: Re: Writing diversity I am writing a military sci-fi novel about an international military force facing aliens. My cast is very diverse: the MC is Yemenite-Israeli, his love interest is German, his

@Odierno164

Vote Up Vote Down

If you try to cram every possible mix into your story it will look like tokenism. Yes you could try to fit in a left handed, dyslexic blonde haired Australian Aboriginal who happens to be a lesbian, but what's the point? You'll never be able to fill them all out as real characters so it's a wasted opportunity.

With a not nice person who is the only representative of their group, it may be a bit more of a problem. The trick here is to avoid making them look like a stereotypical bad guy and race/religion. Give them some real personality and reasons for what they do. Make them go beyond just their race so that people stop caring about it.

You may get a few complaints from the constantly offended, but if your limited cast of characters shine the vast majority of readers won't care.

(0)

Login to post a comment!