Anonymous asked: Do you have any references to describe poc skin color? (Ones that don’t describe them as food)
Many writers seem to be looking for this, so here’s a list of links to posts on WriteWorld for describing skin tone and POC.
We will add more resources as they are posted. If you would like to suggest a resource, please submit it here. Thank you for your question!
-C
Having trouble finding synonyms for ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘tan’, etc? Have any clear idea what tone you’re going for? Here’s some web pages for skin tone description and references:
Words Used To Describe Skin Color
Handy Words for Skin Tone (Includes palettes and comparisons)
Describing Characters of Color
More Tone Synonyms w/ Pictures
7 Offensive Mistakes Writers Make (includes more than just skin color)
In response to the complaint of white writers about writing about people of color: “Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t,” I want to say: absolutely.
It’s absolutely true. You’re damned either way. If you don’t do it, you’re a racist. Yes, you are. Race and racism exist in this society, and if you ignore them, you’re expressing a racial privilege that you don’t, morally, have any right to. That’s a subtle form of racism.
you do do it and get it “wrong”, you’ll get reamed, and rightfully so. It’s presumptuous of you to think that you have the right to represent a culture you don’t belong to if you can’t be bothered to properly examine and accurately portray that culture.
Further, if you do it and get it “right”, or rather, don’t get it wrong, you’ll still get reamed by members of that culture you’ve represented who rightfully resent a white writer’s success representing their culture. After all, every American ethnic minority has its writers: good and bad. The good writers are mostly ignored. Inevitably, some white writer will come along and do a bang-up job portraying that culture and will get—in one book, in one section of a book—more attention than the poc writer got over the course of three or five or ten books.
You’re a white writer trying to do the right thing, but no matter what you do, it’s wrong. And that’s so unfair to you, isn’t it?
Welcome to a tiny taste of what it’s like to be a person of color.
Oh, and quit complaining.
"Claire Light, from her post “arg arg arg” (via writeworld)
I agree with all of this… but then what am I supposed to do…? Not write…? Or just accept that I’ll piss someone else no matter what? Meh I’m confused.
(via yeahwriters)
I think the answer here is to continue to write as honestly and with as much care as you can. The lesser evil will always be to portray the other—which with white writers includes poc and poc cultures—to the best of your ability. You may be criticized for failing or even for succeeding, but trying must be better than ignoring race and racism altogether.
-C
In response to the complaint of white writers about writing about people of color: “Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t,” I want to say: absolutely.
It’s absolutely true. You’re damned either way. If you don’t do it, you’re a racist. Yes, you are. Race and racism exist in this society, and if you ignore them, you’re expressing a racial privilege that you don’t, morally, have any right to. That’s a subtle form of racism.
you do do it and get it “wrong”, you’ll get reamed, and rightfully so. It’s presumptuous of you to think that you have the right to represent a culture you don’t belong to if you can’t be bothered to properly examine and accurately portray that culture.
Further, if you do it and get it “right”, or rather, don’t get it wrong, you’ll still get reamed by members of that culture you’ve represented who rightfully resent a white writer’s success representing their culture. After all, every American ethnic minority has its writers: good and bad. The good writers are mostly ignored. Inevitably, some white writer will come along and do a bang-up job portraying that culture and will get—in one book, in one section of a book—more attention than the poc writer got over the course of three or five or ten books.
You’re a white writer trying to do the right thing, but no matter what you do, it’s wrong. And that’s so unfair to you, isn’t it?
Welcome to a tiny taste of what it’s like to be a person of color.
Oh, and quit complaining.
"Anonymous asked: Do you have any advice for writing racially and culturally diverse characters? Ones that are from other countries or areas, as well as characters that are mixed? How would that affect them and how would you describe them physically? That sort of thing.
A few links for you off the top of my head:
I’m not sure what “mixed” means to you (clarification would be awesome there!), but as far as how race and culture affects characters, you could pretty much do this:
Thank you for your question! If you have any comments on this article or other questions about writing, you can message us here!
