National Redhead Day! // How to Write a Redhead

Happy Redhead Day! As a proud redhead *wink* I can completely appreciate this unofficial holiday! I got a lot of teasing as a child, which I didn’t like, but now, as an adult, I love my red hair and apparently others do too, because I’m constantly getting complements on it, 😉

While planning this post, I was reminded of a post about writing left handed characters that I saw a few months ago. It was neat seeing the unique angle on writing about characters with a certain trait and today, I want to share a few things with you today that can make your redhead a little more realistic!

1. Redheads are more sensitive to pain.  It’s true! Medically proven! I was even talking to a friend of mine who teaches self-defense and he said that it’s important to know this simple fact in order to size up your attacker. Funny thing happened to me while talking with this man about pressure points in the body that can actually help you or hurt you if pressed (your temples are pressure points, there are some pressure points that relieve headaches, etc.) and I nearly passed out just hearing about them1 Weird huh? It’s another form of sensitivity. Use it! It may be more realistic to have a redhead pass out in your story, who knows? 😉

2. We are not all Irish. Lol, I love St. Patrick’s Day (Green, y’all, my favorite color!) but I’m not from Ireland. In fact, most redheads actually trace their roots back to Scotland or Germany! (I trace to both!) What actually causes someone to have a redheaded child is that both parents have to carry a special gene (they call it mutated, I call it special 😉). But that only gives them a chance at having a red head! And a cool thing about this is that every nationality can carry this gene, it’s just more common in certain ones.

3. We don’t all have tempers. Okay, let me rephrase that. Everyone has tempers, good ones and bad ones, but just because someone is a redhead doesn’t mean that their bad temper is any worse than someone with brown hair. So, you don’t have to write your redhead as a person who blows up every time they get upset. That’s just plain silly!

4. We ain’t just Redheads. We are Gingers and Auburn haired. We can have Copper colored curls or fiery locks. We can even be strawberry blonde. There are so many shades out there! So when you write a Redhead, figure out the shade they have and describe it vividly! In my books, Dixie’s a Copper. Richard would be considered an Auburn, because he has ‘Reddish-brown hair.’

5. We are pale, y’all. While there are some exceptions, my nephew being one of them, most redheads have pale skin and burn easily. We usually have at least a few freckles and have to be careful in the sun, or we might get skin cancer. Pays to wear that sunscreen! So while your character doesn’t have to be Freckles Galore or anything, it pays to mention they are there. You’ll get points with the redheads 😉

6. Don’t tease. We get it all the time and that’s where the thing about tempers comes in. While it doesn’t bother me so much now, when I was little there were two names you DID NOT call me: Anne Shirley and Carrots. To this day, there is only one friend of mine who can get away with calling me that on a regular basis. But especially if your character is a child, they can be super sensitive to the nicknames people call them. I used to hate being called redheaded. I was Auburn, thank you very much, lol! Now, who cares? Call me Ginger, Red, Copper, I don’t care 😊 But, still not crazy over Carrots.

7. Be aware of colors. Now, as a redhead, there are certain colors I cannot wear, hot pink and lime green being two of them. They set my hair on fire! So, depending on the shade of hair your Ginger has, you may want to think twice before you describe them wearing a beautiful, bright red shirt to a gathering. Redheads will know you’re not one 😊 On the flip side, if you talk about a redhead looking good in a green outfit, a blue one or burgundy, you are good to go. Bonus from this redhead if you describe the shade of the color 😊 (Forest green, Midnight blue, a dark barn red, etc.)
 
So there you have it my friends. Know any other fun facts about redheads?  Utilize them in your writing! You can never know enough about your characters, even if all the facts don’t make it to your novel. Be ever in a spirit of learning!

And he {Jesse| sent, and brought him {David| in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to.
1 Samuel 16:12a

Have a blessed day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22