But while the diagnosis is clear, the solution is obviously much harder. I do think it essentially comes down to character. You cannot have Socratic mouthpieces. These need to be characters that you make the reader feel are real, that we have known or can recognize as true to our lived experience. You need to think about who these people in your story are. Sit down and think about their backstories and what has brought them to the present moment of your story. Ask yourself what their greatest fear or hope is. What’s their greatest shame? What’s their biggest wound in life, or their greatest joy? Where did they grow up and why is that significant? What’s the one thing they’ll be thinking about or remembering on their death bed? Not all of this will actually appear in the story, but they will help you get to know your characters. These questions will give context and complexity to the way in which you write/present them in the present narrative of your story. -WF

Check out other work in the Racists of America series here.