In celebration of Pride month, I wrote a post about writing gay characters. This is one of those posts I had hanging around for about a year or two because I couldn’t figure out how to say what I wanted to say. One thing I try to avoid is “How to…” or “should” in my posts. There are so many various ways to go about the business of writing. There’s no one right way or wrong way. “How To…” articles feel too narrow for writing. Those work best for things like: how to use Scrivener, how to make your own gifs, how to file for divorce. One exception: if you use the phrase in a humorous manner, such as this great post, How to be an Unpublished Novelist.
And anytime I read the word “should” in a headline, I immediately think: You should kiss my ass. It’s a reflex, one I learned from my cranky, but lovable, redneck daddy. I’ve never liked being told what to do, even if it was appropriate, such as when I was two and my mom told me I should stop squishing her tomatoes as soon as they became ripe. My dad harbored me inside the house while she banged on the door and threatened to beat his ass, too. I love my dad. Oh, look at the date. Happy Father’s Day!
So in thinking about the best way to talk about writing gay characters, I reckoned that rather than tell people what to do, I’d dispel some of the common misconceptions I have encountered over the years. Just as (I believe) there is no “right way” to tell a story, there is no “right way” to be gay.
As an out writer in a large writing community, I sometimes get questions from fellow writers about writing gay characters. Typically, there’s some low-level anxiety about “getting it right.” I love these questions. It means that the writer has or is considering adding gay characters to their novels. This pleases me.
June is Pride Month, so what better time than now to review some common perceptions about the gays and some realities writers can use to add more dimensions to all those gay characters that are just waiting to bust out of the writing closet.