Writer Reference - Tumblr Posts
Publishing for Fun and Profit
So there was a list going around tumblr for a while that made it to my dash of literary journals that accept open submissions (and will pay!), but upon inspection about half of them were closed indefinitely, and I found quite a few other places that looked interesting through further research, so I wanted to post my own list.
I tried to focus on things that paid professional grade (at least 6 cents per word), were friendly to speculative fiction, and specifically encouraged diversity and writing about marginalized groups.
(Please note that as of right now I have never submitted or been published with any of these, so if anyone has experience with them, good or bad, please feel free to message or reblog this with your experiences.)
Speculative Fiction
Strange Horizons — Speculative fiction (broadly defined) with an emphasis on diversity, unusual styles, and stories that address politics in nuanced ways. 8c per word. Up to 10,000 words, under 5,000 preferred. Responds within 40 days. LGBT+ positive.
Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine — Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc. 7-12c per word. Up to 25,000 words. No response times listed.
Asimov’s Science Fiction — Primarily sci-fi but accepts fantasy and surreal fiction, but no high fantasy/sword and sorcery. Prefers writing that is character driven. 8-10c per word. 1,000-20,000 words. Responds in about five weeks.
Evil Girlfriend Media — Horror and urban fantasy centered on female empowerment and defying gender stereotypes. $100 flat payment. 4,000-7,000 words. No response times given. LGBT+ friendly.
Beneath Ceaseless Skies — Fantasy with a focus on secondary worlds and characters. 6c per word. Up to 10,000 words. Average response time 2-4 weeks.
Fantastic Stories — Speculative fiction with an emphasis on diversity and literary style. 15c per word. Up to 3,000 words. Responds within two weeks. LGBT+ positive.
Fiction Vortex — Serialized fantasy and speculative fiction. $300 for featured stories, $50 otherwise. 3,500 words or less. No response times given.
Shimmer — Speculative fiction with an emphasis on diversity, strong plots, vivid characters, and beautiful writing. 5c per word. 7,500 words or less (will consider longer words with query letter). Usually responds within two weeks. LGBT+ positive.
Clarkesworld Magazine — Sci-fi, fantasy, and other speculative fiction. 10c per word up to 5,000 words, 8c per word after. 1,000-16,000 words. Responds within days usually, gives a tracking number.
Apex Magazine — Speculative fiction of all kinds. 6c per word, +1c per word for podcast stories. Up to 7,500 words, all submissions over will be auto-rejected. Responds within 30 days.
Heliotrope Magazine — Speculative fiction of all kinds. 10c per word. Up to 5,000 words. Responds within 30 days.
Lightspeed Magazine — Speculative fiction of all kinds, with creativity and originality in terms of style and format encouraged. 8c per word. 1,500-10,000 words, under 5,000 preferred. LGBT+ positive. Submissions temporarily closed for their main magazine but is accepting for their People of Color Destroy Science Fiction special.
General Fiction
The Sun Magazine — General fiction, likes personal writing or writing of a cultural/political significance. $300-$1500 flat payment and a one year subscription to the magazine for fiction (also accepts essays and poetry). No minimum or maximum lengths but over 7,000 words discouraged. Responds in 3-6 months. Physical submissions only.
One Story — Any and all varieties of fiction, “unique and interesting” stories encouraged. $500 payment plus 25 contributor copies. 3,000-8,000 words. Usually responds in 2-3 months.
Camera Obscura — General fiction. $1000 for featured story, $50 for “Bridge the Gap” award, no payment for other contributors. 250-8,000 words. Response time vary, running just over two months as of now.
Flash Fiction
Daily Science Fiction — Speculative flash fiction (including sci-fi, fantasy, slipstream, etc.). 8c per word. Up to 1,500 words, but shorter stories given priority. Response times not listed.
Vestral Review — General flash fiction. 3-10c per word depending on length to a max of $25. Up to 500 words. Response within four months.
Flash Fiction Online — General flash fiction. $60 flat payment. 500-1,000 words. Response times not listed.
Novels/Novella
Riptide Publishing — Any LGBTQ manuscripts between 15,000 and 150,000 words. Currently especially interested in lesbian romances, trans stories, asexual/aromantic stories, romances with a happy ending, and genre fiction such as urban fantasy. Also has a YA branch. LGBT+ positive.
