(no subject)

[vr_trakowski]

Let me preface this by saying--I'm white.  My father claims that there are Mongols in our ancestry somewhere, back when his side of the family was dallying in Russia, but we have no proof of this.  We're nearly as ethically dull as it's possible to get and very Caucasian.* 

That said--how do you describe race/ethnicity when you're writing? 

It's a question I've been pondering for some time.  I actively don't wish to give offense when I write (except possibly to people who are already offensive).  And it seems silly to me to out-and-out mention a character's ethnicity/skin color when I'm introducing them in a story, unless it's immediately important to the plot. 

But it seems to me, and I'm NOT pointing any fingers here, that so often fictional characters are assumed to be white unless some mention is made otherwise.  Mind you, we don't have to introduce and describe so many people in fanfic, because after all we know most of them already.  But most stories, at least longer ones, do bring in original characters that need to be pictured and fleshed out.  One may, of course, use ethnic names and/or accents to illustrate a given character as they are introduced, but (at least for me) it's not something one can do every time.  When it comes to CSI fic, there's going to be plenty of folks of all varieties to choose from. 

So--what do you do as a writer? 








*Though, come to think of it, I doubt the Russian part of the family tree had anything to do with the Caucasus.  *grin*

Comments

[dreams-of-him.livejournal.com]

I don't necessarily introduce them as ethnic, but if they are to be a large part of a story, within a page or so, I use description to point out ethnicity. That way it doesn't seem so "THIS CHARACTER IS ETHNIC" to me. I also choose names that might conceivably have an ethnic connotation in order for that to be floating around in the readers' heads.

It's difficult to know which way to go. I don't have just randomly ethnic characters in my stories. There's a plot reason for it (For example, in DR, the DC area is very diverse. I would be remiss if I had an all white cast...if you look around here at all, you will see people of wildly different backgrounds). Also, I enjoy having diverse characters...but it's hard to get that in without being ham handed and sounding contrived.

BTW, I'm about as white as white can be (my Polish relatives may have been cavorting with yours at some point).

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

Dunno if we ever got to Poland...mostly Swedish and German peasants, I don't think they got around much until it was time to emigrate.

Yeah, it does depend on the setting. My OCs usually just show up ready-made as far as appearance, though sometimes I can change them. DC has one of everybody and three of most!

It's a puzzle.

[boubabe14.livejournal.com]

I've not introduced any new characters in my few stories. However, as a reader, it annoys me when an author makes a point to describe a character from a specific ethnic background only to have no relevance to the plot or storyline. Just my 2 cents.

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

I can understand that--one wants to make it fit if one mentions it at all, so that it is merely another piece of relevant data.

[turtlebaby-02.livejournal.com]

But when is it really important to announce a characters ethnicity? Yes, I'm also as white as the snow. Norwegian. A little German. Some irish. I am a pale skinned blue eyed stubborn drunk. xD

But I certainly hope that if for some reason someone used me as an idea for a story character that my skin color wouldn't play a major part in who I am. I personally can't stand to be reading a book- being introduced to numerous new characters - and then wham, right in the middle get introduced to someone who's number one description is that they are African American. Or Mexican. Or flippin' Dominican. I mean, obviously I care. But if you're not going to introduce Joe Blow as being a stunning white man... why do I need to know that John Doe is a stunning black man? I guess that's just how I feel.

I know when I write, I tend to descibe my OCs as I picture them in my head. But I rarely include thier skin color. Whether that be black, white, or purple. And, don't get me wrong, I love to convey that image to my readers. But if I picture him as a black man and they picture him as a hispanic man... my jobs been done all the same either way. Right? The idea is to put a picture in someone's head that allows them to enjoy the story that is unfolding. Does it matter if their image differs from mine?

I wrote a story once in HS about two girls who lived on different planets. One was from earth and one was from planet "Xero". I kid you not. I was an odd one. Anyways, I always imagined the earth girl as an African American girl. And the Alien child to be a light purple in color. Yeah, odd, I told you. Anyway - so my friend (assingment partner) illustrated this story and she made the earth girl caucasion and the alien girl blue. Because that's how she saw her. And it still... fit.

Wow, people keep telling me to keep my comments shorter then my posts. One day, I will succeed in that.

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

Hey, nothin' wrong with long posts! :D

Hmm, I see what you mean about it not mattering. It makes sense; a reader's imagination is an important part of a story.

Personally, I would rather define my character on the page; I usually want the image in my head to be more-or-less represented in the words, unless they are so minor that it doesn't really matter. But to each their own!

[ligaras.livejournal.com]

*Fear the Norwegians*
-Nah...

As a Norwegian I guess we've already seen an example of that in the way the Greg character has had ethnic facts woven into the character/story lines. Have they ever done anything with Warrick? I mean, Mr. Dourdan is a mixture of many ethnicities I believe. If it is important for the author because they picture a character a certain way, then I think it is important to the reader as well, plot importance or not. And to paint a picture of a character as one sees him/her, using 'color' is one tool - yes?

I need sleep...

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

Fear, maybe not...in awe of, certainly... ;)

I don't think they've done anything with Warrick's ethnic background, though his immediate culture was brought up in an early episode--i.e., the culture/neighborhood he grew up in.

Yeah, color-as-a-tool is one way to do it! I guess I just don't feel that it's used often enough for Caucasians, maybe. Hrmph, I'm not expressing myself well.

[elfling65.livejournal.com]

I don't write so I don't know if this will be worth anything but...as a reader:

I think it works both ways. It does depend on the story though. Devil In a Blue Dress is written by a black man. The main character is black, pretty much every character introduced has a color assigned to them. It works for the story. *shrug* I generally don't see why the ethnic back ground of a character needs to be mentioned unless it's a part of the story. If the character has been developed well enough mentioning their color is a distraction for me, the reader. Sometimes it takes me out of the moment, I've read some fics that I didn't finish because it was so heavy handed...

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

It's a dilemma. I'm not inclined to make an issue of ethnicity within the plotline itself, so relevancy varies...