Writing Characters of Color
I love this blog post by Mod Collette and think it would be useful for anyone creating a character of color.
Writing “Authentic” Characters of Color in First Person POV
deaththesnow asked: Okay, so I’ve been thinking up a story idea with a black protagonist named Joan. She’s reserved, introverted, and witty when need be. I’ve gone over her character and story with my mother, but she doubts I’ll be able to make Joan’s story possible due to my being white. I believe she has a point when she says that I do not at all understand what it is like to be black, so facing all of this in the first-person narrative of Joan would prove fearless. What should I do?
lizellor asked: Thank you guys so much for all the work you do here! It’s really awesome! There’s two issues in my own writing I’ve been struggling with. I’m a white writer wrote a book last year about a young black woman who becomes a superhero. A white publisher told me I should put the first-person narrative in third-person, because people might be offended if I wrote from inside the head of a POC. Should I change the viewpoint?
There is no one way to write a Black woman. We’re all different. Of course you won't understand fully what it’s like to be Black if you’re not so, which in itself is a diverse experience depending on the person, influenced by many factors such as socioeconomic status, region, individuality and so on.
Not being x and x has hardly stopped authors from writing about people and places unlike them since forever; most folks probably don’t understand from personal experience how it is to be a young teen who leads a revolution, or what it’s like to wield magical powers, or be a different gender, etc. but somehow people write about these characters, in first person nonetheless.
I’m not sure what’s gained by writing a Character of Color in third-person because one doesn’t feel they’re able to be authentic enough. When your character experiences something, will the narrator then speculate as to how they feel without giving definites? There’s an othering quality to this sort of decision-making that shows a lack of empathy. Don’t be afraid to step in our shoes; we’re not foreign creatures impossible to decipher.
We feel love. We feel pain. We have voices; we’ve written about ourselves, our issues, our joys, our interests, our fears. There’s nothing stopping you from helping yourself understand the Black experience(s) more. Not with the internet and all the meta and resources available to you. The best one can do is try to understand the diverse experiences of a person through consuming works of them and by them. So do that. Getting feedback from the people you’re representing is always key too.
You can learn about the racism and micro-aggressions and other daily struggles we face. You can stuff all that knowledge in your brain but in the end you’re writing an individual with her own life experiences.
There’s no singular Black story and if you can place your feet in your character’s shoes and write their story, what is true to her, it will be just that; her authentic story.
Your character doesn’t need to conform to what one thinks is the Black Experience. third person or no; just write your character and don’t allow outside opinions to mar your efforts (lest the feedback is from Black women themselves; then do listen to them).
Honestly; Black women, other Women of Color, and People of Color as a whole are not foreign creatures impossible to understand. We’re people who may face some things differently than you; but people.
Write accordingly.
Writing “Authentic” Characters of Color in First Person POV
deaththesnow asked: Okay, so I’ve been thinking up a story idea with a black protagonist named Joan. She’s reserved, introverted, and witty when need be. I’ve gone over her character and story with my mother, but she doubts I’ll be able to make Joan’s story possible due to my being white. I believe she has a point when she says that I do not at all understand what it is like to be black, so facing all of this in the first-person narrative of Joan would prove fearless. What should I do?
lizellor asked: Thank you guys so much for all the work you do here! It’s really awesome! There’s two issues in my own writing I’ve been struggling with. I’m a white writer wrote a book last year about a young black woman who becomes a superhero. A white publisher told me I should put the first-person narrative in third-person, because people might be offended if I wrote from inside the head of a POC. Should I change the viewpoint?
There is no one way to write a Black woman. We’re all different. Of course you won't understand fully what it’s like to be Black if you’re not so, which in itself is a diverse experience depending on the person, influenced by many factors such as socioeconomic status, region, individuality and so on.
Not being x and x has hardly stopped authors from writing about people and places unlike them since forever; most folks probably don’t understand from personal experience how it is to be a young teen who leads a revolution, or what it’s like to wield magical powers, or be a different gender, etc. but somehow people write about these characters, in first person nonetheless.
I’m not sure what’s gained by writing a Character of Color in third-person because one doesn’t feel they’re able to be authentic enough. When your character experiences something, will the narrator then speculate as to how they feel without giving definites? There’s an othering quality to this sort of decision-making that shows a lack of empathy. Don’t be afraid to step in our shoes; we’re not foreign creatures impossible to decipher.
We feel love. We feel pain. We have voices; we’ve written about ourselves, our issues, our joys, our interests, our fears. There’s nothing stopping you from helping yourself understand the Black experience(s) more. Not with the internet and all the meta and resources available to you. The best one can do is try to understand the diverse experiences of a person through consuming works of them and by them. So do that. Getting feedback from the people you’re representing is always key too.
You can learn about the racism and micro-aggressions and other daily struggles we face. You can stuff all that knowledge in your brain but in the end you’re writing an individual with her own life experiences.
There’s no singular Black story and if you can place your feet in your character’s shoes and write their story, what is true to her, it will be just that; her authentic story.
Your character doesn’t need to conform to what one thinks is the Black Experience. third person or no; just write your character and don’t allow outside opinions to mar your efforts (lest the feedback is from Black women themselves; then do listen to them).
Honestly; Black women, other Women of Color, and People of Color as a whole are not foreign creatures impossible to understand. We’re people who may face some things differently than you; but people.
Write accordingly.
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