Disguise Your Character #amwriting

Everything2What does MomGoth always tell you Sweet Little Baby Angels? All right, I mean besides, “Buy my books.” Yes, that’s right: “Everything is about writing.”

For instance, here’s something I clipped from a ladies’ magazine (hopefully, one I owned) and saved. It’s by Carol Norbeck, one-time CEO of Silhouette Optical Laboratories and spokeswoman of the Vision Council of America.

Make a full face look thinner: Wear frames that are shallow and don’t dip too far down the face…angular styles no broader than the widest part of the face. Avoid: Rounded styles.

Shorten a long nose: Frames with a low or colored bridge. Avoid: High, clear or keyhole-shaped bridges.

Narrow/lengthen a wide nose: Frames with nose pads…metal or clear bridges positioned high on the nose.

Shorten a long face: Frames that are the same width as the face and that dip lower down the face…lower temples and bridges.

Widen close-set eyes: Frames with an unobtrusive bridge…darker colored frames…detailing away from the center. Helpful: Narrower frames will center the eyes.

The bit was, of course, about using eyewear to look your best. Naturally, I read it in terms of a character needing a quick disguise; seemed like these might be helpful in that regard, along with other elements.

Don’t forget to do something with the character’s ears: ears are overlooked, but I’ve identified many a friend from the back just from the ears.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character needs a quick disguise. Why? Why???

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “Disguise Your Character #amwriting

  1. Pierre Laberge

    April 26, 2016 at 2:12am

    So…. you are trying to leave Writing and get into the Spy Business, maybe?
    Hum.
    Interesting occupation change!
    But remember:
    What happens in the Agency, Stays in the Agency!

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author

      Marian Allen

      April 26, 2016 at 11:29am

      I would answer your question but if I told you, I’d have to kill you.

      Permalink  ⋅ Reply
      • Pierre Laberge

        April 26, 2016 at 11:59am

        Then my agency, and your agency will have to keep mum, not share outside of Vegas, recall that loose lips sink ships, and wear our balaclavas and trench coats! (We will be fashionable, of course, right, Madame Bond?)

        Permalink  ⋅ Reply
        • Author

          Marian Allen

          April 26, 2016 at 12:10pm

          WHO TOLD YOU MY SEKRICK INDEMNITY??? I’m comin’ for ya, but you’ll never see me. ~MA dons a false mustache~

          Permalink  ⋅ Reply
          • Pierre Laberge

            April 26, 2016 at 12:19pm

            I better put on my false beard, wig, yarmaka, and pink nail polish then. So that you cannot possible recognize me. Second thought, I will pass on the nail polish, and the use my dark brown hippy wig. I’ll pass on the yarmaka, too. The name’s Bomb, Pierre Bomb. I “bomb out” a lot.
            I’m just like this guy:
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWEvp217Tzw
            And almost as handsome….

            Permalink  ⋅ Reply
  2. Jane

    April 26, 2016 at 11:07am

    So true: It IS all about writing.

    Every time I read a science article, it immediately becomes about scifi. How does one imagine future tech affecting our lives? What will be normal and what, astounding? And, pretty importantly, what will we call it?

    Ex: what will we call our new battery shirts? Will they be based on solar, kinetic, or broadcast energy? And what other, unrelated thing will they be capable of? Starting a fire in a jungle survival scenario? Why not?

    And what about our new paper-thin view screens? Will we be able to fold them up and put them in our pockets? And have them unfold without a wrinkle? Apparently so.

    Frankly, I want a full-on exoskeleton. In fact, my knee wants one RIGHT NOW!

    More likely, they will (hoping!) be able to 3-D print me up some knee cartilege. Really. They are right now solving the problem of durability. YES!

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author

      Marian Allen

      April 26, 2016 at 11:37am

      A battery shirt? Hmmm…. Let’s see…. You could load it with a limited number of slogans and/or designs and switch them out on the fly. So you could wear one that says SHIT HAPPENS in the bar, then switch it to I <3 My Spouse before you got home.

      I dream of the day when a computer is the size of a Bic pen, and generates a virtual keyboard and a virtual screen. And that’ll probably be clunky, compared to what actually happens.

      Permalink  ⋅ Reply
  3. Nate Wilson

    April 26, 2016 at 12:51pm

    Why does the character need a quick disguise? Because, clearly, the slow disguise wasn’t working. (“Is it just me, or does that sloth look familiar?”)

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply

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