SOOOOO, after posting the first part of this post a few weeks ago, I realized that it probably sounded pretty rant-y.
I apologize, I didn't mean it to be a rant. But I promise this next one will be much better. Today's post is about the RIGHT reasons and ways to add diversity to your story.
I apologize, I didn't mean it to be a rant. But I promise this next one will be much better. Today's post is about the RIGHT reasons and ways to add diversity to your story.
First , let's tackle the right reasons.
Reason #1: Add diversity to your story to make the story more real.
Because honestly, if your character is traveling the world chasing bad guys, isn't he going to meet characters from different cultures?
It's important to keep perspective. So many times we forget that not everybody is like us and we put characters in our stories and make them all alike. Unfortunately, that doesn't work too well. It bores the reader because he feels like he's just reading a story about 15 clones who all do exactly the same things.
So add diversity because that's what life's like. If you go out in the world, chances are, you're going to meet someone who's not like you. So be real.
Reason #2: Make your characters diverse so that they'll be more interesting.
This is kind of what I was saying about the clones. People who are all the same are boring. Plus, people from different cultures have different quirks. They have different mindsets, worldviews, and even body language. A well-rounded story includes all these differences so that the reader feels a breath of fresh air with each character. And they don't HAVE to be stereotypes.
Or maybe they're stereotypes for a reason.
Not that you SHOULD use stereotypes, of course.
But, if your characters are crafted well, these differences will be natural and they won't feel like a World Study lesson every time you bring them up.
So let's explore how to craft diverse characters well.
There ARE a couple of rules. (I know, the hated word, rules.)
First rule: Be realistic.
This feels obvious, but even so, often it's hard to know exactly how to do this. So I've pulled together a few tips. First, add diversity in small amounts. It's not like you're going to have a German/Irish protagonist, A Peruvian side kick, a pure-blood Native American baddie, a South-African-Chieftain-bad-guy-henchman, a dead body that happens to be an Australian rancher, a South Korean mentor, and a random arctic explorer. I mean, really. If you're going to actually make the characters ethnically diverse, your book is just going to end up being a long Geography lesson.
Next, put them in real places. I mentioned this a little bit in the last post, but don't put random people in random places. Everyone needs to have a reason to be where they are. If you're going to put a Chinese guy in the middle of London, you need to know why he's there. Did he just decide to drop in for a vacation? Maybe you can give a reason that ties into your plot. You never know.
Third, and this is basically the culmination of everything else, do not be CONTRIVED. Don't go through your story trying to squeeze diverse characters into it. Craft your story with purpose but not force. To a certain point, your story should FLOW on its own.
A story is like a living animal. It has power and movement and will. Your job as the writer is to guide the power and direct it to a final and wonderful culmination.
Story-writing is natural. It's not manufactured on an assembly line. There are rules, but they're just rules to help you tame the beast. It shouldn't know it's being tamed. It should go on in all its power and might. And that's what brings me to my last point: be subtle.
If your reader picks up your book and feels like he's about to get a sermon on diversity, he's probably going to put it down. It's not a slight against diversity, but we hear so much about it in our culture that eventually we get tired of it.
If a reader wants to read a book about racism, he'll go read a book about racism. But chances are, if a reader wants to read an engaging, adventurous book with lots of thrills, he's going to be looking for a book that has a fast-paced plot with interesting and moving characters that pull him on board and make him hang on for dear life. And the only way to get those characters is to craft them naturally and subtly.
So if you remember nothing else from this post, remember this:
Reason #1: Add diversity to your story to make the story more real.
Because honestly, if your character is traveling the world chasing bad guys, isn't he going to meet characters from different cultures?
It's important to keep perspective. So many times we forget that not everybody is like us and we put characters in our stories and make them all alike. Unfortunately, that doesn't work too well. It bores the reader because he feels like he's just reading a story about 15 clones who all do exactly the same things.
So add diversity because that's what life's like. If you go out in the world, chances are, you're going to meet someone who's not like you. So be real.
Reason #2: Make your characters diverse so that they'll be more interesting.
This is kind of what I was saying about the clones. People who are all the same are boring. Plus, people from different cultures have different quirks. They have different mindsets, worldviews, and even body language. A well-rounded story includes all these differences so that the reader feels a breath of fresh air with each character. And they don't HAVE to be stereotypes.
Or maybe they're stereotypes for a reason.
Not that you SHOULD use stereotypes, of course.
But, if your characters are crafted well, these differences will be natural and they won't feel like a World Study lesson every time you bring them up.
So let's explore how to craft diverse characters well.
There ARE a couple of rules. (I know, the hated word, rules.)
First rule: Be realistic.
This feels obvious, but even so, often it's hard to know exactly how to do this. So I've pulled together a few tips. First, add diversity in small amounts. It's not like you're going to have a German/Irish protagonist, A Peruvian side kick, a pure-blood Native American baddie, a South-African-Chieftain-bad-guy-henchman, a dead body that happens to be an Australian rancher, a South Korean mentor, and a random arctic explorer. I mean, really. If you're going to actually make the characters ethnically diverse, your book is just going to end up being a long Geography lesson.
Next, put them in real places. I mentioned this a little bit in the last post, but don't put random people in random places. Everyone needs to have a reason to be where they are. If you're going to put a Chinese guy in the middle of London, you need to know why he's there. Did he just decide to drop in for a vacation? Maybe you can give a reason that ties into your plot. You never know.
Third, and this is basically the culmination of everything else, do not be CONTRIVED. Don't go through your story trying to squeeze diverse characters into it. Craft your story with purpose but not force. To a certain point, your story should FLOW on its own.
A story is like a living animal. It has power and movement and will. Your job as the writer is to guide the power and direct it to a final and wonderful culmination.
Story-writing is natural. It's not manufactured on an assembly line. There are rules, but they're just rules to help you tame the beast. It shouldn't know it's being tamed. It should go on in all its power and might. And that's what brings me to my last point: be subtle.
If your reader picks up your book and feels like he's about to get a sermon on diversity, he's probably going to put it down. It's not a slight against diversity, but we hear so much about it in our culture that eventually we get tired of it.
If a reader wants to read a book about racism, he'll go read a book about racism. But chances are, if a reader wants to read an engaging, adventurous book with lots of thrills, he's going to be looking for a book that has a fast-paced plot with interesting and moving characters that pull him on board and make him hang on for dear life. And the only way to get those characters is to craft them naturally and subtly.
So if you remember nothing else from this post, remember this:
A writer's greatest aim and achievement is to tame the beast.