an icepick through the keyhole

My favorite fantasy setting, Earthdawn had a very good answer to this. Elves and Orcs and Humans and whatnot are all Races. They're peoples, and while they have individual culture, to paint any of them in such broad strokes is beyond stupidity. The Elven Blood Wood is corrupt, judgmental, and possibly the servant of extraplanar entities out to torture us to death for their own amusement, but elves in general are tall, charismatic, long-lived, and the ability to generalize ends there. The Orc Kingdom of Cara Fahd is a fertile valley populated by nomadic tribesmen. Orcs in general are passionate, free-thinking, short-lived, and are still facing the ghosts of generation after generation of slavery.