In the latest book I'm writing, there are two characters that are bigots. Is it not "PC" to use racial slurs in dialogue to show this? How do I show they are bigots in dialogue without using racial slurs? I want the reader to absolutely hate these two.
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Runs_With_Scissors
ANSWERS: 12
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Well, it may not be PC, but the characters aren't PC either, are they? I'd say you should portray them the way they really are.
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1) if you want to have realistic characters, have them say things that are totally in character whether it is vile or not. They are characters and in no way reflections of who you are. 2) There are many bigots who do not use slurs at all. Go to David Duke's web site. He rarely uses slurs publicly but is very much racist. There's a lot more to racism than slurs. Most minorities wish slurs were the biggest problem. 3) Although getting people to hate characters sometimes works, complex characters engage a reader more. Most people cannot relate to someone that is 100% hate but many can relate to someone that occasionally has a hateful thought. What made Archie Bunker a great character is that despite being a bigot, deep down, he was still not a bad guy and despite his mouth did have some concern for minorities.
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"All in the Family" was on for eight years, and while Archie may have eased up on his bigotry, it was very obvious at the beginning that this is what he was. (And he never once used a "racial slur" that I can recall.) Something else, if this is not a period or locality-based book, there are plenty of bigots who don't use "those words". You're a writer. You should be able to be creative, and make people hate these people without using the words. All that said, it's your book. If you feel the need for the characters to say them, and it is not gratuitous, then use them. The publisher will decide whether they should be left in, or dialogue changed.
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Use the slurs. If the character is not believable you lost everything. If you are afraid to offend, then pick a less edgy topic and stay "PC." Hemingway never worried about that bullshit, nor any other great writer.
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Since when did a writer achieve fame and fortune by playing safe? If these characters are bigots let them behave like bigots. No one is really going to hate them if they don't act out their character. They will however get to hate a book that doesn't deliver. There is the old adage - show don't tell. Don't ever say they're racist or say they're bigots. Just have them do things to show what they are and let the reader see and understand. I write poetry. It took a while but if you are going to write You have to be bigger than what you're writing. You will never get anywhere by asking anyone what you should write. Go and make writing what you want it to be.
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Two characters WHO are bigots. Not THAT are. WHO are.
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Put one of those little caption boxes with an arrow pointing down at each character that says: "politically incorrect character, must be absolutely hated by all"
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Honestly, if you're writing a book and worried about being PC, you've got a lot of problems. I mean, it's the characters saying these things, not you. Even though you thought of it, it's the characters saying it. Everyone will get it, promise.
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Your characters are who they are. I love fiction with "realistic" people. Go with what you know. You don't need permission. Fiction is a fantasy and accepted as such.
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If your writing is to be effective you have to be true to your characters and your audience. PC has nothing to do with racial slurs, by the way. Racial slurs are hateful and stupid, and any attempt to mitigate their vileness by labeling disgust with them as PC is dishonest. But if these characters are to be portrayed honestly, they must be believable to your audience or the writing fails. Your characters may have pieces of you within them, but they are not you, nor you them. If you're not true to and consistent with your characters, your reader will feel that uncertainty and reticence and even though he or she may not be able to put a finger on what's bothersome, they *will* know that something isn't working right. You want the audience to hate them. Write them as they are, not as they would be in some ideal world. As a writing teacher of mine said long ago, "Always *show* and almost never *tell*. Don't describe their bigotry. Show it! :)
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If the construction of your characters are true, then "YOU" are not using 'slurs'; your characters are. You, the author can be thought of as 'exposing' them and their bigotry. Does that make you feel better? I kind of feel the same way sometimes when a character speaks words that would not come out of my lips. I keep remembering: the character is not me....
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That never stopped Stephen King from creating his characters. Great authors know the fine line between creating rich characters and just using this as a medium for their own personal agenda. The fact that you're worried about it tells me that no matter how you write it, your writers will not take it as a personal agenda. If they are the bad guys, then your personal character will be redeemed by the good guys. Let your artistic juices flow and don't be afraid to tell a good story! But if you're just absolutely opposed to using racial slurs, there are plenty of what they call "back-handed compliments" that you could use. I have an in-law that I despise worse than Satan himself. And she has never said anything nasty, she's just so passive-aggressive in her "compliments" that I just want to slap her into last week. You might Google a few and see if that might help you brainstorm some other methods?
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