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Random Thursday: Character Sexuality
Jun. 9th, 2016 09:30 amI've been getting some interesting feedback from my beta readers, not so much about the perceived sexuality of my characters in Mother of Souls, but about my perception of their sexuality.
In the detailed discussion prompts for my beta readers (the file that says "do not open until after you've read the book"), I spend a lot of time saying, "Here's what I was trying to do with this scene, this event, this character...do you think I succeeded? Are there aspects that didn't work for you?" And in discussing how I understood my new protagonists, I explained that I saw Luzie Valorin as a woman who was, in her heart of hearts, straight, but who discovered she was open to the idea of adding physicality to a close friendship with a woman.
Well, my beta readers have taken me a bit to task and explained that what I'm describing falls quite solidly within the scope of "bisexual" (with the implication that I should just go ahead and call it that). So, ok, Luzie Valorin is official bi, though unlikely to have initiated a relationship with a woman on her own (or even to have recognized what she was feeling as sexual, without prompting).
And along with that, I've had several people (both beta readers and not) mention that they feel that Frances Collfield reads as asexual and that they'd be quite happy to have that confirmed at some point as canon. There is only one oblique consideration of Frances's emotional history in Mother of Souls (another character speculating on her singlehood), and the topic has never really come up in a way that needs to be resolved. But the more I think about it, the more I think they're right. So at this point, in my own head, Frances is solidly identified as asexual (possibly also aromantic) and at some point I will find an opportunity to confirm it in print, though I'm not sure exactly when.
I also have the start of a notion that one of my minor male characters is bi. It will create an interesting triangle with a different configuration than what the other characters think is going on. Still working on that one.
Representation matters. But working within a historic setting, as I am, and within a tight point of view, as I am, I'm not going to use ahistoric labels. I know some readers want to see it confirmed in so many words on the page, but that isn't going to happen in Alpennia. What you'll get instead is thoughts and reactions and self-reflections (like when Antuniet thinks to herself, "this wasn't about men or women, it was only about Jeanne"). And occasionally, depending on the personality of the characters involved, you might get nosy questions and revealing answers. But not too often, because one simply doesn't talk about such things directly in polite Alpennian society.
In the detailed discussion prompts for my beta readers (the file that says "do not open until after you've read the book"), I spend a lot of time saying, "Here's what I was trying to do with this scene, this event, this character...do you think I succeeded? Are there aspects that didn't work for you?" And in discussing how I understood my new protagonists, I explained that I saw Luzie Valorin as a woman who was, in her heart of hearts, straight, but who discovered she was open to the idea of adding physicality to a close friendship with a woman.
Well, my beta readers have taken me a bit to task and explained that what I'm describing falls quite solidly within the scope of "bisexual" (with the implication that I should just go ahead and call it that). So, ok, Luzie Valorin is official bi, though unlikely to have initiated a relationship with a woman on her own (or even to have recognized what she was feeling as sexual, without prompting).
And along with that, I've had several people (both beta readers and not) mention that they feel that Frances Collfield reads as asexual and that they'd be quite happy to have that confirmed at some point as canon. There is only one oblique consideration of Frances's emotional history in Mother of Souls (another character speculating on her singlehood), and the topic has never really come up in a way that needs to be resolved. But the more I think about it, the more I think they're right. So at this point, in my own head, Frances is solidly identified as asexual (possibly also aromantic) and at some point I will find an opportunity to confirm it in print, though I'm not sure exactly when.
I also have the start of a notion that one of my minor male characters is bi. It will create an interesting triangle with a different configuration than what the other characters think is going on. Still working on that one.
Representation matters. But working within a historic setting, as I am, and within a tight point of view, as I am, I'm not going to use ahistoric labels. I know some readers want to see it confirmed in so many words on the page, but that isn't going to happen in Alpennia. What you'll get instead is thoughts and reactions and self-reflections (like when Antuniet thinks to herself, "this wasn't about men or women, it was only about Jeanne"). And occasionally, depending on the personality of the characters involved, you might get nosy questions and revealing answers. But not too often, because one simply doesn't talk about such things directly in polite Alpennian society.
