Real World Comparisons:
Light:
Cancer ribbon
Pigs
Cotton candy
Strawberry ice cream
Grapefruit flesh
Cooked shrimp…
Medium:
Flamingo
Pink lemonade
Stargazer lily
Guava flesh
Cat tongue
Rare meat…
Dark:
Dragon fruit
Rhubarb
Watermelon flesh
Sunrise/sunset
Fuchsia
Radishes…
Shades of Pink: Rose, Carnation, coral, puce, blush, fuchsia…
Make every detail count
Colors are powerful descriptors, not fillers. Make sure that if you use a comparison or contrast to highlight a color, you choose the right one. Look at the setting and atmosphere you are working to create, then draw from the viewpoint character or narrator’s history, education and past experiences to find the right fit.
Colors not only paint a picture for readers; when used well, they can also create emotional and symbolic harmonies.
Looking to add vivid imagery to your character’s world? This thesaurus has been expanded and integrated into our online library at One Stop For Writers. There, entries have been enhanced to include symbolism opportunities, a wealth of real-world comparisons that can be woven into your writing, and examples of how to describe colors and patterns in ways that engage the reader’s imagination. This collection is also cross-referenced for easy searchability so you can find exactly what you’re looking for. Interested in seeing a sampling of the updated Color and Pattern Thesaurus and our other collections? Head on over and register for free at One Stop!
Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.
Thanks everyone for the kind words both on this post and the lightened blog color. It took me awhile to settle on a background and while I like the darker ones, my thesaurus posts are quite ‘text intensive’ (AKA verbose, lol) so I wanted it to be easy on the eyes.
Creative A, you are too good to me! Thanks so much for the blog award–I’ll be right over to see it!
This reminds me of the pink ribbon campaign for cancer.
Sweet! Thanks, Angela!
I love this post Angela. . .I have been struggling with different ways to describe the flushing of a character’s cheeks for a while now. You are right – shade counts.
Pink = you discovered toilet paper hanging out of your pants
Crimson = you discovered you aren’t wearing any pants
Hey Angela,
I gave you a blog award! It’s halfway down the post
http://headdeskforwriters.blogspot.com/2010/02/events-of-february.html
-Mandy
I even wearing pink as I read this entry.
I love pink! I’ll have to check out purple too. What fun the list was.
Love the pink entry and loved the example! “a damn radich growing back there” ha ha!
I was looking at the color list because I will be replacing this thesaurus with a new one here very soon and I wanted to make sure I’d gotten all the main colors. That’s when I realized I’d forgotten PINK! GAH! I don’t make a very good girl, do I?
Glad everyone likes this one, and thanks for commenting. And I’m glad the background works now–thanks for letting me know. I really wanted a change but it needs to be something functional as well.
And Stina, I’m glad you heard about me, too! Thank you so much for the award–I’m honored!
It’s friday, people! FRIDAY! Is anyone else excited, or what? 🙂
I’m so glad someone mentioned this blog on Absolute Write.
‘Cause I love your blog, I’ve given you the Sunshine Award. Just visit my blog for more info.
Have a great weekend!
What fun. I saw the boil and felt the pain.
I agree with Kelly and I think the lighter color background is GREAT! I hadn’t realized the darker color was little harder to read.
I love this one, Angela – although you are right about the radish ew factor! 🙂
I like the softer blog color better – this look is great!
Right away I thought of cotton candy, so I’m glad it made the list. Now I’m in the mood for the sweet confection and watching the sky turn to a sunset.
I hope Harv gets to the dr.! 🙂
Great pinkalicious entry!