Representation in Your Writing: A True Act of Self-Awareness
I read a quote recently while conducting research on the topic of this month’s blog and I feel it encapsulates many of the numerous, impassioned monologues I have crafted when talking about proper treatment of characters. It goes something like this, Remember that minority characters are not there to be “exotic” ornaments for your plot. A little nugget of wisdom if there ever was one.
Taken from Oxford Languages, representation is defined as the description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way or as being of a certain nature. At face value, the definition appears innocuous leaving little to the imagination; however, as many of us already know, context is everything. When taken and applied to the complexities of character development, it is abundantly clear the precept of representation means vastly different things to a vast majority of people, especially if they are fellow content creators.
In the Resources section at the end of this post, I have posted links to a few articles whose authors do a wonderful synthesis of what effective and proper representation really looks like, so I will not replicate it here. Suffice to say, it brought back memories of my own failings in this arena and what it took to push aside those cultural norms impressed upon me to unveil my true self. When I did, creating diverse and colorful characters came naturally and honestly.
When I created the first vision of book one to the Sy’Arrian Legacy Series under the copyright of The Dark Traveler, I remembered my train of thought very well. I wanted my story to remain true to and respect those innovative content creators in science fiction who had helped pave the way for those like me to write about anything we wanted. They had created a much greater level of understanding and brought respectability to a genre I value deeply. So, off I went to put check marks in my own diversity, equity, and inclusion boxes, failing to realize I had already painted over what true representation should look like in a literary work.
Context is everything, right? Well, let me float my own personal experience by you to drive home how important being self-aware of our own biases and inherent privilege really is. As I stroll down amnesia lane, a wonderful line of dialogue I stole from the late and great Robin Williams in his role as John Keating from the 1989 drama, Dead Poets Society, I want you to reflect on whether or not you see yourself accurately and fully represented in the content you choose to consume. You may be surprised by what you do not find.
When I initially created the concept of the Sy’Arrians, I had a rough idea as to how I saw them. Although a separate and unique race, they did evolve from humans, retaining much of their physiology and outward physical characteristics; it’s the ability to channel the four primary elements at the molecular level, which serves as the distinguishing factor. Much like Spock from the Star Trek universe, Sy’Arrians find it insulting if they are referred to as human.
In fact, it was out of respect for the ground work laid by the original Star Trek series with its racially diverse cast and the first show to portray an interracial kiss in 1968, a mere one-year after I was born, which is why I am so thankful for reruns. Considering the mere mention of diversity and Star Trek in the same sentence can be construed as controversy, I have provided links to two articles in the Resources section should anyone feel triggered. Read them and come to your conclusions.
Referred to as The Five in both iterations of the first book to the Sy’Arrian Legacy Series, I ensured my main cast of Sy’Arrian characters included various ethnicities and races due to their origin from modern day humans. In their history and prior posts on this blog, I have mentioned they came from all areas of Earth’s various land masses, eventually taking to the stars in search of a place where they would be welcome and call home. This lead them to the Omega Star System, where they eventually discovered and colonized the vacant planet of Hyprus.
It would have been naïve and tantamount to bad story telling if I created a race who initially came from Earth but retained none of their cultural customs and courtesies, whether they be good or bad. When considering their primary impetus for leaving Earth was due to being discriminated against and forced to register in a planetary database as, well, deviants, their responses to critical developments in their history would be justified.
I gave the above even more serious thought when I decided to completely redo my initial vision of the overall story by shelving The Dark Traveler and taking the much-needed time to flesh out every critical detail beginning with character backgrounds, which I often call character portraits. These were not just for the main cast of characters but for supporting and historical ones as well. If I am to be transparent, I really do not view and/or put my characters in to categories because I feel it devalues their overall worth and makes it easy for content creators to create hierarchal structures when none are needed. I view all my characters with the same level of importance and respect, no matter their role.
