It’s been a crazy month and it has all lead up to this writing workshop that officially ends the Pride Events hosted by Penrith City Library. Not only was I a part of showcasing a group of writer’s work in the library, but I got to facilitate a conversation with Benjamin Law. I officially got to launch Shorts, which btw, is a number one best-seller up there with my fantasy novel, Silver and the award-winning (yet to be finished) series, He Was A Boy Who Smiled.

The month started with the “See Me” Showcase by the Penrith Library’s writing group, Story Stones. The pieces discussed historical references to the LGBT+ Community, the importance of being authentic, truthful and being seen. Some pieces even discussed the difference ways of being seen.

The conversation with Benjamin Law and myself highlighted the differences growing up queer in Australia and the United States as well as around the world, how LGBT+ Community has been represented throughout our lifetime and the changes/hate crimes/phobia still happening even today.

The launch of Shorts showcased a variety of short stories of a few of the colourful spectrums of the LGBT+ Community as well as what it was like as an author writing in the 90s, where I had to hide my queer characters, to writing queer characters presently.

Which has led, for me, to this writing workshop, where I want to discuss the importance of character development, but more specifically writing characters that we aren’t necessarily a part of that community and some safe ways to ensure we aren’t writing harmful tropes or stereotypes and creating characters that not only are authentic but accurately represent their real life group.

1. The best way to avoid any harmful tropes and stereotypes is to actually know your character. If you are writing, let’s say a trans characters, this is a perfect time to reach and get to know trans people. Sure you can research about topics but there is something different to actually sitting down, interviewing and getting to know someone rather than read words about them. Conversing with me is an example of getting to know a gay, non-binary person!
   
2. Another way to get to know your character and further establish them is to write a back story to your character. This is a great exercise for all characters. You don’t necessarily have to put the full backstory into your writing piece but it helps understanding what your character might do, what decisions they make, their morals and ethics and flesh out their personality. This is a great way to use Character Development.
   
   Adversaries/Hardships
   Their Biases
   How They Approach Decisions
   Education Background
   Their Hopes/Dreams/Grateful For
   Their Imagination
   
3. Really take a look at your character’s personality. In many ways, the back story will shape your character’s personality. You might define them as an introvert or an extrovert. You could define their level of compassion or empathy versus sympathy. You could discuss how their character development shapes their personality as well. Does their level of education bring them arrogance or ignorance?
   
4. Envision the appearance of your characters. If you’re an artist, I’m absolutely jealous that you can just draw your character out, but if you’re like me and can only do fancy stick figures or cartoons and not to your liking, then this is where people will find pictures of people (celebrities) that closely resemble your character.
   
5. And this might get a giggle or two because of how obvious the statement is, but I’ll say it anyways. Give your character a name. The most common way of identifying someone. Ensure you avoid using “dead names” and again, avoid harmful tropes and stereotypes.
   
6. Develop your character’s dialogue. Put them in different situations and really flesh out how they interact, talk and behave. This will help with consistency of character and help you develop authenticity within your dialogue. Again, getting to know a person is a great way to help with this development.

These are only a few steps you can take to develop an interesting character people are going to want to leave. I haven’t even dived into the situations in which a character can be involved in that not only continues to develop your character but also (and hopefully) links in to your plot!

That’s the thing about books. The characters want to be seen. They want to be heard. They want their stories to be shared and as I’ve said before, that’s what this whole month has been about. Being seen as the authentic character we all were, are and will be.

Helpful Links:

Character Development Examples

Character Arcs With Depth

Some More Writing Exercises

If you’ve found this helpful and want to continue to see more writing tips, exercises and suggestions, please go check out my shop! Great way to support an LGBT+ writer is to buy their things! Thank you so much.

If you’re in the Penrith Area and are interested in an Inclusive Writing Group. Story Stones meets every first Tuesday of the month from 6pm-7:30pm. Feel free to drop me a message for more details!