Shades

The weekend is almost here, folks! That means you only have three more days before I’ll tell you about the cool things I’ll be doing right here in Too Many Books To Count for the release of Dwr: People in the Water! Do a little happy dance—you should be excited for this.

This week, we’ve talked about how important both detail and setting are, to story, through the lenses of my three hats: reader, writer, and editor. Each one has a unique and different perspective, as I’m sure you know, and it’s been great fun to talk about.

Today?

Why do we need…

Color?

Now, I want to explain this one. I’m not saying that you should make your text a color other than black. In fact, I really wish that you wouldn’t. It’s hard to read other colors, after a while, especially on a screen of any sort. There’s a reason why we put black ink on white paper, and why the text on most websites is dark on light. The eyes like it.

No, what I’m talking about today is the importance of evoking actual color within your writing. Talk about the different shades of the leaves on the trees, the refraction of light upon the green lake waters, things like that. Not colored ink, but colorful words.

From the point of view of a reader…

I really, really enjoy when writers use a ton of coloration in their stories. It helps us to be able to really see their world, to watch the light bouncing off this object and that, to allow our mind’s eye to fully develop this fictitious world and have it flourish behind our closed eyes. It’s a really good book, when I can see all the colors, when my mind can take its paintbrush of a million shades and brush it over the trees, across the stone paths, and through the doorways of this new world. Whether that world be fantasy or just plain fiction, it doesn’t matter. Readers like to see what you’re creating—and it’s a lot more fun when there’s a mass of color to play with.

From the point of view of a writer…

I’m not amazing at this. I’ll be honest with you. Adding color is something that I’m working on, something that I aspire toward. I’ve read only a few books that evoke a great image through use of color (among them, Narnia), but I would really like to be one of those writers. As it is, I like color. I like to paint, to draw, to create art—and I always want it to be colorful. As a writer, I’m always looking for new ways to get my idea across to a reader, and I think color is an awesome way to do that, as well as a way that most writers don’t even consider doing. That, in and of itself, is enough reason to at least try it out, eh?

From the point of view of an editor…

As an editor, I have never read a story of this caliber—but I’m always on the lookout for them. If you’re a writer who works with color a lot through your words, I would be excited to work with you. It’s something I don’t have a mass of experience with, but something that I would love to see. I don’t see it enough, I’ll tell you. I’ve read it as a reader, I’m trying to write it, but as an editor, I’ve yet to touch a story like this. Yours might be my first. I want to get my hands on it. If you’re good with color imagery, I don’t think I’d even change most of those details, only enhance them and make them stronger.

We need more color in our writing. That’s all there is to it, if I’m being honest.

If you’ve read a story that uses a lot of color imagery, and you think I should check it out, please let me know! I’m always on the lookout—not even joking.

[love]

{Rani D.}