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Q&A Protagonist's race is hidden - should I reveal it?

Assuming race is not relevant to the story, I think it is still worth considering that you mention it, or make it obvious from the description of the character. A story is more than just a sequenc...

posted 5y ago by colmde‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:44:56Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44745
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar colmde‭ · 2019-12-08T11:44:56Z (over 4 years ago)
Assuming race is not relevant to the story, I think it is still worth considering that you mention it, or make it obvious from the description of the character.

A story is more than just a sequence events - imagery and descriptions are important for bringing it and the characters to life in the mind of the reader. You might mention a character's lop-sided red baseball hat with the faded Bugs Bunny image on the front, or his messy blond hair, or her slender figure being accentuated by the long black evening gown, even though in each case it has no bearing on the plot of the story, but helps to draw an imaginary picture of the situation and characters.

Perhaps if you're writing in the first person, and she has no reason ever to think about her own race, or doesn't at any point look in the mirror and consider her own looks, then maybe you wouldn't point it out, but as soon as you describe what she looks like, her race will become apparent.

Now I'm not saying you definitely should, and done well it might be refreshing to let the reader come up with the looks from their own imagination, I'm just saying that just because race isn't relevant doesn't mean you shouldn't mention it.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-04-23T14:26:16Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 2