When I draw guys I tend to give them big... um... moose knuckles. When people point it out I simply say "Straight man draw ladies with big tiddies. Gay man draw men with big junk."
An example (one of many):
When I write dialogue I tend to write it the way that real people talk, so instead of "We're running out of time!" a character might say "We're runnin' outta time!"
And if I'm writing dialogue of somebody speaking with an accent I will try to spell it out like that accent. In Wild Nights, Hot and Crazy Days one of the characters is a Newfoundlander, and Newfoundlanders have a distinct accent. It was hilarious trying to type this out. An excerpt:
“Ok, t’anks b’y, I’ll get you tomorrow”, he said as he bent down to pick up the pack, still avoiding looking at us. He pulled a couple of smokes out and turned to walk away. As he got to the door I heard him heave a deep sigh. I heard him mutter “No, it int right to not say sumpin”, and I was just about to ask him what he felt wasn’t right when he turned around and faced us.
“I jus’ wanted to ‘pologize to you. To bot’ o’ you. Abou’ las’ night. Troy, I dint know who you was or why you was here, an’ I shoulna ast you to drive me out there. I was an idiot, and I almos’ fucked things up for th’ two o’ you. I’m sorry.”
I was caught completely off guard.
“Wait... what?”
“I said ’m sorry. Listen, I don’ care ‘bout you two bein’ boyfrien’s or anytin like tha’. T’ain’t none o’ my business, as long as you’re happy, th’ two o’ you. I’ve known Carmen since I was a teenager, and e’s always done righ’ by me. I dint know ‘e was gay or anyt'in but tha’ don’ matter. Ne’r did, really. ‘E deserves to be ‘appy, an’ I was a real dick las’ night, an’ I coulda fucked every’tin up. ‘m glad I dint, but I coulda, an’ m’ sorry.”
You could have pushed me over with a feather. This was a Rodney that I had never seen before: A Rodney that actually had thoughts and feelings, and even more strange, empathy for other people. I was at a loss for words. Finally, Troy spoke.
“It’s Ok. It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“Aye, but it coulda bin some’tin. ‘Tis only ‘cause you’re such a good sport tha’ ‘twasn’.”
“No, Really”, I said. “It’s Ok. No harm was done. You’re forgiven.”
Rodney looked honestly relieved.
I said “You know, you don’t have to leave straight away. You’re not interrupting anything, we were just gonna lay down and relax.”
“Naw. I don’ wanna fuck t’ings up 'twixt you two ennymore”
You want to believe that Spell Checker had kittens over any of Rodney's dialogue!
Link to this series:
Now, when it comes to writing fiction, I tend to give the main characters long hair (Daecon and Evander both have long hair). Mixed race couples are common but race isn't an issue with Shapeshifters because they can be just about any colour (including ones that don't occur naturally in humans, such as blue or green). I also tend to go into way too many details about vehicles in the story. It's the gearhead in me.
Link to this series: