What does diversity really mean for you a romance writer?
In a recent issue of Writers
Forum, a great UK writing magazine, there was a post on diversity in
publishing. Tom Weldon, head of UK house Penguin Random House, spoke about the
need for a change in the whole industry.
Across the
spectrum
Diversity cuts across the spectrum. It includes race,
sexuality, class, gender, age and identity – and so much more. We can all agree
that we need to become more inclusive and open minded as writers. In fact, we have to do this if we’re to survive in a
changing world, with an evolving readership.
So how do we do it?
This question has me stumped. It’s one we all have to try
and answer. I grew up with modern romance books that were all about the tall
handsome – and usually Caucasian – hero who was impossibly rich. The heroine
was usually a secretary, a nanny, an heiress – and yes, almost always,
Caucasian.
Dare I?
Recently, I thought about writing about an office-based
modern romance where both the hero and heroine have the same position – they’re
equal. Immediately, I thought … can I do
that? Isn’t that breaking the rules?
Yes. It is. And it’s time to break the rules. Maybe not
break them all the time – but time to bend them. Challenge theme. Find your way
around them.
Rewriting
romance, rewiring your thinking
I think we all need to rewire our brains. It’s time to look
outside of the curled-up covers of those books we loved in the 70s and
80s. In a way they shaped us, but it’s
time to let them go. What does love look
around you? Take your cues from the real
world, a little voice was telling me. Maybe I should listen to it.
Open your eyes
(and your notebook)
Here are just a few things that I scribbled down today.
·
Men
around me have tattoos, not discreet tattoos but full-on ink and it’s
beautiful. Why not have heroes in romance have tattoos?
·
Women
around me have tattoos, maybe not as hardcore as guys but it’s still beautiful.
Why not have heroines in romance have a little ink?
·
Men
are getting married to men, and women to women. Why not have the hero in a book
be the best man at his gay friend’s wedding? Why not have the heroine be the
other groom’s sister?
What would your list look like?
Look at the
media mirror
I love Alicia Key’s song Blended Family. The idea of family is being redefined – we have
single moms, single dads, blended families.
I think this is a great idea to explore in romance. Both
hero and heroine have kids from a former marriage or relationship. How do they
make that work?
Right now, President Obama is leaving the White House. I’ve
always found him to be charismatic and compelling.
In a story I’ve been working on, I had a female bodyguard
protecting a bad boy rock star. What if
I made the rock star a handsome, rising black political star? That would add diversity and it would do away
with a cliché.
If you look at reality TV – a rich source of ideas – we have
The Nightmare Neighbor Next Door.
What if you wrote a working- or middle-class romance about two bickering
neighbors who find love over the boundary wall?
I can’t see Mills & Boon snapping that one up, but
maybe there’s a market for more ‘realistic’ romances out there. If not, why not
create it yourself?
Look at your
own life …
How has your own expectations of life and love
changed? If you’re young, it’s all about
clubbing, and dancing, and having fun. It was for me, at least, and that’s fine
– if you’re in your twenties, you’ll be writing about your own point of
reference.
But what about when you get older? What do you want now?
Give those same needs to your hero or heroine.
Maybe it’s more about building a life together built on
shared interest. That sounds boring – but what if that shared interest is
something out of the ordinary – like a new business, a charity, a shelter for
abandoned exotic reptile pets?
Start with a
new mindset …
There’s always an opportunity to bring diversity into your
romance writing. It just means looking the world with a new squint – to see
what’s out there in the real world, and amplify it, fictionalize it, and make
it something extraordinary …
Be a pioneer,
not a throwback …
In that same Writers
Forum article, it mentions a UK study called Writing the Future. The study
found that the UK book industry ‘risks becoming a 20th century
throwback increasingly out of touch with the 21st world century
world.’
It’s time to take on the Brave New (Diverse) World.
Who’s with me?
Anthony Ehlers
