Jo Spumoni
New member
My character is an artist in Nazi Germany. He closets himself and no one suspects a thing because outwardly he's the perfect portrait of an Aryan citizen. He's kindly but sort of apathetic, more inclined to worry about his own little section of the world than about people he knows are suffering. He's religious and wouldn't want anyone to know he was homosexual...so much so that he almost ends up marrying a woman before breaking it off at the last minute. In the end, he leaves his safe little shell in order to help his friend escape Germany for the States.
I wrote all of that because I want to establish that the fact that the character is gay is only one of his characteristics. He's not the "token gay character" or something like that, and no, I'm not looking for some terribly stereotypical "homosexual voice." The truth is just that I'm a heterosexual female. I have led a privileged life of white middle class heterosexuality and my own experiences don't really compare to my character's, who is a lower class homosexual male living in a repressive society.
So I guess what I'm asking is how do I make my character's experiences--especially his attractions to other men, his self-repression, and how he feels when he touches a woman (who he's not attracted to)--seem realistic? I really don't want it to fall flat. This is perhaps the most important and complex character in my book and I need it to work.
No hate, please. You can tell me I'm looking at it sexuality all wrong (which I might be), but I ask you to do so respectfully! If all you can tell me is "you're ignorant" then how can I take your advice?
Thank you in advance for any help.
I wrote all of that because I want to establish that the fact that the character is gay is only one of his characteristics. He's not the "token gay character" or something like that, and no, I'm not looking for some terribly stereotypical "homosexual voice." The truth is just that I'm a heterosexual female. I have led a privileged life of white middle class heterosexuality and my own experiences don't really compare to my character's, who is a lower class homosexual male living in a repressive society.
So I guess what I'm asking is how do I make my character's experiences--especially his attractions to other men, his self-repression, and how he feels when he touches a woman (who he's not attracted to)--seem realistic? I really don't want it to fall flat. This is perhaps the most important and complex character in my book and I need it to work.
No hate, please. You can tell me I'm looking at it sexuality all wrong (which I might be), but I ask you to do so respectfully! If all you can tell me is "you're ignorant" then how can I take your advice?
Thank you in advance for any help.