Skin Color and writing

[MillieDynamite]

Question, do you every describe skin color in your writing. There are, at least, 5 different shades of white skin. From Pasty Pale to Darkish Olive. Take the TV series Gotham and picture some of the stars.

Morena Baccarin aka Leslie has a medium to darkish olive complexion, like my father’s skin tone. While Barbara, played by Erin Richards is often a pasty pale white girl.

Do any of you every give more detailed description to skin color?

Being black, I try to use different color tones in my stories for black people. I’m not sure I’ve put that much thought to my white characters in the past. Well, pasty pale or alabaster for blondes at times. I often leave skin color, especially on non-blacks, to the readers imagination.

My skin color, in certain light, is darker than it is in bright light. I’m a high yellow or ocher, most of the time, but in some of my pictures I have a darker complexion because of the way my skin absorbs certain light.

I’m considering using more detail in describing the coloring of white people.

The world is full of variety, people are varied, and I want to show that more in my writing.

As I said before, I’m not fond of comparing people to foods. But perhaps it is something people relate too so easily that we fall into using it. I don’t know, what do you guys and gals think?

 

[HeyAll]

I go into greater detail if the character is Middle Eastern or Mediterian -- something along those lines. Then I'd use terms like mocha skin, things like that.

Otherwise I use general terms like white or black. I mostly like being vague and letting the reader imagine it themselves. Sometimes I'll mention 'pale' skin. I think the color contrast is sexy with a lesbian story with interracial characters. I like to play on that sometimes.

Speaking of color, I think it's more erotic describing the color of a woman's nipples. Those are the kinds of details that make a story come to life.

 

[SamScribble]

I don't think that I have ever mentioned the colour of a character's skin. I leave it up to the reader to see whatever they want to see.

 

[lovecraft68]

I was told long ago by a wise woman to never refer to a women as pale. Pale sounds sickly. Fair, is what I go with. If a character is a goth type I go with ghostly white, which to that type is not an insult.

For darker skin, I've used mocha, caramel, once I used coffee with cream complexion...apparently I'm obsessed with coffee.

Then of course, ebony. chocolate...

I had an issue with a line in a novel because the characters skin was black...as in dead black not the ethnicity(although I know there are people from parts of Africa that are very dark) but I couldn't figure out how to say it "His skin was black, not in the sense of his ethnicity, but literally black"

the book isn't done yet and that line is highlighted. I do that throughout a draft to not waste time on things everything highlighted falls under "awkward needs work"

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'll generally leave a general ethnic clue like Hispanic, Japanese, Arabic, something like that, but don't go into a detailed description of skin colour. If there's racial heritage in my stories, it's because the person who inspired the character happened to be from that ethnic background, not for any fetishy reasons.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Question, do you every describe skin color in your writing. There are, at least, 5 different shades of white skin. From Pasty Pale to Darkish Olive. Take the TV series Gotham and picture some of the stars.

Morena Baccarin aka Leslie has a medium to darkish olive complexion, like my father’s skin tone. While Barbara, played by Erin Richards is often a pasty pale white girl.

Do any of you every give more detailed description to skin color?

Being black, I try to use different color tones in my stories for black people. I’m not sure I’ve put that much thought to my white characters in the past. Well, pasty pale or alabaster for blondes at times. I often leave skin color, especially on non-blacks, to the readers imagination.

My skin color, in certain light, is darker than it is in bright light. I’m a high yellow or ocher, most of the time, but in some of my pictures I have a darker complexion because of the way my skin absorbs certain light.

I’m considering using more detail in describing the coloring of white people.

The world is full of variety, people are varied, and I want to show that more in my writing.

As I said before, I’m not fond of comparing people to foods. But perhaps it is something people relate too so easily that we fall into using it. I don’t know, what do you guys and gals think?

I did the food thing once, in My Fall and Rise.

I told him once that I thought his skin was the color of walnuts, but he indignantly corrected me, explaining that it was the color of pecans.

Skin color is tricky. As you said, describing someone as "black" or "white" is a using a very broad brush. I described one character as "dark skinned", and someone mentioned assuming they were Black, when, in fact, they were meant to be Native American.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I was told long ago by a wise woman to never refer to a women as pale. Pale sounds sickly. Fair, is what I go with. If a character is a goth type I go with ghostly white, which to that type is not an insult.

For darker skin, I've used mocha, caramel, once I used coffee with cream complexion...apparently I'm obsessed with coffee.

Then of course, ebony. chocolate...

