To Tattoo Or Not To Tattoo?

Traci Kenworth

No, I’m not in the market for one, but my characters are. I need something different

though. I mean, I know what it looks like, but I’m unsure where to place it. Has the shoulder been done to death in fiction? I can’t say. I just know wherever I place it, has to be a good location for them. You see, they’re a mountain people, hidden away from prying eyes, a culture all their own.

And they fight evil on the sly. Would an all-out shoulder tattoo attract too much attention? I’ve begun to wonder. I’ve thought of further down on the arm or even the leg. The back of the neck? Or across the mid-back. It seems there’s not a place nowadays unique to the art but again, I’m wondering if the placement on the shoulder brings to mind too many other books, movies.

It’s possible, no probable, that most people wouldn’t know what the tattoo stands for if they saw it, so this might not be an issue of visibility. Maybe it’s just that I want something different but it’s a bit of a headache on my part at the moment, trying to figure it all out. I just want my warriors to stand out, I guess. So what are your opinions out there? To the side of the neck? Across the back of their hands? Or are you sick of tattoos all together? Should I banish the idea? I would really like to hear from you.