This is the last (for now) upload of old articles from a past blog, and now, after this, there will be new articles uploaded every other week, starting August 7th! Hope you enjoy, and will see you soon!
I love Wattpad.
Do you know about Wattpad?
It’s known for its fan-fiction, but there are tons of wonderfully written books on the site/app. I’ve found countless books that appealed to me on that app and it helped me hone what I really liked in a book (fantasy, romance, happy endings, etc.). There’s a book for almost every genre, from werewolves to chick lit to historical fiction. Some of the books are problematic, of course (what do you expect from a public platform?), but you could really find some gems up there.
But, as with every app, there are things wrong with Wattpad.
Specifically, the number of black girls as main characters throughout the genres.
I love reading a good fantasy, love reading a good romance, but sometimes I want to see myself, a black girl, as the main heroine. I want to see myself with superpowers, myself saving a kingdom, myself in a sweet romance novel.
There aren’t enough of those and I’m tired of reading urban novels with many of the same situations going on (not to bash them, they are truly good books, but not my style).
So, let’s get to the meat of this topic:
Write what you want to read.
Since I realized that there was a lack of black girls doing all of the things mentioned above, I’ve wanted to write all the things. I started a novel about a black girl with vampires, a black girl in a slightly sci-fi setting, a novel about a black girl picking up her life after college, and a black girl traveling across the country to save the missing prince.
All of these star a black girl as the main character and all of these have a love interest that is intended to lift her up rather than bringing her down. They come from all different types of backgrounds (a single mother, a deadbeat father, both parents in the picture, no siblings, one or more siblings, etc.) and are all different skin tones (from light-skinned to dark-skinned [let’s face it, dark-skinned girls are beautiful and don’t get enough credit]).
The thing is, the reason that I’m writing this is because I don’t see it enough on Wattpad, and I don’t see it enough in real life.
I want this post to encourage you (if you write, if you want to write) to create a world where black girls (or boys, or non-binary folk) thrive and are the main characters in their story without something being tragic in their lives.
If you want to write about a black trans woman that finds a sweet romance with a non-binary character, then write it! If you want to see a Thai girl fall in love with a Thai boy, then write it! If you want to see a Filipino boy fall in love with a Guatemalan boy, then write it! If you want to see a Mexican girl fall in love with no one but saves the world by planting one flower seed at a time, then write it!
The world is full of infinite words and wonders, and we have the creative capacity to write it all out and throw it into the world saying “Here it is!”‘
So, as I’m doing with black girls, do what you want.Write what you want to read. It’s sad that we have to do that, but if you have the ability, do as Nike says: “Just do it!”
For resources and ways to donate while protests continue, while people need saving, and even beyond: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ and also https://dotherightthing.carrd.co/
kannaree.com 