| The creative use of color is one of the ways to add authenticity to your writing. In this article, color is not used in the sense of "local color", where you add details to make the place where the story takes place more realistic. Instead it refers to the colors of the spectrum. You can use color to add authenticity to your writing in at least two ways: by using more precise wording when you refer to a color, and by being aware of the connotations attached to various colors. This article will explore these points using the color green. |
"You can use color to add authenticity to your writing..." |
| Each [green] is a slightly different shade, and will bring a different picture to your reader's mind. | Have you ever stopped to think about how many different kinds of green there are? In a 64 Crayola Crayon box there are: forest green (a dark green), pine green (a little bluer than forest green), olive green, sea green (a pale green), aquamarine (a bluish green), blue-green (a little bluer than aquamarine), yellow-green, green-yellow (a little yellower than yellow-green), and spring green (a very pale yellow-green, almost yellow). Outside of the crayon box, we have: Kelly green, chartreuse, pea green, mint green, celery, hunter green, lime, turquoise, emerald green, jade green, gray green, avocado, sea foam, teal, and aqua, among others. Each is a slightly different shade, and will bring a different picture to your reader's mind. Kelly green might bring memories of St. Patrick's Day; emerald green of expensive jewelry; gray green, of the leaves of olive trees; avocado, of the seventies, when it was used so frequently in home decoration, turquoise, of southwestern jewelry, and so on. |
| Green can also be described by its relation to other things. In The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien writes that Goldberry is wearing a dress as "green as young reeds." C. S. Lewis, in The Silver Chair, describes a snake being "as green as poison." In a more popular vein, one might say, "as green as Kermit the Frog." | "as green as Kermit the Frog" |
| "Psychologists describe green as a restful color." | These are indicative of the two different connotations that green has. Psychologists describe green as a restful color. People tend to think of the outdoors when they think of green, of trees, and mountains--places of low stress. On the other hand, it is also the color of putrefaction, of decay and mold. Indeed, green has many meanings. It may connote fresh and new, as spring green, or indicate growth and life, as a green thumb, or as in Psalm 92:14 "They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green." It can mean untried, as a green boy, or immature in the sense of not ripe, as green apples. It is slang for money. On St. Patrick's Day, there is the "wearin' o' the green". It can mean jealousy, as the green-eyed monster. It can indicate readiness to go, as a green light, or a space shot being "condition green". You can play on the greens at a golf course. It can even indicate that you are part of the environmental movement. |
| In the song "It's Not Easy Bein' Green," Joe Raposo has Kermit say, "But green is the color of spring, and green can be cool and friendly like, and green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain, or tall like a tree." Since Kermit is green, he is tuned into that color. Do any of your characters have a special awareness of a particular color, or of colors in general? Green is not used as the primary color in advertisements very often. You may see it in computer ads occasionally, since the circuit boards in a computer are green. You may also see it in ads featuring financial transactions, since it is the color of money. But you will not see it in car ads, since green is a restful color and driving is supposed to be exciting. It is seldom used on video boxes, but on the other hand, is often used for bookbinding. Do we consider books more restful? Being mindful of these facts can add to your story. |
"Green is not used as the primary color in advertisements very often." |
| "How many different colors of green can you see?" | Look around yourself right now. How many different colors of green can you see? In the room where this is being written, there is ivy, with two different greens on its leaves, a Christmas cactus, an amaryllis, the stems of carnations, all slightly different hues. Kermit sits on a green pillow much darker than himself. There are a dozen and a half books with green binding, and none of them match exactly. If you were writing about this room, would you use any of that information? Maybe, maybe not, but you should be aware of it. |
| What colors do your characters see? What connotations do colors have for them? What color dominates their world? If you can answer these questions, you will have a richer story to tell. | Being aware of colors makes your story richer. |
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