I recently did a bit of research on describing people of colour in fiction, and I wanted to share what I learned. First off I should say that I'm a white writer, but the information in this post comes from writers of colour. It's important for me to give credit to my sources, and I highly recommend you check them out:
- 'Writing tip: POC characters', by Ninja Dust Publishing
- 'Describing POC Skin Color in Fiction | Easy Writing Tutorial To Improve Your Writing People of Color', by Free Writing Resources
- And I found two posts on writingwithcolor.tumblr.com helpful:
----- https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/94371194571
----- https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/96830966357/words-for-skin-tone-how-to-describe-skin-color
Here are the tips I picked up:
- If a character is white, say they are white. Don't expect the reader to assume all characters are white by default. Some writers will say that such and such a character is Black and such and such a character is Latina, but they don't mention the race of (assumed) white characters. This can come across as a bit racist.
Of course, you can find subtle ways to show race rather than stating it outright. For instance, if a character has an afro the reader will know she's Black, while if a character has red hair, the reader will know she's white.
- Giving a character's ethnicity is not the same as describing what they look like. If you say a character is Black, the reader has no clue about their physical appearance, because there are a lot of different ways Black people can look. Beyonce, Lupita Nyong'o and Megan Markle are all Black, but they don't look anything alike. If you want the reader to picture the character a certain way, you need to provide a physical description.
- Using food to describe the appearance of people of colour is seen as cliched and maybe a bit racist. It's best to avoid saying someone's skin is like coffee or chocolate, or their eyes are almond-shaped.
- Give POC characters the same level of description you give white characters. Some writers write long, detailed descriptions of white characters, but when it comes to POC characters they just say 'she was Asian' or 'he was Black'.
- The Tumblr links above provide examples of interesting adjectives you can use (like 'ocher' and 'mahogany') and some examples of beautiful descriptions of different skin tones. For example: "His skin was an ochre color, much like the mellow-brown light that bathed the forest." I highly recommend checking out that Tumblr for more tips!
As an English writer I'd like to add a tip of my own: the word 'Asian' has different meanings depending where you are in the world. Believe it or not, here in the UK when we say someone is Asian we mean their ancestors might come from India, Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Afghanistan, or Syria. On the other hand, when Americans or Canadians say someone is Asian they mean someone whose family background might lie in China, Japan, or Korea. It's worth keeping in mind that the word 'Asian' might cause confusion for some readers. When possible, I think it's better to mention a specific country rather than just saying someone is Asian.
And that's all I've got for now. Happy writing!
Image attribution: Photo by Clarke Sanders , https://unsplash.com/photos/six-women-wearing-white-pants-posing-JpCOGj0uIlI.