[quote=@Dagger]
Spin off question (I'll update the original post too): What are obstacles you have to writing characters who are a different gender/race/sexuality/any other quality as yourself?

I notice a lot of people in the 1x1 section seem to stick to writing as their own gender and want to open this thread up further for discussion and advice for anyone who might want to branch out from their niche, whatever that may be.
[/quote]

Imma be real here and say effort.

I don't care much about what other people think in terms of my RPing and in terms of writing a novel that's what a qualified editor is for (telling you if you are off base with your style).

However, what I often worry about is just the amount of effort that it requires to radically diverge from who I am in real life or what I have a decent knowledge about in terms of social categories or things like culture. Although, I suppose this also is a result of my desire to write plausibly and with some accuracy (considering real life).

For example, I don't doubt that without enough proper research I could write a believable and high quality male, heterosexual, Malaysian pirate in a cyberpunk setting. However, the amount of work I would have to do feel like I really nailed said person would be pretty insane.

Similarly, as an East Coast Best Coast person, it's pretty easy to spot every invented idea of New York City that people write up because it rarely passes the five minutes of googling test. Which obviously, doesn't mean people shouldn't set their RP in New York City or write up NYC peeps, but it's an case study for how easily people who know stuff for reals will actually spot holes in your made up stuff.

It's the same issue I have with writing severe trauma or mental illness into an RP, I'm just not confident I have enough knowledge or even if I am willing to dive deep enough into either for a character in an RP to not just seem like some cheap pull at any reader's emotions.

I guess my tip would really be write what you know, unless you actually have the talent to write outside the box and the energy to do the appropriate amount of research.