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| The Secret of Obedience - Coming November '15 |
One of the questions the moderator asked the panelists was, "What kind of character would you be frightened to write?" The first to respond, an articulate, successful author of f/f romance, said that even though she'd been married for fifteen years to an African American woman, she wouldn't write a black character, because she might not get it right.
And I thought, "well damn...
If SHE'S not going to write a black character, when she's got an in-house (in-bed?) expert to check her facts, where do I get off doing it?"
Another panelist said that as a trans-man with some economic stability, he wasn't qualified to write about the experiences of trans kids who were living on the street. The other panelists made similar statements, and their rationale went along the lines of, "if we don't get it right, it'll be hurtful."
To which I thought, "but if you don't even try, they'll be invisible."
True confession: I just signed a contract with Evernight Publishing for a short piece entitled The Secret of Obedience. One of the heroes is a white, twenty-two year old gay man from Ellensburg, his best friend is a black football player, and his love interest is a twenty-one year old Vietnamese man who works for a clothing designer and spends a fair amount of time in dance clubs.
Am I any of those things?
Nope.
Do I know people who are similar to these characters?
More-or-less.
Do I think I do a good job of telling their stories?
Maybe I'm arrogant, but yes, and here's why. The story's about a young person who's had to make compromises to feel accepted by his friends. He moves to the big city and struggles to feel connected with the people he meets. He falls for a young man who's brilliantly talented, but who has been rejected by his family for who he is.
I know what it feels like to make compromises to feel accepted by the group. I know what it feels like to walk into a big, new place and feel overwhelmed by it. I know what it feels like when my true self doesn't align with my family's values.
And I know what it feels like when fear is the primary motivator of my decisions.
That's all in my story.
I don't mean to make this all about me, but at the same time I don't want to potentially bring criticism to others by using their work as examples.
Here's one final question. Do I feel like I got the details right?
To the best of my ability, yes. Do I think I perpetuated any negative stereotypes? No, but one of the risks is that by putting this story out there, I'll reveal my own prejudices and blind spots. I may get feedback, though reviews or on-line comments or email, where people point out what I got wrong. If that happens, I'll take those comments and learn from them and let them guide my approach for next time.
Because there's going to be a next time. I try and write the world as I see it, and that includes people of all different races and genders and sexual orientations. I'll probably get things wrong, and I'll probably make mistakes.
But I truly believe visibility, even if it's imperfect, beats the alternative.
What do you think? I'm open to any comments, as long as they're constructive.
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ReplyDeleteOops, sorry - I'm trying again, LOL.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you wrote the story well, you always do. Of course, race, nationality and even being male/female gives the character a different perspective that others won't have, but first and foremost, we're all human beings. THEN we're male/female, black/white/asian, Christian/Jewish/pagan/agnostic, etc. As long as the story stays true to the heart of being human, and I'm sure it does, you can't go wrong.
I forgot gay/straight in my long list, LOL :)
DeleteI think if the story was about a black man's experiences or a gay Chinese woman's life experience, then I'd have to use a different approach. But moving to a new city is fairly universal, and so is falling in love.
DeleteThanks sweetie!
I loved this story. Honestly, I didn't read it from the viewpoint of "a story about minority persons." I read it as exactly the things Liv said - a story about taking chances, being who you are, and finding your place. A story about falling in love. And honestly, I think we need more stories about all types of people who are doing those things. I'm glad you wrote this, Liv.
ReplyDeleteThanks Irene. You really helped me sort out my thinking on this (as I as frantically messaged you from the conference), and it makes me happy every time you say nice things about Obedience.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Liv. I think we have a huge problem in publishing when there is a definite fear from mainstream writers when it comes to writing diverse characters. Talk about limiting creativity. I don’t think any writer should feel fear or be limited to only writing within their race or sexual orientation, but I also feel strongly that the publishing gatekeepers make an effort and look to diverse writers to tell their own stories and vary their list. This has not been done in the past and will go a long way towards bringing equality to genre publishing.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Kwana. I would not at all want my story to supersede the work of someone who's actually living the experience. That's where the truth really lies, and that's where publishers should look for it.
DeleteAs always I'm in awe of you Livvy-baby. I think that no matter who the character as authors and as readers we need to remember that for all our differences, at the core we are all just people looking to love and be loved. And I think you hit that mark effortlessly!
ReplyDeleteThanks my dear. I hope we can get to a place where we attach less fear to both our differences and our similarities.
DeleteYeah, I agree that it's more important to acknowledge diversity than ignore out of fear of offending, but I think Kwana's comment about actually hearing from diverse voices is particularly important. Sometimes I wish it was possible to have more detailed author info for this reason (despite the fact that it's really NONE of my business - heh).
ReplyDeleteI do find myself wondering a lot as I read m/m romances not written by gay men as to how authentic a representation of a m/m relationship they actually are... (Because what actually would I know anyway?) So I do keep this in mind as I'm reading. I always love and appreciate the reviews by gay men for this reason.
But I think you do a fabulous job of breaking out of the box, Liv, from what I've read of yours (not Obedience, yet).
You make a couple good points, Ellen, and I will admit that when I read an m/m romance written by a gay man, the way the men interact tends to carry a different weight for me. (Which is why the Josh Lanyon thing jerked my chain...but that's a different blog post.) So I guess there's really two changes I'd like to see happen: I'd like to see more writers feel comfortable creating diverse characters (and doing the work it takes to get it right), and at the same time I'd like to see publishers pursue and publicize diverse writers, to promote authenticity.
DeleteAgreed :-D
DeleteGreat post on a subject I've literally JUST been exploring in myself. Thank you for this.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you stopped by, and I hope you took away something to think about. Cheers!
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