Writing Characters’ Hands/Arms

The condition of one’s hands can tell us a lot about a person. Here’s a list of phrases to get your brain jogging:

 

“Spindly fingers”

scuffed knuckles

stubby/thick fingers

Callused (“callused hand corrected my grip…”)

Slim fingers

Manicured

Painted nails

Broken nails

Spotted hands

Filed back my nails

Long-nailed finger

“Long fingernails stained red with henna”

Soft hand

Inkstained fingers (‘my fingers from which the ink had not been entirely washed”

Long-fingered

thick-fingered

“thick, hairy hand”

Scuffed knuckles

Dirt under nails

“Richard saw the marks of rings still pale on his bare fingers.”

Thyra’s curled fingernails were as long as gelder’s knives

Fingers bent from needlework

Thick forefinger

Slim-fingered hands

Fingers of steel/ice

His skinned knuckles

My hands scarred and stained from the tints and varnish I use on the wood

Knobs of her wrists and elbows protruding under her skin

Long of limb

__-limbed (“stout-limbed”; twig-limbed)

Thin arms

“pipestem arms”

“…a long parchment scroll resting like a relic in his walrus arms.”

“The apothecary pointed with that long arm of his”

Stumpy arms

 

DISCLAIMER: None of the longer excerpts belong to me. The intention here is to get your brain jogging, not directly insert quotes into your work.