Not having any white MC's?
(For reference, I am not white. I've asked another question about race here).
So I'm pretty far into writing my dystopian novel and I was reading over what I had. Something that helps me when I first start a novel is to get a clear picture of my characters in my head and put a face to a name, so I usually sculpt a personality and find a Google image of someone who I think matches that, and I put all of those into documents for my personal reference. I looked over my main five characters--Analise, Poet, Shove, Star, and Nova--and then suddenly something jumped out at me. Analise is Hispanic, Shove is Japanese, and the Poet, Star, and Nova are all black.
I had forgotten about their races because it wasn't important to me and I had not noticed while I was writing, because the story isn't about their racial backgrounds. But is it, I don't know, somehow alienating or offensive to white readers that the characters aren't white, and that no main characters are white?
creative-writing characters readers
asked 5 hours ago
weakdnaweakdna
1,52031132
add a comment |
(For reference, I am not white. I've asked another question about race here).
So I'm pretty far into writing my dystopian novel and I was reading over what I had. Something that helps me when I first start a novel is to get a clear picture of my characters in my head and put a face to a name, so I usually sculpt a personality and find a Google image of someone who I think matches that, and I put all of those into documents for my personal reference. I looked over my main five characters--Analise, Poet, Shove, Star, and Nova--and then suddenly something jumped out at me. Analise is Hispanic, Shove is Japanese, and the Poet, Star, and Nova are all black.
I had forgotten about their races because it wasn't important to me and I had not noticed while I was writing, because the story isn't about their racial backgrounds. But is it, I don't know, somehow alienating or offensive to white readers that the characters aren't white, and that no main characters are white?
creative-writing characters readers
asked 5 hours ago
weakdnaweakdna
1,52031132
1
How is the race of these characters mentioned or alluded to in your writing?
– Laurel
3 hours ago
Is Analise white-passing? "Hispanic" is kind of a broad category. I have a character from Honduras whose skin is quite dark, but if you look at someone like Fernando Alonso, he's basically white.
– F1Krazy
53 mins ago
add a comment |
(For reference, I am not white. I've asked another question about race here).
So I'm pretty far into writing my dystopian novel and I was reading over what I had. Something that helps me when I first start a novel is to get a clear picture of my characters in my head and put a face to a name, so I usually sculpt a personality and find a Google image of someone who I think matches that, and I put all of those into documents for my personal reference. I looked over my main five characters--Analise, Poet, Shove, Star, and Nova--and then suddenly something jumped out at me. Analise is Hispanic, Shove is Japanese, and the Poet, Star, and Nova are all black.
I had forgotten about their races because it wasn't important to me and I had not noticed while I was writing, because the story isn't about their racial backgrounds. But is it, I don't know, somehow alienating or offensive to white readers that the characters aren't white, and that no main characters are white?
creative-writing characters readers
asked 5 hours ago
weakdnaweakdna
1,52031132
(For reference, I am not white. I've asked another question about race here).
So I'm pretty far into writing my dystopian novel and I was reading over what I had. Something that helps me when I first start a novel is to get a clear picture of my characters in my head and put a face to a name, so I usually sculpt a personality and find a Google image of someone who I think matches that, and I put all of those into documents for my personal reference. I looked over my main five characters--Analise, Poet, Shove, Star, and Nova--and then suddenly something jumped out at me. Analise is Hispanic, Shove is Japanese, and the Poet, Star, and Nova are all black.
I had forgotten about their races because it wasn't important to me and I had not noticed while I was writing, because the story isn't about their racial backgrounds. But is it, I don't know, somehow alienating or offensive to white readers that the characters aren't white, and that no main characters are white?
creative-writing characters readers
creative-writing characters readers
asked 5 hours ago
weakdnaweakdna
1,52031132
asked 5 hours ago
weakdnaweakdna
1,52031132
asked 5 hours ago
weakdnaweakdna
1,52031132
asked 5 hours ago
weakdnaweakdna
1,52031132
asked 5 hours ago
weakdnaweakdna
1,52031132
1,52031132
1
How is the race of these characters mentioned or alluded to in your writing?
– Laurel
3 hours ago
Is Analise white-passing? "Hispanic" is kind of a broad category. I have a character from Honduras whose skin is quite dark, but if you look at someone like Fernando Alonso, he's basically white.
– F1Krazy
53 mins ago
add a comment |
1
How is the race of these characters mentioned or alluded to in your writing?
– Laurel
3 hours ago
Is Analise white-passing? "Hispanic" is kind of a broad category. I have a character from Honduras whose skin is quite dark, but if you look at someone like Fernando Alonso, he's basically white.
– F1Krazy
53 mins ago
1
1
How is the race of these characters mentioned or alluded to in your writing?
– Laurel
3 hours ago
How is the race of these characters mentioned or alluded to in your writing?
– Laurel
3 hours ago
Is Analise white-passing? "Hispanic" is kind of a broad category. I have a character from Honduras whose skin is quite dark, but if you look at someone like Fernando Alonso, he's basically white.
