TIPS FOR: 5SOS FANFICS & GRAMMAR

[12] diversity

[12]  diversity (originally titled "try running a different race")

This isn't a tip, so much as an encouragement to try running a different race: include other races in your stories; include people of different genders, or not gender at all; include people with mental and physical disabilities; include people of other religions; include a realistic world like the one that is around you; include a world that isn't straight, white, and neurotypical.

There's a billion fanfics with white girl protagonist and in the media in general, there's just very little representation of people of color. Try to have someone of a different race as our main characters! Or, if you're not exactly comfortable with that as you feel scared to have a character of another race as your main character, just try to include people of other races in your story in the first place; try to include a black girl as the best friend, a Hawaiian girl as the rivaling girl, an asian girl as Luke's, who is not the love interest of the protagonist, girlfriend.

Try to spread some diversity! It'll make fanfics more relatable for everyone to read.

Some people don't feel comfortable writing from a race that's not of their own as they might feel they don't understand it, but past the different cultural aspects that can be easily searched up, we're all the same. That being said, don't feel guilty if you don't want to do this. BUT ALSO don't do this because you want to feel good about yourself or you want to be able to say you're story are diverse or anything like that. POC/LGBTQIA need more representation in a lot of the media. They need it — and when they are given it, it shouldn't be half-assed. Do not just put a, let's say, Pakistani person in without knowing anything about their culture; don't put someone with bipolar disorder and not even research the disorder. Most of all, never rely on stereotypes or generalizations. Stereotypes in the media can be especially damaging to POC, LGBTQIA, and people with mental disorders. 

NO TOKEN CHARACTERS (E.G. TOKEN BLACK GIRL, TOKEN LESBIAN, ETC.). Characters like the Token Black Girl are put there just for a story to appear diverse. They rely on stereotypes and tropes and are 2-dimensional as characters.

clintskate has a very good guide on writing POC specifically in a chapter of her advice book if you want to write a character of color and are scared to do so. There's so many sources out there and it is always good to further your knowledge of the world around you.

If you really need motivation, there is always Shia LaBeouf.