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/lit/ - Literature

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8441432 No.8441432[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

Hey /lit/,
I'm trying to write a black character for my book. Any recommendations?

>> No.8441442

>>8441432

Just write him like yourself, except make him fuck a lot of white girls.

>> No.8441450

>>8441432
make him wear anime shirts and play weeb games on his psp all the time

>> No.8441457

Make him poop in his pants LOL

>> No.8441466

>>8441432
This is something that I've been struggling with. Most of my characters don't really have faces such as so and so appearance and so and so hair color, and I personally do not care too much about my race, so I find it hard to write a character about their race and usually use names that allude to other authors or characters of works that thematically relate.

All to say, I don't know how to write a character that's Hispanic or other minority without it seeming token or an outright caricature, otherwise what's the point of them being that race?

>> No.8441482

>>8441432
Like Daggoo

>> No.8441486

>>8441466
I'm not trying to troll you, or even bully you, but may I ask: are you white?

Again (and I feel like I need to stress this, sincerely), I'm not trolling you.

>> No.8441489

>>8441486

Stop trolling him

>> No.8441492

>>8441466
It depends

If you're writing about something where the said non-white character is a minority, consider that they have had identity issues at some point, to some extent, and it may be to varying outcomes - either extreme apathy and avoidance about the subject, being an 'Uncle', or becoming an ethnonationalist or something akin to that for their homeland, in most cases the very former. Sometimes these minorities may even go to ridiculous extents to 'whitewash' themselves, by (un)consciously knowingly follow vapid fashion trends, adapt colloquialisms just for the sake of assimilation etc

If you're writing characters who grew up and might even operate in their non-Anglospheric and non-European countries, then you should do a bit of research into the culture and particularly the moralities of those countries

>> No.8441495

>>8441466
>otherwise what's the point of them being that race?
It can be either aesthethic (like borges did with their chinese, english, roman,etc characters) or (say, a novel about someone in iran) to give them a believable background.
But in places where it's not important, there is no need to do it.

If you do though, it's important that you really know how said community acts, saying hispanic but meaning mexican would be pretty "racist" (i can tell you, mexicans are a low point of the spanish speaking world)

>> No.8441638

Name- Jamal
Fav food- fried chicken watermelon etc.
Unemployed.
Waz a king

>> No.8441714

>>8441466
The important thing is culture, which is what makes race matter anyway. In the character's culture, are they normal or abnormal because of their skin color? Are people of other colors normal or different? How much racial exclusivity do they believe is normal in life?

People respond differently to race whether they are at home or in a foreign area. It may not be significant, but it happens, and race is only one factor in whether they feel they are within the culture or outside it.

>> No.8441732

Make him a thief but not a good thief like white men are (Robin Hood).

>> No.8441736

>>8441432
Don't. You probably have never even met a black person.

>> No.8441743

>>8441432
Unless its relevant to the narrative just describe their traits in passing.
Mention their dark skin or their hair, or allude to their culture.
Stoner's friend's wife was often described as dark skinned so I imagined her as a black woman. It can often be just as simple as that.

I hate unnecessary character descriptions.

>> No.8441751

>>8441432
Just write about a normal man, but he gets easily annoyed and likes to sing very loudly

>> No.8441758

HOL UP
O
L

U
P

>> No.8441760

>>8441486
I'm Hispanic but my parents got out of Mexico as soon as they could. I go to a liberal arts college on a full tuition scholarship and I don't care about my race. There's better things to worry about

>> No.8441764

>>8441432
Culture and upbringing matters more than skin color does. Black means a thousand different cultures

And even then, the character's culture ideally isn't their defining trait

>> No.8441766

Is his race relevant to the plot?
If yes include him and make him orbit around those points that are central to the point.
If no replace him with a normal white character.

>> No.8442472

>>8441495
Mexicans are bros, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Colombians are subhumans

>> No.8442478

>>8441766
Or, you know, it's irrelevant so you may as well write as if he's white because he may as well be.

>> No.8442564

>>8441766
How is white normal? If we're talking about it in the world context, then the character might as well be chinese