My novel is developed in an East Asian environment (specifically Japan) and my main character is not Asian, she is from Central América and is Mixed Race. Now, my main character is going to refer to a new Caucasian character who is a girl from Germany and I don't know what to use to refer to her. Should I use something like "Caucasian Girl" or "White Girl" or "European girl"?
Extra notes:
My main character doesn't know where the other character is from, the only most noticeable thing about the other character is that she is Caucasian.
My Main Character is fluent in English like the new Character
The new Character is introduced in the Main Character thoughts
Answer
I would say use stereotypes to your advantage with this, and be descriptive more about colors and features rather than specify race. This is dependent on your character however, and the context is important, @FraEnrico has a good answer on that.
I would use imagery with these stereotypes to provide a general region for where she's from. For example:
I looked at her with a sideways glace, her straight hair as black as a crow with a jaw as sharp as its beak. She glanced over, her almond colored eyes with the same shape seemed to stare into my soul.
I quickly averted my gaze, no longer interested in the pale beauty next to me.
In the example, I show that my character doesn't necessarily relate the woman to someone of East Asian descent, but it's made clear in the text that they may be from that region (allowing that the character knows that the world is bigger than their country). I use stereotypes of certain groups of people to help describe my characters based on my readers, and adding in dialogue descriptions can clear up any of the remaining confusion.
She spoke with a slight lilt, as though this wasn't her first language.
"Excuse me for just a moment", she said as a ringing could be heard from her pocket. She answered quickly and harshly yet with a seeming familiarity, as if she had known this person for a long time.
Definitely not from around here, I thought as she continued in the jarring conversation. I heard a silence and noticed she had finished her conversation.
"Sorry about that, my mom wanted to check on me."
This can be used for any look or race of person, and lends ambiguity to the character you're describing. At any point you can continue to add details to the story that help clarify the portrait of this person, so that even if your character knows them well, the description doesn't seem forced. Given this ambiguity you can further use the details to develop the story, adding physical abilities as well as demeanor and even their "presence" (intimidating, open, etc.).
No comments:
Post a Comment