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Friday, November 6, 2015

Eye Color

Why is it writers often mention eye color when describing their characters? I'm guilty of it, too. Do we humans associate certain behaviors with eye color? Is a character with blue eyes always true? Must green eyes signify jealousy?

Barbie's eyes are blue. So are those of "The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi," Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Taylor Swift, Angelina Jolie, and countless other notables. I have brown eyes, more specifically--light brown or golden brown, possibly hazel brown. Growing up with so many blue-eyed heroines, I always considered brown to be boring, possibly inferior even after listening to songs like "Beautiful Brown Eyes" or "Brown-Eyed Girl."

Then I saw something on Facebook that I think describes me to a T. Realistically, it doesn't describe all brown-eyed people, but it prompted me to write this post.


How about you? Do you associate eye color with specific character traits? I haven't mastered it; however I'm working on eliminating eye color from my writing. With only a handful of colors to pick from, it is far more helpful to the reader to describe what eyes are doing, be it peek, peer, or scrutinize; stare, glare, or hypnotize.

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