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Weekly Update: Keeping Me Honest, Being True To Your Subject
9 years ago
General
So I recently had a run in with a critic who essentially accused me of racism (see Hero: Chapter 4 comments for details). Now, it would be easy to tell them they're reading too much into the story, but it does highlight one of the risks I take when I write the kind of stories I do.
If you've read a good number of my stories, you'll notice that I sometimes like to insert elements of real world cultures into my work - Arabic culture (Passion in the Desert), French culture (An American Fox in Paris), and Latino culture (Dancing with Mesteno). I do this because I think it makes the stories more interesting. I also do it because I think diversity is sexy.
But in doing so, there is a risk I might offend readers who are really from those cultural backgrounds. I have a background in anthropology, but I don't claim to be an expert on any of the cultures or ethnic groups I chose to portray in my work.
That being said, I do my best to avoid caricatures. I try to make so-called "ethnic" characters just as nuanced and sophisticated as any others. Obviously, I'm not always successful. But I want to improve. So if any of my characters DO come off as some sort of flat ethnic stereotype, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know! Send me a PM, preferably, rather than blasting it all over the comments page. But DO tell me! I am only human, and I make mistakes.
This seems like a good time to talk about one of the principles to good writing - being true to your subject. A "subject" can be anything you're portraying through your writing. It can be a place, a group of people, a period in history, and so on.
But whenever you do write about something that really exists, it is imperative that you do at least a bare minimum of homework. Especially in this day and age, readers WILL call you out on your bullshit and your inaccuracies. And that destroys their trust in you as a writer.
Now, no one can always been 100% accurate. And there is such a thing as artistic license. But a writer always has to choose how much accuracy to balance against how much license.
To use an example from my last story, "Hero," there is a rape scene. It's largely implied and the full consequences of it are glossed over. That was a deliberate choice to avoid taking the readers' attention away from the main themes. But if the story had been ABOUT rape, then certain points must follow in order to remain true to that subject:
Rape is traumatic. Rape can happen to anyone but usually happens to women. Rape is usually perpetrated by someone close to the victim. These are all facts. And if I were to write a story about a rape victim and NOT include every one of these, then people would have every right to be upset with me.
You must strive to do the same in your work, even if a given subject is something you find uncomfortable or difficult. You have to be willing to sacrifice your own comfort zone to tell the story as it SHOULD be told. Readers also may not like the imagery you evoke. But if the imagery BELONGS there, and isn't just there for shock value, then let them get upset.
One of the less acknowledged benefits of having a right to freedom of speech is the right to be true to one's subject in fiction, without fear of being censored for being lewd or socially unacceptable. That's why a lot of libraries will celebrate "Banned Books Month," to highlight this point.
So don't be afraid of those things you find hard to talk about in print. Your writing will be stronger because of it.
Hope this helps!
If you've read a good number of my stories, you'll notice that I sometimes like to insert elements of real world cultures into my work - Arabic culture (Passion in the Desert), French culture (An American Fox in Paris), and Latino culture (Dancing with Mesteno). I do this because I think it makes the stories more interesting. I also do it because I think diversity is sexy.
But in doing so, there is a risk I might offend readers who are really from those cultural backgrounds. I have a background in anthropology, but I don't claim to be an expert on any of the cultures or ethnic groups I chose to portray in my work.
That being said, I do my best to avoid caricatures. I try to make so-called "ethnic" characters just as nuanced and sophisticated as any others. Obviously, I'm not always successful. But I want to improve. So if any of my characters DO come off as some sort of flat ethnic stereotype, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know! Send me a PM, preferably, rather than blasting it all over the comments page. But DO tell me! I am only human, and I make mistakes.
This seems like a good time to talk about one of the principles to good writing - being true to your subject. A "subject" can be anything you're portraying through your writing. It can be a place, a group of people, a period in history, and so on.
But whenever you do write about something that really exists, it is imperative that you do at least a bare minimum of homework. Especially in this day and age, readers WILL call you out on your bullshit and your inaccuracies. And that destroys their trust in you as a writer.
Now, no one can always been 100% accurate. And there is such a thing as artistic license. But a writer always has to choose how much accuracy to balance against how much license.
To use an example from my last story, "Hero," there is a rape scene. It's largely implied and the full consequences of it are glossed over. That was a deliberate choice to avoid taking the readers' attention away from the main themes. But if the story had been ABOUT rape, then certain points must follow in order to remain true to that subject:
Rape is traumatic. Rape can happen to anyone but usually happens to women. Rape is usually perpetrated by someone close to the victim. These are all facts. And if I were to write a story about a rape victim and NOT include every one of these, then people would have every right to be upset with me.
You must strive to do the same in your work, even if a given subject is something you find uncomfortable or difficult. You have to be willing to sacrifice your own comfort zone to tell the story as it SHOULD be told. Readers also may not like the imagery you evoke. But if the imagery BELONGS there, and isn't just there for shock value, then let them get upset.
One of the less acknowledged benefits of having a right to freedom of speech is the right to be true to one's subject in fiction, without fear of being censored for being lewd or socially unacceptable. That's why a lot of libraries will celebrate "Banned Books Month," to highlight this point.
So don't be afraid of those things you find hard to talk about in print. Your writing will be stronger because of it.
Hope this helps!
