how to write religious characters
a.k.a mel getting annoyed because she can’t find any
the most important thing. DO NOT WRITE THEM AS OPPRESSED.
no seriously please dont. this goes for actual religions or whatever religion you created in your wip. im sure there are oppressed people in the world HOWEVER there are people who actually like being religious? *gasp* i know, it’s such a hard concept to wrap your mind around but im sure you’ll manage
another important thing. RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE NOT BORING
this is a stereotype that i literally CAN NOT STAND. we’re pretty fun people who just happen to follow a religion. deal with it. we can have fun. so chill out with the whole generic “religious person who is literally so boring and never has fun and spends their entire days talking about how you must be saved” it’s annoying and repetitive and if i have to read another character like that i will most likely die.
have them miss events because of a religious obligation
sometimes we have important religious things to go to with our families that we can’t just blow off to hang out with our friends. if you’re writing a religious character have them skip things because they had a religious obligation. it’s more realistic
there are religious people who are more relaxed about their faith
sure there are people who are super religious and follow everything PERFECTLY, but *shrugs* there are people out there who aren’t like that. there are people who only celebrate their faith on really important religious holidays and dont follow everything word for word. they’re valid. they’re counted as religious. and they aren’t any less of a (insert whatever religion name) because of it
have them get excited for big religious holidays
wether they’re actual religious holidays or one you made up for your wip religion (if it’s an actual religion make sure you RESEARCH IT FIRST) but yeah, we get excited for important religious holidays. especially if there’s a long wait for it. have them be excited and happy when it comes around.
WRITE 👏 RELIGIOUS 👏LGBTQ+ 👏CHARACTERS
no seriously please do. there are religious lgbtq+ people out there. write them as having an internal struggle between them coming to terms with being queer and their religion not supporting them. religion is for everyone end of story. (and if any homophobic people start yelling at me in the comments you will be blocked)
have them go against some religious code and then feel bad about it.
think inej ghafa. she feels bad for killing and tries to repent for it. honestly inej is a perfect example for writing religious characters so THANK YOU LEIGH BARDUGO. but yeah have that happen. religious people aren’t going to be perfect. they’re going to mess up obviously. think of how they would feel and how they try to make up for it.
this is already getting WAY to long so im just going to leave with this. it’s honestly not that hard to write religious characters. it’s really not. just write a normal character and then also have them follow a religion. really not that hard guys. if you’re character is following an actual religion make sure to RESEARCH IT FIRST. make sure you’re being respectful to people who also follow it. dont make fun of religion. it’s important for a lot of people. and maybe we want to see that in written characters. so umm yeah that’s it for now.
