HighFantasy Tips & Tricks

Section One Part Four - Diversity: Part One

Let's do an experiment right now- think of all of the fantasy books you've ever read. That's right, look through that mental goodreads list of yours. Now, have you read a single fantasy book with a black protagonist? Yes? How about more than one fantasy book with a black protagonist? Now onto the hardest level: a fantasy book based on black or African culture, where most of the characters are black?

The reality is that for most of you, you wouldn't have gotten past that first question. I know I didn't- and still haven't to this day, to be perfectly frank. I've been gratified to see more books with black protagonists pop up on Wattpad recently, but in the real world of fantasy publishing? Nada.

And it's not just black diversity, either, although that's often the most obvious example. Hispanic, Asian, Arab, Native American- you'd be hard-pressed to find a single fantasy book with someone non-white as a protagonist, let alone a book where the entire world is populated by people of these cultures.

Even as more fantasy books in recent years do attempt to embrace diversity and write about non-western cultures, many of the attempts feel shallow. The clearest example that's jumping to my mind is the recent YA fantasy novel Rebel of the Sands. It's advertised as a Middle-Eastern culture meets the Wild West setting, which seems to be code for "we can advertise a middle eastern setting without actually delving into Arab culture at all and really have a western setting populated by white people". The characters are almost never actually described as having dark skin, and if you take away all the Arabic names it would just be a simple fantasy country-western setting. I mean, the Wattpad book cover for Rebel of the Sands is literally a blue-eyed white girl dressed in Middle Eastern garb- they're not even trying to be subtle.

It might be strange to realize if you've never had to think about it before, but in fantasy (as with many things in this world), white is the automatic default. And we need to start questioning that.

Diversity Can Make Your Story Stand Out

Here's the reality: readers are bored with the same old culture and setting. I'm bored with it. I'd be surprised if you weren't at least the tiniest bit bored with it.

It just makes sense, doesn't it? Imagine that for eighty years, you've only eaten cheese pizza. I love pizza as much as the next gal, but only eating the same pizza for over eighty years? People will naturally and logically want something different, something unfamiliar and exciting. And as I said before, it's not because pizza is inherently bad- it's only that people want something to break the monotony. (Forgive me for the weird pizza analogy, but hopefully it gets the point across.)

We're seeing more people realize and take advantage of this reality in mainstream media nowadays. Moana was amazing for many reasons, but one of the biggest attractions was its beautiful and meaningful exploration of an incredible culture that most of us in the west knew nothing about. It was a new, fascinating fantasy world because it had a new, fascinating cultural setting.

In my opinion, it's part of the reason why the hype for Black Panther is so huge. Marvel needs to switch up the pattern of its movies before they become too formulaic. And how did they decide to do it? By making a movie in a diverse new cultural setting with an extremely diverse cast of characters. ("Wow, Rose!" You might be thinking. "That's exactly what you're saying the fantasy genre should do!" This is me giving you a knowing wink in return.)

Diverse Stories Are Fun to Write!

The third, and my absolute favorite point: writing and creating fantasy worlds based on foreign cultures is indescribably fun.

Seriously. Please take my word for it. It's simply and truly a blast. Maybe it's a personal love of mine, but I don't think that quite explains it.

We all love fantasy- why is that? I think that it's because we love imagining new and fantastic worlds, whatever kind of world that may be. We love creating mythologies for them, creating histories and cultures and customs. It's what makes us feel absorbed in the fantasy, what makes us truly able to enjoy the story that takes place in that world.

Fantasy authors have been taking inspiration for this kind of worldbuilding from European mythology and culture since the beginning of the genre- so why not do the same for diverse cultures?

Imagine I'm worldbuilding for a story. I've started to create the rules and culture for the world, and these are some of the details:

- Both the architecture and the script of this world are curved and circular, never straight or sharp. This is because it is widely believed that demons can follow straight lines, but become lost and confused when lines curve.

- An ancient temple is built over an active volcano because the burning pit is a sacred site, known as "The Fire of the Warrior-Kings".

- Powerful sorcerers can create objects of incredible magical power. However, there are two conditions of this magic: only the sorcerer who created the object can destroy it, and that sorcerer's life is tied to the object.

Doesn't this sound like the makings of an epic fantasy world and story? It's already beginning to form a complex, fascinating culture and setting for this world, isn't it?

The first detail is a common belief in Chinese folklore. The second is a real place that existed in ancient Persia, where the people practiced Zoroastrianism, a religion that worshipped fire. The last is a concept from the Hoshruba, an epic Urdu-language fantasy saga that has been influenced by Indian, Afghan, and Central Asian tradition.

You can even mix up cultures like this if you want! As long as it's still diverse, it'll create representation and make your story immersive and unique.