A frequent topic of conversation among writers, particularly as ‘Own Voices’ continues to grow is the fraught challenges when someone, usually straight, white, and male, writes for characters from minority or marginalized communities.

There is a school of thought that members of culturally dominate groups should refrain from writing characters coming from those marginalized groups. On one level this seems reasonable and logical. Experiences from marginalized communities can be quite specific, with social queues and particularities that are not visible to people outside of the group. If a writer’s understanding of a group comes from mass culture itis likely to be contaminated with stereotypes, both positive and negative, rather than actual understanding.

There is also a practicality question.

Minority and marginalized communities are under representative in popular media arts and an artist not from such a community can be seen as taken up a spot in the room that might have gone to someone historically shut out from the conversation. So even well intended, well researched, efforts can contribute to harm.

But there is another issue to consider.

If as a straight white male, I should stick to straight white male characters, then my novels become a northern European sausage-fest, one that utterly fails to reflect the reality. Restricted to my own group is a disservice to my art and by extension to anyone who consumes it.

Clearly my works should include the full spectrum of humanity, and yet I do have a responsibility to consider how my place and my voice may impact others.

I think the answer may be to think of characters existing in orbitals around the protagonist/antagonist nucleus.

The protagonist and the antagonist most likely constitute the majority of my novel’s points of view. It is through these characters’ eyes that I am reflecting the world around them and whose thoughts and emotions are buried in the prose. These characters I should know the best and should be a few steps removed from myself as possible. Each major aspect that is distantly removed from my own is an added difficulty factor in getting the character right.

Sidekicks, friends, and associates are an orbital distant and are less likely to have extended scenes from their points of view. More separation and less time in their heads mean there is less danger, but not none, in committing an egregious error. More factors of difficulty can be safely added.

Minor characters, here for a scene or two, are the most distant. With these characters, as long as stereotypes are avoided, it is the safest to introduce every sort of character, to populate a world fully.

As with most artistic things there are no hard fast rules, but there are always considerations.