When you’re writing about discrimination in a fantasy/sci-fi story with vampires, aliens, or anything else, there are some easy traps to fall into.
Let’s discuss them, then write a story together!
During the last stream, a subscriber requested that we go over some DOs and DON’Ts of writing prejudice in fantasy/sci-fi stories.
Watch what we did here, or scroll down for highlights.
3 Do’s and Don’ts for Fantasy Discrimination
- It’s pretty common for fantasy/sci-fi writers to use some sort of prejudice/racism in their stories, involving fantasy creatures, aliens, or something else
- And that’s perfectly fine, but just like whenever you write about potentially sensitive subjects, there are some things to keep in mind when you put discrimination into your stories
- Remember! These are just my opinion, and I would always recommend getting many opinions on your stories that deal with discrimination, including having a sensitivity editor look at it
So let’s go over three questions to ask yourself when writing about fantasy/sci-fi discrimination, and some DO’s and DON’Ts for each.
#1. Main Conflict Discrimination vs. Worldbuilding Discrimination
- The first question to ask is how big a role will discrimination play in your story? Is it going to be the main conflict, or is it just a piece of the worldbuilding?
- Main conflict examples: Zootopia’s predators vs. prey, The Fifth Season’s “orogenes”
- Worldbuilding examples: Harry Potter’s “mudbloods,” X-Men’s mutants
- If it’s going to be the main conflict, then ask yourself WHY you want to tell this story
- If your reason is “because it’s neat,” that’s not enough, it’d be like wanting to write a story about a concentration camp “because it’s neat”
- Readers will read into what you’ve written, whether you want them to or not, and you want to make sure the story you create will have a positive impact on the world
- If the discrimination is just a part of the worldbuilding, then ask yourself if it NEEDS to be there
- Just because something exists in our world, that doesn’t mean it needs to exist in your story, just like how we don’t usually write about going to the bathroom in books
- For example in my book, Metl 2, I initially had homophobic characters, but then I realized they weren’t necessary and didn’t add anything so I cut them
DO: Think about the role discrimination plays in your story, if it’s necessary to the plot, and why you want it in there
DO NOT: Just put discrimination in your story because you think it’s neat
#2. Real Threat vs. Imagined Superiority
- The next question to ask is if the race/creatures being discriminated against are actually dangerous
- Real threat examples: Zootopia’s predators vs. prey, X-men’s mutants
- Imagined superiority examples: Harry Potter’s “mudbloods,” The Sneetches’ star-bellied Sneetches
- If the discrimination in your story is based on another race/species being actually dangerous, due to some sort of power/technology they have, that should influence your story
- People being afraid of a group because they’re stronger than them IS justified, and you want to make sure that you don’t downplay real fears
- You also don’t want to make it seem like your story is saying that racism in our world is justified because certain groups are “dangerous”
- This is a reason why, even though Zootopia is a fun movie, its message falls flat because predators are a real threat to herbivores
- If the discrimination in your story is based on a race/species’s imagined superiority, due to some small difference between them, that should influence your story
- If your story’s POV is from the discriminated group, be careful to avoid romanticizing racism by having someone from the privileged group fall in love with/save your main character, which can come off awkward, like a slave owner falling in love with a slave/setting one slave free but not the others
- If your story’s POV is from the privileged group, you’ll likely want your character to be sympathetic to the discriminated group, and try to show that the discrimination isn’t just one individual or family, but how pervasive it is throughout all of society
DO: Explore how racism infiltrates all levels of society and the ripple effects it has
DO NOT: Romanticize racism or downplay actual threats
#3. Stereotypes vs. Realistic “People”
- The last question to ask is whether the discriminated group you’ve created in your story is a stereotype or a realistic group of people (or aliens or creatures etc.)
- Stereotype examples: The Lord of the Rings’ orcs, Netflix’s Bright
- Real people examples: Ender’s Game’s buggers, Game of Thrones’s wildlings
- A stereotype is an oversimplified version of a group of people, like the orcs in Lord of the Rings that are simply evil because they’re evil, or the ogres in Bright that are a stand-in for very stereotypical black Americans
- Stereotypes are dangerous because they promote the idea that all people in a certain group are the same, and that certain groups are naturally dangerous/evil
- You want to avoid stereotypes when writing about discrimination, and instead…
- …write your discriminated group as realistic “people” (or werewolves or vampires etc.)
- You can do this by showing that not everyone in the group is the same, they have different beliefs, goals, likes/fears, and more
- You can also do this by exploring the discriminated culture, finding out what they value, and why it’s different from the privileged group
DO: Explore the discriminated culture, find out why they are that way, show their differences
DO NOT: Just have your fantasy/sci-fi species be discriminated in the exact same way as a group in our world, it will just come off as offensive, instead twist it and make it into its own thing
After that, chat voted that we write a story practicing what we went over. Here’s the prompt that they voted for: In a fantasy world, humans have spread off and adapted to different environments. Over time, their physical traits changed to match the environment they live in. They all discriminate each other.
Here’s what we wrote:
Long, long ago, humans divided into four groups to try and find the mighty dragon egg, that was destined to shed light on the secrets of the world.
The Verdants went to live in the woods to find the egg, believing that it was hidden among the trees, and their fingers grew long and hard like claws to climb the bark towers. The Ridgians went to the mountains to find the egg, believing that it was hidden at the top of the world, and their legs grew strong like goats and their skin burst with hair to keep them warm.
