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team-272 · 3 years

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Describing POC without stating Race

Anonymous said: Perhaps you could help me. I am writing a book that takes place in a fictional universe I create. Many of my characters are what we would consider ‘chinese’ or 'African American’ or are from other places. I want to describe them in a way that would make it clear that they are 'chinese’ or black (so to speak), without saying the word 'chinese’ or 'African American’, because those races dont exist by that name in my fictional universe.

Are there fictional counterparts to the regions in which your characters come from? For example, a fictional Africa or Asia? If so, that is one way to denote their race; if the character comes from a place that happens to mirror say China in several ways.

I’d also suggest describing their physical traits to help denote race. It may be difficult to pinpoint exacts on a character’s race just by description, but if you describe a character who has monolid eyes, tawny to pale skin, and straight dark hair, I’m going to picture an East Asian person. East Asian people don’t all have these features, of course, nor should you create caricatures, but some key specifiers narrow things down and can help readers pick up on their race.

~Mod Colette

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team-272 · 4 years

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