*Sorry to any of you who actually regularly read my blog, I had a crazy weekend. Ambulances were called, trips were cut short. Long story short, it was bad. But, I am posting now and I promise to be on time next week! Kisses!*
Kind of continuing on from my post last week, I wanted to write about something that also often has a lot to do with characters. Stereotypes.
Stereotypes exist for a reason.
There are flamboyantly gay men in this world, as well as there are butch
lesbians, hunky firefighters, mobsters in fedoras, and geeky girls who
love reading and have no friends. The thing that people don't realize is that these are just the boxes that society puts people into, and while they may be true in part, it's important to remember that people don't fit into boxes.
Gay men are not all flamboyant, and even if they are, that isn't all they are. Same goes for lesbians and firefighters, and mobsters, and geeks. When you're writing and creating characters, think about how you'd feel if you were in their place. More often than not, you'll find that the people are much more than just a stereotype.
This can also be used when creating worlds. It's easy to have your castles all be majestic, your deserts all sandy, your oceans all blue, and your cities all sprawling. That's what people expect to see and upon seeing it, no one will say "Wow, that's so unrealistic, why would you do that?" For fantasy writers especially (and even if you're not, this still applies), you need to give people something they don't expect to see, in a way that completely makes sense and is believable. Make your castle humble and homey, your desert made of ice, your ocean violently purple, your city taller than it is wide.
People often forget when they're writing that this is their world that their writing, even if you're writing in a real world scenario, you just have stricter rules. That's part of the reason I love writing fantasy, though. There are no rules other than the rules of good story telling.
If it makes sense in your head, it will make sense in your readers' heads too.
Good luck my lovelies,
Layla
