If you’re not sure how to describe her appearance, you can describe how she acts. Talk about how she sucks in her stomach to squeeze between desks or how she tries to make herself look smaller when she’s in a crowd. Or, alternatively, how she walks proudly with her shoulders back and her stomach leading the way. How she swings her hips confidently and looks back over her shoulder at the person she knows is checking out her luscious booty.
Focus in on how she feels about being chubby. Does she like her body, or is she self-conscious about it? That will affect how she moves, how she dresses, even just how she sits next to someone. Does she wear baggy clothes in an attempt to seem smaller than she actually is? Does she wear crop tops and leggings and show off her curves? You could even talk about where she shops. If she’s a much larger size, she might not be able to go to the same stores as other characters in your fic.
Body language changes from person to person, and body shape can inform that language. Dig deeper into the character than just her outward appearance, and that will help you round her out in more than just her hip region 😉
One potential trap I’ll caution you to avoid is to signal her size by writing her constantly eating or eating poorly. That’s a trope that just needs to stop. There are lots of reasons why people have different sizes, and diet is just one of them. If you don’t spend a lot of time describing how other characters eat, I’d skip it with her as well.
I’m somewhat more than chubby myself, so that’s how I’d go about it – but then that’s my own experience. Your readers might or might not appreciate that approach.
What thoughts do the rest of you have?
-Mod Pi
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Rebellions are built on hope 