Writing the Other

[michaeldthomas]

matociquala just said some brilliant things about "Writing The Other without being a dick." I couldn't agree with her more. This was something that I struggled with in my first novel. My protagonist is a lesbian. There were points that I really questioned myself about writing a character who is not of my gender or orientation. I have a lot experience in that world, but I still questioned my qualifications for writing it (if you don't know why, ask me at BarCon). In the end, I realized that it was better to make some mistakes than to force that character to become a straight white male. I drew a lot of strength for this decision from truepenny's choice to write from a gay man's POV in her phenomenal Doctrine of Labyrinths series. That was the right thing to do for that character, and she wasn't afraid to do it. Not only was it right for that character, it exposed many of her readers to somebody who came from a very different background than their own. This is the way that we all learn to accept the differences of the Other.

Writing stereotypes is horrible, but so is making the Other invisible. I live in a world where the only character on television that resembles my daughter is Timmy on South Park. It's not right that the only time Caitlin sees somebody like herself is when they run commercials for lawyers who will help people sue for their child's Cerebral Palsy. I would rather see people try to write children with special needs and make small mistakes than to live in a world where it seems like those people don't exist.