How to Write Asexual Characters: An Incomplete Guide

by Salt and Sage Books

Authors, screenwriters, and TTRPG creators, it's time to unlock the power of inclusive storytelling!How to Write Asexual Characters is your invaluable compass, crafted by a passionate team of asexual editors and sensitivity readers from Salt & Sage Books. Dive into this concise guide and discover the secrets to creating vibrant asexual characters that resonate with authenticity.

Navigate the ten common pitfalls that often plague writers, gaining practical insights, tips, and invaluable resources along the way. Empower your writing with respect, empathy, and genuine inclusivity as you breathe life into your asexual characters.

Embark on a transformative journey today for yourself and your audience. Let your asexual characters shine with authenticity, and make a lasting impact on your audience. Scroll back up and hit "Buy Now."

Genres: Nonfiction

106 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 19, 2020

About the author

Salt and Sage Books is an editing company centered on the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats.

We are a creative community of devoted readers, writers, and editors, hailing from the desert's sunwashed sage to the coast's shining seas, and we've brought together our diverse skills and experiences in a single welcoming place, to help writers like you.

When you choose Salt and Sage, you join a creative community working together to change the world through story.

Check out our Incomplete Guides series for an accessible first step into writing diversely.

You'll find a wide range of editors, sensitivity and expert readers, and beta readers on our website, www.saltandsagebooks.com.

Welcome to the rising tide.

Reviews

[Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, to the point. A good first place to research.

[Selina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this was a very valuable resource! It was a quick read packed with a lot to digest, but as the title says... it's incomplete.

While I did learn a lot for my own research and just to learn, I truly felt like it was misorganized. The section on definitions would have been more useful to me near the beginning rather than toward the end. Additionally, I think portions were too superficial to be understood by someone who is new to the community or who doesn't pay attention to the news (or, as in the case of a 2020 court ruling that was mentioned, may not be remembered years later... this particular mention did not include ANY information about the case, other than it had LGBTQIA+ implications. I remember something about it, but not enough to put the case back into context now, at the end of 2020).

I think this can boil down to one major problem: an assumption that the reader already has a foundation in the asexual community/knowledge or forgetting what a newcomer needs to know first.

I highly recommend this to, well... everyone. Asexuality is very misunderstood, underrepresented, and misrepresented. It would be helpful not just for writers but for the population at large to understand the tropes, what's harmful, and what the terms thrown about actually mean.

Very worth the read, but I'm still hoping and looking for more. If you read it, use the provided resources, and use the book as a jumping off point.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good basic overview of how to write - or not! - asexual characters in media. I especially enjoyed the "what not to do" tropes as I've felt frustrated with media attempts to discredit or ignore asexuality by explaining it away or trying to provide an alternate explanation for why a character may or may not be interested in sex or attracted to other characters.

The editors do call it an incomplete guide but one thing I'd like to see is an updated and expanded version in the future that touches a bit more on how to write characters that are either in a romantic relationship without sex or in a queerplatonic relationship.

[Jessica McMinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Overview of Asexuality

This incomplete guide is full of general information about the asexual community to assist with writing authentic characters with sensitivity.

A good read for anyone interested in learning more about asexuality - not just writers

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I know a bit more...

Now I know a bit more about asexuality than I did before. Not only do I intend to write better characters but now I have a better insight about myself.

[Latrell Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Kimberly Dietz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't help but notice the few grammatical and sentence-level errors (extra words or random words in a sentence). And maybe those moments made sense to other people, but for me, those errors (I will call them) tripped me up in my reading.