Friday, July 20, 2012

Creating Memorable Characters, Part 11


Intercultural Differences Summary
In our diverse society, adding ethnicity to your story is natural. But by all means, AVOID STEREOTYPES. You can’t willy-nilly throw in characteristics about your story people because readers from that culture will spot your errors. If you have a Portuguese character that interacts with your bad guy, know whether Portugal is an individualistic or collectivist society. Is their communication direct or indirect, low-context or high-context?

Search on these words to discover the cultural differences of other countries: “intercultural communication [country of interest].” Or start with this site to learn more about the concepts I have discussed here, plus more: http://www.via-web.de/

Do the research and know the culture you are targeting.
Debra L. Butterfield © 2012

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