In order to follow in the footsteps of those who came before me, I ensured proper detail was given to developing diverse cultures, philosophical nuance, governments, religions, non-religion, and technologies, which barely scratches the surface when you consider what it takes to conceptualize the creation of an entire universe. Keep in mind it is just me, myself, and I, who is keeping track of it all. Thank the stars for Microsoft OneNote.
At a certain point, I stepped back to take an inventory of my progress towards building a robust framework of what the Sy’Arrian Legacy Series truly looked like. My beaming satisfaction was quickly dashed when reality slapped me across the face, wiping away the quintessential smirk my mother never has cared for. Take a wild guess as to what I had left out, which is a major piece of any story. If you caught on to no mentioning of the vast spectrum associated with sexuality, you win the proverbial gold star.
I literally had omitted one of the many facets comprising our existence and had not even realized it. I was so flabbergasted; I could barely stand and shook my head in amazement for what seemed like hours. In the ensuing days, I would periodically catch myself with this incredulous look on my face while continuing to process how I could have missed such a wonderful aspect of our lives.
It didn’t take me long to figure out, the omission had been purely subconscious and, in many ways, automatic. I had left out the various sexualities due to having to omit my own for the majority of my life. From the time I acknowledged my deep love for those of my own gender at the age of eight and well in to my late 30’s, seeing myself represented, even in my own characters, had never occurred to me. Not until I took the time to thoroughly delve in to the Sy’Arrian Legacy Series.
If you have read this far, my hope is you can see a glimmer of why it is vitally important we take time to cultivate the self. It is the reason why I reference and will continue to highlight my journey in practicing Zen to better understand the real world and the ones I create. It is also the reason why I am dogged in my continual criticism of content creators who fail at demonstrating a proper understanding as to the importance and value of accurately portraying characters across all spectrums.
Let me also state what should not need to be stated. Nuance is a fact of life, learn to live and thrive in it, while not falling victim to citing it every time something does not fit your narrative. Be both curious and intellectually honest by embracing the uncomfortable in thought exercises.
If you find yourself responding negatively towards certain elements you see represented in the content you consume, step back and ask yourself the hard question; why? Doing so, will hopefully put you on a path towards removing your own cultural blinders to see what others have been experiencing their entire lives.
I grew up idolizing the content created by such notable figures as John Wayne, Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Chuck Norris, and Arnold Schwarzenegger even though I did not see myself in the characters they portrayed. Although I occasionally watch some of their content to this day, mostly out of a sense of nostalgia, I do so through a much different lens.
Where I see myself now is much different and the level of comfort I feel in embracing my true self cannot be fully expressed with words alone, which can be an occupational hazard for a writer. I have unlearned how I saw myself due to the hyper masculine, white male, hetero-normative stereotypes shoved continuously in my direction since an early age.
When considering how you want to portray characters in your content, assess intent and not how YOU see them, but how those groups you want them to represent will see them.
As always, I wish for you to be safe, be well, and continuously strive to build your mind on a foundation of compassion and unconditional love. By doing so, you will influence others to do the same and help make the universe a much better place to live by helping change one mind at a time for the better.
Thank you for reading or conversely, thank you for listening.
Resources
Dead Poets Society Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Poets_Society
How Star Trek Fell Short of Its Ideals About Diversity (2022): https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a39982146/star-trek-diversity-fell-short/
Star Trek has been, and always shall be about diversity and social justice… https://musingsofamiddleagedgeek.blog/2020/03/14/star-trek-has-been-and-always-shall-be-about-diversity-and-social-justice/
Representation in Literature: Why It’s Important & How To Handle It (2018): https://writershelpingwriters.net/2018/10/representation-in-literature-why-its-important-and-how-to-handle-it/
On Representation in Fiction(2021):
https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/on-writing-representation-in-fiction
Why Diversity and Representation in Literature is so Important (2022):
https://www.onbookstreet.com/blog/diversity-and-representation-in-literature
