I recently saw a few TikTok posts from the same account about portraying body size and characters of colour in books and related character art. I genuinely appreciated her pointing this out since I have mixed race characters and some who are plus sized. I’ve included a couple of her videos at the bottom.
My reasons for these characters vary from loosely representing people I know, including myself when it comes to weight, and being from various backgrounds that are part of the inspiration for my world.
For example, I have a character who is mixed Egyptian and Persian. Her skin colour seemed obvious once I’d decided her heritage, and any art I commission will reflect this. I’m reluctant to share my inspirational art right now because I don’t own it, but I imagine Jasmine from Aladdin with hints of Cleopatra as the best visual representation of my character.
As for her body size… that’s definitely inspired by my own weight problems. She’s depressed and under pressure and puts on weight when she’s due to emotional stress. Then she’s under a different kind of stress that causes her to lose a lot of weight. Both these instances represent my personal struggles with size, so if anyone has anything to say about her suddenly being slim, then I have a long list of reasons why this is very real. But by the end, her slightly larger size is when she’s more healthy mentally and emotionally.
I’m grateful for social media because I learn what readers really want as well as what I want to portray in my books. I would be mortified if something I’d written was offensive in this way, and while I know I can’t please everyone, I can take realistic representations seriously.
I also plan to use a sensitivity reader, especially in relation to race, to be absolutely sure I don’t use the wrong language when describing my character. I want my characters’ visuals to be clear but also using appropriate wording.
Love Fantasy Novels 