Hello! For today's Q&A for Rainbow
Reads, it's the invasion of the writers!. Ok, you’ll have seen some of these answers already from them being
posted in their own interview, but I put everyone’s answers in the collection of answers and I don’t have
the patience to go throug
h them. Anyway, I think it’s good you’ve got
everyone’s answers in one place.
How do you avoid sterotypes when writing?
Suzanne: I try to be as authentic as possible in my
characterization. I'm quite an odd person and have had the privilege and
delight of interacting and befriending many colourful characters throughout my
life that do not conform to stereotypes. Drawing from these experiences and
being conscious of how stereotypes are used in fiction, has helped me to avoid
them. I like to buck expectations so every time I've got characters that need
to behave a certain way, I try to put less likely individuals into those roles.
Daniel: Being gay, bi, straight, or anything in between,
shouldn’t define the character, it should just be another part to them. Every
character should be their own individual, regardless of their sexuality and
whether or not they fit any of the stereotypes. For that reason, sexuality is
the last thing I decide when creating my characters.
Zoë: Stereotypes are basically a result of a lack of
knowledge. They're a product of only having One Story about what gay or
transgender or genderfluid means; the fact that really no one in our culture
gets a fair and nuanced representation in media apart from straight, white,
cis-gendered, able-bodied males. So the first step in avoiding stereotypes and
one dimensional or offensive portrayals is to learn. Read books, watch films,
seek out TV programmes that portray all kinds of different QUILTBAG people
doing all kinds of different things, like falling in love, conquering strange
planets, solving crimes, making funny YouTube videos. Seek out and join groups
that seek to promote allyship among different groups. Talk to people in real
life and online. *See* people. See people as people first and whatever other
labels are attached to them later, not even second, but way down the list after
their taste in books and whether they're, you know, annoying or maybe a Linkin'
Park fan...
Illjolras: I just write them as people, not a serious of
boxes that need ticking to make up a queer character.
Charlie: Research, ask people, think.
Sean: I think avoiding stereotypes is something authors try
to do but it's very hard unless you've walked a mile in someone's shoes.
Ashley: While writing my two main characters in "A
Melody in Harmony," I completely stayed away from stereotyping and it was
easy. I didn't think of the characters as "two gay men," I thought of
them as two young men in a relationship and just like any other couple.
Ria: It's hard. I kind of believe that some stereotypes
exist for a reason. Not in that every gay male is flaming, for example, but
let's be honest -- some are. So if I write a character who's like that, it
comes across as me believing that every gay male acts that way, when that's a
skewed perception. So it's very difficult. It's almost gotten to the point
where the opposite of many stereotypes have become stereotypes in themselves (e.g.,
the gay jock as a contrast to the effeminate man). The only thing I can do is
write the characters as they come to me, try to be fair and balanced in my
presentation, and hope for the best.
Do you feel you accurately represent LGBTQIA people in your
writing?
Ria: I feel that I'm doing it as accurately as I can, based
on my own personal experience. But then again, I'm sure people who are badly
representing LBTQIA characters feel the exact same way - writers don't set out
to write badly."
Ashley: I hope I do. It's all about love. Writing the love
my two main characters share, I think I did it justice.
Sean: Not yet I don't as I haven't written one. Actually
scratch that, I am .. but it's not supernatural
Illjolras: I feel like yes, but that's because I am queer.
Suzanne: I accurately represent the characters I'm creating
and try to be as authentic as possible in those representations. I don't try to
represent any subgroup, be that race, religion or sexual identity. Some of my
characters might accurately represent LGBTQIA people, others might not simply
because they're oddities themselves and that's okay because diversity in real
life is something to celebrate.
Zoë: I feel that I do. I hope that I do. I'm not sure how
'accurate' is really defined though. It's not like... I don't know, say,
'accuracy' in your depiction of playing the violin. If you show someone doing
it with a hammer rather than a bow, you've got it wrong. I don't think there's
a right or a wrong answer if you're presenting readers with what are hopefully
complex, fully-realised characters. I'm mostly concerned with making readers
love the characters I want them to love, hate the characters that I want them
to hate, and with making all my characters seem like evolving people. I do try
to be aware of stereotypical or negative portrayals of marginalised groups in
the media so that I can avoid adding to them,
Have you ever gotten homophobic, transphobic or otherwise
negative reactions regarding your inclusion of LGBTQIA characters? How did you
deal with it?
James: I honestly haven't had any negative feedback about
Kitty and Delilah. Ryan, in Cruel Summer, is the main character so it'll be
interesting to see what reaction he gets. Personally I've had homophobic
messages on my Facebook fan page - I suppose given how open I am about my
sexuality it was only a matter of time. Rest assured, I won't be deterred.
Laura: So far,
there's been no homophobic outcry in response to Pantomime, and I think that's
surprised some people. Though I might have gone and jinxed myself now by saying
that. In fact, the only controversy has been some people wishing the blurb was
more open about the intersex nature of the protagonist. I think that's great.
Suzanne: No, thankfully. What I have noticed, which serious
irked me, is that some reviewers put 'warnings' on their reviews for LGBT
content. They didn't warn people that my book contained bad language, violence,
underage drinking, or depictions of self-harm and suicide. No, the big bad
thing about my book was the LGBT content which included an alluded to blowjob
and some kissing. This offended me. I wanted to edit every single review I'd
ever written and put 'WARNING: Main character is straight. Avoid if that's not
your thing* - See how ridiculous that looks? So why 'warn' people of LGBT
content? I really thought we'd be past this by now.
Illjolras: Someone said I was trying too hard to be diverse
when a story I wrote had very few straight characters. I said 'so?'
Ashley: "A Melody in Harmony" is brand new, so I
haven't yet, but a lot of the bigotry and homophobic remarks that appear in my
novel are actually things that I have witnessed in real life. I decided to take
the hate and ignorance and bigotry that I've seen and put it into my story,
which I think makes it all the more realistic.
Ria: Most of what I write hasn't seen public eye. But what
little has has generally been well-received. I'm lucky in that regard. I have,
however, received negative reactions based on my own identity when it comes to
sexuality and gender expression. I don't delude myself into thinking that
people will avoid negative comments on what I write when they won't avoid it on
what I am.
Zoë: Apart from a couple of reviews on blogs or Goodreads
(which did make me fuming mad, but obviously weren't directed at *me*), no. I
thought that I would, and braced myself for it, but it hasn't happened yet. I
think that, in a way, being a midlist author with a quite small but devoted
group of readers is an advantage in that way.
Yet another set of fantastic answers from a wide range of authors. As always, please comment with your thoughts and remember our multiple giveaways.
