There’s been a discussion going on for a while (and most recently on a forum I belong to) on the lack of non-Caucasian MCs in books. I won’t get into the statistics and the reasons put forth – some I agree with, some I don’t – but what I’m looking at today is the expectation – or demand – that white writers make their MCs non-white. I say ‘demand’ because there are some who think white writers who don’t do this are close-minded, narrow-minded, lazy, or even bigoted.
WTF?
Realistically, yes, there are white writers who are some or even all of the above (just as there are non-whites who fill the bill). But to lay those terms on every writer who doesn’t write based on what certain groups think they should?
I’m sure we’ve all heard of Chekhov’s Gun:
“Everything that has no relation to the story must be ruthlessly thrown away. If in the first chapter you say that a gun hung on the wall, in the second or third chapter it must without fail be discharged.”
I take this very much to heart. If making my MC black, or Asian, or Catholic, or Jewish has some importance to the story, then the MC will be black, or Asian, or Catholic, or Jewish. Otherwise… well, no.
Now, bear in mind that I don’t believe in physically describing my characters at all unless, again, it is of some importance to the story. For example, if I have a fight scene, I may include my character’s height or weight or musculature if it explains why the characters will have a difficult (or easy) time of it. But things like eye color or hair color? Who cares? Let the reader see the character whatever way they wish to. I may think jet black hair and smoldering eyes are God’s gift to women – others will completely disagree. So why should I insist that my characters have jet black hair and smoldering eyes?
And it’s for that very reason that I will not make my characters any particular race, religion, gender, sexuality, whatever just because they aren’t ‘represented enough’ in literature. If that is the one and only reason to describe the character – well, sorry, but it ain’t gonna happen. If I’m writing a story where it is important, where it flavors the entire story, where their being something has an impact on the story – damn right I’m going to make them be whatever they need to be.
And that’s the crux of the matter – what the character needs to be. For the story. Because the only thing that’s important is the story.
The only thing that’s important is the story.
