changing characters to fit market trends

[Rachel Caldecott]

By now most of you will know that I've written a post apocolyptic YA novel in which, thanks to a genetic mutation, humans (most of them) can communicate telepathically with other mammals. I haven't particularly gone into detail about how each character looks physically, preferring to leave it to the imagination of the reader.

Anyhooo, thanks to the announcement that DAW is taking unagented works (featuring minorities), it suddenly dawned on me that this could be an approach I could use to give myself to target a wider range of publisher/agents. (Someone here on Litopia, already suggested that I make my characters a few years older, and then hit the adult market).

My heroine could be any colour/ethnicity/ability/sexual orientation I wanted. It would take very little to change her. After all, people are people are people, and in a futuristic setting it is up to the author to decide how they fit into society. One of my favorite YA series was Noughts and Crosses and I must admit I was about half way through before I realised that the oppressed in this case were white, and their oppressors black.

Mind you, in the DAW announcement they do also call for 'neurodiverse' characters, and I haven't the slightest idea what they are talking about (could be my age), and I'm still struggling with the 'QIA+' part of LGBTQIA+ ... please enlighten me. I've only just discovered that I'm what is termed a straight cis-female.

So my question is, if I do change my character to make her say mixed race or black, for example, is that tooo horribly mercenary/desperate???

If DC comics can up with a lesbian catwoman, Star Trek can suddenly make Zulu openly gay (much to the horror of George Takei, I might add), and so on.... why can't I?

Answers on a postcard, please (or here if it's easier)

 

[Quillwitch]

By now most of you will know that I've written a post apocolyptic YA novel in which, thanks to a genetic mutation, humans (most of them) can communicate telepathically with other mammals. I haven't particularly gone into detail about how each character looks physically, preferring to leave it to the imagination of the reader.

Anyhooo, thanks to the announcement that DAW is taking unagented works (featuring minorities), it suddenly dawned on me that this could be an approach I could use to give myself to target a wider range of publisher/agents. (Someone here on Litopia, already suggested that I make my characters a few years older, and then hit the adult market).

My heroine could be any colour/ethnicity/ability/sexual orientation I wanted. It would take very little to change her. After all, people are people are people, and in a futuristic setting it is up to the author to decide how they fit into society. One of my favorite YA series was Noughts and Crosses and I must admit I was about half way through before I realised that the oppressed in this case were white, and their oppressors black.

Mind you, in the DAW announcement they do also call for 'neurodiverse' characters, and I haven't the slightest idea what they are talking about (could be my age), and I'm still struggling with the 'QIA+' part of LGBTQIA+ ... please enlighten me. I've only just discovered that I'm what is termed a straight cis-female.

So my question is, if I do change my character to make her say mixed race or black, for example, is that tooo horribly mercenary/desperate???

If DC comics can up with a lesbian catwoman, Star Trek can suddenly make Zulu openly gay (much to the horror of George Takei, I might add), and so on.... why can't I?

Answers on a postcard, please (or here if it's easier)

Why would George Takei be horrified if he is openly gay himself? Maybe it was the time, but today things have change radically.

Being a so called minority myself, i would very much like to see people of color writing about people of color and people from the LGBT community getting published and writing about gay characters. Dont get me wrong, anyone can write any character they want, and if youve envisioned your character being a gay, black woman then thats great, more power to you. But if you do go that route, you should be wary that people are going to be a lot more critical of your writing as you would be treading social and cultural territories that are not your own. I think that the trend in literature is more geared to actually bringing in writers of color that have not been given a chance to express themselves.

I think the question would be how would YOU feel about your character being of a certain race or gender or color? Is that how you picture her? Is it important to the story you are seeing in your head? Are you willing to explore certain areas of the characters life and personality that have to do with their background? Or are you going to treat her like any other white character? Perhaps in the past this was not of any importance but things are changing, especially in YA books. TV and Film are different from books.

Is your character a main character or a secondary or supporting character?



Neurodiverse means things like ADD, ADHD, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Autism, Tourette etc...