Crimson Romance — Romance stories of all kinds, currently seeking LGBT+ stories with a focus on emotional connections and relationships, especially m/m romance. Novel (55,000-90,000 words) or novella (20,000-50,000 words) length. LGBT+ positive.
Kindle Direct Publishing
Kindle Direct Publishing — Allows you to set your own prices, create your own cover art, and make royalties off of each sell. Any and all genres are welcome and if you’re prolific and smart about how you’re publishing you can make pretty good money.
General Guide to Kindle Publishing — Gives a good rundown of the publishing process on Kindle.
101 Guide to Kindle Erotica — Great guide with lots of resources about how to make money publishing erotica on Kindle.
Publishing Comics/Graphic Novels
Here is a list of potential comic companies and what kind of open submissions they accept.
Here is a list of literary agents who accept graphic novels.
Oh hi! This ask might be a little particular because I do feel confident enough in my stories but I got a little problem and this is that English isn't my native language and I keep using the punctuation rules of my language. So I wanted to know if I could get a summary for it. (For example, I still have no clue as to what is the Oxford Comma :/) Thank you a lot! Love the blog
Ask and ye shall receive! I actually wrote a little cheat sheet of some punctuation uses a few years ago. Your question about the oxford comma will be answered below but I wanted to add more grammar information while I was at it. I’ve added a bit to it now to make more sense but I should say that this is a simplified cheat sheet of some grammar points that can be more complicated (but don’t have to be hard to understand) so I apologize if in summarizing I miss something.
I should also say that since it was years ago I don’t have the exact sources I used to compile it but as far as I remember the main places I used were GrammarBook.com, Grammar Girl, and I used Grammarly today to add a few other things (though I personally would not recommend using the Grammarly plugin).
Okay, first I want to talk about some basic points about grammar so the punctuation makes more sense.
A complete sentence includes a subject, verb, and object. The subject is the noun that is doing the thing in the sentence, the verb is the action, and the object is the thing being acted on. John(subject) eats(verb) pizza(object). Some sentences have implied subjects or objects. For example: John walks. That is technically a complete sentence even though it is short. You can think of it like John is the subject and object who is walking himself. A sentence also needs to express a complete thought.
A clause is a group of words that has a verb (predicate) and a subject. A complete (or independent) clause is like a full sentence in that it can stand on its own. An incomplete (or dependent) clause is like a piece of a sentence that needs to be joined to another clause to be part of a full sentence. Although John is lactose intolerant, he loves to eat pizza. In this example the italicized part is the dependent clause because it can’t stand alone as a sentence, the underlined part can.
So a combination of clauses can be a full sentence, a dependent clause is not a sentence, but an independent clause can be a full sentence.
Conjunction: and, but, or, nor…
Adjective: words that describe nouns
Adverb: words that describe verbs (commonly end in -ly)
So now let’s talk about punctuation points that affect sentence grammar, specifically commas, semicolons, and the difference between hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes (there is a difference). I’ll give a list of the uses of each and briefly how it’s used. Examples are in the parentheses.
Commas
lists
when using two adjectives (he is a strong, healthy man)
surrounding a name. (Will you, Ashley, do it for me)
interjections (I am, as you have probably noticed, very nervous)
connecting incomplete clauses but beware of comma splices. This is where you connect two complete clauses with a comma without a conjunction (I love to ride my motorcycle, it is so fast. A way to fix it would be either to use a period or: I love to ride my motorcycle because it is so fast.)
phrases that start sentences (As you can see, this puppy is adorable.)
separating two strong clauses with but, and, or, for, nor…
The Oxford comma: a comma in a list before “and” or “or” in a list (The bananas, apples, and pears had gone bad)
There’s controversy over whether people should use the oxford comma because in the example above it is not really necessary so it is mostly a style choice. But there are instances where it can make a big difference. Here’s an example from Grammarly: I love my parents, Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty. This could be interpreted to mean that your parents are Lady Gaga and Humpty (see point three). Using the Oxfrod comma avoids that possible misunderstanding by writing it: I love my parents, Lady Gaga, and Humpty Dumpty.
separating pieces of a sentence for confusion (We bought sweaters and I picked out red and green, and blue was his first choice.)
quotations. Always put a comma either before a quote or after depending on where you put the tag (He said, “I’m so tired.” OR “I’m so tired,” he said.)
separating statements from a question (I can’t go, can I?)
