Duncan asked Rick Riordan:

Hey. I've been a huge fan since I was about 7 years old, and I am currently trying to develop my story ideas further. Especially regarding children's books, what is your approach to writing characters of diverse heritages, abilities, sexualities, etc., with which you may not identify?

Rick Riordan The best advice I can give you is to treat every character as a human being -- as someone you know and care about, even the antagonists. Yes, it's critical to be respectful and aware of differences. If you can find a 'beta reader' from that diverse community to help advise you about what you've written, that's a good idea. I've been doing that since my very first novel BIG RED TEQUILA, which I wrote in 1994 and published in 1997. My mentor was an incredible writing teacher and lesbian mystery writer, Shelley Singer, and one of my first questions when I hired her to edit my manuscript was whether or not the gay character in the novel was believable and not a stereotype. She helped me a lot, and not just with that but with the basics of good writing

Having said all that, the bigger point is to treat the characters like real people. Despite our differences, I firmly believe that humans are more alike than we are different. We all have the same motivations, needs and feelings, more or less, so if you start with that understanding and try to respect the character as a person, you can't go too far wrong. At least, that's my hope!

flag