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

Hi, I wasn't very clear about George Takei, was I? He is openly gay and wonderful. But as he said, he didn't play Zulu as gay, and Gene Roddenberry never envisioned him that way. It appeared to be a deliberate move on the part of the studio to appeal to a different audience. Wasn't there also some hooha when JK Rowling suddenly announced, late in the series of Harry Potter books, that Dumbledore was gay?

But yes, I agree, it is about time people from other backgrounds and communities are heard/seen/represented.

I wasn't being totally mercenary in my post (although I came across that way). The character I could change is absolutely central to the story (it is fundamentally her story), but her colour and sexuality don't matter. She could be green with purple spots for all I care, she is a person and it is her character and the way in which she deals with the adventure, which is important. I hope I treat people in real life according to who they are and not what they are. I haven't touched on issues like age, race, sexuality or disability in the story, because I'm not interested in that, I'm far more interested in the interaction between different species. Universal and current themes like terrorism and injustice, etc come in to the story obliquely through the animal rights issues.

In fact, changing the story to have my heroine of mixed race would give me the opportunity to expand the universe I've created - and give it a bit more detail and depth.

But your reaction has answered my question really, thank you. I think it is clear that if I change a character in order to cash in on something, then I line myself up for criticism, and quite rightly so.

The beauty of on-line relationships (and also the danger) is that you really don't know who you are talking to. For example, in Litopia, we can exchange ideas, share wisdom, experiences and our fears without getting bogged down in all that pesky skin colour nonsense. I could be talking to anyone in any physical appearance or state from any where in the world. It is a meeting of minds which transcends all the physical crap. We cheer on each other's successes, and commiserate when the rejections thump us - never once thinking "I'll cheer louder for white, black, able bodied or not".

 

[Patricia D]

This has been an interesting thread. Thank you both.

 

[Amber]

I don't know if it's commercial or not ... I mean, if you approach as a way to learn about people who are different than you ... well it might be fun ... could be a good thing for your writing in more than one way.

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

I wish the human race wasn't so fixated on the external. If by some chance a baby were to be born on an island with no human contact (and suppose for a minute it could survive, like Tarzan or Mowgli) it would grow up with no sense of shame, and no judgement, with no preoccupation with its appearance, and no fixation with race, religion or colour. It would simply BE.

Or would it?

 

[Emurelda]

I have adppted motto in life after years of seeking approval from people who may not have my best interests in mind :

'Don't ever ask for permission. Do it and if necessary apologise later.'

Robin Stevens writes a detective sleuth series of mg books from the point of view of a Chinese girl. Nobody criticises her from what I can see. So why shouldn't you take advantage? Everyone else is.

 

[Amber]

I wish the human race wasn't so fixated on the external. If by some chance a baby were to be born on an island with no human contact (and suppose for a minute it could survive, like Tarzan or Mowgli) it would grow up with no sense of shame, and no judgement, with no preoccupation with its appearance, and no fixation with race, religion or colour. It would simply BE.

Or would it?

Probably, especially if it had no idea what it looked like but then I wonder what would happen if he/she/it was taken out of their environment... he/she/it would then need to evaluate... judge... in part in order to survive. But like you said, I guess that's what Tarzan is about.

 

[Quillwitch]

Well, maybe I didnt make myself clear either

Im not in any way saying you shouldnt do it, by all means, go for it.
What im saying is that you should first educate yourself in terms of what that would entail so that you know HOW to do it. Because, if you do it wrong, it wont get you anywhere. You mention that you want to do it in order to get published, and thats perfectly fine. Just know that there is a right way and a wrong way. A lot of people are going on about how certain publishing companies now have what they call sensitivity readers to make sure you are culturally and politically correct in your writing which in my opinion is a load of tosh, but there you have it.

I personally like the idea of you using a black female character in your story. That sounds great, but be wary, we have yet to see a leading character who is of color in sci fi or fantasy really go far. Other than Black Panther in film, and Get Out also in film, it hasnt happened. People really gave the black spiderman a hard time, a thumbs down, same with a black 007. British author Anthony Horowitz got plenty of backlash for saying that Idris Elba was too streetwise to play James Bond.

