Bat Rants - Tumblr Posts
this may sound mean to a lot of people, but I think it needs to be said.
If you are a non-POC writing about/making POC characters and you don’t have someone from the same group your portraying reading over your work first, you deserve all the criticism you receive on the internet for it.
Everyone will always have their own thoughts about your writing whatever it may be, but as someone who is not part of the community you are writing about, you run the risk of portraying stereotypes and your own internal biases of that group and essentially just making fun of them. You aren’t being inclusive your being hurtful. And if someone from that group is telling you, you’re character is stupid for doing and saying these things; how about instead of ignoring it and labeling it as slander: you listen.
You don’t get any brownie points for adding a black character to your story if the only thing their there to provide as a character is being loud and sassy and ‘takes no shit’. You’re characters should have roles and mean something and shouldn’t just be put out there for clout and ‘inclusivity’.
Things like-
“ her chocolate brown skin shone in the sunlight ”
“ Lay was the smartest girl in the class and great at math and science, but little did anyone know she really wanted to be a violinist, but her parents would never let her’
“she blushed, melanite skin turning red under their gaze”
“ She was cold and distant but she captivated him. With her cold dead stare and intense focus-’
“ she let out a loud tonged pop from her mouth, sassy and bold and always spoke her mind. Even though she was abused relentlessly but was still so strong. Lasandra was her best friend, even if they didn’t look alike they were sisters from other misters”
note: these aren’t from any real specific works but vaguely worded ones I’ve read myself as a POC reader. These examples are what I have read said to describe Black and Asian characters specifically but I know there are more.
Still don’t understand why you should be more careful? Then how about not writing for POC people at all. We are more then capable, talented and creative enough to write for ourselves and tell our own stories. We don’t need Non-POC speaking and trying to represent us then doing so incorrectly. But if you are still insistent on doing it, do it right.
Pro tip for having a well written POC character? Write them as a character, don’t add weather or not their POC until your done writing and designing them as a character first. Figure out how they fit in your story and try to write them as complex as any other one of your characters (especially if they’re the lead) THEN add weather or not they are POC. While your at it, make sure you get someone from the community you based your character on to read over your fucking work. If you can’t do things this simple and understand why you should, then you deserve any sort of ‘slander’ your getting and I hope it gets you to stop writing for POC.