Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such Nashville Office
Weather: low 80s
What a colorful world we have, especially at this time of year with pink, red, and yellow flowers blooming everywhere. We are all more attracted to color, even hummingbirds who flock to red feeders. In children’s books much emphasis is given to color, starting with simple board books, some of which teach the names of the basic colors. The picture book has become a full-color extravaganza. Although the books are very expensive to print these days, children expect them to be vividly colored after watching color television. Does anybody have even a black and white computer screen?
In reading manuscripts, I often watch for the literal use of color in scenes. Authors can both under-use and over-use color in description and in denoting emotional states. Here are a few examples:
His face was red with rage.
She felt her face grow red with embarrassment.
The blue of police lights pierced the curtains.
She gripped the seat, her knuckles white with fear.
Writers are, of course, individuals with varying color preferences. I work with someone who watches for the color yellow at every turn. Take a look at your web page and your book covers. Is there a dominant color? Have you come to prefer a different color as you move from one stage of life to another? I’m in the green phase now. I gravitate to green clothes on the rack, green salads on the plate, and green carpets on the floor. How about you?
I tend to gravitate towards red and green, but not in a Christmasy way. (Except at Christmas, of course.)
Yes…colors are such a blessing from God. I think if I went blind, I’d miss colors the most. You can’t feel them or hear them. I’m in a red phase of my life, a warm and homey feeling.
As a teacher, I used colors to teach my students to organize their sentences into paragraphs. They’d underline each new thought with a different colored pencil. It works great!
I used to be blue/aqua. I’m now gravitating toward yellow/orange/red and, to my roomate’s horror, bright greens. LOL! It’s so funny that you bring this up. I was just thinking about this.
My blog is in shades of greens and blues. I got lucky that there is a Blogger template that comes close to my personal favorite shades (sage green and slate blue, to be specific!)
And, I have written a “smart chick lit” novel, and I hope that if (when!) it finally gets published, the cover will NOT be in shades of pink! Because it’s not THAT kind of chick lit.
I’ve started to lean towards deep blues, like indigo shades, and purples. Occasionally with an added splash of green so it doesn’t get overly feminized. I’ve liked the ‘cool colors’ look.
I’ve been leaning toward pastel blues and greens myself–though I just painted a room pale yellow.
In terms of avoiding overuse of color words, I’ve been turning to my “Flip Dictionary” which provides a broad pallete of word colors. It’s been very helpful, said the woman with cornflower blue eyes wearing a pistachio-colored shirt. 🙂
Oh hey, fun post!
My colors are mostly dark. Yep–browns, blacks, etc. I’ll sneak in some bright colors on my heroine though…so she stands out the most. Like bright purple eyes, or splash her in bright moonlight just as she’s about to put the smack down on some evil being.
Or another thing…in the beginning of my novels, my characters will be dressed in darks (blues/browns/blacks) and as they grow and change, I’ll shift their wardrobes to lighter/brighter colors (reds/greens/yellows)
It’s fun using color to help tell your story, isn’t it?
I love bright splashes of color that are mixed with deep, rich shades of purple and blue–basically, anything that looks like it could be on a beach. Lately, I’ve found that orange really makes me happy. It translates into everything, especially in how I dress. Unfortunately, that came back to bite me when I had to dress for a funeral and realized I had nothing dark to wear!
Ironically, the dominant color in the story I just finished is red.
I lean toward shades of blue. Nothing else soothes the soul in the same way. But I recall as a teen I was into purple. If it was purple, I liked it. Of course, I’m at a loss to explain the time, as a teen, that I decorated my room with black drapes, a black and white comforter and painted the ceiling red. Talk about dramatic! My parents begged me to forego the red ceiling, thinking, I’m sure, of having to paint over that color. But I was adamant; so my parents acquiesced.
Whatever the color combo, I like just a splash of yellow–it adds a sunny touch. This weekend, I read a MG novel called “Indigo Blue” by Cathy Cassidy. LOTS of blue in this book as the main character (Indigo)’s Mom always thought blue was her ‘lucky’ color. (By the end of the book, it wasn’t!)
Hm. I’m not sure what I gravitate towards, but I try really hard not to use colors as a cliche. I think saying someone’s face was red with rage or knuckles white with fear seems a little.. mmm… already been done to me.
Pam, your mention of “Indigo Blue” makes me think of colors in titles such as Rosemary Well’s MG novel “Red Moon at Sharpsburg.” I wonder if the primary colors aren’t the most used. Anybody heard of titles with words like “peach” or “turquoise” or “steel gray”?
The working title of my wip is “When the Lilacs Bloom.” Of course, that refers to the flower, but in my mind the book cover is done in lilac shades. Oddly, the predominant color in the story is gray. The story is set during World War I. It was a dark time in history, and I hope the color will evoke some of those emotions.
“Love, Ruby Lavender” by Deborah Wiles comes immediately to mind.
Great point there, Miss Britt. As I mentioned above we can overuse color in our words, and being sensitive to color in our surroundings can initiate new color choices in our writing.
Etta
Lynn, I can imagine a lovely cover that is mostly shades of gray moving into a splash of brilliant lilac in one corner to show hope coming out of that dark period. Good luck to you.
I like to wear shades of gray and black, but my favorite color is purple. Gray and black are comfortable colors for me. Purple is just lovely!
Rachel, you’re in touch with current stylish colors for sure. Although we saw a lot of rainbow colors during the summer, I notice more grey, and as in Europe, black has become the universal always in style choice. Etta
Must we grow out of a color?
When my husband and I were choosing between a variety of fabrics at a store in Houston over a decade ago, the helpful clerk chuckled, “You DO realize all of these have leaves?”
Green remains my favorite color, which is perhaps why we have so many windows – the 6′ x 3′ kind. 🙂
Fun discussion! I’m new posting here though have been reading a few here and there. Thanks!
Welcome, Karen. Glad to hear from another color-holic! Of course, stylish colors go in cycles as well as seasons. Who ever thought lime green would last this long?
Etta