Justanothergirlsblog - =A Weird Girl=

tips on writing arab characters

first let’s cover the main mistake people make: what is an arab?

an arab is generally any person whose lineage comes from an arabic-speaking country. some examples:  Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

now that you know what your character is (if you were aiming for east asian/south asian this is your cue to leave and educate yourself!) let’s talk about some important factors of an arab character.

decide what country they are from: this is ridiculously important! each arab country has a unique history and their cultures vary DRASTICALLY! it is extremely offensive to take bits and pieces of different cultures from various arab countries and stuff them all into one character. so first choose from where exactly your character hails. note: if you are writing in a fantasy world, this still applies! look into your specific country of choice and work around that.

not all arabs are muslims: while islam has greatly influenced arab culture, muslims and arabs are not synonymous. islam is a religion, arab is a lineage. if you choose to make your character muslim, be mindful of that religion, and if not, do not give the character islamic attributes (ie: hijabs, islamic names)

on naming your character:

first names: once again, be mindful of the character’s religion here. many names that have come to be associated with arabs are in fact islamic in origin (mohammed, abdullah, aabid…) look for arabic names and check the meaning and origin to be sure (here and here are some good websites that give definition and origin). arabic names generally do not have nicknames. yes even ‘mo’ for ‘mohammed’ or ‘al’ for ‘ali’ are all a foreigner’s look on arabic names. they don’t work. don’t use them.

middle names: arabs generally do not have middle names (which is to say, they aren’t assigned any at birth) instead, the child’s father’s name is their second name. so ahmed, son of salim would be ‘ahmed salim’ rather than be given an entirely new name.

last names: the last name of any arab is their father’s last name. generally, a married woman keeps her own last name rather than change it to her husband’s, and the children inherit their father’s name. 

fashion: once again this differs entirely based on what country you’ve chosen but also please mind the year! if your novel is set in the equivalent of the 1800s traditional big turbans have been out of fashion for centuries!! more modern clothing can include checkered turbans that are worn by men and draped on the head, set in place by igal. but again, this depends on the country of choice. kuffiyehs are more symbolically worn in countries like palestine, syria and jordan. here and here are more in-depth descriptions. 

the arabic language: arabic differs drastically from english in regards to grammar so using a translator site isn’t going to cut it. the main reason for this is that there each arabic country has its own dialect, and while some are similar, they all have obvious differences. a translator will give you the official arabic, which isn’t used in day-to-day speech. my advice is to have an arab speaker read through your lines before publishing. 

stereotypes: for a bit of background, it was an arab (Al-Haitham) that became one of the first founders of modern optics by creating the first camera. an arab (Ibn Firnas) who first attempted flight. arabs invented the numbers currently used all around the world (yes 0-9 were created by an arab named al-Khwarizmi!) so let me tell you it is extremely disrespectful, hurtful, and downright wrong when arabs are presented as uncivilized, uneducated, and violent in books and media. keep this in mind while writing your character.

more than sand and camels: while many arabs hail from the desert and indeed a good many travels were taken via camel, that does not mean your arab character is required to know this. not all arabic countries are deserts. not all arabs own camels. if you must give them a form of travel, an often overlooked talent of arabs was horse-riding, and some of the best breeds of horse are arabian, so look into that instead!

misogynism and homophobia: this is a harmful arabic stereotype bred from the misunderstanding of islamic values. hijab/niqab (head and face covers) are the chosen form of dress for muslim women (though once again not all arabs are muslims!) along with many other values held by muslim men and women, there are cultural influences some arabs hold that are mistranslated by western countries. i might make a separate post about this alone, but just be mindful about this as you are writing your character. don’t make the girl oppressed and in need of saving. don’t make the guy sexist and arrogant.

war is not culture, it’s circumstance: the middle east has generally come to be associated with war and pain, a circumstance of which no one is happy about. this does not mean that your character should desire violence, wish to inflict pain, come from an abusive family, desire war, come from a background of war. these are all offensive and just another painful reminder of how the west sees arabs. if your character fits into any of those categories, now is the time to fix that.

if anything remains unclear, shoot me an ask! 

