A couple weeks ago, my daughter made a comment that if her friend was a color, she’d be bright yellow. I thought that was such a lovely compliment to her friend, and it sparked a fun conversation in the car as we talked about colors for each family member.
I think this can also be a very interesting way to think about characters, and it could spark some facets of their personalities that you hadn’t considered before.
Here are a couple of examples to get you going, and then we’d love to have you share in the comments!
Bright green: This is the color we picked for my oldest son. He is energetic and loves being outdoors.
Vibrant red: This is what we decided on for my youngest son, who is spirited and can be aggressive.
Aquamarine: I suggested this one for my daughter, who is a positive, cheerful person, but also very peaceful.
What about some of your characters? What color would they be and why?
Stephanie Morrill writes books about girls who are on an adventure to discover their unique place in the world. She is the author of several contemporary young adult series, as well as two historical young adult novels, The Lost Girl of Astor Street and Within These Lines. Within These Lines was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection, as well as a YALSA 2020 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick. Since 2010, Stephanie has been encouraging the next generation of writers at her website, GoTeenWriters.com, which has been on the Writer’s Digest Best Websites for Writers list since 2017. She lives in the Kansas City area, where she loves plotting big and small adventures to enjoy with her husband and three children. You can connect with Stephanie and learn more about her books at StephanieMorrill.com, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
I think my two main characters in my current WIP have fairly interesting colors…
Rose would be maroon, because she’s firey and aggressive but has a darker story than the everyday red. She’s the deepest color in the fire, between bleak and vivid, light and dark.
Thomas would be a deep, rich, navy blue. He’s kind and calming, but his love for others is like an ocean in a storm, drowning whoever might come against it.
This was a really interesting exercise. Thank you!
I love your interpretation of both colors! It’s fun to think about our characters in new ways.
Interesting exercise! Me and my siblings have done something like this, just with random stuff and random characters…
My main character, Prince Nyelin, I think would be gray, because the mix of black and white represents his two sides. He’s innocent and pure compared to his evil family, and he’s faithful– that’s white. But on the black side of things, he can also be very depressing in that the abuse he’s gotten makes him a bit pessimistic. He’s also very dramatic at times. There’s optimism in him, but one really needs to force it out. He can be trusted, but he doesn’t necessarily trust. His color scheme actually symbolizes his personality– he wears all white, except for a black tie, and he has black hair.
My antagonist, Princess Rainey, I think would be a very dark purple. She’s beautiful, she’s arrogant, she’s royalty. But she’s selfish, dramatic, she’s manipulative, and she’s ever so slightly insecure.
Nyelin’s friend, Xavier, I think would be a coral pink. He’s a kind, calm, loving, selfless pink, but he’s a genius, knowing almost everything, still youthful, and very trustworthy orange. He also loves plants, especially flowers.
And Rainey’s bodyguard, Casio, would be a royal blue. He’s confident in himself and others, he’s skilled in military affairs, namely swords, and he’s very loyal. Loyal to Rainey, then when he decides to turn his loyalty to Nyelin, won’t leave his side, and ends up his general!
Then there’s King Alaric, who’s crimson. It’s his favorite color. He’s self-centered. He has a slight temper. But on the inside he’s insecure, which fires up these emotions more.
Heh, I could do it for every character, but it would be WAYYYY TO LONG of a comment, as it’s already too long.
Oh, I had an idea for a new story! Well, it’d be a short story collection thing, like Sherlock Holmes or whatever. Mix the observant genius detective Sherlock Homes, and the strategic genius burglar Arsene Lupin. And there’s my character in this idea.
I will totally read your book when you publish it! It sounds so awesome and I love the way I can picture the character of those colors!
Your new idea sounds like a lot of fun!
I love the thoughtfulness in each character description. That’s a good combination of personalities for a story!
Hi sissy
Wow, I love this exercise! I’ve done stuff like this with my siblings before, but I’ve never thought about doing it to my characters.
One of my main characters, Warren, would probably be a light purple. He’s anxious and nervous, but one of the best friends you could ever ask for. And when he needs to, he’ll always stand up for what he believes in. He’s tends to think through situations before plunging in, but he may over-think them.
My other main character, Rye, would be an electric blue. She’s crazy loyal, and sometimes a bit too bold. She’s honest, and it doesn’t take her long to become best friends with anybody. She has endless amounts of energy, but she sometimes has a hard time having other people help her with her problems.
Warren and Rye’s friend Niko would be a bright red. He’s a blast to be around, but you don’t want to get on his bad side, because he’s got a big temper. He tends to show his emotions clearly. Niko is brave and courageous, and that tends to get him in trouble.
Thanks for giving me this to think about!
That’s so fun! Sounds like you have a good mix of personalities.
This is such a fun exercise! For one of my WIPs, I think the main character, Nova would be orange, because she’s very youthful and vibrant, but also aggressive and judgey at times. For my other WIP, the MC, Rhys, would be a yellow, because he’s very cheerful and friendly, but can also be a bit emptionally unstavle.
Great thoughts!
For some reason when I saw the title of that email, I thought of the color yellow, but I’m not sure what character it would be for.?
How funny!
Oh, I love this exercise! I actually started writing a story a while back where I assigned each character a color! In the story they each wear their colors in the opening scene. Here are some of them:
Solewsky is ice blue: hard, cold, and unforgiving.
Lumen Barbank is ivory: pure and much desired.
And Bishop Obsidian, despite his name, is wine red: intoxicated by the power the gods have bestowed upon him.
Thanks for sharing this exercise; it’s so much fun!
I love that you’d already done this! It’s so fun when we figure out ways to showcase our characters.
Jamie would be a soft yellow. She’s nice, friendly, but pretty shy.
Owen is harder to place. He’s funny and likes to show off, and he’s easy to get along with. He’s red.
Then Katelynn is snarky and sarcastic. She likes the spotlight. Nothing really springs to mind for that. Maybe light blue
I don’t think of light blue for snarky and sarcastic. More like hot pink or neon yellow, if she likes the spotlight.
I never thought of assigning colors to my characters! That’s such a great idea! I couldn’t decide on just one color per character, though.
For my most recent WIP, I think Isla, my MC, would be a mix of crimson and silver. She is fiery and hot-tempered, but also kind, good-hearted, and closer to the world of the spirits than most humans.
My other MC, Kol, is dark charcoal and white. He was raised as a criminal and tends to be secretive and sneaky, but he is also loyal and honorable. He can’t see that in himself, though, and is afraid that he isn’t worthy of greatness.
A third character, Xaarin, would be deep green and blue. He is an elf, and therefore closer to nature and the spirits than the humans. He is an important warrior in his kingdom (and also the older brother to the elven queen). And he understands people. He can see their motivations, and he knows what makes them tick. He can also usually tell if they are good or evil, although his calculation may be a little off if they do not give him their consent first. He is gentle, calm, and brave.
I could keep going on and on about this, but this comment is probably long enough already.
I like this! What a fun way to showcase their different sides.
Thank you!
I think that my main character, Steckver, would be a very dark red as he is short tempered and pessimistic. He’s also very sarcastic.
One of my other characters, Kay, is completely obsessed with Steckver even though he hates her and she is really outgoing and obedient. She is probably a light orange.
Main villain, Edlan, is maybe purple? He’s got a bad temper but is one of those bad guys who is actually really funny even though he doesn’t try.
And Ivy, another villian, is probably a green as she is tough on the outside but soft on the inside! Also, she’s really into technology.
I have a ton of other characters, too, this was a really fun exercise! Thanks!