Shortly after the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement got going in 2014, I felt stumped. Granted, I was very new to the book world then, but I was also someone who’d been reading avidly for two decades and never noticed an issue with the books I read. In addition, being someone with vision loss, I thought this was one of those “nice sighted people trying to tell me how to live” situations, and boy, had I had enough of those. My attitude was that I didn’t care if there were other low vision people in books because why would I want to read a book about someone who couldn’t tell red from orange? I got enough of that in my daily life.
As happens, the following 10+ years changed my outlook. I still don’t feel the need to pursue books about people with low vision, which I realize is a byproduct of me—not of society. I’ve never believed vision has defined who I am, so I’ve always been able to see myself in the protagonists of books, even when those protagonists were nothing like me. Granted, not all protagonists—some I couldn’t relate to no matter how hard I tried. But many.
Just because that’s been my experience, though, doesn’t mean it’s one everyone shares. Or that diverse books aren’t important. They are—and not just because they let everyone literally see themselves in stories. Diverse books also matter because they let us see that we’re all more alike than we are different.
Currently, I’m reading While You Were Dreaming by South Asian American (or Indian, for clarity) author Alisha Rai, which features upper-teen Indian American protagonist Sonia Patil, who’s dealing with being separated from her mom, a rocky relationship with her sister, a tricky romantic situation, and her own struggles to find who she is in a world where she feels like she should be someone else.
I’m going to be perhaps a bit too vague here to keep from spoiling things, but at one point while Sonia is working at a local Indian restaurant, she is unsure what’s featured in a particular dish. At this, she suddenly feels self-conscious for not being Indian enough, to which her boss tells her that their culture is vast and that it’s okay if Sonia isn’t familiar with all or any of it.
My closest experience to Indian culture is patronizing small local businesses owned by Indian Americans.
And yet, it was nothing to read this line, think “it’s okay to be you, whoever you are,” and continue reading.
I will admit that years ago, I was guilty of thinking I couldn’t relate to stories that were marketed for XYZ group. In retrospect, I realize that exact marketing is why I thought that—it’s designed to keep us from branching out and reading books featuring characters or situations that feel “other.” What could I possibly have in common with Indian American protagonist Sonia Patil? A lot, turns out.
While You Were Dreaming also features situations I have no experience with whatsoever (how’s that for a non-spoiler sentence?). For readers familiar with those things, the book will likely have more significance than it does for me. But “more significance” is a far cry from “I can’t relate to this book because I’m not XYZ.” “More significance” implies there is significance to be found for readers who don’t share a cultural identity with Sonia. It implies there is significance for people because Sonia is a person, and people are all,, well, people.
I posit that relatability in a book doesn’t come down to the identities of the characters. Rather, it comes down to whether the characters are presented in a way that feels universal, even if there are things about them that will mean more to readers who share the character’s experiences. I’ve never been a Greek demigod, for example, but I could relate to Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson. Similarly, I am a white woman, but I don’t relate much to Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum.
Bottom line, not all books are for all readers. So write your characters to be true to themselves, and don’t try to relate to everyone, lest you relate to no one at all.
👋 Fair travels,
Mary
P.S. A big thanks to geralt from Pixabay for the image.
P.P.S. All books link to The Storygraph because I love that site and want to introduce it to as many people as possible.
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I blog about books, movies, ttrpgs, and fiction craft to help writers think about bold new ways to tell their stories. Join now so you don’t miss the post that could be the one that changes your entire outlook on being an author. Posts go out at most twice a week.
