From the Fiction Desk

Fred called out, waving with his yellow flashlight beam.
The yellow Porsche skidded across the rain slick tracks missing the oncoming train.
The yellow flower grew among the weeds fighting for yellow sunlight.

This blog is not brought to you by the color yellow. It is a discussion that I have often with myself and believe many other writers have as well. We color something a color. We describe it maybe in shades of light, dark, bright, or faded. Yet, let’s face the truth. A color is a color is a color . . .or is it? It gets boring to the reader and to the writer to constantly describe a color of something the same way. It gets frustrating to describe a color only in simple terms—at least in the second draft. After all, how do you describe two sets of light brown eyes in two different characters?

The answer is not as hard as I have made it over the years. The answer is as simple as simple as going to an art or paint store and getting a book with all the colors in it. Not quite so simple as my recent experience has proved, but it is worth it. A writer may have better luck at an art supply store than a paint store—at least I did. Now armed with the color book I can begin to truly explore the visual and the physical effect of colors and enliven my fiction and non-fiction writing.

The idea of a paint color book should not have been a surprise to me. Painting and writing are both art forms. I think I blocked the idea out of my mind because I am unable to paint or draw. The lesson learned is simple: Never stop expanding your horizons—look outside your known universe for the solutions to your problems—in writing or in live.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for more on the articles, blogs, novels, poems, and short stories I write.