“Before you ask why someone hates you, ask yourself why you even care.”

— Tiffany Alvord 

Scene vs. Summary & When to Use Which

When I was a young writer, I didn’t fully understand what a scene was and what a summary was. Later, when I understood the difference, I wasn’t always sure when to use which. These days, I occasionally help writers with the same things. They may use summary for what should have been a scene, or they may write a whole scene for what really should have been summary. Understanding the difference and when to use which can be key when writing a successful novel.

Sure, some of it is subjective.

But what might be surprising to some, is that most of the time, one is more … “correct” than the other.  

Scene

A scene is a structural unit that tends to have these qualities:

- Happens in Real Time

A scene will largely happen in real time. This means we “watch” the characters move, act, and talk, as if it were happening in real life.

- Dramatizes (Shows > Tells)

A scene dramatizes. It uses showing more than telling. If a character is angry with a friend, we see that anger in action and conversation. We may witness her yell or kick a rock, for example. It’s like watching a stage play.

- Concrete

Because it is dramatized, a scene will usually be more concrete. It will more likely appeal to our senses and the physical world and experience.

- Characters Acting in a Specific Location

A scene will have characters in a location (in some very rare cases, the setting or society may act as characters). They might be talking on a train ride, or exploring a cave, or dueling in the snow.

Scene Examples

(Because a full scene often lasts pages, these examples are passages from specific scenes.)

“This won’t take long, Andrew,” said the doctor. Ender nodded. “It’s designed to be removed. Without infection, without damage. But there’ll be some tickling, and some people say they have a feeling of something missing. You’ll keep looking around for something, something you were looking for, but you can’t find it, and you can’t remember what it was. So I’ll tell you. It’s the monitor you’re looking for, and it isn’t there. In a few days that feeling will pass.” The doctor was twisting something at the back of Ender’s head. Suddenly a pain stabbed through him like a needle from his neck to his groin. Ender felt his back spasm, and his body arched violently backward; his head struck the bed. He could feel his legs thrashing, and his hands were clenching each other, wringing each other so tightly that they arched. “Deedee!” shouted the doctor. “I need you!” The nurse ran in, gasped. “Got to relax these muscles. Get it to me, now! What are you waiting for!” Something changed hands; Ender could not see. He lurched to one side and fell off the examining table. “Catch him!” cried the nurse. “Just hold him steady–” “You hold him, doctor, he’s too strong for me–” “Not the whole thing! You’ll stop his heart–” Ender felt a needle enter his back just above the neck of his shirt. It burned, but wherever in him the fire spread, his muscles gradually un-clenched. Now he could cry for the fear and pain of it. “Are you all right, Andrew?” the nurse asked.

- Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Mrs. Reed occupied her usual seat by the fireside; she made a signal to me to approach; I did so, and she introduced me to the stony stranger with the words: “This is the little girl respecting whom I applied to you.” He, for it was a man, turned his head slowly towards where I stood, and having examined me with the two inquisitive-looking grey eyes which twinkled under a pair of bushy brows, said solemnly, and in a bass voice, “Her size is small: what is her age?” “Ten years.” “So much?” was the doubtful answer; and he prolonged his scrutiny for some minutes. Presently he addressed me—“Your name, little girl?” “Jane Eyre, sir.” In uttering these words I looked up: he seemed to me a tall gentleman; but then I was very little; his features were large, and they and all the lines of his frame were equally harsh and prim. “Well, Jane Eyre, and are you a good child?”

- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Summary

A summary has these qualities:

- Condensed Time

Summaries condense time. They may cover a month in a single sentence. They may talk about recurring events over a time period, within one paragraph. They may relay a past event (or in some cases, a future event) within a brief moment. They don’t happen in real time.

- Explains through Telling

Since the moment isn’t happening in real time, the audience is told more than shown what happened. This gives summary a stronger, guiding, narrative hand. Rather than experiencing the passage like the character, it’s more like the audience is being guided by a storyteller (generally speaking).

