The most common forms of synesthesia involve associations of words, letters, or numbers with colors. Some estimates say that as many as 1 in 200 people may have word-color synesthesia.
I would be one of those 1-in-200. I've always gotten subtle vibes of color-feeling from words. With some words it's a lot stronger than others, but it's the strongest with names. The name Owen, for example, reminds me of the color yellow (for me the colors don't change -- a yellow word is always yellow). I never knew my word-color association had a name until a writing class in college when the teacher brought it up. Me and one other kid were like, "Wait, other people have that?"
I gave one of the main characters in my book a form of synesthesia I've never actually heard of, but which seems logical: he feels emotions in color. Normally it's reversed, and moods result from colors (why doctors offices are painted in calming earth-tones and never twitchy bright colors like fire-engine red). Maybe that's why I like words so much -- words I associate with pretty colors put me in a good mood. But I also like the idea that it could be the other way around for some people, that winning $100 on a scratch ticket could make them feel orange or purple or blue.
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