The Problem with Dawn

I have been meaning to write this journal for a while, but I haven't known how exactly I wanted to word it  . I know at least a few of my watchers like Dawn and I want to explain why I'm not working more aggressively on her story. 
(just a reminder, this is Dawn and Jon):


I have a few reasons for not working on this story. I've been playing with the Mia and Lily characters for much longer and have done a lot more writing with them  . Essentially, it's Mountain Divide's 'turn' to be told, but that's not the main reason I'm focusing on that story over this one. The main reason is three fold. I'm not read stylistic-wise, plot-wise, or content-wise.

Stylistic-wise is the smallest hurdle to this story in my mind. The image I have in my head for how i would like to tell this story does not match my current art style  . The closest image I have to what I would want pages of this story to look like would be the image at the end of this paragraph. I say this is the smallest hurdle because I know what I have to do to get my art to look the way I want it to look. I need to use more gradient shading, thinner lines, and use more detailed line art. Although this is a minor hurdle, I want to over come it before I start seriously writing and drawing this story.



Plot-wise is an import, but also easy to over come problem. I know the characters well and I know how they interact and the entirety of their back stories  . I know the character arches and I know a lot of minor arches for this story  . Unfortunately, I have yet to establish an overall arch. I need a plot that links all the minor arches and drive the character development. I know how to fix this problem as well. All it takes is a little thought a lot a lot writing. If this were my only major problem, I would use Dawn's story as my NaNoWriMo project   (write a 50,000 word story in a month, I use this as a first draft for my comic writing more info at nanowrimo.org). Again, this is an important stumbling block and I don't want to go further with the story until I overcome it, but I know how to fix the problem.

Content-wise is my major stumbling block. I love my characters  . I know them as individuals and I know how they'd react in almost any situation. I think they play well against each other. The problem I have is that Dawn is dead slave from the 1800's, a rape survivor (sort of), black, Muslim, and has lived her entire life (and afterlife) in New Orleans. I am a white middle class woman from the East Coast who was raised in a Christian home and the most devastating event I have endured was the rupture of my appendix ! I have no frame of reference for the many hardships she would face! Not to mention the fact that I have been to New Orleans once, for a week, in 2012. The disconnect between her life (and death) experiences and mine is enormous and I have NO IDEA how to overcome this dissonance. Despite how drastically different we are, I absolutely love Dawn and I truely want to tell her story, but I'm afraid I won't be able to do her character justice. Once I overcome this issue, I'll be able to start the long journey to writing this story, but until then I'm stuck  . 

That is the problem with Dawn. I don't like the way I draw her, I don't know the overall plot, and I'm afraid I won't do the character justice. Anyone who has any advice for overcoming my cultural dissonance issue I would be eternally in your debt  .