The Tidegliders went to the waters to find the egg, believing that it was hidden at the bottom of the ocean, and their fingers and toes grew webs to swim as fast as fish, the hair on their heads dissolving away to sleek baldness. The Crags descended into the caves, believing the egg had to be dug for, growing powerful digging arms and eyes that could see in the darkness.
After a thousand years, none of them found the mighty egg. Not in the forests, not in the mountains, not in the oceans, not in the caves.
Most had even forgotten about the egg, until the day of fire, when the dragon of earth roared its fury into the sky at having been forgotten. From their homes, all four peoples saw the raging inferno reach the sky, and the quest for the egg was reignited in their hearts.
A group of brave Verdants left their home to travel afar and bring the egg — and glory! — back to the forests. They caked themselves in mud to protect from the heat, and headed toward the horizon.
All was well, until they came to a mountain range. The peaks nearly scraped the sky, and the Verdants quickly tired from climbing. Their claws may have helped them to scale trees, but they did nothing to help with endless hiking.
There they met a group of Ridgians, on the same quest to the same egg. At first the Verdants were scared of the hairy people with their mighty legs, but then they saw that the Ridgians themselves were in trouble. Used to living on top of snowy mountains, they were overheating in these lower hills, and their furry buddies did them no favors.
At first the Verdants thought about leaving the Ridgians behind, to get ahead on their quest. But instead they showed sympathy to the poor souls, and taught them how to bathe in mud, to act as a shield from the burning sun rays.
The Ridgians were so happy to be cooled off, that they showed the Verdants how to scale the mountains, conserving energy with every step. For the Verdants who were used to climbing trees with weak, dangling legs, it was a lifesaver.
And the two groups continued on toward the egg.
All was well, until they came to a river. The rushing water bubbled and rushed, and the Verdants and Ridgians stopped at its edge. Neither claws nor powerful legs would help them here.
There they met a group of Tidegliders, on the same quest to the same egg. At first the Verdants and Ridgians were scared of the bald people with their webbed hands and feet, but then they saw that the Tidegliders themselves were in trouble. Used to living underwater, they were overheating in the sun, and their smooth-skinned bodies did them no favors.
At first the Verdants and Ridgians thought about leaving the Tidegliders behind, to get ahead on their quest. But instead they showed sympathy to the poor souls. The Verdants taught them how to bathe in mud, and the Ridgiants taught them how to walk strongly on land.
The Tidegliders were so happy to be cooled off and walking well, that they showed the Verdants and Ridgians how to swim across the river, conserving energy with every stroke. For the Verdants who were used to digging into hard bark with their claws, and had nothing to grab onto in the water, it was a lifesaver. Together they all swam across the river to the other side.
And the three groups continued on toward the egg.
All was well, until they came to a wall of rocks. The boulders were silent and heavy, and the Verdants, Ridgians and Tidegliders stopped in front of it. Neither claws nor powerful legs nor webbed fingers would help them here.
There they met a group of Crags, on the same quest to the same egg. At first the Verdants, Ridgians and Tidegliders were scared of the pale people with bulging arms and cloudy eyes, but then they saw that the Crags themselves were in trouble. Used to living underground, they were cooking in the sun, and their pale bodies did them no favors.
At first the Verdants, Ridgians and Tidegliders thought about leaving the Crags behind, to get ahead on their quest. But instead they showed sympathy to the poor souls. The Verdants taught them how to bathe in mud, and the Ridgians taught them how to walk strongly on land, and the Tidegliders brought them fresh water to drink.
The Crags were so happy to be cooled off, walking well, and have their thirst quenched that they showed the Verdants, Ridgians and Tidegliders how to break the rocks in their path. For the Verdants who were used to climbing trees with their claws, and could never make it over the rocks, it was a lifesaver. Together they all passed through the path that the Crags crashed and dug for them.
And the four groups continued on toward the egg.
Finally, the dragon’s home was in front of them. A smoking volcano, hissing black ash up to sky. The heat grew more and more intense with every step they took, but thanks to the mud from the Verdants, the strong-stepping from the Ridgians, the water from the Tidegliders, and the cleared path from the Crags, all four groups reached the roiling lava pit at the top.
But the dragon egg was nowhere to be seen. And, in the minds of each person there, was the same unfortunate thought: When we do find it, which group will be the one to bring it — and glory! — back to their home?
The maw of the earth dragon spewed forth its protest. It shook the earth and exploded in front of them, blasting thick clouds of smoke and bellowing thunder. Everyone shielded their eyes from the heat and took cover as best they could, but forced themselves to peek at what was happening.
The dragon egg, perfect in its roundness and pearlescent white, emerged from the hot, sticky mouth of the volcano. But only for a moment, until it burst into the air, shot up by the pressure from the lava and smoke. Higher and higher it flew, until it finally stopped, now dangling in the sky next to the sun.
At first, all of the Verdants, Ridgians, Tidegliders, and Crags were confused. Which one of them had gotten the egg?
It wasn’t until nighttime, when the volcano had cooled off and it was safe for everyone to move, that they found their answer. The sun had set, but the dragon egg was still bright in the sky, giving light where there had been only darkness before.
The dragon egg had been found because of everyone sharing their gifts. Now, it belonged to everyone.
And the four groups returned to their homes, for the first time able to travel at night.
Be sure to check out the video to see how we came up with this story by using the DOs and DON’Ts.
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Featured image: Pakutaso