For the first time in my teenage life, I’m pushing myself from my Comfort Zone into my Fear and Learning Zone. I decided to write a book. Not anything big or crazy. I couldn’t write a book calling out racist, sexist, or homophobic stigma if I wanted to. As a teenger, it’s always been difficult to voice my truths, considering that being a teenager is synonymous with being a liar or “being up to something.” It’s not ideal for getting a message across.

I decided that I could get out my message in a more creatively stimulating way. My vivid imagination has always served me well, so I figured I would utilize it. Not only do I want to call out and shut down stigma- I want to provide a wider berth for diversity in literature.

I often see far too much of the “perfect” main character with a few little quirks or misinterpreted disabilities or illness presented as flaws. Other times I’ll see authors write a side character, make them black, Asian, a person of color, or gay, and then neglect their character development. I have a strong desire to change that.

The way I plan on doing that is simple. As I write my story, I build my characters purely off of who they are as a person, meaning I allow my readers to know these characters through their humor, their likes and dislikes, or what they are afraid of. Unless it is a major inconvenience, or a source of pride for them, then I will not be including a majority of physical descriptions.

I want my story to be liked for its plot, its characters, and its dialogue. I don’t want somebody to dislike my characters purely because they are non-binary or of non-Caucasian heritage. Essentially, race and sexuality will be almost entirely ambiguous. 

Obviously, I have my own sense of what these characters look like, but I want to provide the opportunity for my readers to see themselves in their favorite character. I want them to feel like they could be a part of my universe and a part of my community in any way they so desire.

This initially came out of laziness, I will admit. But through further thought, I realized it could be presented as a powerful message, and I jumped on it at the first chance I got. As a white, cis person, I have never had to look at a main character and say “I wish I could be more like them,” because in most senses, I already am. But I know for a fact that some of my friends have those thoughts and wishes that are hardly fulfilled.

And even when such desires are emphasized, and when the main character is a POC, or is part of the LGBTQ+ community, those specific attributes are the entirety of their personality. And that is what irks me.

The ambiguity that I am trying to present is to push forward the mindset that stigma is presented in the literature community far more than we would like to admit. And yes, it is a bit scary as a new writer trying to push this message across. Yes, I do have the fear that I will offend or misinterpret somebody.

Those fears and concerns are part of what encourages me to write my story with this particular mindset. I want to unlearn the stigma that I have been taught, and that I continue to inadvertently allow to influence my day to day decisions.