People talk about it all the time--showing ethnic diversity in your writing--but do we do it? Maybe it's just the books I'm reading (mostly YA paranormal and dystopian), but I don't see a whole lot of melding in the stories.
Think about your own WIPs. Does your MC always reflect your own mirror image? How about the supporting cast of characters? Is it because you don't know enough about other ethnicities to feel comfortable writing about them?
I can understand that in a way. We want to be true to reality and we're always told to write what we know. But sometimes the richer, deeper story is gotten through stepping out of our comfort zones and researching someone else's life.
My stories often reflect the world I've lived in--which, thankfully, has been very diverse. ELEMENTAL, for instance, is very ethnically diverse because it reflects many of my experiences from traveling around the world. And also because my MC travels from one planet to another very different planet.
Keeping my works internationally inclined is just the way I like to write. It's also what I like to read.
So what about your own tastes? Do you like to keep your writing diverse? Or do you feel comfortable sticking with what you know personally?
~ELEMENTAL's release date has been set for June 21st! Help me celebrate by picking up the code for the counter in the page above! :)~
~Need more books? Check out the two contests I have going on by clicking on the page titled Super-duper Contests of Awesome!~
