Writing About Characters You're Nothing Like

Writing August Wilson, the main character in my new novella Heavy Is the Head That Wears the Crown, was interesting because, in a lot of ways, she had a life I wasn't privy to in real life.

She's a beauty queen. President of her sorority. A social media influencer. The kind of woman who easily attracts attention wherever she goes.

On the surface, August and I are very different.

But there were pieces of her that I understood immediately.

I could identify with being an overachieving woman who was this 🤏🏾 close to breaking. Being a high-performing woman can sometimes mean measuring yourself by what you've accomplished—the accolades, the titles, the things that look good on paper.

I could also relate to the difference between who we are on the outside and who we're battling with on the inside.

That tiny—well, maybe not so tiny—voice in the back of your head. The one that talks you out of what you want. The one that gets louder when you don't feel strong enough. The one that knows exactly where your insecurities live.

That part of August, I understood.

And I think a lot of other women will too.

But other parts of her life? Night and day.

Beauty and privilege were obviously at the forefront when I started writing this book. But I became interested in a bigger question: Where does the privilege of being attractive actually stop?

We talk a lot about the advantages of being considered beautiful. Attractive people may be perceived as more likable, competent, or trustworthy. Appearance can influence everything from social attention and invitations to professional opportunities and even how people respond to you before you've said a word.

Sometimes pretty privilege is obvious.

Sometimes it's as simple as being invited somewhere, getting extra attention, being remembered, receiving help more easily, or being given the benefit of the doubt.

And researching that made me uncomfortable.

Because then I started thinking about the other side of it.

What happens when being the pretty face comes with struggles nobody takes seriously because they assume you already have an advantage?

What happens when you don't know whether someone genuinely likes you or simply likes how you look?

When forming genuine connections becomes harder.

When attention doesn't necessarily equal affection.

When jealousy or competition enters relationships with other women before you've even done anything.

When your accomplishments are questioned because people assume your looks opened the door for you.

Or when you've worked incredibly hard for something, only to hear some version of, Of course she got it.

That's where August became more interesting to me.

I didn't need to have lived her exact life to understand her. I needed to understand what her life had taught her about herself—and what it might have cost her.

That's one of my favorite parts about writing characters who aren't like me.

Sometimes the differences are what get me interested in them.

But it's finding the small pieces of myself buried inside them that makes me able to write them.