A Deck of Cards

I would like to discuss something that we see more and more: what you are needs to correspond to what you write. Or does it?      A lot of news and blog articles, comments and videos relate to how an author look (black, white and other skin colors) or their gender and sexuality orientation (cis, by, gay, lesbian, asexual,etc...) compared to what they write about.      I will give you my view of it, and then you can comment your thoughts (please, no swearwords and other nonsense, this is a friendly debate).      Personally, I understand that if an author plans to write about 'real life', then they should be aware of what they are talking about. That includes research as far as I am concerned. What do I mean by that?      -Well, for one, talk to people. Not just your friends and family, because let's face it, they are a great mental support but do they really give constructive feedback?      ...

I've been really busy lately working on my drawings. This is my own way of picturing key places as well as key characters. I thought that I knew each of my characters, since I have a detailed questionnaire for several of them. What I did not factor in were all those little questions that I did not have the answer to when I worked on each sketch.  I did not have answers to questions like: 'is Axel left-handed or right-handed?' or 'What type of weapon can a one armed man use?' or 'What type of facial piercing does this character have?'  Now I am looking at these questions and think that I have a better idea of my characters, but the real question is: do I really need all that information? Are the answers to any of my questions going to be useful? Drawing I sketched of Liam, one of my characters.