Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film Quotes

“Often, race is assumed by the writer, so ‘white = default’ and BAME characters are noted FOR their ‘difference’.”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film

“Consider making your antagonist’s disability incidental in the storyworld”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film

“When the ONLY person of colour in the narrative is the villain, the message could be construed that ‘white = good”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film

“Minority interests only become fully emancipated when everyone has full access to an entire range of characters. Good, bad and ugly… positive type-casting is as patronising as not casting diversely at all.”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film

“Historian Greg Jenner, author and chief advisor to the BBC’s Horrible Histories programme, points out: ‘If you write a story set in the past, there’s a decent chance at least one of your characters could be a person of colour, or perhaps an immigrant, or both. It’s not political correctness to increase casting diversity, it’s actually a matter of historical accuracy.”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film

“What can writers gain? Probably a lot, especially since audiences get behind unusual characters who feel authentic and fresh.”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film

“true diversity means being inclusive, but also authentic.”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film

“a character’s ‘difference’ does not have to drive the story; it can be incidental.”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film

“Diversity works best when you can’t see forced good intention.”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film

“writing diverse characters is a huge skill and one that cannot be underestimated.”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film

“That long-held notion that straight, white, able-bodied males are the only ‘real’ characters (with all other characters representative of ‘issues’) is on its way out at long last.”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film

“Wouldn’t it be great to just write a fantastic story without having to worry about labels? Absolutely, yes. Are we there yet? Probably not.”
― Lucy V. Hay, Writing Diverse Characters For Fiction, TV or Film