Hey! I've had an asexual character for years that's part of a story I'm about to start putting into fruition. I'm not asexual but I want to represent the sexuality accurately. Any suggestions/ places I should look for ideas? Thank you.
If you’re not ace yourself, then your references should come straight from the minds and mouths of ace people. You’ll need to explore the minds of people who live that ace experience, and pay attention to what we want out of life, and also pay attention to the things we fear.
There already exists ace/aro writers, and it’d go a long way to study and explore how they went approaching writing asexuality. Or not even asexuality specifically, but sexuality in general. Asexuality doesn’t just influence your sex life, it also influences everything from your relationship with your body, to your interaction with strangers in public areas, to your comprehension of consent and the word ‘no’, and beyond.
I imagine that getting into the head of an ace character while not being ace yourself can run risks of things just … not adding up. You need to search for resources that aren’t just directed at allosexual people, but also for those dedicated amongst ourselves. Since there’s this huge dearth of accessible information out there, it’s common enough that your run-of-the-mill ace is well practiced at self reflection and the ability to articulate those thoughts.
Words and concepts used in asexual communities
What Does Love Mean When You’re Asexual? (Using a videogame as an analogy)
Sex While Asexual: What’s Going On?Sex Tips For The Hypersexual Ace
There’s also some stuff written by writers, for writers, about asexuality;
Aces Are Not One Flavor: A Don’t-Do List of Lazy Characterization
Love and Sex in Literature
Issues when writing an ace character
Stereotypes to avoid when writing asexual characters
Why so many stories about asexuality hurt asexual people
Writing Asexual Characters: Character-Development Questions
How to show that a character is asexual
Writing sex scenes with asexual characters
Writing Demisexual Characters (Without Invalidating Asexuality)