The world I see around me is filled with so many different kinds of people. Different backgrounds, identities, experiences, cultures, struggles, and ways of seeing the world.
Because of that, when I read certain books, especially some mainstream ones, the characters can sometimes feel a little too similar. A little too cookie-cutter.
That is one of the reasons I make an effort to create characters who better reflect the world I actually see around me.
I want my stories to represent more than just who I am.
Of course, that comes with a responsibility. I only know the world through my own experience as a white woman, and I never want to pretend I fully understand an experience I haven’t lived myself. That is where connecting with other people becomes important, listening to their stories, learning about their backgrounds, understanding what they have gone through, and being willing to recognize when my own perspective is limited.
Writing diverse characters isn’t about checking boxes for me. It’s about acknowledging that the world is bigger than my own experience.
As a self-published author, I also know that some of the choices I make may make my books harder to market in certain spaces. My stories don’t always fit neatly into a box. They often deal with depression and mental health. They include LGBTQ+ characters. Their tone can be darker, quieter, or more emotional than what some readers expect.
I’ve even had books returned because they included LGBTQ+ characters.
And while experiences like that can be discouraging, they also remind me why I want to keep writing them.
At the heart of it, I write the characters I do because I want to see the world become a more understanding and accepting place.
Stories can play a part in that.
Books, television, movies, and other forms of media allow us to spend time with people whose lives may look nothing like our own. They can introduce us to experiences we have never considered. They can make something unfamiliar feel human.
And sometimes, yes, they can make people uncomfortable.
I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing.
Growth can be uncomfortable. Being asked to look beyond what we already know can be uncomfortable. Seeing someone different from ourselves placed at the center of a story can challenge the ideas we’ve carried without ever questioning them.
That is also one of the reasons I love writing high fantasy.
Fantasy gives me the freedom to imagine worlds that don’t have to follow all of the same expectations as ours. I can create kingdoms, cultures, families, relationships, and communities filled with all kinds of people. I can write a world that isn’t perfect, but perhaps looks a little closer to the world I hope we continue becoming.
It’s also one of the reasons I continue to self-publish.
I have the freedom to tell the stories I want to tell and create the characters I want to create without worrying quite as much about whether they fit a particular mold.
My characters aren’t meant to represent only me.
They’re meant to represent a much larger world.
And maybe, through fantasy, I can show a small glimpse of what our own world could look like when we become a little more willing to understand and accept one another.