I had an issue with a line in a novel because the characters skin was black...as in dead black not the ethnicity(although I know there are people from parts of Africa that are very dark) but I couldn't figure out how to say it "His skin was black, not in the sense of his ethnicity, but literally black"

the book isn't done yet and that line is highlighted. I do that throughout a draft to not waste time on things everything highlighted falls under "awkward needs work"

What do you think about specifying where in Africa the character is from? I have some characters who are Somali, an ethnicity that tends to have very dark skin. I don't know if the average reader knows that, but those who do would get a clearer picture of them just from using that descriptor. I assume most readers would "see" a very different person if you said your character was Swedish than if you said they were Italian, but most American/European people are not as aware of ethnic differences among non-European people.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Question, do you every describe skin color in your writing. There are, at least, 5 different shades of white skin. From Pasty Pale to Darkish Olive. Take the TV series Gotham and picture some of the stars.

Morena Baccarin aka Leslie has a medium to darkish olive complexion, like my father’s skin tone. While Barbara, played by Erin Richards is often a pasty pale white girl.

Do any of you every give more detailed description to skin color?

I'm not a very visual writer. My interest in physical description is mostly to communicate social information and personality. I'll describe things like tattoos and hairstyles that represent the character's choices, and I'll usually indicate or imply race because it often affects social interactions. Beyond that, I usually leave it to the reader's imagination.

I'm aware that skin colour can have social implications even within a particular ethnicity: some people would put a lot of significance on just how black a Black person is. But so far, I haven't written anything where that kind of nuance was important to the story. If I was, I'd describe skin shades in more detail; as it is, I don't. I might describe a character as "tanned" since that says things about how they live but that's about it.

If I was more interested in physical description I probably would include more detail on skin colour as part of that, but I'd still shy away from food-based descriptors. I'm sleepy right now and can't articulate this very well, but a while back somebody pointed out to me that black- and brown-skinned people are often described in terms of foods that have strong associations with plantations, which depended heavily on the slave/near-slave labour of black- and brown-skinned people. I'm not sure whether that's coincidence, or if there's a causal link there - I can see how some writers might have considered it poetic to liken their slaves to the commodities they grew - but either way it doesn't feel entirely comfortable. Also it's a bit of a cliché.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I had an issue with a line in a novel because the characters skin was black...as in dead black not the ethnicity(although I know there are people from parts of Africa that are very dark) but I couldn't figure out how to say it "His skin was black, not in the sense of his ethnicity, but literally black"

the book isn't done yet and that line is highlighted. I do that throughout a draft to not waste time on things everything highlighted falls under "awkward needs work"

Maybe something like:

"His skin was black - not 'African' black, but black."

Basically your phrasing, but compressed a little. Alternately:

"His skin was black as jet, black as obsidian, black as the space between stars."

 

[lovecraft68]

What do you think about specifying where in Africa the character is from? I have some characters who are Somali, an ethnicity that tends to have very dark skin. I don't know if the average reader knows that, but those who do would get a clearer picture of them just from using that descriptor. I assume most readers would "see" a very different person if you said your character was Swedish than if you said they were Italian, but most American/European people are not as aware of ethnic differences among non-European people.

I should be more clear. The character has supernatural aspects. They're from Haiti and have undergone an integration with an evil Loa and his appearance has been somewhat altered.

Him growing darker is one effect, and the tattoos done in electic blue ink on his body, glow and pulse with his heartbeat, so he's an odd figure to begin with. He was already darker skinned, but my point is that his skin has changed and he's now totally black.

Its just awkward to me, or maybe I'm making a deal over nothing.

 

[lovecraft68]

Maybe something like:

"His skin was black - not 'African' black, but black."

Basically your phrasing, but compressed a little. Alternately:

"His skin was black as jet, black as obsidian, black as the space between stars."

Obsidian! I like that....jeez what a lousy HPL fan I am that the word never dawned on me.

Thank you.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Obsidian! I like that....jeez what a lousy HPL fan I am that the word never dawned on me.

Thank you.

Stygian.

 

[TadOverdon]

I don't use food comparisons for people's appearance. I have used nature colors sometimes, nothing original or noteworthy, things like mahogany or ivory or copper or emerald. I very rarely identify anyone by race or specific ethnicity and I'm even ambiguous about most nationalities. So I might mention if someone is unusually light-skinned or deeply tanned, and that's about it.

I've used "Nordic complexion" and "Mediterranean look." Now, what are those exactly? I don't know. I'm just trying to convey to a reader the general impression of someone who's very fair or dark, not provide a description that would be useful to a police artist.

You know, an exception to the "no foods" just occurred to me - "cream." I've probably described someone's complexion as cream at some point or another.

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't go into detail about skin color at all. I hadn't thought about it much, but I guess it's curious because I'm a highly visual person. I leave this detail to the reader to fill in.

 

[lovecraft68]

Stygian.

Oooh another good one. I'll keep them both in mind.

 

[Agiel]

Question, do you every describe skin color in your writing?

