For them you have to go in obliquely and with maximum Downton Abbey.įortunately for us we have just the man.” That approach only works if the subject suffers from residual middle-class guilt-unfortunately the properly posh, the nouveau riche and senior legal professionals are rarely prey to such weaknesses. A regional accent is always a plus in this…. One is to go in hard and deliberately working class. “When dealing with the excessively rich and privileged, you’ve got your two basic approaches. But a larger part is in Peter’s narration: Instead, Walid is a Scot who converted to Islam, and is described as a “gingery” man in his late fifties. Abdul Haqq Walid’s name likely causes readers to assume, on first encounter, that Walid is of Middle Eastern extraction.

Part of this is how Aaronovitch counters expectations through naming conventions. Authors Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward discuss the “unmarked state,” or assumed characteristics of most point of view characters (very frequently in fiction white, straight, young, able-bodied, male), and make note that the idea of the unmarked state is itself problematic.Īaronovitch, through Peter’s worldview, does an excellent job of subverting the idea that any of the common traits that define a “normal” character can be assumed. The book has inspired courses for writers hoping to better their own fiction by understanding how to write nuanced and fully-fleshed characters from different backgrounds, particularly those of race, (sexual) orientation, age, ability, religion, and sex (termed ROAARS traits). This is in contrast to writers of the #OwnVoices movement, who are writing about underrepresented characters or communities informed by their own experiences and identity. I recently finished reading the excellent Writing the Other, a guide for writers hoping to create realistic characters who don’t share their worldview.

Rivers of london lies sleeping