creative reality
I’m deeply involved in creative writing land. Because I love you all, I want to throw some ideas at you, but first…
There is this book, First Draft in 30 days by Karen Wiesner is my guide. I love all of these books that give you an outline on how to accomplish something you’ve been struggling with for years. I don’t know about any of you, but I only read these books for suggestions. I never follow the entire book no matter how great I think it is. And I do think this book is great.
The thing I love about this book is that it offers a bit of a different approach with the outline. Yes, you need to create your characters, know your settings and all of that, but this one actually has you write your plot in an outline too. Like in a list…1, 2, 3.
The thought behind this is that you can correct any plots that don’t work without having to delete thousands of words of text, you can just delete a dozen or so lines. Then when you finally get to writing, you use your plot outline list and it should flow without requiring much thought. Does that make sense? Just sharing…
Anyway, so I’m writing and I have my characters. My idea was to have a really multi-cultural cast of characters. Asians, Latinos, West Indians, Africans, Whites, Blacks…etc, but I wonder how realistic that actually is. If I am working with a core of less than 8 characters, would all of these different ethnicities know each other in an intimate way? Would this be realistic at all?
Honestly, I’ve dated all types of girls. All of the ethnicities I’ve described with the exception of a white girl. The groups I’ve hung around with have always been so inclusive that I’ve gotten to know a lot of different cultures, but I don’t know how to write about white lesbians. I’ve seen them. I’ve gone to their clubs, but I have no idea how they are in relationships or how they spend their daily lives. I don’t want to sit here and fool myself into believing that we all act the same, we do the same things, because we don’t. Is this a segment of my cast I can leave out, understanding this will be the majority of my audience? Or will my audience even care?
I guess I’m wondering if I will get the type of reception I want when my audience realizes none of the characters look like them. Or will their curiosity about a segment of the population that is often ignored be enough?
First off I think it’s great that you choose to have your characters be so diverse. Maybe this book will shed some light on how in real life there is somewhat of a divide in the LGBT community and it’ll make folks want to reflect your book a bit.
Also, thanks for posting that book because now I’m going to order it. I have an idea for a fiction novel in my head. I have 4 main characters already thought of and their backgrounds but, I haven’t written a word. I think what always bewilders me with fiction writing is the outline process and the character development and planning. When I write I do just that. I write. So for me to actually outline and pre-plan everything is very hard for but, I know it needs to be done.
Alix, I think that if you have a well written book, which I’m sure you will because your writing is awesome.That’s why we obviously all come here. that nobody will care about the characters race or ethnicities
Thanks! You just gave me an idea too…
i think it’s perfect. after just watching 6 seasons of the l word, i think i have gotten plenty of exposure to white lesbians, but there is not that much print out there about black lesbians or lesbians of color at all – rather it be through magazines or television.
as with all television shows, everything is geared towards the majority and sadly those in the community of color are not equally represented. there would not only be a wide audience of those who are colored, but here would also be an audience of those whites who are interested in what the life looks like from the other side. the glbt community is more forward thinking than any other community. i highly doubt that they would think twice about the lack of a white character in the novel.
I know that lesbians of color aren’t widely represented at all that’s why there is a part of me that wouldn’t feel bad about excluding them, but at the same time this is for the folks over at TLL. There aren’t a bunch of us there….
Do what’s best for you. I’d hate for you to struggle with trying to incorporate a white character if you’re not that familiar. But no one is the same. So for all of your characters, they’re not gonna to be exactly how all lesbians of that race are. So you can go ahead and include a white lesbian.
No, they won’t be like all lesbians of that race, but they’ll be realistic… I grew up surrounded by white folks, this shouldn’t be hard…
You should go with what feels right. You’re obviously questioning the absence of a white character in your book so that means something. As a white lesbian I don’t feel that it would be essential to include a white character however, I think the questioning is importnat and has more to do with your life experience than your story.
You made a number of good points and claims for not feeling you have enough info. to include a white character in your book. I know little to nothing about writing but find your posts very intriguing and am going to throw this idea out there for what its worth. Is it possible to have a character that just appears at the very end? I could see your plot unfolding and then at the end bringing in a white chick and not really having too much info on her. Leaving the reader wanting more, kinda of like you with all your questions or at the very least ponderings.
Hey! A new reader! Yay! My life experience is full of white people. I’m used to being one of 3 or 4 in a classroom most of my life. I know what it’s like to be around white people, but not in an intimate way.
I have a white character, I guess what I’m trying to figure out is if her role should be primary or secondary…
Just write the story the way you see it. Does tv writers care that more than White viewers watch their programs? No. Does White authors care that some of their readers will not all be White? No. They will say they write what they know about and they don’t know much about other people. So you write about what you know and/or imagine. That’s the fun part of writing, we don’t always know all that will happen in a story until it is being written.
You’re absolutely right…
I think that you can have any character that you choose to have in your book. I only say that because it depends on the setting, where are they coming from, everyone has a different walk of life so there can be a white lesbian from the hood or whatever, they are out there lol.
girl, the last thing you have to worry about is me writing something with a hood white chick!
I say if your experiences have opened you up to diverse people and places, your writing can’t help but reflect that. I think more of us than we think are exposed to diversity constantly — some of us may just take it for granted. Write what you know and the right people will be drawn to it.