-C
Once again, Caucasian does not mean white, and using it to mean white is actually racist.
There are real Caucasian people who live in the Caucasus region, and they are not white.
"Learn stuff!
Cedarseed’s Guide to Human Types
Download them. This guide is really, really good and I recommend it to everyone. I always use it before I try to come up with a character, and I think it would be especially useful in fandoms like Hetalia.
Anonymous asked: How can you describe someone who’s Asian without saying Asian or Oriental?
If you are from an Asian country or of Asian descent, we would be grateful if you could take the time reply to this post with a brief description of your physical appearance. Be sure to include where(ish) you are from, because Asia is a big place and physical appearance in Asia varies as drastically as… everywhere else in the damn world.
Some suggestions about what to include:
We realize you will be limited by space, but any information you could include about your physical appearance will be helpful to the anon! Thank you!
Also, anon, “oriental” is usually used to describe virtually anything other than people, and “Asian” covers a huge land mass (and islands!) full of people from dozens of countries and hundreds of cultures. Neither of those terms are really going to cut it, if you know what we mean. Asia is a really big continent.
-C
EDIT: Some people have responded via our ask box. We have listed those responses here.
Obligatory question mark?
The lovely mod of WriteWorld composed a post with A Few Tips and Resources for Writing POC Characters, which has some fantastic points and links that everyone should check out. It’s the perfect start for all writers who don’t know where to begin.
Since I’ve been engaged in this process for quite a while and inundated myself in research, here’s a few things I cross off my list as I research:
- Know the history of the particular country or region in question. If you write fantasy, white monocultures are highly unlikely, which is why it’s important to understand why having a basic grasp of non-Eurocentric college level history is so important. If college courses are unlikely for you, don’t despair and read On Doing Research. This will give you a strong foundation for everything else you’re going to research.
- Speaking of the myth of monoculture, understand that Influence Bleeds Over. Culture is not defined by borders, and in regards to the history of man, borders are only a fairly recent development and not always recognized.
- Read How to Interview People and talk to real people about their real experiences.
- Make sure you don’t discount the importance of names.
- Describing Skin Colors is more than just describing what kind of deserts you like to eat.
- Don’t wonder “Is this how an Asian person speaks English?” because you’re probably wrong. Instead, understand how someone adapts to English when it’s not their mother tongue and look at Language for those writing ESL characters.
- Google Maps is an easy way to get a vague concept of how other places in the world might look, but I’ve found that searching Tumblr tags of various cities will get you a more in-depth, personal visual story where people who are familiar with the area post their own pictures.
- It’s important to break out of what you’re culturally used to. Such things as daily showers and a hot water heater that’s constantly working is fairly odd, even in other first world countries. This helps with gaining perspective.
- Be careful what you read. Sources may be biased, exaggerated, or ill-informed. If you read “Memoirs of a Geisha” to get an idea of what a Geisha’s life was like, you might not know about the controversy around it.
- Researching clincher details like regional diets and clothing also helped me get a better grasp of resources, skills, trades, indigenous plants and animals, religious practices, and so forth. Some Tumblr blogs are specifically dedicated to such things.
- Despite whatever predispositions or beliefs you might have before you begin your research, the best thing you can do is wipe all of that away. Keep open-minded. Be fair to yourself and what you’re researching. It’s scary, as unknown territory tends to be, but let yourself be excited: you’re about to learn a whole bunch of awesome things that you’re going to want to tell all your readers about.
Research is part of writing. Cheat your research and you cheat your story. Don’t throw in a PoC character because people “expect” it these days. Don’t create a character who’s skin is darker, but their culture is American, and give them an ethnic name and then say that’s good enough. It’s not. Writers have a responsibility to write their characters as accurately as possible, and as the almighty C said:
Try to write without pity or condescension or idealism in your heart. This is a sure way to mess up writing any character, but most especially a character based on a real group of people who are culturally different from you.
Welp, I guess I’m officially cool now that Sarah and Victoria think I’m worth quoting. Yeah. Thanks, guys!
