Local Color

Our home is in a small farming community. There are a couple dozen houses spread out over miles of country road. One of the main roads is Helmar Road and the church on the corner is Helmar Lutheran Church. So, the residents out here say they live in Helmar, even though our addresses are all Newark. There is even a joke that one of the residents is the Mayor of North Helmar; and when there is standing water in the field in Spring, it is Lake Helmar. Someone even put a boat on it once.

All of the little idiosyncrasies that uniquely identify a place is sometimes called local color. It might be particular shops, restaurants, or natural elements. Other, less tangible things like tastes, smells or sounds might play a part. Think about New Orleans and what makes it special. I've never been there, but I think if I woke up in the French Quarter, I would know where I was instantly.

Portraying local color in writing is not as easy as it might seem. Doing it well requires a light hand and avoidance of cliches. It takes more than just describing a landmark, or throwing in an accent and letting the reader fill in the rest. Speech patterns, phrases, and customs work together with other elements to paint a picture. Do the ladies all wear hats to church on Sunday? Does everyone drop their "R"s? Say things like "Oh, Buckets"? Think nothing of taking their dog into the store with them? Wear Wellies? How can you show that and not just tell us?
Three books pop into mind when I think about local color done well.

1. The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
3. A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck

Do you have any favorite books that depict the flavor and color of a particular place or region?

Think about where you live. What quirks identify your home town as unique? Are there words in your lexicon that you hear nowhere else?

*I'm going to research the local color in Dayton next week. I hope you enjoy the guest posts that I have lined up.