Just redoing this because it's been a while... not sure this will be the last either!
As for portraying LGBT+ characters (something I got to know one or two things about by now, as two of my main characters, Arianne and Avril, are lgbtq+)...
At first I was really much like you, Riki, and very afraid of doing it wrong in a way or another. I can relate to that feeling! And even now I can say, it could be super easy or super hard simultaneously, almost.
I agree with Mew - if your story doesn't focus on someone's orientation or gender identity (or romance, I guess) you don't need to focus on those aspects too much and you don't have to write about them, especially. Those are just things that end up becoming part of your character but that from an outside perspective aren't really tied to any specific lgbtq+ identity, I guess!
I'll admit that delving into those topics in a story may require you to get some more knowledge or... you know, not really knowledge as much as straight up empathy, for your character and the situation they're in. I'm by no means claiming that what I do is the right method but usually something that helps me is just asking myself questions and more questions about how your characters could feel in a certain situation, what's important to them (and what isn't), and all that stuff. And that's because ultimately, every character, every setting, and with them, their experiences are all different and unique.
To go back to the trans people example... there's people who realize this very soon in life but get little to no chance to actually transition and be happy in their body until much later, and there's people who actually realize this later in life. There's people who may be able to live in a more welcoming environment and people who have to spend so much time in the closet. And, not to judge anyone here, but there may be people who are very strong lgbtq+ activists through and through, and people who may just want to "blend in" - those who might say "I certainly appreciate what activists do, but I wish it wasn't necessary in the first place, and I feel like I may get in trouble if I don't lay low."
By the way, there's something I still can't write and maybe never will (or that I'll try to dodge if possible), so... yeah. Sexual attraction is hard to write for me, for obvious reasons. All that advice and then I can't even do this... oh well~
I hope this can help a bit ^^;
Spoiler:
As for portraying LGBT+ characters (something I got to know one or two things about by now, as two of my main characters, Arianne and Avril, are lgbtq+)...
At first I was really much like you, Riki, and very afraid of doing it wrong in a way or another. I can relate to that feeling! And even now I can say, it could be super easy or super hard simultaneously, almost.
I agree with Mew - if your story doesn't focus on someone's orientation or gender identity (or romance, I guess) you don't need to focus on those aspects too much and you don't have to write about them, especially. Those are just things that end up becoming part of your character but that from an outside perspective aren't really tied to any specific lgbtq+ identity, I guess!
I'll admit that delving into those topics in a story may require you to get some more knowledge or... you know, not really knowledge as much as straight up empathy, for your character and the situation they're in. I'm by no means claiming that what I do is the right method but usually something that helps me is just asking myself questions and more questions about how your characters could feel in a certain situation, what's important to them (and what isn't), and all that stuff. And that's because ultimately, every character, every setting, and with them, their experiences are all different and unique.
To go back to the trans people example... there's people who realize this very soon in life but get little to no chance to actually transition and be happy in their body until much later, and there's people who actually realize this later in life. There's people who may be able to live in a more welcoming environment and people who have to spend so much time in the closet. And, not to judge anyone here, but there may be people who are very strong lgbtq+ activists through and through, and people who may just want to "blend in" - those who might say "I certainly appreciate what activists do, but I wish it wasn't necessary in the first place, and I feel like I may get in trouble if I don't lay low."
By the way, there's something I still can't write and maybe never will (or that I'll try to dodge if possible), so... yeah. Sexual attraction is hard to write for me, for obvious reasons. All that advice and then I can't even do this... oh well~
I hope this can help a bit ^^;