I’ve never found it necessary to specifically mention a character’s colour in any story (and they’re in ten different categories) because like many other things it’s best to leave it up to the reader. Apart from one Fan Fiction story I’ve written a black reader could see a character in a story as black, an oriental as themselves etc etc dependent on how they see the characters in their own mind. I don’t write stories that rely on ethnicity. If I did, as an ethnic example, have a black person as a character I would suggest their colour rather than be specific.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I don't go into detail about skin color at all. I hadn't thought about it much, but I guess it's curious because I'm a highly visual person. I leave this detail to the reader to fill in.

I guess this is me, too. I think I once mentioned one of a crowd of pretty ladies was black; that's about as far as I've gone.

 

[MillieDynamite]

The term, tall, dark, and handsome isn't about skin color, the phrase imparts a mystery or danger about the man. Jet Black is good, as are the to other color specific terms about black people. I have a friend who is russet which is a dark reddish brown. Another who I used for a model on my Black Puma: Cat's Paw for the main character, who is about as dark as you can get. Her features, which I described in detail, always remind me of an African Queen or one of the female pharos. I think I said that in the story as well.

Pale and pasty is how I have described a particularly unpleasant white villain in a story. "His skin was pale and pasty, as if his skin had never seen the light of day."

 

[LAHomedog]

On occasion. Sometimes when describing a redhead like alabaster skin with freckles dancing across the top of her breasts.

I haven't written one, but if it was an IR story, yes because that would be important to the development of the characters and the sex.

I focus on hair and features more than skin color and tone.

 

[SimonDoom]

The term, tall, dark, and handsome isn't about skin color, the phrase imparts a mystery or danger about the man. Jet Black is good, as are the to other color specific terms about black people. I have a friend who is russet which is a dark reddish brown. Another who I used for a model on my Black Puma: Cat's Paw for the main character, who is about as dark as you can get. Her features, which I described in detail, always remind me of an African Queen or one of the female pharos. I think I said that in the story as well.

Pale and pasty is how I have described a particularly unpleasant white villain in a story. "His skin was pale and pasty, as if his skin had never seen the light of day."

You raise an interesting issue, and I confess I had never thought much about it. As a white guy, I might be somewhat uncomfortable trying too hard to describe the complexion of a black person. It might feel like I was trying to fetishize the skin color. But it wouldn't have to be the case, any more than describing the pallor of a white person's skin.

 

[MillieDynamite]

You raise an interesting issue, and I confess I had never thought much about it. As a white guy, I might be somewhat uncomfortable trying too hard to describe the complexion of a black person. It might feel like I was trying to fetishize the skin color. But it wouldn't have to be the case, any more than describing the pallor of a white person's skin.

"He had dead skin, as if the blood had drained away, and cold, crystalline blue eyes. The devil with blue eyes as my mother said about him. I'd like to be polite and say something nice, but I can't, there is nothing nice about the man. When his cold, clammy hands touched me, I shuddered."

 

[Blind_Justice]

I write SF and Fantasy, so I have enough exotic-looking peoples to describe, from the pale Elves to the coal-skinned Dark Elves, the green-skinned Orcs and Goblins or the Serpentkind with their intricately patterned coat of scales. I love to immerse my readers into this world and strong, evocative descriptions are a must for that. Also, I'd rather overcompensate for my lack of eyesight.

 

[Wifetheif]

I use skin tone in my stories. To describe someone as mixed-race I often use mocha or something similar. In one story where an artist was doing an intentional contrast I had her pose a pale almost translucent redhead with a very dark skin-skinned African-American whom I had the artist character refer to as a basalt statue come to life. In most of my stories however they are just black or blonde, brunette or whatever. I have dated women from a lot of racial backgrounds so occasionally, if I have a Chinese woman get naked in a story, I mention, in passing, that she has darker nipples and areolas as is somewhat common there. With black female characters dating white guys, a conversation about hair might ensue. Currently, I'm engaged to a British redhead with very fair skin.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Obsidian! I like that....jeez what a lousy HPL fan I am that the word never dawned on me.

Thank you.

You're welcome!

Stygian.

It's a good word but unfortunately Eye of Argon ruined it for me.

 

[SexualisPhantasia]

Question, do you every describe skin color in your writing. There are, at least, 5 different shades of white skin. From Pasty Pale to Darkish Olive. Take the TV series Gotham and picture some of the stars.

Morena Baccarin aka Leslie has a medium to darkish olive complexion, like my father’s skin tone. While Barbara, played by Erin Richards is often a pasty pale white girl.

Do any of you every give more detailed description to skin color?


As I said before, I’m not fond of comparing people to foods. But perhaps it is something people relate too so easily that we fall into using it. I don’t know, what do you guys and gals think?

Yes, I always describe skin color. My stories are so long, and contain so many different characters that I enjoy describing them in varied ways.
Mocha , alabaster, ivory. And I also work with colors in my artwork, so I am familiar with names for colors, like burnt umber. I also use that for eyes, such as almond colored eyes, or sapphire blue.