Writing Tips

Including Social Issues

**If you haven't, please go to my rant book for my address on racism atm. It will have some significance to this tip chapter.

Sometimes in writing, we want to put an agenda in, or an issue at hand to be involved in the story. I'm doing this currently with one of my novels.

One prominent one is racism that gets addressed, and it's one that needs to be thought out when writing about it.

I personally feel racism is at a high and that protests are needed 100% with recent events. But for someone who's going to include this in their story, how do you do it?

While I haven't seen or read a book version of The Hate U Give, it is a perfect example of how they address racism and police brutality. The story revolves around that and helps to address a serious issue.

It has the right amount of emphasis and brings the message through. That's something you may consider in a book. Does it revolve around this social issue? Or is it something that the character may face every once in a while?

Not only is racism a social issue, but here are others:

Sexism
Homophobia
Elitism
Ageism
Classism

And there's many more too.

All of them vary too in severity. For me, I feel racism is the most severe, especially if you're reading this now when I publish this chapter (June, 2020). After that it's homophobia, I say this for my personal opinion as I've had people attack me and my friends for our sexuality and/or identity. For number three, I'd say it is sexism as most of the planet is under patriarchy based societies.

But this can vary for everyone for their opinions due to experience.

As a white pansexual cis woman, I can only observe racism. But I do experience sexism, homophobia, elitism, ageism, and classism in my life.

Depending on your experiences does factor in what you should research for these issues if you do write about them. If you're white like me, it's best to talk to people of color or read books on racism (I highly recommend Joe Feagin and Victor Okafor, they're both authors major in the USA for their writings on Black Studies, African History, and racism). From hearing from my friends of color and also watching the news, I see what happens and learn from it.

Say you're someone of color, but straight, it's best to find good articles on the LGBT+ community or ask friends in it.

A lot of this chapter is knowing research if you're not of that group/community.

But for more of how much should be in the story...

Again, it depends if it's the main plot or a side problem you have in the story.

If it's main plot, think of the escalation of the issue and how it's being combated. Is your character fighting against it? Realizing they're part of the problem? If romance, is it considered a taboo by the ist parents?

If subplot, think of how some things in life are affected by it.

Let's take racism as an example and you have a book where there's a POC MC and they have a white friend. They're doing the same thing. The white friend can do it fine, but once the MC does it then an employee/onlooker/officer/etc takes action finding them suspicious.

There's also a simple way of saying maybe there's a kid in their class (if it takes place in school) doesn't like them for their skin tone and they have to fight that as a subplot in the book.

There's many ways to go about it and to write about the problems you want to write about.

Again, listen to people of the group you're writing about if you're not part of the group/community. If you're part of the community, you know what happens to you, your friends, and family.

I wish you all good luck in writing for these issues.

And for the protests right now, I'm here fighting with you guys.
Black Lives Matter ❤️