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@hope-ann

*cracks knuckles*

For starters, don’t shy away from writing characters of other nationalities. That sounds kind of obvious, but that’s an important place to start.

Imagine having a friend of that nationality read your story. Or if you can, ask someone of that nationality to read it. If you’re comfortable with that, even if you’re writing sensitive stuff, you’re probably good to go.

Characters from two different countries might not get along. Or they might be best friends. There’s going to be some differences, in any case. Don’t back down from showing that. But don’t act like that’s the entire focus of their friendship. Yeah, my Russian buddy and I talk about Russia sometimes. But 98% of the time, we talk about painting and books and the complexity of life. And yeah, my American character can’t say his buddy’s long Japanese name. So he gives him a nickname, which they play argue over, just like they play argue over everything else in the world. It’s just natural to their friendship.

If your character is prejudiced against your foreign character, then show it. But show it as dead wrong, because it is. If you’re gonna portray something like that, leave no room for anyone to think you agree. Make the reader feel like you stick up for your foreign character, even if none of your other characters do.

One of the best tips I’ve read for portraying characters of different nationalities or races is to not describe anyone differently, if that makes sense. Don’t put an extra emphasis on what one character looks like just because he’s different. Just portray them like you’d portray someone from your own country. And do your research, like @the-inkspiller said.

And yes, about the accents. In my stories, it’s natural for me to write my Texan boys with a hint of an accent—leaving g’s off words, that kinda thing. Just enough that you can hear how they talk. But writing a character from a different country, I don’t write the accent. I just say, “he rolled half the letters in ‘literally,’” or, “in his lilting accent.” Just say they have an accent. We’ll get the point. I end up skimming if dialogue’s written in an accent, and that’s the exact opposite of what you should be doing.

And at the end of the day, the Golden Rule is still pretty relevant. 😉 If you wouldn’t want you or your friends portrayed a certain way, don’t do it to your characters.