Today I'm at Kara Leigh Miller's blog talking about my writing process and how I came to be a writer.
I hope you'll come on over and say hi. Kara's about to launch a new book of her own, so you'll want to check that out~
As you may already know, my young adult novel Hush Puppy involves an interracial relationship. The main character, Corrine, is a black girl. This book is my first attempt at writing characters that are "outside my race" if you will.
Since the release of Hush Puppy, I've met several writers of color through the blog tour and on Twitter/Goodreads, who have really encouraged my efforts to at least try to portray characters of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. One blogger asked if I would create a quick guide to "writing multicultural". I'm sure I'm no expert, but here's what I try to do~
1) Get out of your comfort zone – don’t tell yourself you can’t do something just because you’ve never tried it. Don’t limit your imagination.
2) Focus on the same, not the different. Inside, we’re all the same.
3) Look around you. You already know a lot of people with a variety of experiences you can draw from. If you don’t, go meet some.
4) Remember respect. Always respect your characters, no matter what their background. Represent them clearly and honestly. Don’t make them into cardboard cutout stereotypes.
5) Tell a good story. It really doesn’t matter what your characters look like if the story’s no good. No one will care and as writers, we want readers to care more than anything.
I hope this inspires you to give your characters diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds when you write. Enjoy~
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