I often see new writers asking if they’re “allowed” to write people from different backgrounds. They’re worried that they won’t get it right, or that they’ll offend someone, so they seek out more experienced authors to ask for advice. If you’ve ever wondered, the answer is yes. Writers should feel free to write about anyone, regardless of age, gender, culture, or other background differences.
If you’re writing about another culture, you should do your research and ask people from that culture if you got it right. What is the food like? What are their holiday traditions? What is it like being the first or second generation in a new country? Would a bilingual person switch to their native language in this situation or not?
The same thing goes for other differences. Talk to people the same age or gender or profession as your character, and ask questions. What would they say in this situation? Would they be angry? Too nervous to speak?
After you do your writing research, you also need to remember that your characters aren’t just their differences. We all have similarities, a deeper connection that makes us all human. We’ve all had our hearts broken, we’ve all had a loved one vanish from our lives, and we’ve all seen the sun rise and thought maybe, just maybe, things were going to get better. Whether your character lives in the city, the jungle, or the first colony on Mars, they’ve felt these things, too.
No matter how much research you do, if you don’t feel a connection with your characters, something will always be missing. If a character has a different background than you, you can still look for ways to connect with their experiences and give them that spark of verisimilitude. You can find common ground with any character. The care you feel for your characters will be the push you need to put in the work and make them living, breathing, fully formed individuals.
I’m a guy, but when I wrote a fight scene involving a female character in a room full of men, I was able to connect with what she was feeling because I know what it feels like to be scared because of a larger, stronger man who could easily hurt me. I was able to take my experiences of being bullied and intimidated and threatened and put them into the scene and make the character’s emotions more vivid.
I’m not a space alien, but I’ve had plenty of experiences where I’ve felt alone and isolated, and unable to connect to the “strange” people around me. I’ve put those experiences and those emotions into characters in a variety of science fiction stories about loneliness and alienation.
I’m not a robot, but I understand what it’s like to feel used, to feel like people only care about what you can do for them, and not who you are. I know what it’s like to work for years in a job and know you could be replaced tomorrow. I know what it’s like to wonder if a cheaper machine will be able to do my job.
Never be afraid to write people who are different than you, and always be brave enough to put yourself on the page. Including a piece of yourself in your character will help you connect with them and make them come alive. It just takes empathy and care. Making that connection with your characters will help your readers feel more connected to each other, too. Your story will help make the world a little more caring, something we need now more than ever.