Even Doctor Who is getting clobbered on the boards. But again, books and film and TV whole different ballgame.

I can think of 1 very famous black woman who wrote black characters in sci fi and she has a lot interesting things to say about being black and writing black. Her name is Octavia Butler. There are others who are making a name for themselves today who also talk about how difficult it is for white readers to accept a black hero o heroin.
Im bad with remembering names but there is a latin sci fi horror writer in Canada that continuously talk about how all her main characters are Mexican and how white readers are put off by this or just not interested. They also talk alot about it not being fair that whites are writing about minorities and cashing in on it.

This is the main reason why you see many publishing companies like DAW books, opening up their contests to poc or characters of color or of the LGBT community or other groups that have been underrepresented in literature.

But, heres another thing//your story sounds like it would be the perfect fit for a main character of color. Do you visualize her being black because it means something to the story? I would hope so. I think mixed raced would even give you an interesting backstory and maybe even a plot thread.

Thats why I stress the fact that you should absolutely love your character and see her in your mind as a character of color so you can go forward with it in a positive manner, doing it because you WANT TO, not as a gimmick to get published, because that could explode in your face. Can you do it, sure you can! Can you get away with it is the question.

AND I am a firm believer that all of us should strive to write whatever the heck we want to write, regardless of color, age, gender, whatever. I think those who have read my previous posts on this topic know that, but i want to underline that here again. But I am also very wary of the fact that weird changes are going on in the publishing world and we have to be ready to defend our decisions.

 

[Quillwitch]

I have adppted motto in life after years of seeking approval from people who may not have my best interests in mind :

'Don't ever ask for permission. Do it and if necessary apologise later.'

Robin Stevens writes a detective sleuth series of mg books from the point of view of a Chinese girl. Nobody criticises her from what I can see. So why shouldn't you take advantage? Everyone else is.

I think it is because children dont really care, they dont see color, they arent nit picky about cultural or social or political rights and wrongs. Thats why its so cool to write for kids, but as you go up the ae ladder, things start to get messy.

 

[Emurelda]

I think it is because children dont really care, they dont see color, they arent nit picky about cultural or social or political rights and wrongs. Thats why its so cool to write for kids, but as you go up the ae ladder, things start to get messy.

Yes, I like that kids don't really care. I think we all relate to that, in my case I always felt like I could relate to characters be they male or female. I'm not sure how things get messy as we grow older. What do you mean? Like the nuances of other cultures? Is that what you mean. I don't want to guess without being sure.

 

[Patricia D]

I think it is because children dont really care, they dont see color, they arent nit picky about cultural or social or political rights and wrongs. Thats why its so cool to write for kids, but as you go up the ae ladder, things start to get messy.

This reminds of wisdom from 50+ years ago:


Back to the original question, I agree a mixed race protagonist fits well in a story set in the future. There are more and more bi and multi racial people - at least where I live. My books set in New Orleans include African-American characters. Having characters of different races was compatible with the setting and the plots, not something stuck in for other reasons, and so it felt right. So, if it feels right, do it.

 

[Quillwitch]

Yes, I like that kids don't really care. I think we all relate to that, in my case I always felt like I could relate to characters be they male or female. I'm not sure how things get messy as we grow older. What do you mean? Like the nuances of other cultures? Is that what you mean. I don't want to guess without being sure.

Yes, I mean that as we get older we fall into thought patterns that aren[t as innocent as when we are children. We suddenly start seeing color or race or gender or social stratus.
Im with you, I can relate no matter male female red white or green.

 

[Magicman]

"My heroine could be any colour/ethnicity/ability/sexual orientation I wanted. It would take very little to change her."

In my opinion, interactions with a character reflect the sex, race and sexual orientation. If I changed either attribute of any of my main characters, it would be a significant re-write, even in a futuristic environment. The dialogue, historical references, distractions and attractions, likes and dislikes and traditions all change because the history of the character is quite different both on a global and individual level.

I'm not saying don't do it. In fact, the exercise is intriguing but would take a lot of effort to do it right, IMO.

