Writers in the Storm

by Amy Winters-Voss

Last time, we chatted about how to recognize issues and how we can be more sensitive when writing about people in a group we aren’t a part of, whether it be avoiding cultural appropriation, hurtful stereotypes, or misrepresentation. Man, that article was hard to write! In part because I felt I had to triple check my upcoming book, but it also made me look hard at my own biases. Everyone has them. But facing them can feel like a brick to the forehead until they’re dealt with.

This month’s article should be gentler as we talk about how to avoid such issues.

Inclusivity

Showing cultural diversity or inclusion is more than just throwing a character in from a collection of cultures or under-represented groups.

In his stream on the World Anvil Twitch channel, Using other Cultures in Worldbuilding , Chris Lontok talked about how representing groups and cultures has changed over time. I highly recommend checking out the video.

Chris mentioned when he was younger, he was super excited to see Asian representation in the D&D Oriental Adventures book. Back then, Filipino representation was nonexistent. Today, everything’s different. I love this quote from him.

“We were happy to be included. But the time for tokenism is done now.”

Avoid Cultural Appropriation.

Let’s review one of the definitions from last month’s article via the Florida Seminole Tourism site.

“Cultural appropriation is commonly used to identify when the imagery, fashion, practices, music, or artifacts of a culture are removed from their original context. The significance is ignored and they are taken and used by someone else.”

Using traditional dress as a costume for Halloween in your writing would likely be appropriation. Do an internet search and ask people from the culture group for their perspective. Native Americans have often spoken about how they feel it’s disrespectful. Some groups are more lenient.

Here’s a few more examples. Let’s say your character travels to South America and is inspired by the textiles there to make a fashion line. Did they give credit and perhaps work with the people who created the originals, or did they just copy the traditional designs to make a quick buck?

Are you pulling just one small piece of a culture’s folklore or mythology such as the Thunderbird from the Lakota, Algonquin or Haida people and running wild with it? This could turn the Thunderbird into something the culture it came from never meant it to be. Or have you taken say samurai and katana use and thrown it into your world and called it Japan, when those are the only two recognizable Japanese cultural aspects? It’s better to share the culture as a whole.

Always verify before using traditions, myths, and folklore. Where does this lead us?

Learn about the culture or under-represented group!

Let the learning required be an excuse to dig into and enjoy researching. Take your time to investigate and chat with people of that heritage or group. When you approach someone, do it respectfully by asking if they are ok with questions and if they have time.

Consider learning the language. It’s a window into the culture’s thoughts and values. (I won't tell you how long I've been trying to learn Japanese, because I wish I could speak it better than I do. I find it particularly difficult because the sentence order throws me even after years of trying. But with every word and phrase, I learn a bit more and get hints into the hearts and minds of the Japanese people. I won't give up!)

Research the hurtful and harmful stereotypes and tropes so you can avoid them. TvTropes.org and Google are places to start. Ensure underrepresented people don't feel helpless or unvalued. One group these issues often hit are the physically disabled and mentally ill. Yet, they can lead good, productive lives just like everyone else.

Above, I mentioned chatting with people from the group you’re writing about. Don’t be afraid to reach out. Who knows, maybe you’ll make a new friend. Ask about everything - meanings, symbols, cultural dress, celebrations, dos and don’ts, values, beliefs, important sayings, the food, challenges, stereotypes, you name it. And always remember to thank the person for their time. Consider bringing a gift or treating them to a meal to show your gratitude.

Share culture with food.

Food is always a great way to share about a culture, whether in your writing or in person. It’s an excellent excuse to entice a reader into wanting to learn more! With food, come the customs associated with cuisine, eating, drinking, and sharing a meal.

Think about questions you might have.

• Do they give thanks for the meal?
• Which utensils do they use, if any?
• What values do they place on preparing food?
• What are the regional favorites?

Also, check out what a country thinks of tourists visiting for big clues into their values. For non-racial groups, what assumptions bother them?

Examples from Japan

Let’s look at Japan, since I’m more familiar with it and just got back from a trip this spring.

Things Japanese people complain about tourists doing include: 

• Not wearing a mask. Even after the law said we didn’t have to wear one outside, everyone did. It’s a collectivist society, so we didn’t want to stick out or be rude. The pressure to keep wearing one was real.
• Not showing proper respect at temples and shrines. They are popular tourist destinations, but many tourists don’t educate themselves on the differences in customs when visiting each. At a shrine, one purifies themselves by rinsing their hands and mouth, but at a Temple a visitor may light some incense if it’s available. Praying at each is also a little different. So, educate yourself on this for a visit and for writing stories with Japanese characters.

Much of this comes down to “mimic what others are doing.” Even if you’re not in the country or region, you can get a gist from documentaries and vloggers who live in the area. (Try to pick film creators or vloggers from the culture.)

