Writing While White

When I was writing my first book, I made the conscious decision not to describe characters in ways that could be used to definitively identify them as belonging to (or not belonging to) any particular race. I wanted readers to be able to imagine the people they were reading about in whatever way they wanted. I thought this would help. I was mistaken.

Unfortunately, it’s pretty well accepted today that for most readers, unless a character’s race is specified, they’re interpreted as, by default...