White Writing Black?

Totally about to kiss.

Finally, my sequel post to my African American Vernacular English post that may actually have to do with visual novels! Or at least writing.


So, when white writers sit down and want to write a black characters, they'll often... do it wrong.

For example, they might write something like "Only wif my magic recipe can you turn out dese tender, 'licious, jiffy-quick pancakes dat makes yo' family happy."

This writer is being pretty condescending to black people. While you can see they're imitating certain parts of AAVE, it sounds more like they're trying to be slangy for the sake of being slangy. Like "'licious"? "jiffy-quick?" Does anyone really say "jiffy" besides my very white father? Fortunately, stuff like that never gets published.

Wait, what? That was in a national ad campaign?


Alright, what are people supposed to do when they don't speak AAVE, but they want to write it? Especially if they want their characters to like, sound authentic and not like certain infamously-racist pancake advertisements?

They should come to me, because I have a plan for them:

Step 1: Make friends with black people who speak AAVE.
Step 2: Pay very close attention to how they speak. Take notes, when possible.
Step 3: Spend as much time as possible with them almost to the point that they hate you. They'll probably already hate you because you are only friends with them because they speak AAVE and you are furiously scribbling in a note pad when they're trying to have a conversation. Don't make them hate you though, because you'll need them for step 5. Try to be nice and take them out to Starbucks or something.
Step 4: Write your story.
Step 5: Get them to read over your draft to make sure it sounds authentic to them. If they laugh at you, ask for advice and repeat steps 4 and 5. If they get offended, try to ask them why before they storm off. If they say it's because you only befriended them to write your damn story... yeah, you totally did that.

Maybe they shouldn't come to me. That's a crappy plan.
No, wait, I have a new one! Let me try again!

Whenever I see The Boondocks art,
I always go "OH MY GOD!
BLACK ANIME CHARACTERS!
IT'S A MIRACLE!"

Step 1: Watch The Boondocks. Not Boondock Saints. There are lots of accents in Boondock Saints, but you probably shouldn't learn them from Boondock Saints.
Step 2: Take notes on how they speak, but filter out the stereotypes in the story. (Remember! Boondocks is satire!)
Step 3: Write your story.
Step 4: Find a person who speaks AAVE who is willing to read over your draft for you.
Step 5: Don't act surprised when they're like "You got this from The Boondocks, didn't you?"

Sigh. Ok, my point is, yes, it can be done, but it's really difficult for people to learn to write something they don't speak, especially if they're not familiar with it. This goes for any vernacular or accent.

But here are a few starter tips for people who want to learn how to write any vernacular or accent, especially AAVE, without pissing people off.

1. Don't change the spelling of words.
Let's take a line from The Boondocks, change the spelling:


"You know what, Granddad, I been hangin' out wit' Milton e'en though you tol' me not to, an' I 'ont think Imma do that no mo'a."

You see this? I just did a bad thing. Don't do it.

One practical reason why you shouldn't do this is because it's hard to understand. If you heard the line, you would understand it instantly. Even though I wrote the distinctly AAVE parts down sound for sound (a questionable practice), it takes a minute to figure out what is being said. In that way, it's not reflecting the line authentically. Besides, when figuring it out, the reader is basically just correcting my spelling in their head. They're thinking "Oh, 'e'en' is for 'even.' Is ''ont' for 'won't?' 'don't?' 'Don't' makes sense, so that's it, I guess..."

This probably seems weird because the go-to way to write an accent is to change spelling. Don't do it. Especially not when writing AAVE, because this is racist. (Remember the above Aunt Jemima example?) What makes this racist?

I, as a white person, do not speak the way things are supposed to be pronounced. No white person does. Examples: For words ending in "ing," like "jumping," I am just as likely to say "een" as I am to say "in." I personally rarely say "your" with the sound you make in "oar." I am much more likely to say "yer." "Our" and "hour" are supposed to sound exactly the same, but I pronounce "our" exactly like I say "are." The list goes on.

But if I'm a middle-class white non-Hispanic American, it's assumed I speak the so-called "standardized" American English. No one would listen to my accent and write down my "yer" as a "yer." So instead of every word being written the way I said, it'd be written the way it's supposed to be written. (If you made it this far and still haven't read my other blog post, here's my rant on why standard American English is bullshit.)

Also, remember how I only wrote down the AAVE parts sound for sound? When the word is pronounced like it is in white American vernacular English, I spelled it correctly, even though it may not be pronounced letter-for-letter like it's spelled. For example, "know" has that useless "k" in it and "though" has that "ugh" which is just a hangover from French. In other words, changing the spelling didn't actually reflect the way the line was spoken, it just reflects the way AAVE is different from from the white "norm."
What this does is it turns AAVE speakers into an other. By changing spelling they're basically saying "I'm using the incorrect spelling to reflect that this person is pronouncing these words incorrectly." Which holds up the so-called "standard" American English, which is really white American Vernacular English, as superior to African American Vernacular English. You see? Racism.

As an aside, if an AAVE speaker wants to differentiate themselves from the so-called standard by writing AAVE with different spelling, they are allowed to do that. And non-AAVE speakers are still not allowed to do it. I know, I know, inequality and all that, just take what I say and move along. Maybe I'll rant about that another day.

So how is someone supposed to write AAVE without changing the spelling?

Made of win face is made of win.

2. Write AAVE by showing word choice.

Back to our line from The Boondocks:

"You know what, Granddad, I been hanging out with Milton even though you told me not to, but I don't think Imma do that no more."

 That's how you do it! See, it's clear it's AAVE, you can read it quickly, no one hates you. But we're not quite done. On to step three.


3. Remember: Your character is not just a race.

You shouldn't just be worried with your character speaking convincing AAVE. You should be worried that your character is true to them self.

All characters, no matter how their race or culture, should speak differently to reflect their experiences and who they are as a person. Someone's personality, age, gender, race, class, location, nationality, sexuality, experiences and attitude factor together to make a complex human being who is more than just the sum of their parts. The way they speak should reflect that. Try not to focus on how they should speak as a black person, try to focus on how they should speak as a person. Finding your character's unique voice will make your writing awesome.


Alright, enough ranting for today.
Oh, didn't I promise this would have something to do with visual novels?
Well, it doesn't. There are no African-American characters in visual novels. (Caro, stop pissing off the community!)
JUST KIDDING. The truth is I'm working on a Voldemort visual novel right now, and it suddenly hit me that my characters would probably speak AAVE, so I may be writing some soon...
Yes, don't worry, I'm working on stuff! I don't know how soon I'll be able to announce my next project, but I really hope it's soon. Before the year is out, I'm sure I'll have something to announce.