Today’s post will probably be a rambler. I’ve been out of bed for exactly 17 minutes, and my brain is still firing with the energy of the dream I just had. It was all about trying to get someplace, but losing my keys, almost missing the bus, etc.
And there were a lot of black guys in it. I don’t know about you, but my default dream character is white, I guess because I am, or maybe because I don’t interact with African Americans on a daily basis. I deal with more Indians, but still not enough to impact my dreams. (I have no social life, what do you want?) So once I woke, that aspect stuck out at me. It didn’t in the dream.
In my stories I don’t really have a default character. They speak to me, and their voices tell me who they are. The details of a character always comes through dialogue.
So I have a twofold question for you: What is your default dream character (presumably out of your control); and do you work different races into your stories, or just let them come as they will?
Filed under: Life | Tagged: characters, dreams, race, Writing
Most of my characters are white. I think it’s because, like you, I’m not exposed to other ethnic race on a daily basis. I do try to include them, though. I have a few African American charaters, and few more Indian. My default is white because I am. I don’t know why it worked out that way, but I think it may have something to do with characters being reflections of the writer. (I don’t believe that, but it is one explination.)
I dream about people i know…a lot! I work with more whites than blacks, but my dreams are about more black people. It must be because I am black. What I have noticed is, I never really see faces, but I know what race the people are. Say whaaaat?
When I write I write about black people, because I know about, well, black people. I do have a bi-racial character though, and I write about her mother, who is white.
my default dream character is always this disapproving and patronizing woman who I try to break free from by being bold. Sometimes I make it and sometimes I spend the whole dream trying but failing. I wonder who she is? She’s often in the form of someone I’ve known but the dynamic feels archetypal.
I’ve had different races in my stories but then, I live in a mixed-race neighborhood and town, so it would be weird to leave them out- I’d have to do it on purpose. Same with gay people. Oh, and pagans and every other religion. Gotta love the Bay Area.