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As someone who has tried to show a rather diverse cast of characters within my writing (of which, unfortunately, only one has achieved this at this point in time; others, not posted, have done so as well, but...), I’m curious and, in all fairness, perhaps this curiosity can help someone in writing their own endeavours. Firstly, how do you attempt to drastically avoid the cliches and stereotypes of the characters who aren’t, so to speak, your background? Secondly, as writers, do you often have concerns that, who or what you’re writing about will be disrespectful to that culture? And thirdly, for aspiring writers, is it better to avoid making references to the diverse cast and allow the reader to otherwise insert their own thoughts and ideas for the cast? In my attempts, I usually do a fair amount of research, sometimes relying on friends who are there or know people who are, or, and this is the usual aspect, I do a lot of research into the culture (religion, views, thoughts on the aspects in the story, cultural history). This isn’t always perfect. (Logically, one takes the internet and, even, written word research with a grain of salt based off who is writing it (every man, woman, child, dog, cat, and parrot seems to have some opinion on some culture somewhere in the world). As for point two, I’m always worried about how it will come across when writing my characters. CR can verify that much (...surprised CR hasn’t ended up in fetal position in corner mumbling incoherently as a result of my worry...), which usually means lots of discussions... Not sure if there’s anything that can really be done there… I had asked myself quite often while writing mine and figured others might have had the same thoughts or even may be able to offer advice and tips that can help. TCR

This is actually something I think about a lot. Like way more than I should: word count. I really do obsess over it. I have a certain number range in which I try to keep most of my chapters (though some deviate if there isn’t a natural scene end within the range). And as a reader, I get intimidated easily by long chapters. As readers, what are your thoughts about word count (or page count)? What’s the ideal length for the first chapter of a story you’re reading for the first time? As writers/readers, do your preferences when you write differ from your preferences when you read?

Fuuuuck yeah! Ppl who do that should be stoned to death! Long live the Matriarchy!

I’m sorry! What do your people prefer to be called? Tentacled gentlemen?

Umm I’ll have you know good sire that “tentacle monster” is a racial slur! My ppl deserve respect god damn it!

Haven’t I said that many times? lol. On a personal level, I feel that if you have the same, repetitive nature of a two page chapter system without any change, it becomes boring and monotonous IF you don’t keep the audience’s attention. A ten page chapter that draws you in can feel like a two page one; a one paragraph chapter (which, admittedly, pisses me off), can feel like a twenty page chapter if it’s plain boring… Longer chapters are fine, if they’re not draw out to impossible sizes by multiple tangents, thus boring people to death.

I’d totally love to see more autistic or aspergers characters. Or aliens! Aliens are fun too. Tentacle monsters with deep, multi-faceted personalities need more representation in erotica.

That is helpful. It’s good to know not everyone gets intimidated by a longish page of text like I do.

Personally I hate short chapters. When I see that a story has like 20 chapters and get super excised to read that shit and then discover that all the chapters are like super short I get pissed! So I’d take a longer chapter any day. But I get it, super long chapters can be a pain in the ass for a reader and sometimes intimidating. So honestly medium is the best. Now idk how much this is when it comes to word count, so the words “long” and “short” are subjective. So I don't think I helped much here...but I gotta get that post cred! #thuglife

Obsession? You? No, say it ain't so! Lol. As a wildly ranged reader of all sorts of weird random stuff... To me, the numbers don't matter much. If I'm engrossed in a chapter, for example, I'm not likely to notice if it's five pages or twenty-five pages. In the flip side of the statement, if it's boring and drags on for all unnecessary eternity, then five sentences feel like five hundred pages.… As a writer, I'm bad... I set myself up, not with a word count, butane average page count (for ones which I'm trying to publish). It has to be an average of ten pages! No more, no less! The line must be drawn here! On here... I tend to go with what a chapter feels like... If it feels complete to me, I end it... Which isn't always a good thing, as sometimes a chapter isn't entirely done. So my page counts vary wildly... From as little as two and a half to as much as nine....

You’re probably right, DP, but that made me shudder a lil bit. I try to make my characters so vastly different than me or anyone I know so it’s more fun to explore them and get to know them lol. Anyway… TCR, I totally used to do the all-white cast thing. Which is weird, because I grew up in a neighbourhood with like 50% plus of plains cree. But I guess since my experience was of a white person, my view of the world was pretty white-washed. It never really even occurred to me to put in a diverse cast in my first few years of writing. Even when I wrote a story that took place in the Louisiana bayou, they were all white. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, but it sure does leave a lot to be desired. So in the last 10 or so years, I’ve been enjoying creating more diverse casts. Trying to make my worlds seem more real, and my characters more varied in all aspects. I don’t really try to steer away from stereotypes, though when I do use stereotypes, I want them to be so well rounded, they don’t feel like a stereotype, you know? Because when you think of a stereotype for gay men, one of the first that comes to mind is effeminate. And effeminate gay guys do exist, and shouldn’t be excluded just because they’ve been treated like the butt of a joke, you know? So when writers use stereotypes, I just expect them to put a lot of love into developing them. Same would go for cultures. If you’re going to use a negative cultural stereotype, I’d definitely hope there’d be something in their character to balance them out.