For the past several months I’ve been working on my first novel and I’m enjoying every minute of it. It hasn’t always been easy though. From the times when I couldn’t figure out how to move my characters from one scene to the next, to the moments when I’d forget what details I included 30,000 words ago, but that’s par for the course. Despite the roller coaster ride, I’m really content with where I’m at right now.
When I started formulating the characters for this novel, I knew the protagonist was going to be a Black woman (BW). I knew the secondary characters would be different races and ethnicities as well because, as a reader, that’s what I want to see in a novel. I rarely come across mystery or thriller novels where the protagonist is a BW. I want to read one where the main character (MC) looks like me. She’s more than the token Black girl. Her attributes aren’t summed up in words like sassy, angry, or aggressive. She’s not a caricature. She’s a human being, albeit fictional, with real emotions and behaviors that transcend color lines and cultural differences. We’re not all the same, but we’re more alike than not.
You might be asking yourself, Aren’t there plenty of books with Black female protagonists? Yes and no. In my genre there doesn’t seem to be that many, if any at all. I haven’t read every single mystery or thriller, nor do I need to in order to see what’s in front of my face. There’s already a shortage of female protagonists to begin with, factor in race or ethnicity and the list shrinks even more.
“If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ~Toni Morrison~
I owe it to myself to write the kinds of stories I want to read – from the characters to the action that keeps the story moving along down to the setting. I have my reasons for why Vanessa Monroe is Black and Kento Parsons is Japanese-American; why I focus on an interracial relationship between these two people who have different backgrounds and upbringings; why Kento and Vanessa choose each other. There’s a reason why Nadia Price, the MC in my WIP, is Black and the secondary characters are different races. Just like the reason why Vanessa and Nadia wear their natural hair and why I take the time describing their texture and how they style it. Not just because it matters, but also because I don’t see it done often enough in the books I enjoy reading. This doesn’t mean I’ll spend a great deal of time describing the natural hair texture of my characters, but I’m not going to tiptoe or avoid it either.
Slightly off-topic, but important nonetheless: There are some writers who are uncomfortable writing characters of different ethnicities, and to those writers I recommend Writing With Color. This website helps writers describe characters of different ethnicities and give them some dimension without forcing it into their writing.
There’s so much to unpack with regards to representation as a whole, but I just wanted to give a little insight into my writing and what readers can expect from me in the future. I don’t know if all my MCs will be BW. I’m open to writing whatever story needs to be told regardless of gender or skin color, but for now, I’m writing what I know. My writing style and my intentions going into a story will most likely change throughout my writing career (if you can call it that) and I welcome it. I want to be stretched beyond my comfort zone, but right now there seems to be a void.
If you take away anything from this post, please don’t let it be that there aren’t any great works that include a female protagonist of color. There are so many, but there’s still not enough, and I just want to make my contribution, however small it may be.
What are your thoughts on representation as it pertains to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc.? Is it a factor in your writing or the books you read? Tell me your thoughts.
Max Sloane 