– F1Krazy
53 mins ago
Is Analise white-passing? "Hispanic" is kind of a broad category. I have a character from Honduras whose skin is quite dark, but if you look at someone like Fernando Alonso, he's basically white.
– F1Krazy
53 mins ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
The answer I'll give you here is the same as the ones I've already given you and others: write what works for you. If these are who the characters are, then that's who they are. If you're forcing diversity, then it will come off as forced. That includes making some characters white just to be diverse.
Will you alienate or even offend some white readers? Yes.
But this is not the type of offense to worry about. Some people are so used to being in the mainstream everywhere and for everything, that they loudly protest when suddenly they're not. If they don't like your story, they can go literally anyplace else to find beautiful, stirring, authentic depictions of all sorts of white people. Even within works about people of color.
Some people will argue that this is exactly the same as novels only including white people. But, no. It isn't. Because representation isn't just about a single work. It's about the entirety of our culture. Americans (and most Westerners) find white people so central to their understanding of the universe that they insert them in places they might not otherwise be and tell entire stories set in nonwhite worlds from the white character's point of view. (I just watched The Last King of Scotland which does exactly this...they invented a white character for this very purpose...in a movie about real events in Uganda.)
Write the story that matters to you.
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
7,2301841
1
You already nailed it, so I'm not even going to write an answer, lol. The only thing to add is that people forget that "white" (we could talk forever about the problems inherent in that term) people are not even a global majority. If you took a hundred humans from the planet, at random, there actually wouldn't be all that many white folks, comparatively speaking. So, depending on the hows and wheres and whys, it is, ironically very possible that a cast of color is actually more true to life than the inverse.
– user49466
4 hours ago
@user49466 Ya know, I thought of that point when I was formulating my response then had to leave the house and forgot to put it in. Thanks for bringing it up. It's very important.
– Cyn
2 hours ago
add a comment |
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The answer I'll give you here is the same as the ones I've already given you and others: write what works for you. If these are who the characters are, then that's who they are. If you're forcing diversity, then it will come off as forced. That includes making some characters white just to be diverse.
Will you alienate or even offend some white readers? Yes.
But this is not the type of offense to worry about. Some people are so used to being in the mainstream everywhere and for everything, that they loudly protest when suddenly they're not. If they don't like your story, they can go literally anyplace else to find beautiful, stirring, authentic depictions of all sorts of white people. Even within works about people of color.
Some people will argue that this is exactly the same as novels only including white people. But, no. It isn't. Because representation isn't just about a single work. It's about the entirety of our culture. Americans (and most Westerners) find white people so central to their understanding of the universe that they insert them in places they might not otherwise be and tell entire stories set in nonwhite worlds from the white character's point of view. (I just watched The Last King of Scotland which does exactly this...they invented a white character for this very purpose...in a movie about real events in Uganda.)
Write the story that matters to you.
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
7,2301841
1
You already nailed it, so I'm not even going to write an answer, lol. The only thing to add is that people forget that "white" (we could talk forever about the problems inherent in that term) people are not even a global majority. If you took a hundred humans from the planet, at random, there actually wouldn't be all that many white folks, comparatively speaking. So, depending on the hows and wheres and whys, it is, ironically very possible that a cast of color is actually more true to life than the inverse.
– user49466
4 hours ago
@user49466 Ya know, I thought of that point when I was formulating my response then had to leave the house and forgot to put it in. Thanks for bringing it up. It's very important.
– Cyn
2 hours ago
add a comment |
The answer I'll give you here is the same as the ones I've already given you and others: write what works for you. If these are who the characters are, then that's who they are. If you're forcing diversity, then it will come off as forced. That includes making some characters white just to be diverse.
Will you alienate or even offend some white readers? Yes.
But this is not the type of offense to worry about. Some people are so used to being in the mainstream everywhere and for everything, that they loudly protest when suddenly they're not. If they don't like your story, they can go literally anyplace else to find beautiful, stirring, authentic depictions of all sorts of white people. Even within works about people of color.
Some people will argue that this is exactly the same as novels only including white people. But, no. It isn't. Because representation isn't just about a single work. It's about the entirety of our culture. Americans (and most Westerners) find white people so central to their understanding of the universe that they insert them in places they might not otherwise be and tell entire stories set in nonwhite worlds from the white character's point of view. (I just watched The Last King of Scotland which does exactly this...they invented a white character for this very purpose...in a movie about real events in Uganda.)
Write the story that matters to you.
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
7,2301841
1
You already nailed it, so I'm not even going to write an answer, lol. The only thing to add is that people forget that "white" (we could talk forever about the problems inherent in that term) people are not even a global majority. If you took a hundred humans from the planet, at random, there actually wouldn't be all that many white folks, comparatively speaking. So, depending on the hows and wheres and whys, it is, ironically very possible that a cast of color is actually more true to life than the inverse.
