Margaret Atwood upon writing “Oryx and Crake” found a young man with commitment issues to read a draft of her story. She wanted to make sure that she got things right with her main character (who had commitment issues) and didn’t make any major errors. Atwood explained about how important it is to find a reader similar to a character whenever you write a character who is not yourself. Small details can make a difference between having a reader commit to your story or fall out of it.
I had already heard that it can be helpful to have a reader review your work when you add in characters that have a different ethnic or racial background than you. This is called a “sensitivity reader”. It’s important to ensure that you have the details correct and prevent yourself from falling into stereotypes with these characters I had never thought I expanding that concept to all my main characters regardless of their ethnic background.
Research is essential when writing characters that have a different background than the writer but it can only take you so far sometimes. It’s easy to fall into making small mistakes. As a lawyer, whenever I read a story about a lawyer and the writer gets a detail about the lawyer completely wrong, it annoys me to no end. No matter how good the rest of the book is, this detail will spoil the book for me.
It is also so easy for us to fall into troupes when writing characters from different backgrounds. We may not even notice these troupes but you better believe that a person from that culture / background / profession / sexual orientiation will pick up on it quick and get pissed off. Great, another book that includes a soulless and ruthless lawyer. Thanks for that.
With these thoughts in mind, I decided to find someone to read my fantasy novel who could be a “technical expert” on my one character who is deaf in the story. It has been super challenging for me to write a deaf character when I am not deaf myself. At times, I thought about changing this but I love this character and he came to me a deaf boy. Luckily, I was able to find someone who has been working with the deaf for over 40 years and was willing to read and share her expertise for me.
Having someone read my story with her view point was invaluable. She found little things that I would never have caught. For example, in one scene, I have my deaf character close his eyes to focus. My sensitivity reader noted that a deaf person would rarely do this as closing their eyes is a safety issue. Her notes were essential to correct these details; and it was reassuring when she commented on all the things I did get right!
It was so valuable to me that when I received an offer from a friend of a friend for his brother’s wife who is deaf and would be willing to read my story to give me additional feedback, I took a deep breath and said yes. Then before I could procrastinate, sent it off within a week of the offer.
Think about a character in your story – it could be their profession (are they a doctor or police officer or a cook in a restaurant?), perhaps their age (maybe an elderly woman or a young person?), their religious or cultural background (new immigrant or someone who has lived in their isolated community for 4 generations?), or a particular trait (someone with high anxiety or super competitive?) or is gender fluid or transgender? Pick one aspect of this character and then start asking around your networks for someone who also shares or has some expertise with this trait or background who might be willing to read either the book or sections of the book. If the character is only in a few scenes, you might consider only sending them only these chapters so that you can respect their time. Don’t think you know anyone with what you are looking for? Maybe not directly, but you might be surprised by how someone you know, knows someone else who has a sister-in-law who mets your need. You won’t know until you start asking around.
It’s helpful to be precise on the feedback you want: not on the entire book, but with the purpose of looking at this character and seeing if there are mistakes and opportunities to add in small details to highten and deepen this character. These insights can be like gold for a writer! Pay attention to these suggestions. Be open to criticism. Sometimes we fall into a trope and we don’t even realize it but someone from that background will pick it up like dirty rag to wave in your face, as they should. It may be hard to hear it because it may require re-working a character significantly and that could have ripple effects through your plot line or character development but ultimately it will lead to a better polished book you can be proud of.
I encourage you to find a “character expert” for your novel. If you are just starting on a new work, consult early! This could be a conversation over coffee and asking lots of questions about how to make this character come alive on your page.
Happy writing!
Thanks for sharing, Seana! So informative. Has me thinking about an ‘anxiety’ beta reader!