Contrasting. (This is mine, not yours)
surround however, therefore, etc. when used as interrupters
Semicolons
Connecting two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction. (Call me tom; I’ll give my answer then). This is another way to fix comma splices. Both pieces of that sentence are independent clauses, but they make sense connected. A comma is too weak to do the job, but a semicolon can. So, when connecting two independent clauses either use a conjunction (and, but, or…) or a semicolon.
separate units in a list when comas have already been used. (The train stops at Montreal, Quebec; Toronto, Ontario; London, Ontario…)
With conjunctions when a comma has already been used sort of like the example above.
HYPHEN (-)
(Note: the following differences are more nitty-gritty grammar things that you should know if you are really pursuing writing and publishing but in general I don’t think most people know this. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as en and em dashes until I looked this all up)
This is just the hyphen button on the keyboard
compound (eye-opener)
adjectives before noun (friendly-looking man)
adverbs not ly before noun (well-known actress)
numbers (thirty-two)
fractions (one-third)
prefixes on PROPER nouns (un-American)
prefixes ending in ‘a’ or ‘i’ if starts with same letter (ultra-ambitious) if they are different vowels don’t (proactive)
double e and o usually make one word except for (de-emphasize co-owner)
EN DASH (–)
On a Mac, you can make this by pressing Option + -
differentiation (1997–2013, US–Canada border)
EM DASH (—)
On a Mac, you can make this by pressing Option + Shift + -
source of quote (Inspirational quote — Alex)
informal writing instead of semicolon (I pay the bills—she has all the fun)
interjections or asides (I just needed to say—I can’t believe I’m doing this—I’m in love with you.)
the above two points are sort of stylistic. As you might see you can use semicolons or em dashes so it depends on your writing preferences. From what I’ve seen, most novels and such use the em dashes instead of semicolons.
Change in thought or tone (I just wish—never mind.)
Incomplete thoughts in quotations (Emma was saying, “I couldn’t believe when I saw—” when an alien jumped out of the bush and attacked.)
These were the things that I wanted more clarification on when I wrote this and so I figured other probably would benefit from it too. Obviously there are a lot of other parts of grammar and punctuation so if you have any specific requests I can try to help you out!
WriterofthePrompts Ultimate Ask Masterlist 2 (Updated 05/20)
Wow, first of all I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the support on the First Ask Masterlist! Obviously I had to make a second one with all the asks I’ve answered since then so here you go. You can also check out my list of Random Writing Tips. As last time, some of these posts have notes from lovely people who have added onto my answers with their advice and you can also help out fellow writers by adding your tips or ideas to the posts in the replies or by reblogging. Hope you enjoy! 😊
Writing Tips
Can’t think of what to write for a scene? Cut it.
The “organized chaos” form of outlining
Resources for writing a story synopsis
Can a comedy also have a good message?
Writing a fantasy fit for most ages (also under Fantasy)
When you’ve got an idea but don’t know how to expand it
Building on your story yourself
Will posting writing online hurt publishing chances?
Using a prompt for a series
Ways to give information to a character
How to give the same information to multiple characters at different times
Dialogue tips
Coming up with a title (expanded)
Making the real villain a plot twist
GRAMMAR CHEAT SHEET
Some resources for creating a language
How to decide if you want a good or sad ending (Also, how not to screw up an ending) (Also, why the GoT ending makes me sad)
How to skip over the passage fo time in writing (Part 1)
How to use scene breaks for the passage of time, change in location etc. (Part 2)
Story Structure Tips
Travelling scenes: when to skip and how to make them impactful
Writing a sloooow carriage ride without being boring
Moving back and forth in time in the story
difference between inciting incident and plot point 1
Blending backstory with present to further the plot
Writing scenes with a lot of characters
Writing a story as a journal or video log style
Third or first person?
Limited third person vs first person
Writing a long series
Connecting your ideas
When to introduce major and minor conflicts
How to develop your own style of writing
When to describe a character
Motivation and Positivity
Worrying about “originality” with your writing
Staying focused on writing
Sticking to one idea before moving on to the next?
Turning off the editor voice
starting to write and keeping motivation
quick tip on writing down inspiration in the moment
How do you know you are cut out to be a writer?
