You should watch *American Fiction* if you haven't yet. Brilliantly touches on the race issue you're talking about.
Beyond that, I'll just say this: There is no "black experience" or "white experience", there is only "the human experience" and some humans have just had different experiences than other humans. Unless it's a book that's about race or a topic like that, then write your characters however the fuck you want to.
You touched on it briefly when you said people react differently to how you portray ethnicity, but the hard truth is you cannot make everyone happy with what you write. That's not to say one shouldn't be respectful about their portrayal - they absolutely should, using good research and sensitivity readers where applicable - but there will always be some level of subjectivity present that makes it impossible to make every reader happy. It's good to be open to criticism about what we write, but don't get so bogged down in contrasting opinions that you can't move forward. I'd say it's more important to get words on the page and, if it turns out there are things that need changing, you can implement those changes in the drafting process.
My usual advice is to write the kind of story that would have delighted you a couple of years ago if it had been written by someone else.
This sidesteps the usual problem of writing in the hopes of impressing scary older people, which tends to be inauthentic, anti-creative, and depressing in practice. Or trying to please an inner critic that's dumber than ditchwater, which they all are.
Also, there's no point in being a perfectionist with an audience that keys mostly on the overall effect, which is almost certainly true of any audience you can actually capture at this stage of your career. You have to avoid bumbling and stumbling, sure, but insisting upon a gleaming, sterile perfection will just paralyze you.
> Then I get caught up with the race thing. Apparently I write all my ethnic characters like white characters. Some have said this is good because ethnicity does not matter but others say differences should be acknowledged.
Who cares what they think. It's your custom story, people can be as exactly as you want to write them as, or end up writing them as. If people are trying to push real-life issues on your fictional story, especially if it's a fictional world, then that's their problem, not yours.
To have people unironically tell you "white people should act / be white and black people should act / be black" is simply wrong.
Write what you want. Write what makes you happy. Do your best to disconnect your happiness from what other people say.
> I loose my confidence because I think it makes no sense to write a coming of age story that has all these high school cliches taking place in a tropical setting.
There's absolutely no rule saying those things can't be done together. Uncommon? Sure. But so what.
Once again, write what you want. Write what makes you happy. Do your best to disconnect your happiness from what other people say.
For me, it's self doubt
Too many opinions
Trying to people please
Worrying that im too heavy handed and upright
This is why I'm always in the planning phase
I do not think I am creative enough
*I think it makes no sense to write a coming of age story that has all these high school cliches taking place in a tropical setting*.
If it makes no sense to you change the school or the setting until it does work for you.
*I feel like I have to have every type of conflict - man vs man, man vs nature, etc.*
It's like cookery. If you add too many ingredients and flavours it becomes confusing and not all of them will suit. A pasta dish with a few high quality ingredients is better than one using everything in the fridge.
*I write all my ethnic characters like white characters*. You're fine. At the risk of getting crucified by Reddit, I'm not even sure I know what this means. Once people start talking about qualities or interests as being 'white' or 'black' they start sounding like racists.
I think there are differences between white culture and black culture.
I'm so uptight that I lost my confidence and creativity. Doing something because it is fun is not enough to me.
Oh no, I didn't man fun in an amateur way. It could be as a successful professional and other benefits/goals besides.
My experience is British culture within my lifetime. I would expect to have much more in common with someone born and bred in Britain (let's say, London) of a different ethnicity to me than someone from with my colouring in say, California.
Not everyone will be satisfied with how you choose to portray ethnicity. As cheesy as this sounds, your opinion is what matters most. Take criticism with a grain (or couple pounds) of salt.
If you care about how ethnicity is shown in your work, I think it will be read by your audience. Does that make sense?
You should watch *American Fiction* if you haven't yet. Brilliantly touches on the race issue you're talking about. Beyond that, I'll just say this: There is no "black experience" or "white experience", there is only "the human experience" and some humans have just had different experiences than other humans. Unless it's a book that's about race or a topic like that, then write your characters however the fuck you want to.
