Writers may try to be objective, but it’s hard to avoid generalizations and stereotypes.
Writing Tip for Today: Generalizations and stereotypes assume things the writer cannot know. Here are ideas for thought:
General Descriptions
A generalization can help readers understand a writer’s viewpoint. If you are describing something that’s complicated or varied, condensing to a recognizable generalization can give readers an immediate simple picture.
For instance, if you are writing that your child put a colored, plastic alphabet letter into the oven (!), readers must picture any one of many colors or letters. If you write that it was a blue plastic duck, readers can instantly picture it.
If your story contains characters that might be confusing (say, two grandmothers or several aunts), fiction and memoir writers often create a single composite character to avoid that confusion. These types of generalizations can benefit the work.
General Assumptions
Writers can run into trouble with generalizations if they assume every reader understands the claim in the same way. If you write about the viewpoint of another without any citation to back it up, you court alienating at least some readers.
To say that all people of a race or religion believe or act in a specific way denies reality. We can’t know what others think or believe. To write that all liberals or conservatives say or do x is to make unhelpful and sometimes inflammatory statements.
Ask yourself if your statements or judgments are always true or simply true for you or a group you adhere to. Be willing to spot your own biases. Avoid writing blanket statements, especially if they’re negative. Be on the lookout for the mysterious “they.”
Be on the lookout for the mysterious “they.”
Stereotypical Cliches
Stereotypes tend to sort things into generalizations. Latinos eat beans. Irishmen like to fight. White men can’t jump. Beyond maligning groups of people, these kinds of stereotypes tend to be tired cliches. Cliches give a picture, all right, but they bore readers who rightly conclude that the author is unoriginal.
Stereotypes in both fiction and nonfiction also tend to separate groups from one another. Here again, the “they” is not like “us.” Only writers who intend to smear others want to stereotype any group.
As you write, cliches and stereotypes can sneak into your drafts. One of my editors once called me out for writing about a bad guy rancher who always had a toothpick hanging from his mouth. Even though I’ve known several men who did this, it was a cliché and a stereotype of “bad guys.” I removed it. As you revise, be willing to rewrite generalizations and stereotypes so they don’t impact your polished work.