When you feel your plot isn’t exciting enough
When you think your idea is stupid (it’s not)
On covid-19 and whether I think it’s “bad” to take inspiration from it
When you think you’re writing has lost feeling
Character Development
Writing unnecessary scenes with your characters just for fun
Tips for writing a fully-fledged peppy girl
Teen raised by twenty-year-old family member
Mentor/Mentee relationship
Describing nature the way a nature-lover would
Showing a dead family member’s impact on the MC
Writing about a character losing loved one
Ways to show a character’s disgust
Why a “good” character would switch to the bad side
Why the “White Saviour” thing is a cliche and sucks
Villains who do things like “killing the dog”
Good and bad reasons to kill off a character
Character exercise when you lose their voice
Resources for learning more for a Jewish character (in the notes)
A reason a character might feel cliche
Representations of Gluttony and Laziness as humans
More on twins and siblings
How a tough character might react to something shocking/upsetting
Writing Types of Characters
Writing a good guy MC who turns out to be the villain
Bad guy turning good and making them sympathetic
Dr. Doof: how to write a great villain
Coming up with villains
Coming up with villains 2
Writing a scheming character
A character raised by a computer
Bilingual character tip
Interracial couples
Some negative traits for someone in a zombie apocalypse
Flaws for a Gary Stu type
a character trying to learn the language on a new world (also under World Building)
Good guy vs bad guy stories aren’t a cliche
Writing a CIA/FBI/Military character (also under Thriller)
writing a drunk character with some heartfelt moments and humour
Why NOT having diversity in your story cast is odd
A character with diabetes
Fictional races where one is “superior” to the other
Writing a serial killer as your main character (also under Thriller/Crime)
Writing a good Strong Female Character™️
Writing about a mob character (also under Thriller)
Writing a female astronomer in ancient Greece (Also under Historical)
Shy characters don’t have to be passive
Shyness and confidence aren’t mutually exclusive
World Building
Creating a creation myth
The creation of gods based on people’s beliefs
History research post (also under Historical)
Making an acronym from an organization
Naming world building aspects
strange weather ideas
ideas for ridiculous rules to join an excuse club
Why someone would put on a massive tournament
a character trying to learn the language on a new world (also under Types of Characters)
Making a magical setting exciting (also under fantasy/paranormal)
When you have too much information for an expansive world
Weaving a complex magic system into your story (also under fantasy/paranormal)
Using words referring to our world in a fictional world
Fantasy/Paranormal
Why gods would abandon their world
Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Ares: the original love triangle
basing gods on multiple gods
Why someone would control dreams
Dark fantasy with a dream shop
Conflicts for someone with the power to share dreams with others *
Ways to break a curse
Reasons why someone would need to break their curse now
Coming up with a good curse for your character
Ways to break the curse to get the Prince out of the tower
When the princess rescues the prince
Prince/ss of one kingdom raised by another king
why a princess would run away
Prompts for a King or Queen getting assassinated *
Why a villain would overthrow a royal family *
Reasons two Kings would marry each other *
which fairytales deserve retellings
Fairy tale prompts
Using fairytale characters in retellings
Stories written from the POV of fairytale villains
Writing a fantasy fit for most ages (also under Writing Tips)
Friendship between a dragon and a human
Vampire and human couple meeting
Angel and ex-demon hanging out together
demons that feed on love and joy?
mythical kids meeting humans
Sword fight resources (also under Historical)
Using an axe as a weapon
Haunted house story from ghost’s perspective
A family moves in to a house that is alive
Does the afterlife have to include religious aspects?
Writing the grief of a girl finding her friend as a ghost
Witch sisters with unequal powers
Reasons a village would be afraid of a kind wizard
How a wizard’s guardian might tell them they are a wizard
Making a magical setting exciting (also under world building)
Weaving a complex magic system into your story (also under world building)
Things a magic council would use money for
Ideas for magical powers
Ideas for ancient magical powers
Prompts about cities that are always in night
Prompts about a changeling
Reasons a magical world would need a saviour
mirroring strengths and weaknesses for magic manipulation
How an immortal could die under mysterious circumstances
How to get regular folk involved in a magical world
“Underused" fantasy settings
Funny dialogue making fun of fantasy cliches
Prompts about a hidden/occult society
Autumn prompts about fae
Manatees being confused for mermaids
Fantasy modes of communication
Sci Fi
Futuristic space pirates
How to tell who is the clone and who is the original
Artifacts curious aliens would steal from Earth
Weird things that would wipe out a part of the population
How a person could go back in time
Question prompts for a virtual afterlife
How a half-human character might realize their alien half
“Non cliche” ideas for an apocalypse story
Time travel prompts for the current era
Historical
Writing about the Tudor court
History research post (also under World Building)
Sword fight resources
Using an axe as a weapon
Quick reasons why genocide doesn’t just happen overnight
Writing a female astronomer in ancient Greece (also under Types of Characters)
Dragons in Ancient Egypt?
