by Lazarus Black
Representation Matters.
This shouldn't be a controversial statement. Nor should it be something I should have to defend. There should be more "kinds" of people in art & literature. Their should be more authentically represented voices. And every author of every background should include them.Â
Because voices are lessons. And anyone who learns a lesson may teach it. (That some people are bad at learning and/or bad at teaching, is a completely different issue.)
I write stories with characters who are human beings, magical creatures, artificial intelligences, animals, aliens, ethereal omnipotent entities, etc. As long as I write them authentically and respectfully as beings who could exist in real life, I don't set boundaries down about who or what they are.
For things outside my personal experience, you — the reader — will never know what I have or have not experienced. Yes, I have had privileges in my life: I was born into a culture that claims to prefer my sex and gender. I've been mostly healthy throughout my life. I have innate abilities that have made certain skills easier to learn. I was protected and provided for and given a good education. I benefit from all of those things while never having "earned" them. Having said all of that, I've had struggles of my own. Enough so that when I learn of the struggles of others, I am able to imagine their suffering by magnifying my own. It's not perfect or and exact equivalent, but it is respectful and effective. And it can be applied to any character at all, with varying degrees of success.
When I present my first novel to October Santerelli, a professional author and LGBTQ+ sensitivity reader, they congratulated me on successfully doing exactly that. I created character with elements of my own loves and fears and dreams and doubts. Those are human stories. They don't belong to any "kind" of person. And understanding those allowed me to imagine the trials — inside and out — of my characters.
My Black readers have helped me improve their representation as well. So have women and Ethnically Chinese and Mormons and everyone else. The point isn't to "only tell stories I've experienced". It's to tell stories everyone has experienced, or could have experienced.Â
I construct characters that I know intimately. They begin as a person I met in real life and then gain attributes from other people until I have a genuine original person who could exist. None are stereotypes or even archetypes. They are unique to themselves and react as themselves in such a way that no one could say this person would never do or say those things.
Spoiler Alert
For example, SPOILER ALERT, my character named Bison is a 7ft tall Black trans-woman, born into a family of wealthy athletes. When she struggles with her identity, it's not going to be the same struggle as others, although she will share certain milestones in her story-arch. She's not just struggling with body-dismorphia based on her organs — she is 7ft tall. She has already seen the stigma placed on other women for not fitting into a mold. So, her fear and depression and self-loathing are quite specific. She doesn't want to be 7ft tall! Even if she goes through transition and accepts herself for who she is — she fears the world will never see her as feminine, and her loneliness will overwhelm her. Yes, many people with body-dismorphia will feel those things. But if they don't feel exactly the same way, it's because they are not her. How could I write about those feelings without feeling the same way? Well, surprise. I have. Not exactly. Not to that degree. But I have physical characteristics a stranger would never seen in me that drove me to hate myself and lot in life, to feel friendless and unworthy of love, to question the value of my very existence. And like any method actor, I dug into those memories and applied them to her life. "What if X happened? What if this person did or said this? How would it make me feel?" So, when a moment comes in the story where their best friend develops magical powers to change into a beautiful dragon whenever she wants, I *feel* the jealousy and the guilt of that jealousy and the trauma of feeling even more cursed beside someone so blessed, that I weep at my keyboard with her. And my experience is as close as anyone else's compared to her size-22 boots. That's how I do my best to write authentically.
I have significant experience with people from all over the globe, from virtually every community. I've lived with them, befriended them, shared deep meaningful experiences with them. (hell, both my children are queer). And I know some better than others.Â
There are some characters that I have trouble writing authentically today. I hope to do better tomorrow and the next day and the next. But those characters wouldn't be who you might expect. For example, at this time I don't feel I could write a story well from the perspective of someone raised insulated from the outside world, to put all of their trust in family or a small community alone. I find it difficult to write about siblings who bond through mutual abuse. I've met, but don't understand, people who lived their entire lives in a single city. Essentially, I have trouble imagining a bond to any narrow segment of humanity enough to hang my entire identity on it.
I write as authentically as I can and IÂ stand by my work as the best and most legitimate I can make it.Â
I write as authentically as I can and I stand by my work as the best and most legitimate I can make it.
There need to be more voices in art & literature. I believe we all rise together. No one needs to be put down for others to succeed.