I have a male character who I intend to be African American. This is really my first time writing about a character that's anything other than my own race. But this is bugging me... HOW do you tell your reader that someone IS a certain race?

Do you just come out and say it? Do you hint at it?

Honestly, I'm stumped. Any suggestions?

Well, tell me this. Do you say directly that your character is caucasian?

I doubt it. I know I don't.

...Well, that's a lie. But that's just because he's so pale it's like "...Homg he looks grey!" thus one can assume he's white.

The same should be said for that one. Give the reader clues. Nothing stereotypical, but clues and cues.

If he's describing how much he loves his mother, and how he thinks she's beautiful, it could be meantioned there, and then assumed that because she was, he is too.

Find indirect ways to state it, if you really want to.

ahaaa... I like the mother idea. I'll have to think creatively like that to get my message across. I would have never thought of something like that.

c: thank you!

Depends on the plot. If its about, such as, modern day, and the struggles/whatever, that come with being black, you can hint to it like that, or say it straight out.

To alonewithfriends: I have read one (Published) book that they said outright that one woman was black, but, I a summed that another character was black, and that pointed it out that he was not. All depends on the plot.

In fantasy, hint to it. Have a friend crack a joke about how even if the dragon -for an example- scorched him, he wouldn't look much different.

But in any case, its seems it should be hinted to in describing what that character looks like. (Which is always a challenge.)

Well, when I described my black character, I mentioned at one point that 'his skin, unlike that of his campanion, was smooth and dark like oil, broken by a jagged scar that cut across his cheek.'

It depends. It should be obvious, but you can do it tastefully.

If you just want people to know that your character is Black you could describe his skin tone + any other features. You could also mention family background such as a great grandfather that lived during the Civil War that escaped the South and lived in the North or something like that.

Well, If you ever describe the character just say dark skinned or very tanned...it works for me.

Ask yourself how important it is to the plot and work from there. If it is key, then make sure to keep it clear and unforgetable. If not then all you need is a small description of the character and move on. Just describe it like you would any another character. It is as easy as "her skin was as fair as a porcelain doll" really.

Readers grow images for characters pretty quickly and like sticking to it. If you imagine someone with blonde hair and find out later it is red, you might start questioning other details, so it distracts you. Think of how defensive people get when casting a movie based after a book. "Harry Potter has green eyes, not blue!" You don't really want readers questioning your clarity as a writer. Don't be afraide to be straight to the point, so long as it flows it should be fine.

:) thank you all! They're all wonderful ideas. I'll try to figure out which one works best for my story.

Serith, your advice is great, not only for this, but also for any kind of character description. I've actually noticed that myself as a reader (that you develop images of characters quickly), but I never conciously figured it out before. Thank you so much! ^_^

I write on fanfiction.net a lot. When I describe my characters skin color i usually say "she had creamy skin" or "he was dark-copper skinned"

for an African-America, you could say "he was dark-skinned" or he had "deep brown skin" or something like that.

I hope that helped.

If it isn't that important, just go out and say it. I think it needs to be said, though, since I usually picture characters as caucasian unless said otherwise, and I think a lot of others do, too. If you add just an "Oh btw he's dark skinned" type of comment it'll be nice and quick for the readers to process and they can conjure up their mental image without stumbling over too much flashy word choice.