: Re: How to find authenticity in a character of color I am working on a book. I am aware that, being a white guy, I always perceive characters as white men. I want to push myself into building

@Reiling826

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Is your black character living in a world like the one your black friends live in, or a more immersively black culture, or...?

I think it's definitely a mistake to assume the character will be different just because of skin colour (unless you're talking about frequency of sunscreen application or something). You can't just write "a black character", you have to write a black character in a certain culture and context. If you're writing optimistic scifi, the character's race may not have any effect whatsoever on how he sees the world or himself or how others see him. If you're writing a historical, race will probably have even more of an influence than it does most places today.

So part of writing the character will definitely be figuring out how that character fits into his setting. If you're writing a contemporary novel with a character whose racial identity is a big part of his life (for better or worse), you'll need to do some research. Don't think of black culture as a monolith - figure out where your character is from, how he was raised, and who he spends time with, and then do some reading (fiction or non-fiction, poetry, lyrics, whatever) produced by people with similar backgrounds. What influenced those people, and how will those same influences affect your character.

Writing from a different POV needs a bit more thought, but I think it's really rewarding and worthwhile when done right. Good luck with it!

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