Writing A Diverse Cast of Characters: Points and Tips For Authors

[Tcr]

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

 

[Desiderius Price]

Every character you write will have, at its core, a reflection of you, after all, writing is a form of Schizophrenia that won’t get you locked up (well, normally).

[CloverReef]

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. 

[Desiderius Price]

1 hour ago, CloverReef said:

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.

For significant characters, I try to make sure they have hobbies, phobias, and perhaps an allergy or two.  (Like names, I’ve got a random picker app that makes suggestions.)   Culture/ethnicity is simply one piece to the character, not the full picture.

[GeorgeGlass]

This is something I struggle with, too, because I don’t want every character in my stories to be white and suburban. So I research what I can and try not to wander too far into stereotypes.

[Tcr]

21 hours ago, Desiderius Price said:

Every character you write will have, at its core, a reflection of you, after all, writing is a form of Schizophrenia that won’t get you locked up (well, normally).

Oh, certainly.  Kind of a terrifying thought at times when reading them...  

 

20 hours ago, CloverReef said:

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?

Stereotypes are definitely not a bad thing, as there are reasons they last so long.  I tend to stray away from stereotypes, though, on the reasoning tangentially said above.  Most stereotypes I've seen/heard come with negative inferences...  

15 hours ago, GeorgeGlass said:

This is something I struggle with, too, because I don’t want every character in my stories to be white and suburban. So I research what I can and try not to wander too far into stereotypes.

When I first started, my casts were all Caucasian without a second thought, usually English speaking American.   Then I started writing more vaguely, allowing readers to create a character.  I've noticed a lot of people leave it vague...  There's no real mention of culture, religion, ethnicity.…

I wonder if this is intentional or if this is subconscious?

[sweetmamajama]

23 hours ago, CloverReef said:

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. 

2 hours ago, Tcr said:

I wonder if this is intentional or if this is subconscious?

That’s kinda funny cuz I grew up in an all white country and my characters are mostly Asian or mixed. And this was a subconscious thing cuz I really like Asian cultures and stuff so of course I'm gonna have lots of Asians. So I think that most people when they create a world don't really focus on the race but on the setting and a culture and what race your characters end up being is just a by product.

And Clovey you do have more of a problem with sexual diversity than racial diversity in your stories (at least the ones I read). You do tend to make everyone gay and I think you mentioned this to me. It is convenient when writing slash. But I'm just saying among the more superficial character traits don't forget sexuality when were talking about diversity.

 

[sweetmamajama]

23 hours ago, CloverReef said:

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. 

This is a very good point right here. There is always gonna be a little bit of a stereotype or a cliche in any character, the thing to do is to pile on top of it so your character is a character and not a walking talking stereotype.

Though Id honestly forgive an obvious stereotype when its for comedic purposes. Well as long as its not malicious.

[sweetmamajama]

On 4.4.2017. at 10:39 PM, Tcr said:

 Secondly, as writers, do you often have concerns that, who or what you’re writing about will be disrespectful to that culture?

Yeah sometimes. If you feel this way you gotta asses the situation: Would the criticism be valid or just nitpicky whinny shit? Some ppl can get offended over anything and you can’t really please those ppl, so I’d just ignore them. Now a way to avoid being legitimately disrespectful is to do your research into the matter that you're writing about. Thinking outside of the box and trying to see things from a different angle is also a way to avoid making mistakes.

But I usually like to avoid all that shit by making something a fantasy. I can also do whatever dafuck I want so that's also great.

[sweetmamajama]

On 4.4.2017. at 10:39 PM, Tcr said:

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?

I personally don't think it is… Well actually it depends how important it is to the story, some shit is just not relevant. But when were talking about something like race, you don't really need to go into things if its not important, just describe the character and s it. I do think when it comes to things like appearance and character backstory of the main cast you gotta write that shit. I think it enriches the story. And I don't wanna read about a character and don't even know what they look like or where they come from.

So yeah for the main cast, definitively not keep it vague. For the others? meh idk, maybe, maybe not. Depends how relevant to the story it is.

[CloverReef]

1 hour ago, sweetmamajama said:

And Clovey you do have more of a problem with sexual diversity than racial diversity in your stories (at least the ones I read). You do tend to make everyone gay and I think you mentioned this to me. It is convenient when writing slash. But I'm just saying among the more superficial character traits don't forget sexuality when were talking about diversity.

 

Uh, random, drive-by critique? Jeez, I had no idea replying to a thread was putting my writing on trial  

I was talking about culture because original post specified culture, but to be fair I did mention sexuality in my reply as well. Of course, there are many ways to portray diversity: diversity in religion, in politics, disabilities, disorders, genders, species? It’d be awesome to be able to portray diversity in many ways. 

[sweetmamajama]

2 minutes ago, CloverReef said:

Uh, random, drive-by critique? Jeez, I had no idea replying to a thread was putting my writing on trial

lol I just like to fuck with you from time to time, you know, keep u guessing

 

3 minutes ago, CloverReef said:

I was talking about culture because original post specified culture

excuses excuses! Don’t be jelly cuz I thought of it 1^st!

[Tcr]

2 minutes ago, CloverReef said:

Uh, random, drive-by critique? Jeez, I had no idea replying to a thread was putting my writing on trial  

EVERYONE HIT THE FLOOR!

3 minutes ago, CloverReef said:

I was talking about culture because original post specified culture, but to be fair I did mention sexuality in my reply as well. Of course, there are many ways to portray diversity: diversity in religion, in politics, disabilities, disorders, genders, species? It’d be awesome to be able to portray diversity in many ways. 

Did I?  Well, damn…  Most of mine was on just the culture aspect of diversity…  Shit…  Huh…  More accurately, I should have asked about all diversity, you’re correct…

 

[CloverReef]

1 minute ago, Tcr said:

Did I?  Well, damn…  Most of mine was on just the culture aspect of diversity…  Shit…  Huh…  More accurately, I should have asked about all diversity, you’re correct…

 

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. 

[sweetmamajama]

4 minutes ago, Tcr said:

EVERYONE HIT THE FLOOR!

Whaaaaa?

[sweetmamajama]

1 minute ago, CloverReef said:

Or aliens! Aliens are fun too. Tentacle monsters with deep, multi-faceted personalities need more representation in erotica. 

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

[CloverReef]

1 minute ago, sweetmamajama said:

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

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

[sweetmamajama]

2 minutes ago, CloverReef said:

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

lol!

Don’t assume my gender bitch! It’s “multiple appendage person” I’ll have you know!

Long live the Matriarchy!

[CloverReef]

9 minutes ago, sweetmamajama said:

Long live the Matriarchy!

I was gonna ask if the multi-appendaged people jumping school girls are female multi-appendaged people, but I’m afraid we may have gotten off topic. Um, so yeah… Diversity is good. 

Another thing about writing a diverse cast I really like, is that research GeorgeGlass mentioned. It kinda forces you into learning about other types of people, and learn a little about things you’ve never experienced before. If you do it well, it’s an excellent lesson in empathy. 

[sweetmamajama]

1 hour ago, CloverReef said:

I was gonna ask if the multi-appendaged people jumping school girls are female multi-appendaged people, but I’m afraid we may have gotten off topic. Um, so yeah… Diversity is good. 

um excuse me but we are not ppl, we are aliens! its persons not ppl! don't fuck up my specie pronounce! u don't need to be human to be a person! ur such a human- nationalist!

long live the Matriarchy!