Writing about WOC in the 1950’s
Aftermaths of a civil war
Thriller/Crime (aka I-swear-I’m-not-a-criminal-just-a-writer asks):
writing assassins
Sassy Assassins 3!
How an assassin with special abilities would discover these abilities
Clues that would make a character suspect another for murder
Writing a CIA/FBI/Military character (also under Types of Characters)
Serial/mass murder…causes?
tests to get into secret organization
Writing a serial killer as your main character (also under Writing Types of Characters)
Tips for writing a consistent murder mystery
Murder mystery party prompts (humorous)
How to come up with subplots for a mystery
Writing about a mob character (also under Writing Types of Character)
Why a step father might be a suspect in a teen’s disappearance
Prompts of killer kids terrorizing their babysitter
Prompts about a college kid being stalked on campus
The Masked Sinner prompts
Prompts about a crime scheme in 1950’s
Superheroes and Super Villains
Sidekick wanting to be a superhero
Super villain cause ideas
Sidekick and villain falling in love (also under Romance)
Superhero story originality
How a super villain can get notoriety
Woman unknowingly falls in love a super villain
World building ideas for superhero stories
Effects of the power of intangibility
Alter ego prompts
Romance
How a princess and a pirate fall in love
two exes who end up working together
How two random kids could meet at school
Sidekick and villain falling in love (also under Superheroes)
Cliches in romance scene?
Original ways that a couple could break up
How to introduce a living girl and ghost love interests
Conflicts in relationship between chef and their pupil
Miscellaneous
Prompts about being abandoned
Character who has never danced in pressured into it
The best ask ever
MC and sister get kicked out of clan. What next?
Reasons characters would hate another (a concubine)
A disturbing cultish 1950’s-esque town
Some links to help find Beta readers
Why a principal would hate a student
Why a character would forgive their ex
Prompts about anomalies
Reasons a parent would be controlling
Words for Skin Tone | How to Describe Skin Color
We discussed the issues describing People of Color by means of food in Part I of this guide, which brought rise to even more questions, mostly along the lines of “So, if food’s not an option, what can I use?” Well, I was just getting to that!
This final portion focuses on describing skin tone, with photo and passage examples provided throughout. I hope to cover everything from the use of straight-forward description to the more creatively-inclined, keeping in mind the questions we’ve received on this topic.
Standard Description
Basic Colors
Pictured above: Black, Brown, Beige, White, Pink.
“She had brown skin.”
This is a perfectly fine description that, while not providing the most detail, works well and will never become cliché.
Describing characters’ skin as simply brown or beige works on its own, though it’s not particularly telling just from the range in brown alone.
Complex Colors
These are more rarely used words that actually “mean” their color. Some of these have multiple meanings, so you’ll want to look into those to determine what other associations a word might have.
Pictured above: Umber, Sepia, Ochre, Russet, Terra-cotta, Gold, Tawny, Taupe, Khaki, Fawn.
Complex colors work well alone, though often pair well with a basic color in regards to narrowing down shade/tone.
For example: Golden brown, russet brown, tawny beige…
As some of these are on the “rare” side, sliding in a definition of the word within the sentence itself may help readers who are unfamiliar with the term visualize the color without seeking a dictionary.
“He was tall and slim, his skin a russet, reddish-brown.”
Comparisons to familiar colors or visuals are also helpful:
“His skin was an ochre color, much like the mellow-brown light that bathed the forest.”
Modifiers
Modifiers, often adjectives, make partial changes to a word.The following words are descriptors in reference to skin tone.
Dark - Deep - Rich - Cool
Warm - Medium - Tan
Fair - Light - Pale
Rich Black, Dark brown, Warm beige, Pale pink…
If you’re looking to get more specific than “brown,” modifiers narrow down shade further.
Keep in mind that these modifiers are not exactly colors.
As an already brown-skinned person, I get tan from a lot of sun and resultingly become a darker, deeper brown. I turn a pale, more yellow-brown in the winter.
