to place the grafts, to bind the wound and cover them from the air. These are great men. (Source: THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck)

MALE

BOY: He had worked like a horse all the school season and felt if he was required to do more, he’d be only skin and bone. (Source: THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS by Allen Chapman)

BOY: He was tall, and well built, of rather dark complexion and frank, with merry eyes that always looked straight at you. He was good in his studies and a leader in athletic sports among boys of his own age. He had a firm, decided character, and was always at his best in an emergency that demanded cool thinking and quick action. (Source: THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS by Allen Chapman)

BOY: If Marconi is the father of wireless, this boy is a good healthy relative. (Source: THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS by Allen Chapman)

BOY: The boy carrying the bag of nuts groaned and complained about the weight until; his friend said, You’d be kicking like a steer if you didn’t have to carry, and now you’re sore because you have enough to last all winter. (Source: THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS by Allen Chapman)

BOY: The boy raced out of the school building, and bounded down the steps three at a time, his books slung over his shoulder. (Source: THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS by Allen Chapman)

BOY: The boy took the brush and colored inks and painted a picture revealing his hidden thoughts and feelings. (Source: THE LIVING REED by Pearl S. Buck)

BOY: The boy was straight and slim and tall for his years. He had the clear white skin, the leaf-brown eyes, and brown hair of his people, different from the darker Japanese. (Source: THE LIVING REED by Pearl S. Buck)

BOY: The happy boy threw his cap into the air, catching is deftly as it came down. (Source: THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS by Allen Chapman)

BOY: The teenage boy was fat, red-faced and good natured, with a special partiality for the good things of life. His nickname was Doughnuts and he did his best to deserve the name. (Source: THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS by Allen Chapman)

MAN: … had a lot of time to think while in prison. It was like being in a cocoon and turning into a butterfly. (Source: FINAL TARGET by Iris Johansen)

MAN: … heart jumped as he saw the shadowy figure in the darkness behind him. (Source: FINAL TARGET by Iris Johansen)

MAN: … with his thick, rich hair ruffled by the breeze, his eyes a clear, wild blue,