#amwriting – a look inside the author process
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It’s important to constantly challenge my perceptions as an author.
You might know of the Bechdel Test, which was created by Allison Bechdel as a way of making sure that a film shows female characters as fully realized human beings, independent from men.
There are three questions:
- There have to be at least two women in the film
- Who to talk to each other
- About something other than a man
I’ve used this test for all of my series, and I’m happy to say that they pass. It’s a good reminder to diversify not just my main cast, but my villains as well. I’ve had to overcome some default switch to make the bad guys, well, guys.
Many other tests to challenge diversity and representation have since arisen, which is a good thing. Admittedly, all of them are broad, including the Bechdel test, and sometimes problematic stories “pass” while good ones “fail,” however, they are a great jumping off point for these important conversations.
One that has resonated with me is the Latif test.
- Are there two named characters of color?
- Do they have dialogue?
- Are they not romantically involved with one another?
- Do they have any dialogue that isn’t comforting or supporting a white character?
- Is one of them definitely not magic?
I tripped up on the last question in Nava’s story. It’s hard in a series where basically everyone is magic, however, I appreciate the concerns around the harmful “magical negro” stereotype.
However, in The Jezebel Files, I did answer yes to all the questions. We as authors, ask ourselves questions when world building, and in my opinion, it’s equally as important to be self-critical when developing the very best characters that we can. That also extends to positive LBGTQ representation for me.
Read Blood & Ash today! https://geni.us/BloodAndAsh.