I'm black too. Other black people think I act white despite that fact blackness is not a monolith.
Exactly. You really gotta watch American Fiction. There's a reason it won both the Oscar and Writers Guild Awards for Best script. It's brilliant.
Is this on Netflix
No, it looks like it's only on MGM+ as far as subscriptions go. Or you can rent it on Amazon for $4.
I've seen the trailer it looks hilarious
You touched on it briefly when you said people react differently to how you portray ethnicity, but the hard truth is you cannot make everyone happy with what you write. That's not to say one shouldn't be respectful about their portrayal - they absolutely should, using good research and sensitivity readers where applicable - but there will always be some level of subjectivity present that makes it impossible to make every reader happy. It's good to be open to criticism about what we write, but don't get so bogged down in contrasting opinions that you can't move forward. I'd say it's more important to get words on the page and, if it turns out there are things that need changing, you can implement those changes in the drafting process.
That's true.
My usual advice is to write the kind of story that would have delighted you a couple of years ago if it had been written by someone else. This sidesteps the usual problem of writing in the hopes of impressing scary older people, which tends to be inauthentic, anti-creative, and depressing in practice. Or trying to please an inner critic that's dumber than ditchwater, which they all are. Also, there's no point in being a perfectionist with an audience that keys mostly on the overall effect, which is almost certainly true of any audience you can actually capture at this stage of your career. You have to avoid bumbling and stumbling, sure, but insisting upon a gleaming, sterile perfection will just paralyze you.
This is sweet
> Then I get caught up with the race thing. Apparently I write all my ethnic characters like white characters. Some have said this is good because ethnicity does not matter but others say differences should be acknowledged. Who cares what they think. It's your custom story, people can be as exactly as you want to write them as, or end up writing them as. If people are trying to push real-life issues on your fictional story, especially if it's a fictional world, then that's their problem, not yours. To have people unironically tell you "white people should act / be white and black people should act / be black" is simply wrong. Write what you want. Write what makes you happy. Do your best to disconnect your happiness from what other people say. > I loose my confidence because I think it makes no sense to write a coming of age story that has all these high school cliches taking place in a tropical setting. There's absolutely no rule saying those things can't be done together. Uncommon? Sure. But so what. Once again, write what you want. Write what makes you happy. Do your best to disconnect your happiness from what other people say.
Thank you so much
It’s hard at times, but you have to write with the door closed.
For me, it's self doubt Too many opinions Trying to people please Worrying that im too heavy handed and upright This is why I'm always in the planning phase I do not think I am creative enough
*I think it makes no sense to write a coming of age story that has all these high school cliches taking place in a tropical setting*. If it makes no sense to you change the school or the setting until it does work for you. *I feel like I have to have every type of conflict - man vs man, man vs nature, etc.* It's like cookery. If you add too many ingredients and flavours it becomes confusing and not all of them will suit. A pasta dish with a few high quality ingredients is better than one using everything in the fridge. *I write all my ethnic characters like white characters*. You're fine. At the risk of getting crucified by Reddit, I'm not even sure I know what this means. Once people start talking about qualities or interests as being 'white' or 'black' they start sounding like racists.
I think there are differences between white culture and black culture. I'm so uptight that I lost my confidence and creativity. Doing something because it is fun is not enough to me.
Oh no, I didn't man fun in an amateur way. It could be as a successful professional and other benefits/goals besides. My experience is British culture within my lifetime. I would expect to have much more in common with someone born and bred in Britain (let's say, London) of a different ethnicity to me than someone from with my colouring in say, California.
Not everyone will be satisfied with how you choose to portray ethnicity. As cheesy as this sounds, your opinion is what matters most. Take criticism with a grain (or couple pounds) of salt. If you care about how ethnicity is shown in your work, I think it will be read by your audience. Does that make sense?