What do I need to be careful about when writing for my own novels? Several people have told me to ensure I get Japanese history correct.

More areas to research

Remember to take care in your descriptions of people. “Almond eyes” for East Asians isn’t acceptable anymore. How about using the phrase “hooded eyes” instead? And I’ve seen so many people of color complaining about their skin pigment being compared to foods. If you’re writing a bedroom scene, this may be applicable for the characters. Otherwise, a food comparison may give unwanted connotations for your character. Colors and other natural materials such as copper, ebony, etc. are generally welcomed. 

I’ve chatted quite a bit about regional cultures because it’s the most common one for my books. But what about other under-represented groups? Again, we can learn.

Don’t make assumptions. 

If your character is legally blind, remember it doesn’t necessarily mean they see nothing. Find out how a blind person might navigate a cell phone. If your character is poor, is it obvious? It may not be. For trans characters, being called by their deadname (the old name they had before deciding on one that suits them now) can be a constant source of hurt and frustration.

“But I talked with someone from that group and they’re thrilled to see representation!” Great. Don’t let them down. A friend in Japan feels that we Americans may be entirely too picky about this. Perhaps we are sometimes. But I also know America hasn’t been good to minorities over the centuries—Japanese-American citizens being forced into internment camps and losing their rights and property, the forced relocation of native peoples under horrible conditions, brutal slavery and segregation of people just because they had black skin, to name a few injustices.

Ensure you’ve done your due diligence when it comes to research. Use solid sources. Anime, Wikipedia, and movies are usually not. They can, however, help you figure out questions to look into more deeply. I’ll recommend documentaries, biographies, interviews, scholarly papers, and again talk to those of the culture or group. Good research will help you and your editors.

Sensitivity Readers

They are some of the most important editors you can hire when writing about a demographic you are not a part of.

“A sensitivity reader is someone who reads for offensive content, misrepresentation, stereotypes, bias, lack of understanding, etc. They create a report for an author and/or publisher outlining the problems that they find in a piece of work and offer solutions in how to fix them. By doing this, the literary quality of a work is substantially improved.” from the University of Alberta

Sometimes it's hard to vet their expertise. They don’t list books they’ve worked on. Reviews will be your big key here. On the minus side, evidently some contracts won’t let you mention the sensitivity reader without their permission. It can be tricky to find readers for some groups too.

Please understand, sensitivity reading can be painful. As a reader, they have to face the hurtful and heavy topics such as "an autistic girl who spent her time hating herself and being a burden to her family”. They truly are often the brave, unsung heroes in the publishing world. Go through your work again if a sensitivity reader rejects it. They might not have wanted to touch the manuscript because a specific topic hurts too much.

Can sensitivity edits go too far?

I think so. There was an absurd example about acne at the end of the article “Why the use of sensitivity readers is causing such a stir in the publishing world.” Also, we need to recognize where we are as a modern culture and that views have changed drastically when investigating works from previous decades and centuries. 

A good sensitivity reader will share their view on issues and give you guidance on how to better represent a group. But you make the final call. So, take a deep breath and be open to the report you receive—prepared to make changes and adapt. It’s better to deal with issues early in the manuscript process, instead of after publication.

What if I make a mistake?

We will from time to time. Be humble, even when it hurts to hear your work was offensive or had cultural mistakes in it. Acknowledge the issues and correct them. Granted, there will always be someone who won’t accept the apology, but you will have done what you can to make it right.

Just before the release of my first book, I had to scramble to correct a few cultural mistakes and I lost a reader I respected. Talk about panic! Though, she was kind and looked over a chapter for me after corrections. The changes improved my story, so it was worth the effort!

In conclusion

As authors and creators, we’re pushed to get work out there. But taking your time to research, thinking it through, and getting it checked by multiple people can help you avoid hurting or offending the demographics you’re writing about. Respect is king. The diversity of people in our world is amazing. Let me challenge you to bring a little peace into the world and build bridges with your work.

So, what’s your favorite source for learning about demographics and cultures?

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About Amy

Amy is the author of the Liminal Chronicles series, a mythological/urban fantasy set in small town Japan that focuses on social redemption and found family.

She runs the vssCollab very short story challenge on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumbler and publishes the best of the entries in the online zine--'In Threads'. Additionally, she founded the Anvilite Streamers Corps and streams her writing and crafts on Twitch.

Top Image by Clay Banks on Unsplash

by Eldred “Bob” Bird

You’ve just finished the final draft of your current project and sent it off to your editor. Congratulations! After taking a well-deserved break it’s time to get on to that next story. You sit down and stare at the blank page in front of you. You wrack your brain for a kernel of an idea, but the inspiration well has gone dry. Panic begins to set in.

