“Just Bend and Snap”
Hey ya’ll, hope you’re all doing well. I’m happy that tax season is over and I can get back to what matters, writing. Since last week I’ve been thinking a lot about my writing and my identity as writer. Who I am and what I have to say as a writer is always at the back of my mind, especially since returning from Emerald City Comic Con last month. It was a life changing experience, So may writers living their best list, and I just wanted to ju,p start to that part. I learned so much that has become invaluable to me.
The con consisted of lots of panels, and lots of vendors. I discovered lots of new comic books, as well as learned a lot from people that had first hand experience in the comic and publishing industry. They all had excellent insights and of course everyone there had tons of questions. The question I saw come up most was “How can someone who is not a person of color/ someone who is outside of an oppressed community write/identify from that point of view?” How can they relate? The panelists all had interesting and genuinely good advice, It got me thinking how I might answer this question myself. So here we go.
I’ll start by saying I get it, the idea of being uncomfortable with the your lack of knowledge of the unknown. That being said, as a queer black woman, my whole life I have had to identify with characters that do not look like me. I’ve had to find a ways to connect with characters that do not have my background/upbringing, and are not viewed or valued by society the same way I am.
The greatest example I have of this connection is Elle Woods. Yes, Reese Witherspoon’s Blonde bubbly character from the Legally Blonde series. She is a straight white woman with blonde hair and blue eyes who went to an Ivy League College. Elle and I could have not have had a more different upbringings. Vastly different economic stations, and political ideals and career paths. Yet I still to this day see myself in Elle woods. Why do I love her so?
To put it simply, I fell in love with her because she is a great character. She’s a character with real flaws. She is smart, she is funny, she’s fashionable, she’s impulsive and silly everything I want to be and a reflection of who i was and mistakes i have made. We share a lot of the similarities, and lot of the same insecurities, despite us not looking or being anything alike. Plus pink is my favorite color.
I Identify with Elle because she’s perfectly human. That’s my first tip. How do you identify with a character who you have nothing in common with? You recognize their humanity. You give them the same flaws, joys, wants/desires, and needs as you would give any other character. The key is recognize how their upbringing, their culture, their race, etc would change their wants, needs, desires and flaws. These factors may change depending on the world of you story too but if your world resembles our own, or is contemporary I have a second tip for you
If you really have no clue about how about how people different from you live, the best place to start is by reading stories written by authors who are people of color, or authors from the background you are attempting to relate to. These will offer you a different prospective, maybe one that you haven’t considered, or one that you might find some similarities in. You can use that as a base point, to really feel a connection with your character and bring them to life. Read to the end for some suggestions for some great own voices writers, and their work.
Next Tip: Remember that these characters are people and not just characters that you plug in for woke points or inclusion points. They are people and you need to recognize that they have their own stories and like any character of they will take on a life of their own. It may seem intuitive just to write a character and then just pick a race for that character, after the fact. It does feel kind of like, “Oh, I don’t see the color, I’ll just write the person.” A colorblind view of life if you will. This however can be unintentionally harmful. The real world would see whatever race, gender, sexual identity,or socioeconomic status your character is and unfortunately sometimes that means they would be treated entirely differently. To not recognize how these factors would affect your character effectively erases that part of the character. That would be counterproductive, and you don’t have to write from a point of view you don’t identify just because you feel it’s trendy because of my last tip.
Your point of view has value. I know the industry is starve for Own Voices right now. It my feel like if your not writing from that POV your work is needed. I saw a lot of this idea floating around on Twitter this week during #DVpit. Ya’ll that is simply not true. not a person of color, You still have value. Your point of view, your upbringing, your experiences all have credence. Don’t ever forget your own value.
So what are some ways that you can connect to characters that you have no basis on which to connect on? One, remember their humanity, they are people and their different upbringings, status, and cultures influence their desires, wants and needs. Next, read people of colors work. The best way to learn any experience is to immerse yourself in their shoes and start walking or in this case, reading I personally can’t not wait for the next book in the Legacy of Orisha Series by Tomi Adeyemi. “I’m not your Perfect Daughter” by Erika L. Sanchez. “How Long till Black Future Month” by N.K. Jemisin and “Mirage” by Somaiya Duad are some good books to start of with. It also doesn’t hurt to talk to some actual people whose life vastly differs from your own. Next examine your own desire to write from this point of view. If it’s not genuine not people will see through you. There’s no need to be a culture vulture because last tip, your own point of view has its own special value.
Remember if I can identity with Elle Woods, you can find commonality with anybody and tell a great story. Take care, write your characters as people keep that and the other tips in mind as you write and you’ll be fine. Worst case scenario, if you be the really mess up in your work is out there, you’ve got a basis of a conversation to do better. That’s the only way that any of what we’re trying to solve gets better, through discord and conversation. Till next time, create hustle, love yourself.
