i’m halfway into my thirties and you know what, i’m getting as tired of descriptions for female characters that start off “She wasn’t beautiful, but…” as i ever have been of descriptions that enthuse at length about how pretty they are.
she wasn’t beautiful but she was striking. she wasn’t beautiful but she moved with grace. she wasn’t beautiful but she had strong bones. she wasn’t beautiful but she had a way of putting you at ease. she wasn’t beautiful but her voice was soft and kind. she wasn’t beautiful but she had nice eyes, smile, hands, freckles, hair.
just let your female heroes be goddamn beautiful.
i get that you want to avoid having all the female characters look the same. and there’s something to that! you don’t necessarily want to have them all look like 80s hollywood actresses or ‘10s right wing newscaster personality. the important realization is that there are many, many ways to be beautiful and they all look different, and they all look unique.
she was short and plump and busty and had curly hair, and her face moved in curves like the ocean’s swells when she smiled. she was a frail little wisp of a thing, fine fair hair drifting like seaweed in the current and skin so luminous you could almost see through it. she was tall and slender with high cheekbones, a grace like a stately horse, dark eyes and hair like a wave of night sky. she was big and broad-shouldered and strapped with muscle and had a square face, strong jaw, and a nose and eyebrows a goddess would kill for.
they can all be beautiful, k? just let them be beautiful.