Does this sound familiar? Every writer has been there at one time or another, but don’t worry. I’ve got your back. Here’s five of my favorite methods to spark new ideas and fan the flames of creativity.

1. Read Headlines

One of my top ways to generate ideas is to comb through headlines for something odd or inspirational. I look for things that stand out. You never know what kind of weird and wonderful things might pop up.

If something catches my eye, I’ll give the article a quick scan to see if there’s any meat on the bone I can work with. Sometimes I don’t go any further than the headline. If the reporter has provided a great hook in the banner, it can be enough to fire up my imagination.

Most people don’t get a daily newspaper anymore, but fear not. There are plenty of online news sources. Most news websites have an offbeat or odd news category of some type. That’s where I usually find the best material.

2. Dig Up the Past

Sinking a shovel into your own history can expose some long-forgotten gems. I’ve taken a trip down memory lane more than once when looking for characters or situations that might make a good story.

Think back to your childhood and try to remember your first day of school or the first time you drove a car. We all have memories we go back to regularly, but I like to unearth the people and situations I haven’t thought about in years. Looking back through the lens of time and experience gives me a very different perspective to work from.

If you can remember your dreams, tap into those as well. Mine are usually a hodge-podge of random images, people, and things that never happened, but some of them are fertile ground where stories have germinated. One example of this is my short story The Waking Room. I didn’t dream I was in the story, I dreamed I was writing it.

3. Friends and Family

If your family is anything like mine, then you’re in luck. There is no shortage of drama and strange twists that could lead to a good story. Pull on a few threads and see what unravels. Talk to your older relatives and climb into the family tree. You never know what kind of fruits and nuts might be hiding in there!

Go a layer out and question your friends. Most people are happy to talk about themselves when given the chance. They’ve probably experienced things that you haven’t and will express them in a different way than you would. That different voice can add color that might inspire you.

A word of warning when dealing with stories from real people—change the names and some of the details to avoid future conflicts. You’re just looking for inspiration here, not a fight.

4. Get Out of the House

This one might seem obvious, but when we’re staring at a blank screen it’s easy to forget we have the option to get up and leave. There’s a whole world outside the door that’s chocked full of characters and stories just waiting to be discovered. Unchain yourself from the desk and explore it.

I’ll admit, I’ve found some of my best character ideas while sitting in a local bar. Sometimes I take my laptop with me, plant myself in a corner, and take in the life going on around me. I try to pay attention to conversations, facial expressions, and body language. When I can’t hear a conversation at another table, I’ll try to guess what they’re talking about based on how animated they’re getting.

If you’re not comfortable hanging out in bars, go to wherever people gather. Parks, malls, libraries, museums—it doesn’t matter. Just get out of your private space and your own head for a while.

5. Play the “What If” Game

I saved the “What If Game” for last because it’s one of my favorites. I could write a whole post on this, and in fact I have. Here’s a link to the full WITS article on the game. Basically, it’s a game of possibilities conjured up by looking at the world through the warped lens of what is best described as a funhouse mirror.

What I like to do is look around and pick an everyday object. How is it normally used? What if it was used in a different way—the crazier the better. A good example would be to go into your kitchen and ask, “What could a killer use to take their next victim?” Eliminate the obvious things like knives and other sharp objects. Heavy pots and pans don’t count either. Also, think about what could you use to defend yourself?

Once you have your object and how you might use it ask the question, “And then what happens?” Keep asking this question until something sticks and a story is born.

Final Thoughts

While none of these methods are earth-shattering, they are effective at getting me out of a creative rut and on to the next project. The whole purpose of them is just to wake up my imagination and get me moving again. I hope they do the same for you!

How do you generate new ideas for your next writing project? Have you found the key that unlocks your creative side? Share your ideas and experiences in the comments below.

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About Bob

Eldred Bird writes contemporary fiction, short stories, and personal essays. He has spent a great deal of time exploring the deserts, forests, and deep canyons inside his home state of Arizona. His James McCarthy adventures, Killing Karma, Catching Karma, and Cold Karma, reflect this love of the Grand Canyon State even as his character solves mysteries amidst danger. Eldred explores the boundaries of short fiction in his stories, The Waking Room, Treble in Paradise: A Tale of Sax and Violins, and The Smell of Fear.

When he’s not writing, Eldred spends time cycling, hiking, and juggling (yes, juggling…bowling balls and 21-inch knives).

His passion for photography allows him to record his travels. He can be found on Twitter or Facebook, or at his website.

Top Image by Mohamed Hassan via Pixabay

by acflory

In an autobiography, the author is the story so there is no such thing as 'too much'. In fiction however, the author's presence can sometimes become too obvious, to the detriment of the story.

I don't know about you, but when I read fiction, I want to be carried away to another place and time. I want to meet new, larger-than-life characters who do things I could never manage myself. It's just me and the story.