– user49466
4 hours ago
@user49466 Ya know, I thought of that point when I was formulating my response then had to leave the house and forgot to put it in. Thanks for bringing it up. It's very important.
– Cyn
2 hours ago
add a comment |
The answer I'll give you here is the same as the ones I've already given you and others: write what works for you. If these are who the characters are, then that's who they are. If you're forcing diversity, then it will come off as forced. That includes making some characters white just to be diverse.
Will you alienate or even offend some white readers? Yes.
But this is not the type of offense to worry about. Some people are so used to being in the mainstream everywhere and for everything, that they loudly protest when suddenly they're not. If they don't like your story, they can go literally anyplace else to find beautiful, stirring, authentic depictions of all sorts of white people. Even within works about people of color.
Some people will argue that this is exactly the same as novels only including white people. But, no. It isn't. Because representation isn't just about a single work. It's about the entirety of our culture. Americans (and most Westerners) find white people so central to their understanding of the universe that they insert them in places they might not otherwise be and tell entire stories set in nonwhite worlds from the white character's point of view. (I just watched The Last King of Scotland which does exactly this...they invented a white character for this very purpose...in a movie about real events in Uganda.)
Write the story that matters to you.
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
7,2301841
The answer I'll give you here is the same as the ones I've already given you and others: write what works for you. If these are who the characters are, then that's who they are. If you're forcing diversity, then it will come off as forced. That includes making some characters white just to be diverse.
Will you alienate or even offend some white readers? Yes.
But this is not the type of offense to worry about. Some people are so used to being in the mainstream everywhere and for everything, that they loudly protest when suddenly they're not. If they don't like your story, they can go literally anyplace else to find beautiful, stirring, authentic depictions of all sorts of white people. Even within works about people of color.
Some people will argue that this is exactly the same as novels only including white people. But, no. It isn't. Because representation isn't just about a single work. It's about the entirety of our culture. Americans (and most Westerners) find white people so central to their understanding of the universe that they insert them in places they might not otherwise be and tell entire stories set in nonwhite worlds from the white character's point of view. (I just watched The Last King of Scotland which does exactly this...they invented a white character for this very purpose...in a movie about real events in Uganda.)
Write the story that matters to you.
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
7,2301841
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
7,2301841
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
7,2301841
answered 5 hours ago
CynCyn
7,2301841
7,2301841
1
You already nailed it, so I'm not even going to write an answer, lol. The only thing to add is that people forget that "white" (we could talk forever about the problems inherent in that term) people are not even a global majority. If you took a hundred humans from the planet, at random, there actually wouldn't be all that many white folks, comparatively speaking. So, depending on the hows and wheres and whys, it is, ironically very possible that a cast of color is actually more true to life than the inverse.
– user49466
4 hours ago
@user49466 Ya know, I thought of that point when I was formulating my response then had to leave the house and forgot to put it in. Thanks for bringing it up. It's very important.
– Cyn
2 hours ago
add a comment |
1
You already nailed it, so I'm not even going to write an answer, lol. The only thing to add is that people forget that "white" (we could talk forever about the problems inherent in that term) people are not even a global majority. If you took a hundred humans from the planet, at random, there actually wouldn't be all that many white folks, comparatively speaking. So, depending on the hows and wheres and whys, it is, ironically very possible that a cast of color is actually more true to life than the inverse.
– user49466
4 hours ago
@user49466 Ya know, I thought of that point when I was formulating my response then had to leave the house and forgot to put it in. Thanks for bringing it up. It's very important.
– Cyn
2 hours ago
1
1
You already nailed it, so I'm not even going to write an answer, lol. The only thing to add is that people forget that "white" (we could talk forever about the problems inherent in that term) people are not even a global majority. If you took a hundred humans from the planet, at random, there actually wouldn't be all that many white folks, comparatively speaking. So, depending on the hows and wheres and whys, it is, ironically very possible that a cast of color is actually more true to life than the inverse.
– user49466
4 hours ago
You already nailed it, so I'm not even going to write an answer, lol. The only thing to add is that people forget that "white" (we could talk forever about the problems inherent in that term) people are not even a global majority. If you took a hundred humans from the planet, at random, there actually wouldn't be all that many white folks, comparatively speaking. So, depending on the hows and wheres and whys, it is, ironically very possible that a cast of color is actually more true to life than the inverse.
– user49466
4 hours ago
@user49466 Ya know, I thought of that point when I was formulating my response then had to leave the house and forgot to put it in. Thanks for bringing it up. It's very important.
– Cyn
2 hours ago
@user49466 Ya know, I thought of that point when I was formulating my response then had to leave the house and forgot to put it in. Thanks for bringing it up. It's very important.
– Cyn
2 hours ago
add a comment |
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1
How is the race of these characters mentioned or alluded to in your writing?
– Laurel
3 hours ago
Is Analise white-passing? "Hispanic" is kind of a broad category. I have a character from Honduras whose skin is quite dark, but if you look at someone like Fernando Alonso, he's basically white.
– F1Krazy
53 mins ago