FOR WRITERS
Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Denise Dechene:
“Not really a question but LGBTQI+ encompasses a wide range of sexual identities. Reading gives us some of them but what about a day or days identifying them and explaining and discussing ways to incorporate them into books.”
If you were to write about a gender or sexuality other than your own and you wanted the character to be well-rounded and respectful of X-person’s experience, where and how would you gather information? Share your favorite sources of information and methods for getting into your characters’ heads when they are not like you.
Because this deals in generalities, it does have the potential to be a hot button topic, so please keep the chat respectful.
I’m bisexual, so writing straight people has been a normal part of my societal training. I often write bisexual female protags, but I’ve been reading up on forums and the AVEN wiki to better understand ace and aro people. I used to be pretty prejudiced against those particular segments of the rainbow, which was sucky, and I’ve worked extra hard to compensate for that.
I think an important part of writing people of other genders and sexualities is first confronting one’s own prejudices. I often search on Tumblr and just Google awkward questions. Sometimes I do ask friends who have a certain identity about their experiences, but I more often put up general Facebook posts so that people can come forward and don’t feel awkward or forced to reply. Quora has some good resources, too. Basically, whatever your questions, it’s not necessary anymore to interrogate friends; there’s a plethora of thinkpieces and articles online that can help!
Either write about the character from the perspective of someone closer to me or find common ground between myself and the character.