What do I say to someone who's afraid of writing minority characters?

[Nimue]

I think part of the issue is with how to handle criticism. The characters we create can be a part of ourselves or come from who we are. If we then receive criticism about how we portray those characters it puts into question our image of who we are as people.

I think this is something that lies close to why men often are nervous about how to portray women.
I like to consider myself a nice guy and I like to think I create meaningful female characters that have their own roles to play. If I write a female character that I take some pride in, that I like, and that I consider meaningful and someone comes along and tears it down for being a stereotype or for objectifying women or some other reason. They're not just saying that I've failed at portraying my character; they're also saying I don't understand women and they're saying that my character is an example of something that I as a person is principally opposed to.
In short, they're saying I'm not the nice guy I think I am.

This is something that I've occasionally struggled with myself, but that I think I've learned to deal with. It's not easy though, and I can see how it's daunting to put yourself in a position where you might have to deal with it.

I think that eventually, you'll have to - whether intentionally or not.

I have utmost sympathy for this, and the thing to remember is that writing with a harmful cultural stereotype does not make you the bad guy. We've all done it, because we've grown up in a culture that has taught us these things from birth. What matters is your reaction to having things pointed out.

Of course the standard criticism-taking steps apply here; evaluate the source and context of this criticism, for sure. But the really difficult part of disengaging from stereotypes is that mainstream culture and all its implicit biases are going to be on your side, whispering seductively in your ear about comfort zones and "getting away with things." How could it be wrong when it's so prevalent? Well, remind yourself that there's a lot of crappy stuff that gets everywhere: practically the definition of a cliche. You're going to have to give it more thought, and take a while to examine your own biases. The first instinct is to defend your writing, deny that there's anything wrong with it, and convince yourself to continue doing what you're doing--which is a writer's immediate reaction to a lot of critique, and I think I'm not just speaking for myself when I say that doing this neeeeever really made me a better writer.

Using a problematic trope when you didn't realize it was problematic is a thing that--and I hope everyone believes this--can be forgiven. But if you continue writing with something harmful after multiple people have objected to it, that shows intent.

The good thing about a lot of these issues is that they can be fixed with the magic of editing and rewriting! Consider what you love about the character, and is it really tied up so tightly with what people have criticized as problematic? Put the character in a new role, give them new agency, shake up their background, try to see them in a new light. Characters can be reborn, and chances are you'll like them a lot better because they won't fall into those particular cliches, and that makes them a little fresher and more interesting.

 

[Reilith]

People are going to have opinions of our work no matter what. That's awesome. At least its better to have someone engaged in the writing and triggered to a response than none at all. Don't they say that a writer's worst enemy is obscurity?

There is no such thing as 'good' and 'bad' popularity and advertisement. What you said reminded me of that.

 

[Clinton Seeber]

Deleted by T.Allen.Smith

 

[Jabrosky]

I'm not going to bother forcing you to write non-European characters if you really don't want to, Are you saying writers who are interested in non-European influences for their fantasy worlds are forcing something "out of place" into their own work?

 

[Nimue]

Okay. As a palate cleanser for that post, I'll just leave this short list of uninteresting, out-of-place fantasy books by authors like Ursula K. LeGuin and Junot Diaz. Oh, whoops, they don't count because they're not Men of European Heritage.


That is the nicest possible response I can have to this; I'm going to go lie down.

 

[Mythopoet]

This is so way off base... I just can't even...

*has aneurism and dies, never to plague the forums again*

 

[K.S. Crooks]

I would say to the person not to confuse one trait with another. If you say a person is black, which donates skin colour and nothing else. It doesn't tell you the gender, sexual orientation, if the person is disabled in some way, what type of music they like or their nationality. Some people think of one trait and immediately endows the person with several others based on their own preconceptions of what it means to be like the one trait they are looking at. Tell the person to create ten characters describing only their intelligence, occupation and artistic tastes, and then randomly make the people different genders, colours, sexual orientation, etc. People are typically afraid of what they don't understand, the solution is to take the time to learn.

 

[X Equestris]

Deleted by T.Allen.Smith

 

[Clinton Seeber]

Deleted by T.Allen.Smith

 

[Nimue]

Calling troll on this. If not troll, please just leave me in denial.

 

[Clinton Seeber]

Deleted by T.Allen.Smith

 

[Philip Overby]

I do think if someone doesn't want to write certain characters, then go for it. No one can force you to write. I just think the future of fantasy is going in a different direction. If people encourage others to include diverse characters, it's because they want to see new stories with new kind of characters in fantasy. They hope that fantasy evolves instead of doing the same kind of things. Of course you can write the same kinds of characters and stories and do very well with them. I just find people who are looking for new worlds and characters that aren't so familiar may pass over these.

 

[Clinton Seeber]

I do think if someone doesn't want to write certain characters, then go for it. No one can force you to write. I just think the future of fantasy is going in a different direction. If people encourage others to include diverse characters, it's because they want to see new stories with new kind of characters in fantasy. They hope that fantasy evolves instead of doing the same kind of things. Of course you can write the same kinds of characters and stories and do very well with them. I just find people who are looking for new worlds and characters that aren't so familiar may pass over these.

Perhaps, Phillip. But I am not yet convinced of that. There may indeed be some who are trying to take it in that direction, but only time will tell how well that works. But fantasy still tends to be split into different cultures. For example, separate dwarf, elf and human kingdoms with their own unique cultures, styles and traditions. There aren't a lot of writers writing about a combined elf, dwarf and human kingdom where they are all living together in the same cities and houses and marrying each other where the culture is a mish-mash of all three.