When the author intrudes, however, all I get is 'aren't I funny? aren't I cool? aren't I clever?' To which my answer is inevitably...no. I want to read the story, not the author's ego fest.

'But how can we not be part of the story?' you ask. 'Everything we write ultimately comes from us!'

And that is true. Every thought, word, and deed that we write about springs from how we see ourselves and the world around us. That part is inevitable. Even when we write about things that completely contradict our personal values, those values were still the point from which we diverged.

Infusing our values

To give you an example, in Vokhtah I created an alien culture in which every creature was some degree of sociopath. As someone with a wee bit too much empathy, I was constantly having to edit out the bits where my instinctive response made them too 'nice'.

Most of the time, however, we infuse our values into our work without even being aware of it. That's simply how we see the world.

Two famous works of fiction that illustrate this point beautifully are Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, and A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens created a hero who sacrificed himself for another, an act of nobility that still brings a lump to my throat. By contrast, Ayn Rand created a character who was noble because he embodied the ideals of capitalism.

As a 'progressive', I found myself arguing with Ayn Rand the whole way through the book. Nevertheless, the story was persuasive enough to make me question my own, long held views and beliefs.

The power of persuasion

Why were both stories so persuasive? The answer is simple. Both authors genuinely believed in the values and world view they presented in their fiction, and Readers responded to it.

That ability to persuade is the super power we authors wield. But only if we allow the story to be front and centre. If we project too much of ourselves into the narrative, it stops being a work of fiction and lurches towards autobiography, or worse, a dry treatise on philosophy, neither of which is particularly persuasive. Or immersive.

Yet isn't that precisely what fiction is supposed to be all about?

So how, exactly, do we create stories that are both persuasive and immersive?

One technique which has been done to death in writing circles is ‘show don’t tell’. In theory, the author is supposed to let the Reader see, hear, and feel the action for herself. I have no problem with the theory, but the implementation is often too painful to read. I don’t want to know every. single. trivial. boring. detail in a scene. I don’t want to know every time the protagonist scratches his rear, or rubs his nose. I only want to see-hear-feel those things that are important to the story!

Relatable characters

Another thing authors could do is to avoid first person POV [point of view] unless they are sure they are not going to fall into the trap of identifying with the protagonist. Sadly, that is very hard to do when you’re constantly writing ‘I did, I saw, I felt, I thought...blah blah’. Even with the best of intentions, many writers end up creating a character who is the version of themselves they want others to see.

I cannot tell you how many stories I’ve read in which the protagonist is facing a life-or-death fight, and instead of focusing on the fight, he thinks about things that make him appear ‘cool’. Blasé quips might work for Han Solo [Star Wars], but it rarely works in books.

The opposite of the non-heroic hero is the earnest protagonist who is so busy being ‘honest’ that he/she comes across as a self-indulgent navel gazer. Curiously, seeing the protagonist from the inside this way usually highlights the flaws in his/her character without revealing many endearing characteristics. As a result, the Reader is given few reasons to care about the character.

Problems with point of view

In fairness, I have to say that first person POV can be done well, but it isn’t the easy option so many new writers think it is. If anything, it’s the hardest. ‘Me, me, me’ issues aside, in first person POV, the protagonist can only know what he/she sees directly. That means the author has to get very creative in order to present vital information that the protagonist cannot know. That’s hard.

Of course, third person POV is not immune to these pitfalls either, it’s just a bit easier to avoid them. Instead of having to write everything from the perspective of one character, the writer has the option of presenting information through the eyes of multiple characters, each of whom ‘sees’ a different side of the story. It’s a great technique, but the danger is that the author will get carried away and go head hopping.

For those who don’t know, head hopping occurs when the point of view keeps jumping from one character to the next, often with no way for the Reader to know who is doing/saying/thinking what. Instant confusion. Confuse the Reader enough, and they will fall out of the story. And you can’t be persuasive if the Reader gives up and stops reading, can you?

The story comes first

I don’t believe in hard and fast rules when it comes to writing because what works for one writer may not work for another, and the difference between the two is often very subtle.  The only thing I would say with any certainty is that the story must come first. It’s not just a vehicle for us to tell the world what we think. Good stories have a life of their own because they transcend what one person, the author, may think, and instead say something important about all people. 

Good stories are universal.

Have you discovered too much of an author’s voice in a story? Do you notice point of view plays into author intrusion?

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About acflory

acflory is a science fiction writer from Australia who's passionate about technology, politics, psychology, pets, biology, gaming, music, and food. All of those passions seem to end up in her writing which is an eclectic mix of hard and social science fiction. Hard, because everything she writes about is based on some fact, no matter how obscure, and social, because she loves to explore what it means to be human, even when she's writing about aliens.

Find her on WordPress, Amazon, and YouTube

Top Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay