When writing a fictional piece that isn't centered on race at all, when do you point out someone's race? For example, "Such and such," said the black man. or the Mexican woman put down the milk and ran outside.
Any advice?
Any advice?
When to note the race of characters...
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Depends on your viewpoint character, the situation, and the importance of the character whose race is in question.
As a rule of thumb, I'd say mention race in those cases where you'd also mention hair color. If you want to build a complete description of the character, or the race/hair color is important to the story, or the race/hair color is likely to be noted by your viewpoint character for some reason. Otherwise, why bother with unnecessary details?
As a rule of thumb, I'd say mention race in those cases where you'd also mention hair color. If you want to build a complete description of the character, or the race/hair color is important to the story, or the race/hair color is likely to be noted by your viewpoint character for some reason. Otherwise, why bother with unnecessary details?
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I'd note it if you are going to reference some racial characteristic later on for some reason, as it can be pretty jarring to be picturing someone of one race and then find out you were wrong. Tom Clancey has a bad habbit of doing this, where he introduces a character and then mentions the character's race some 25 pages later. If at any point you need a clear mental picture of the person's appearance, it would be best to start with it. If you don't need the reader to picture someone a certain way, you can avoid mentioning much of any detail at all and let the reader supply a mental picture.
Perhaps the best example of confusion resulting from not providing a clear description of a character would be the Honor Harrington series. The first book has a cover that shows a very Caucasian-looking commander. It isn't until the next book that we find out that her ancestory is more than half Oriental.
Perhaps the best example of confusion resulting from not providing a clear description of a character would be the Honor Harrington series. The first book has a cover that shows a very Caucasian-looking commander. It isn't until the next book that we find out that her ancestory is more than half Oriental.
I think if it doesn't have any bearing on the story, don't mention it. If you're mentioning a maid who only makes one appearance, or a Uni student who's only around for half a scene, I wouldn't bother. If its necessary to improve the charactisation or story, I'd follow MadscientistMatt's advice.
There's a tendency to identify characters by race only if they're non-white -- you never hear a character described as "Caucasian", but there are plenty of times when everybody else is described.
Really, I'm not sure that it's even necessary to mention the race of a character, in the sense of saying "She was Hispanic" or "he was a tall Asian man." I think more often than not you can incorporate enough description in there that the reader will be able to understand the character's appearance, and glean their ancestry from that, if it makes sense?
For example, you could say, "The bartender leaned over and winked at her. His skin was the color of freshly-brewed tea, and she wondered absently how long it took him to get those braids into his hair. When he finally spoke, it was with the lilt of the islands." Gives you a pretty good idea that this is a dark-skinned, braided-hair-wearing guy from the Caribbean.
Or you could say, "Her pale skin, high cheekbones, and hair so blonde it was nearly white belied her Nordic ancestry." You know exactly what she looks like, without having to say "the Scandinavian woman".
Really, I'm not sure that it's even necessary to mention the race of a character, in the sense of saying "She was Hispanic" or "he was a tall Asian man." I think more often than not you can incorporate enough description in there that the reader will be able to understand the character's appearance, and glean their ancestry from that, if it makes sense?
For example, you could say, "The bartender leaned over and winked at her. His skin was the color of freshly-brewed tea, and she wondered absently how long it took him to get those braids into his hair. When he finally spoke, it was with the lilt of the islands." Gives you a pretty good idea that this is a dark-skinned, braided-hair-wearing guy from the Caribbean.
Or you could say, "Her pale skin, high cheekbones, and hair so blonde it was nearly white belied her Nordic ancestry." You know exactly what she looks like, without having to say "the Scandinavian woman".
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If the race is NOT important at all, you may never have to mention it. However, even if the race is mentioned once or twice, you should do it fairly early on. It would be EXTREMELY annoying to the readers to picture the character as Caucasian (since most North American readers are or assume the main character of a book is white) then on page 241 find out is African- or Asian- American. ARGH! Important information such as race, baldness, missing a toe, etc. should probably be described as soon as the readers need to know, no matter if that information is important to the story or not, unless you do NOT tell the readers AT ALL (that means, it really doesn't matter if the character is black or white or yellow or green).
race
If I want the reader to know what race a character is, and I usually do, I mention it early on. Though, of course, sometimes race is obvious because of the character's name, because of where he lives and what he does, etc.
But the simple fact is, if you don't mention race in some manner, readers will believe that character is white. Why put a character of a different race into a story if no one knows he is a character of a different race?
If I want the reader to know what race a character is, and I usually do, I mention it early on. Though, of course, sometimes race is obvious because of the character's name, because of where he lives and what he does, etc.
But the simple fact is, if you don't mention race in some manner, readers will believe that character is white. Why put a character of a different race into a story if no one knows he is a character of a different race?
Of course, it might depend on your genre too. If you're writing sci-fi or fantasy, race takes on a whole different meaning (& would probably always be worth mentioning).
thanks for the advice. When important, the races of the main characters in my book are noted. It's the minor characters I wonder about. I notice in a lot of African-American fiction, white people are always noted regardless of their importance. Toni Morrison does this. Walter Mosely.
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mesh138 said:
You'd probably have to do that if the story takes place in any environment where white people are a minority - Shanghai, Nairobi, downtown Atlanta...
MadScientistMatt said:
Yes, and it's a good reminder to all of us (no matter what our race) that somewhere in the world, people of our ancestry are in the minority.
One of my characters described himself as a "white boy" and that was the only refrence to race I have ever made, I think.
Sassenach said:
I think that was part of the point. Thus the "no matter what our race" part. Is there a race that isn't in the minority somewhere in the world?
What matters is the race of the writer, and the setting of the novel, not the race of AW members. It doesn't matter whether or not there are no minorities here.
Mentioning race in a novel is a purely individual writer/individual novel question.
The race of the individual writer, and the setting for the novel, will determine which race is or isn't a minority in that particular novel.
The question, is, does the writer want the readers to know whether or not a character is a minority in that particular setting?
My take remains the same. It makes no sense to put a minority character into your novel without identifying him as such in some way. If you don't, every reader out there is going to assume he's the same race as all the other characters, which means you haven't put a minority character in your novel at all.
Mentioning race in a novel is a purely individual writer/individual novel question.
The race of the individual writer, and the setting for the novel, will determine which race is or isn't a minority in that particular novel.
The question, is, does the writer want the readers to know whether or not a character is a minority in that particular setting?
My take remains the same. It makes no sense to put a minority character into your novel without identifying him as such in some way. If you don't, every reader out there is going to assume he's the same race as all the other characters, which means you haven't put a minority character in your novel at all.
Sassenach said:
No, but everyone on AW has his/her own ethnicity.
Jamesaritchie said:
Unless all the other characters are minorities.
Celia Cyanide said:
If all the other characters are minorities, then they aren't minorities at all. Some race in any novel is going to be the obvious majority. Set a novel in Chinatown, and the Chinese are the majority. That will be obvious. But if your hero happens to be black, you're going to have to let the readers know this. If you don't do this in some way, they'll assume he's white.
I could be wrong, but it seems to me many writers are afraid to identify race. Like doing so is somehow racist or politically incorrect. It isn't. It's simply playing fair with the reader, and with the characters.
It's almost like putting masks and gloves on all the characters in a TV show so no one can tell what race they are.
Jamesaritchie said:
Technically, the characters can be part of a minority, even though in the book they are the majority. If you're writing a book set in Japan about a family who are white American-Asians, & you say that they are in Japan, but never say that they happen to be from America or that they are Caucasian, then everyone will assume that they are Asian. That's because they are in the minority for that setting. But if you restrict your story almost exclusively to the family, the majority of your characters are caucasian, even though this is a minority for the setting.
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What matters is the ethnicity and personality of the viewpoint character.
If you're writing in a limited third person, and this character is white, would they make a mental note that the person standing in front of them is black? If they would, mention it. If not, don't worry about it. Stay true to your character and your POV.
If you're in the head of a hardcore racist named Jethro, you wouldn't describe the person coming out of the store in front of you as "African American." You'd use whatever derogatory euphemism Jethro would use. If you're in the head of a Hispanic girl who lived her entire life in a very mixed culture, she may not immediately notice or care about the skin color of the person she's interacting with.
If you're writing in a limited third person, and this character is white, would they make a mental note that the person standing in front of them is black? If they would, mention it. If not, don't worry about it. Stay true to your character and your POV.
If you're in the head of a hardcore racist named Jethro, you wouldn't describe the person coming out of the store in front of you as "African American." You'd use whatever derogatory euphemism Jethro would use. If you're in the head of a Hispanic girl who lived her entire life in a very mixed culture, she may not immediately notice or care about the skin color of the person she's interacting with.
Sage said:
Exactly what I was saying. You could write a story set in Minnesota, but all the characters could be from the Hmong population there. They are still a minority, because most people in Minnesota are white. So if you add a character, and don't identify his/her ethnicity, the reader will probably assume it's the same as the other characters. But they are still all minority characters.
The boards have people in non-Western countries who'd be in a minority if they moved to London or New York, people who are in minorities in the Western countries where they live, and Caucasians who live abroad among non-Caucasians. People don't usually identify their ethnicity when they post.Garbarian said:
It depends also on how you're portraying that character...like in Oliver Twist...Fagin was often referred to as "the Jew" in a highly anti-Semitic society, and consequently bugging a LOT of Jews...
In today's society, I'd be careful about even suggesting racial stereotypes; whether or not it matters to you that the shoplifter was black...it'll probably bug every minority and Democrat in the country, even if you didn't mean anything by it.
In today's society, I'd be careful about even suggesting racial stereotypes; whether or not it matters to you that the shoplifter was black...it'll probably bug every minority and Democrat in the country, even if you didn't mean anything by it.
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