Just an added something that this thread brought to mind -
If your character is human in the future, your character might be one of the last humans because the LGBT movement continued to a point where pregnancy became so shameful that the human race failed to propagate and is now on the verge of extinction. (That idea came from my gay grandson).

Bob

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

It is all such a wonderful brain workout. Mind you, to be frank I doubt if I'll bother changing her. My last re-write changed the whole book from 3rd Person omniscient to 3rd person close/deep POV. That was a hell of a lot of work. Now I'm basically as close in her skin as possible without resorting to 1st person POV. I don't know about you, but in my own skin/head I don't spend much time thinking about my skin colour/age or gender, I'm just me. However, that is because society doesn't make me feel out of place. If I was different, my experience would be very different too, and I would be far more aware of what I am, rather than who I am. Likewise, if I were the only (or one of the few), white people living in a non-white village, I'd become self-aware pretty darn quickly, and so on. Right now in Europe, I benefit from White Priviledge. All of us whites do.

The statement, 'money doesn't matter (in the great scheme of things)'... is a load of old cobblers. You can only say that when you have money. Believe me, I know. So likewise, 'skin colour doesn't matter', is only true if you have what society deems the right one... same for gender and sexual orientation.

To be honest, I hadn't given that much thought to how the demographics worked in my New London, as it wasn't really important to the story, but at the back of my mind I vaguely imagined the whole world being a lovely blend of races, so every one is mixed. In which case, the character's race isn't important, because she doesn't stand out as different to the rest of society. She is just her...

So her race/colour is not an issue... therefore not worth mentioning... so... I'll leave it to the movie version to have her a lovely mixed race, bolshy, brave, sometimes irritating girl of 17.

 

[Allan Hunter]

I'm still struggling with the 'QIA+' part of LGBTQIA+

** raises hand **

I'm part of the "Q". I identify as "genderqueer" which is one of the multiple things that "Q" represents in the acronym. Genderqueer, in turn, is a bit of an umbrella term -- basically, you know how "queer" by itself basically means "not of the expected sexual orientation"? (In other words, gay or lesbian or bisexual or otherwise not heterosexual which is the default)? Well, "genderqueer" basically means "not of the expected gender identity".

Gender fluid is one of the most common forms of being genderqueer.

Being a gender invert, in contrast, is something you're less likely to encounter, but it also fits within the overall rubric of being genderqueer.

Edited to Add: Oh, and the "I" refers to "intersex". Intersex people are in some ways the mirror-image opposite of transgender people, or at least of the transgender people who utilize hormones and surgeries. Intersex people tend to be most concerned with involuntary physical modifications imposed on them due to their bodies not matching the conventional either-or definitions of physical sex (male and female), shoehorning them into one or the other, often at the expense of considerable bodily integrity -- for example people who were shoehorned into "female" often had the majority of their clitoral tissue removed because it was "too big". Intersex people have their own issues, distinct from sexual orientation OR gender identity issues, and often feel more erased than included (people use them as a rhetorical device to show that sex isn't neatly divided up into "male" and "female" after all, but then they don't bother familiarizing themselves with real intersex people and their political-social concerns)

Feel free to ask additional questions. I love to lecture!

 

[Rachel Caldecott]

Wow. Thanks. Fascinating. Since we moved to France in 2003 we've been hearing about an issue (for want of a better word) with baby boys being born to winegrowers and fruit farmers with either no genetalia at all, or 'malformed' genetalia. All due to pesticide use. I have no idea how this will impact on their sexuality/identity.

Prenatal environmental risk factors for genital malformations in a population of 1442 French male newborns: a nested case-control study. - PubMed - NCBI

I'm very happy that in our part of the world at least, we are becoming more tolerant and inclusive (although there is a long way to go). Love is a rare and valuable commodity and it should be available to everyone. And it is wonderful that in more and more cases medical technology is managing to help people find their true selves. On a purely personal note, I'm not interested with who is sleeping with whom, as long as it consentual and no children or animals are involved. Nor am I interested in what anyone else has in their knickers.