: Re: Limited 3rd Person: How to reveal character's black skin? I have a scene that I'm working on. The character in the scene is an actor who's black wearing a black face. At the end of the scene

@Hamaas631

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First, drop a line about actor's dark complexion. This would serve as a hint, but not the actual plot twist yet.

Second, drop a "bomb" - a clear and unambiguous reveal of actor's race. I understand the complication here is that you have to write it from a limited 3rd person view. Also (I assume) it should happen in a scene when your character is alone in his room, so there is no one else to point out his race. Establishing the race descriptively (i.e. by skin color and other features) I feel would not be concise - you would need several sentences to make sure that the reader would understand it.

So, the "bomb" must be the character's own thought. I recommend two thoughts. One, the actor thinks of the audience as a racially distinct one, referring to them as "whites". Second, he reveals a memory or memento that quickly establishes himself as black - for example an old photograph of his grandparents, a freed slaves.

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