While best used in combination with a color, I suppose words like “tan” “fair” and “light” do work alone; just note that tan is less likely to be taken for “naturally tan” and much more likely a tanned White person.
Calling someone “dark” as description on its own is offensive to some and also ambiguous. (See: Describing Skin as Dark)
Undertones
Undertones are the colors beneath the skin, seeing as skin isn’t just one even color but has more subdued tones within the dominating palette.
pictured above: warm / earth undertones: yellow, golden, copper, olive, bronze, orange, orange-red, coral | cool / jewel undertones: pink, red, blue, blue-red, rose, magenta, sapphire, silver.
Mentioning the undertones within a character’s skin is an even more precise way to denote skin tone.
As shown, there’s a difference between say, brown skin with warm orange-red undertones (Kelly Rowland) and brown skin with cool, jewel undertones (Rutina Wesley).
“A dazzling smile revealed the bronze glow at her cheeks.”
“He always looked as if he’d ran a mile, a constant tinge of pink under his tawny skin.”
Standard Description Passage
“Farah’s skin, always fawn, had burned and freckled under the summer’s sun. Even at the cusp of autumn, an uneven tan clung to her skin like burrs. So unlike the smooth, red-brown ochre of her mother, which the sun had richened to a blessing.”
-From my story “Where Summer Ends” featured in Strange Little Girls
Here the state of skin also gives insight on character.
Note my use of “fawn” in regards to multiple meaning and association. While fawn is a color, it’s also a small, timid deer, which describes this very traumatized character of mine perfectly.
Though I use standard descriptions of skin tone more in my writing, at the same time I’m no stranger to creative descriptions, and do enjoy the occasional artsy detail of a character.
Creative Description
Whether compared to night-cast rivers or day’s first light…I actually enjoy seeing Characters of Colors dressed in artful detail.
I’ve read loads of descriptions in my day of white characters and their “smooth rose-tinged ivory skin”, while the PoC, if there, are reduced to something from a candy bowl or a Starbucks drink, so to actually read of PoC described in lavish detail can be somewhat of a treat.
Still, be mindful when you get creative with your character descriptions. Too many frills can become purple-prose-like, so do what feels right for your writing when and where. Not every character or scene warrants a creative description, either. Especially if they’re not even a secondary character.
Using a combination of color descriptions from standard to creative is probably a better method than straight creative. But again, do what’s good for your tale.
Natural Settings - Sky
Pictured above: Harvest Moon -Twilight, Fall/Autumn Leaves, Clay, Desert/Sahara, Sunlight - Sunrise - Sunset - Afterglow - Dawn- Day- Daybreak, Field - Prairie - Wheat, Mountain/Cliff, Beach/Sand/Straw/Hay.
Now before you run off to compare your heroine’s skin to the harvest moon or a cliff side, think about the associations to your words.
When I think cliff, I think of jagged, perilous, rough. I hear sand and picture grainy, yet smooth. Calm. mellow.
So consider your character and what you see fit to compare them to.
Also consider whose perspective you’re describing them from. Someone describing a person they revere or admire may have a more pleasant, loftier description than someone who can’t stand the person.
“Her face was like the fire-gold glow of dawn, lifting my gaze, drawing me in.”
“She had a sandy complexion, smooth and tawny.”
Even creative descriptions tend to draw help from your standard words.
Flowers
Pictured above: Calla lilies, Western Coneflower, Hazel Fay, Hibiscus, Freesia, Rose
It was a bit difficult to find flowers to my liking that didn’t have a 20 character name or wasn’t called something like “chocolate silk” so these are the finalists.
You’ll definitely want to avoid purple-prose here.
Also be aware of flowers that most might’ve never heard of. Roses are easy, as most know the look and coloring(s) of this plant. But Western coneflowers? Calla lilies? Maybe not so much.
“He entered the cottage in a huff, cheeks a blushing brown like the flowers Nana planted right under my window. Hazel Fay she called them, was it?”
Assorted Plants & Nature
Pictured above: Cattails, Seashell, Driftwood, Pinecone, Acorn, Amber
These ones are kinda odd. Perhaps because I’ve never seen these in comparison to skin tone, With the exception of amber.
At least they’re common enough that most may have an idea what you’re talking about at the mention of “pinecone."
I suggest reading out your sentences aloud to get a better feel of how it’ll sounds.
