: Re: What kind of writing would be considered offensive? I am a young author writing a fantasy series. In my series, the main character has two different eye colors and looks down on herself because

@Heady158

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How to not be offensive in a nutshell: Make the characters complex.
For a lot of people who care about making the right characters, they feel like they have to rely on tons of research. While research is a good thing to use, my best advice is really just to make humans and not to worry about being offensive. While yes, you may need research if their environment is different than yours, don't worry about having to break every individual stereotype or mold for your character. Sometimes, clinging onto stereotypes and twisting them in a good way for your character will make them better than just the opposite of what you heard about certain people. Somebody who does this so well is Jason Reynolds in Long Way Down. The book is placed in a setting that Black people are always associated with- "gang-banging" and "poor" and "projects". But the thing is, it feels real, because Jason wrote a COMPLEX character, and made the ENVIRONMENT complex.
If you want to know how to make sure nobody thinks she's being racist, and there are other reasons she is pushing him away, make it clear. Show/tell the audience the actual reasons and take race out of the equation. If you can't make it clear, the audience doesn't know, and it can easily be seen as racist.
So, what am I trying to say? Make BOTH CHARACTERS complex and have their motivations be complex.
If both characters obviously have another motivation other than "race", and they're complex and dynamic and open to change, then you'll be fine.
By the way, good on you for inclusion! I'm all in for that!

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