Having a diverse idea can be a great thing, but the downside comes if we’re trying to write something that involves a particular community we may not be fully familiar with, ie autism or LGBTQ+. I’ll highlight what we’re bored of reading to truly have a fresh take on those characters.
1. Limit Writing Coming Out/Diagnosis Stories
Writing about someone discovering they’re autistic or they’re coming out to their family or a friend isn’t as dramatic as you think. There just isn’t so much tension about it. In regards to coming out, it just doesn’t grab people as much as it did when those stories first started emerging. If you want to understand more about those kinds of stories, you should check out the advice from my fellow sensitivity reader, Drew Hubbard AKA Pride Reads.
As for autism diagnosis stories, what isn’t really known about it is that it can take years to get to the point where they get their diagnosis. They’re also having to potentially fight to get it, whether they’re able to get it on the NHS or go private (which is really expensive) if you’re in the UK. The waiting list for an NHS diagnosis is really long. For Christmas 2024, Autistica did a “12 days of Christmas”, shrinking down how many venues they could fill multiple times over depending on which day in the series it was. If nothing else, it was an eye opener to how bad it is in Britain.
2. Don’t Kill Us Off Every Time
You may or may not be familiar with the phrase “kill off your gays”. This is reference to the fact that there are so many projects that had maybe one gay character and what does the writer do with them? Kill them off. It really sucks watching something where there is one character that you relate to because they’re from the same community as yourself, only to see them killed off.
I’m not saying don’t kill characters. That would be rather a weird request if you were writing a murder mystery or crime/thriller, right? All I’m saying is that there needs to be a broader spread of representation and give us the chance to do some pretty awesome stuff instead of just die for the sake of it. We’re not just there for a diversity box tick exercise. Use us properly so we add to your story. Maybe because of our sexual orientation it’s meant we got into a hobby that saves the group somehow. Be creative.
3. Ask the Community On Stereotypes
This one will likely need a bit of care. I’m not saying find someone in the community you’re writing about and grill them on questions you need to know. That’s unfair on them when they don’t know you and suddenly you’re asking personal questions that could be about their diagnosis, sexual orientation, their heritage, etc.
If you have fellow writers as friends that you have built a relationship with, then ask them whether they would be happy talking to you about the subject because you want to write authentically. If you have that relationship where you have trust on both sides, it will do you both a lot better than if you’re asking someone you don’t know. Also, it’s good to remember not to take it badly if they say no to helping you. They may be busy or unsure themselves how to answer your questions and that’s okay.
Alternatively, you could ask a Sensitivity Reader. We’re often writers ourselves so understand what you’re trying to do with writing authentic characters. We have a certain lived experience that helps us ask you questions from the point of view of the community that will help better inform your writing. More than likely, those questions we come up with from your work will help you look at it from a different point of view. This will allow you to make your work stronger and even stand out enough in the crowd of writers out there trying to do the same thing.
This is just a little starting point to think about when you’re writing diverse characters. We’re not out here to get you, tell you off, demand you stop writing because you wrote characters a particular way before getting some advice from the community you’re writing about or anything like that. We just want to see better representation of ourselves that show just how capable and awesome we can be given the chance.
Want help writing authentic autistic characters? Get in touch and I’d be happy to chat about how I can help you.