"Auburn hair swept past pointed ears, set around a face like an acorn both in shape and shade.”
I pictured some tree-dwelling being or person from a fantasy world in this example, which makes the comparison more appropriate.
I don’t suggest using a comparison just “cuz you can” but actually being thoughtful about what you’re comparing your character to and how it applies to your character and/or setting.
Wood
Pictured above: Mahogany, Walnut, Chestnut, Golden Oak, Ash
Wood can be an iffy description for skin tone. Not only due to several of them having “foody” terminology within their names, but again, associations.
Some people would prefer not to compare/be compared to wood at all, so get opinions, try it aloud, and make sure it’s appropriate to the character if you do use it.
“The old warlock’s skin was a deep shade of mahogany, his stare serious and firm as it held mine.”
Metals
Pictured above: Platinum, Copper, Brass, Gold, Bronze
Copper skin, brass-colored skin, golden skin…
I’ve even heard variations of these used before by comparison to an object of the same properties/coloring, such as penny for copper.
These also work well with modifiers.
“The dress of fine white silks popped against the deep bronze of her skin.”
Gemstones - Minerals
Pictured above: Onyx, Obsidian, Sard, Topaz, Carnelian, Smoky Quartz, Rutile, Pyrite, Citrine, Gypsum
These are trickier to use. As with some complex colors, the writer will have to get us to understand what most of these look like.
If you use these, or any more rare description, consider if it actually “fits” the book or scene.
Even if you’re able to get us to picture what “rutile” looks like, why are you using this description as opposed to something else? Have that answer for yourself.
“His skin reminded her of the topaz ring her father wore at his finger, a gleaming stone of brown, mellow facades.”
Physical Description
Physical character description can be more than skin tone.
Show us hair, eyes, noses, mouth, hands…body posture, body shape, skin texture… though not necessarily all of those nor at once.
Describing features also helps indicate race, especially if your character has some traits common within the race they are, such as afro hair to a Black character.
How comprehensive you decide to get is up to you. I wouldn’t overdo it and get specific to every mole and birthmark. Noting defining characteristics is good, though, like slightly spaced front teeth, curls that stay flopping in their face, hands freckled with sunspots…
General Tips
Indicate Race Early: I suggest indicators of race be made at the earliest convenience within the writing, with more hints threaded throughout here and there.
Get Creative On Your Own: Obviously, I couldn’t cover every proper color or comparison in which has been “approved” to use for your characters’ skin color, so it’s up to you to use discretion when seeking other ways and shades to describe skin tone.
Skin Color May Not Be Enough: Describing skin tone isn’t always enough to indicate someone’s ethnicity. As timeless cases with readers equating brown to “dark white” or something, more indicators of race may be needed.
Describe White characters and PoC Alike: You should describe the race and/or skin tone of your white characters just as you do your Characters of Color. If you don’t, you risk implying that White is the default human being and PoC are the “Other”).
PSA: Don’t use “Colored.” Based on some asks we’ve received using this word, I’d like to say that unless you or your character is a racist grandmama from the 1960s, do not call People of Color “colored” please.
Not Sure Where to Start? You really can’t go wrong using basic colors for your skin descriptions. It’s actually what many people prefer and works best for most writing. Personally, I tend to describe my characters using a combo of basic colors + modifiers, with mentions of undertones at times. I do like to veer into more creative descriptions on occasion.
Want some alternatives to “skin” or “skin color”? Try: Appearance, blend, blush, cast, coloring, complexion, flush, glow, hue, overtone, palette, pigmentation, rinse, shade, sheen, spectrum, tinge, tint, tone, undertone, value, wash.
Skin Tone Resources
List of Color Names
The Color Thesaurus
Skin Undertone & Color Matching
Tips and Words on Describing Skin
Photos: Undertones Described (Modifiers included)
Online Thesaurus (try colors, such as “red” & “brown”)
Don’t Call me Pastries: Creative Skin Tones w/ pics I
Writing & Description Guides
WWC Featured Description Posts
WWC Guide: Words to Describe Hair
Writing with Color: Description & Skin Color Tags
7 Offensive Mistakes Well-intentioned Writers Make
I tried to be as comprehensive as possible with this guide, but if you have a question regarding describing skin color that hasn’t been answered within part I or II of this guide, or have more questions after reading this post, feel free to ask!
~ Mod Colette