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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46265
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Most people don't constantly think about their own appearance, which can make first person appearance describing a little awkward. **But there are some legitimate times we do think a lot about how we look** --usually when we're insecure about our looks or self-critical for some reason, or when we have some strong reason for picturing how we appear to others. Consider:

> I felt so self-conscious --the only black person in the room, and the only person under drinking age.

or

> Forty is when I started to notice those changes in my body --a bit more padding on my belly, a bit more gray, salted in with the black in my hair.

or

> I know they considered me unfeminine. They talked behind my back about my short-cropped red hair, my defiantly unsexy glasses. But I didn't care. I wasn't here to fulfill their fantasies, and the sooner they understood that, the better.

**These descriptions do double or triple duty**. They give you some visual information, but they also provide hints towards context, relationships and attitudes. That's always the right approach for adding descriptions that aren't going to bring the narrative to a screeching halt.

Original score: 4