 

[Feo Takahari]

I think my point was that if someone says they are "afraid" to do so, it is pretty much just a meek way of saying that they don't want to. So no amount of talking to them will probably do any good.

I guess the real reason this sort of thing frustrates me is that it can get into . . . I want to say victim-blaming, though that may be too strong a word. Like what they're saying is "Stop whining about how you want more minority members in fiction! You'd have tons of minority members if you hadn't scared everyone off by asking for more minority members!" To be clear, I'm not accusing the anon I first quoted of anything like that, but when this comes up on some sites, it feels like the real goal is to try to make minority members shut up and stop posting.

 

[Caged Maiden]

Last year I made a comment that my hesitation to write a POC MC was that I felt language might be my biggest hang-up. By that I meant that I have a natural way of writing language and dialogue, and though I alter wording and structure to say, designate a character as lower-class, or snobbish, or prudish, or meek, etc. I would expect my POC character to fit more into those guidelines than any perceived "racial" language...accent? Anyways, it was a genuine question, because I don't know nor presume to be able to anticipate whether readers (of whatever race you want to pick) would have certain dialogue expectations. For me the answer is simple, whatever his skin tone, if he's poor, he'll speak like the other kids who are in the Victorian slum, and if he's got a naval academy background his speech will be colored with military jargon, and if he's a mercenary he'll exhibit a certain amount of crudeness, etc. I was concerned readers might find it off-putting in a way, as if I'm disregarding his ethnicity.

Now, having said that, I can understand why any writer might have concerns about selecting a character they feel "they don't have the right to write" in a way. I write male characters all the time and the worst comment I've had so far (and this includes intimate scenes and all manner of other delicate issues) is that "grown men probably don't frown like you wrote here, that makes him sound a little un-manly" and I was perfectly happy to accept I could keep heed of the character a bit more. But when discussing or dealing with race, I think it's a little touchier.

I would say that when I received a comment about my post, saying "You may be able to forget that you're white, but POC can't forget that they're not", I was a little baffled. In my mind I thought, really? What year are we living in? But I really mulled those words over because perhaps I'd been looking at it the wrong way. Perhaps my counting all people as equal sort of has an insulting tone? I've tried to be more sensitive since then.

That being said, writing is a difficult task and it can become un-fun very quickly is you feel unduly criticized. I'd recommend to any newer writer to stick with the things they're most comfortable. Some folks refuse to write sex. Some refuse to write violence against women. Some refuse to write whatever. Name one. It's their comfort level, it's their work, and if they don't feel for whatever reason the topic appeals to them (or in this case a character), it's their business. If they like a tight little corner of comfort zone, it isn't my problem. I'll do whatever I'm comfortable with, which includes POC.

If anyone sees a writer limiting their writing for a reason that makes them (the assistant in this case) uncomfortable or whatever, they might try reaching out and giving some advice. Something like, "I can understand your frustration over this matter, but have you considered asking a forum for support in creating a character and portraying him in a way that doesn't draw too much attention to his race, and instead focuses on his person, inside, rather than outside?"

I think that would be the best advice anyone could receive to overcome what sounds to me like a newer writer who isn't yet comfortable stepping into too many new pairs of shoes.

My point is if a writer is uncomfortable with the subject, the story probably won't be much good anyways. Why press someone to write something they feel isn't good enough or makes them sweat?

 

[Svrtnsse]

...but when this comes up on some sites, it feels like the real goal is to try to make minority members shut up and stop posting.

Oh, so it's like ethics in gaming journalism?
Sorry, couldn't resist that one.

---

Anyway, I think you have a point. It's really easy to just keep going in the same ol' tracks you've always been going in. They're nice and comfortable and you know where they lead. Then someone comes along and suggests that maybe it'd be interesting if the tracks lead somewhere else, or that there may quicker to take a shortcut round the other side of that hill, or a nice view from over by those rocks.
Thing is, you've always gone on the left side of the hill, and the track is really well worn. Sure, it might be a shorter route on the right side, but you'd have to walk over unbroken land and lay down new tracks and that's such a hassle - especially since you'll get around the hill anyway with the old road.
And sure, it might be a nice view over by those rocks, but it's such a hassle walking through the thorns between here and there, and the view's pretty nice from over by the old oak we'll pass later too.
And why in the world would we want to go anywhere else, we've got plenty of nice things here already!

So, yeah, everything's just fine, let's keep doing what we're doing. If someone really wants to go check out those rocks, let them. Just don't come prattling about it to us, we like the oak and we don't want to hear anything about no rocks.

 

[Clinton Seeber]

Deleted by T.Allen.Smith

 

[Mindfire]

Wow. I missed ALL the fireworks.

 

[Russ]

I think it would be a positive thing to encourage someone not to be afraid of writing a POC character.

That way at least the choice of who to write, and who not to write, would not be coming out of fear.

If you want to see amazing use of language and different culture I would highly reccomend my old friend Nalo Hopkinson's work. It is great stuff.

 

[Devor]

I think it would be a positive thing to encourage someone not to be afraid of writing a POC character.

That way at least the choice of who to write, and who not to write, would not be coming out of fear.

I agree with this 100%. But a lack of fear shouldn't mean a lack of respect for the challenges involved. Instead, it should mean a clear vision of the path towards overcoming those challenges, and the choice about when it may or may not be worth pursuing for an individual work.

I keep mentioning those challenges because a lot of us are on our first novel, and more, a novel that won't even be published. It's one thing to complain to a publisher or a prolific writer about the content of their work; it's another to do so with somebody who's still trying to figure out their own abilities.

A variety of stories about a variety of types of people is worth pursuing. Just, I think we should recognize its spot in the learning curve.