- More Abstract

For those reasons, telling is more abstract. It’s more likely to express ideas and concepts, rather than specific experiences.

- Characters and/or Setting may Change Swiftly (or Maybe Not Even Be Present In Some Cases)

A summary may not focus on a specific character or stay in the same setting. It may move quickly through settings or may not even mention a specific setting.

Summary Examples

Mother came home and commiserated with Ender about the monitor. Father came home and kept saying it was such a wonderful surprise, they had such fantastic children that the government told them to have three, and now the government didn’t want to take any of them after all, so here they were with three, they still had a Third … until Ender wanted to scream at him, I know I’m a Third, I know it, if you want I’ll go away so you don’t have to be embarrassed in front of everybody. - Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

John had not much affection for his mother and sisters, and an antipathy to me. He bullied and punished me; not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in the day, but continually: every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh in my bones shrank when he came near. There were moments when I was bewildered by the terror he inspired, because I had no appeal whatever against either his menaces or his inflictions; the servants did not like to offend their young master by taking my part against him, and Mrs. Reed was blind and deaf on the subject: she never saw him strike or heard him abuse me, though he did both now and then in her very presence, more frequently, however, behind her back.

- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

When to Use Which

Most novels are better written with more scene than summary. Scenes dramatize the story, so that the audience feels like they are experiencing and participating in it. Scenes are more impactful. Scenes are more likely to stir emotions. Because they are more concrete, they are more likely to stick in the reader’s memory.

However, this is not to say all novels are better with more scene than summary. You can indeed find successful books with more summary. This can be particularly useful in books with huge casts and many viewpoint characters, books that take place over a long period of time (such as a character’s entire life), or books with powerful, present omniscient narrators. Not all books that rely on summary more than scene are bad.

But most books are better told largely through scene than summary.

And pretty much all novels need some of both.

So when do we use which?

Sometimes I edit passages that are weakened because they are summarized instead of dramatized. Other times I read scenes that offer very little dramatic value and should have been summarized.

Scenes

A good rule of thumb is the more significant the moment, the more likely it needs to be rendered as a scene.

Big turning points and climactic moments should almost always be a scene–whether that turning point relates to character arc, plot, or theme.

This means that the climactic moments of the beginning, middle, and end, should almost always be a scene.

Anything we’ve been building up to in the primary plotline related to the arc, events, or theme, should probably be a scene.

Weiterlesen

Writing Tip #167

Having the way a character organizes their home mirror how they organize their life can be a really helpful literary tool and a subtle way to flesh out your character.

J. Augustus Knapp, The Secret Teachings Of All Ages, 1928

how to determine whether your characters are developed enough or not

There’s a fool proof way to determine whether your characters has been developed enough or not. Ask yourself:

‘’Would my story still work if I removed this character from it?’‘

If your answer is:

“No, my story wouldn’t work, because this character is intertwined into the story to such an extent that if I were to remove them, the story is feels incomplete, and certain storylines won’t work.”

You’ve got yourself a well developed character.

If you can’t remove a character without causing inconsistencies to the plot, you’ve got a character that is dimensional enough to work on their own.

Hence, by removing said character, you’re removing a fundamental piece of the puzzle, which in turn forces certain storylines to be incomplete.

But let’s say the answer to the question above is yes. 

Let’s say, that you could easily remove a certain character from your story, without the risk of screwing with any current storylines. Let’s even go as far as saying that you could replace said character with another character, and it still wouldn’t make a difference to the story. 

In a scenario like this, your character has not been developed enough to stand their own ground. If you can give your character’s storyline to another character, or simply replace them with another, without noticing a difference in your story, you need to go back to the drawing board.

Your character is not fleshed out enough. They don’t bring personality to your story, because their departure from it is not noticeable. 

For a character to be dimensional, or developed properly, their loss needs to recognized, and if they’re not part of the narrative, the story should feel incomplete, because a fundamental piece of the puzzle is missing. 

“Please be stronger than your past. The future may still give you a chance.”

— George Michael