Race in Literature

When I first started writing, I always made my main character female. It wasn’t a conscious decision that I had taken weeks to think about. I'm female, so my characters are female. As I got older, I wanted to experiment so I tried to write from a male perspective. Having never been a male, I had to do a little research. I asked my husband and my friends' husbands lots of random "what if" questions and used their responses to shape how my male characters would react. I thought about all the people I've known or observed in my short life and borrowed personality traits and gave them to my characters.

I like to play around with techniques and points of view. Experimenting helps you grow as a writer. And it's fun to get outside of your box and not write the same thing all the time. 

But then a friend asked me if I deliberately thought about what race my characters are. Up until this point my female leads had always been black or bi-racial. I think that she asked because the story I was working on at the time, my female lead had pale skin and pink hair. While I always made the main cast of characters diverse, I never really worried too much about race. I just created the character I felt would best fit with the idea I was crafting at the time. 

But her question made me start thinking about whether or not I had a responsibility to make my characters dark skinned. Being part of a community that's under represented in all forms of media around the world, her question made me think that I was somehow doing myself, my children, and my community a disservice by creating light skin characters. But then I worried that if I deliberately wrote only about dark skin people, then I'm putting myself in a box and limiting how creative I'm allowed to be. 

This can be a controversial issue. It typically comes up for discussion after the work is finished and becomes popular. Depending on who the author is determines how their subject will be discussed. A white author will inevitably be accused of cultural appropriation or using white privilege to profit off a disadvantaged group. While an author of color won't get those same criticisms. 

And I know it's annoying, but I'm going to say it anyway. I see both sides of the issue. As a writer, you just want to tell your story. You want to take that great idea you had in the shower or on that drive to work and give it everything you have. But depending on who you are, there will be layers of censorship. But understanding others pain is important. Understanding what you can and can't say is part of being an adult and living in society.

As an artist, it never feels fair when you're the one being censored, but leveling the playing field for the marginalized is important. 

When I write, I don't want to worry about if my characters are black enough or not. I don't want to worry if I have too many females in the story and not enough men. I hate feeling like I need to make an inclusive cast for all the little kids who spend hours in a bookstore and never find characters who resemble them. For me, every character is like a new person i meet. They are who they are. They look the way they look, act how they act, and I don't want to apologize. 

Before you start feeling vindicated or offended, I am in no way giving permission for someone to start writing from the perspective of a person of color, as if they understand the history and pain that comes with living their life. Or writing a story rife with stereotypes. I'm just saying, I hate feeling like my work is being judged because I haven't given people of color representation when I am also a woman of color.  

 As a writer, all I ever want is to have people read and enjoy my story. When I come up with a great idea, I just want to write it and share it. 

As always, my posts are my personal thoughts. I write to start a discussion so that people can learn from me and so that I can learn from them. So, have something to say? Let's talk. But also, be respectful. 

Dealing with distractions

Ideally, when you have a great idea and you're in the creative mood, you could sit down in front of your computer or with a pen and a notebook and spend hours working on your next amazing project. But for many of us, writing has to come after seeing that all the kids are dropped at school, the laundry is done, and we've put in 40 hours a week at the job that pays the rent and buys the food. At the end of all that, can you really say you have the motivation to work more? 

     I'll be the first to admit that I get tired. I lose my will to be creative after being employee, mother and wife. I make excuses like, "I'll do it tomorrow." Or "I'll write on the weekend." But we all know that tomorrow keeps becoming some distant creature of the future and that weekends are spent running errands or sleeping in. 

     Many authors will tell you to treat writing like a job and force yourself to work. I have never been a fan of that approach. Writing has always been something that I enjoy. Reading is a pleasure and I don't want to spoil those things by making them as miserable for me as my 9 to 5 by making it a requirement. I also have read many books and I believe you can tell when the writer was trying too hard or forcing themselves to just get it done. Fiction writing is a labor of love. And in the end, I believe there should be more love than labor in the final product. 

     That being said, fitting writing into your life has to be a priority if you're serious about being an author. And there are ways to mix writing into your daily life without ruining the creative experience. If you ride the train or bus to work,then write during your commute. Write while you sit on the sidelines during your kid's softball or football practice. I used to jot notes during my lunch break. Pack foods that you can eat with one hand like sandwiches or salads. 

     It is hard to juggle your free time with all the people who want to be apart of it such as kids or coworkers. You don't have to give every day to the craft and you don't have to give every day to the people in your life. Finding balance is the key to all things. The most important thing is to recognize when you're making excuses and then take action to change and be productive. 

Art of the Slacker

Sorry.
I know a good blogger keeps her readers entertained with regular updates. Unfortunately, I cycle through periods of productivity and before I know it, almost a year has passed before I've supplied you with any useful tips or clever quips.

However, for 2018, I am trying a new strategy. I am going to do my best to balance my online appearance with my day job, my manic writing periods and my life as a mom. I can't promise that I will do a good job at this, but this will be a beautiful art that involves balancing regulated periods of slacking off with being productive.

So, wish me luck. ^_^
And now, let's talk about some ways I plan to accomplish my New Year's resolution. And don't worry, I will be sure to post about what worked for me and what didn't.

Step 1
Set fewer and less strict deadlines.
Deadlines are important. They give you goals to meet and help you put pressure on yourself to be productive. However, when you set unrealistic expectations for yourself, the end result is that you either produce nothing or what you do end up with isn't worth the ink it's written with.

Step 2
Finish the projects already in progress before starting new ones.
I know, this seems very obvious, but it is definitely something many writers struggle with. For me, it's a blessing and a curse to have thousands of ideas rushing into my mind on a daily basis. While I have a never ending supply of inspiration, I find it hard sometimes to folloe through on any one project before starting a new one. And before I know it, my writing room looks like my goodreads page.."currently writing 15".
So, I have given up on trying to write them all at once and put them on a waitlist. The idea is to work my way through the list and tackle the projects in the order they were conceived.

Step 3
Read more
This is important. Sometimes I am too much in my own head and need to see how someone else thinks. Sometimes, I just neee a break from myself and my reality. And other times, I'm looking for inspiration. This is not to say that I'm stealing ideas. What I mean is that whenever I get discouraged and feel like giving up writing forever, reading an amazing book gives me that burst of competitive fire I need to keep going and finish my draft.

Step 4
Limit streaming TV binge
Again, this seems pretty obvious. But thanks to Hulu and Netflix, laziness has become harder to avoid. I think I will need to start giving myself set daily limits. How many total hours I get are TBD.

But as you can see, writing is never easy. I have periodic slumps and times when I can't sleep from idea overload. I get distracted by my family and fall down the facebook rabbit hole from time to time. But 2018 and the future will hopefully be met with better time management. We'll see.

That's all for now. Happy New Year and as always...Happy Reading.

Evolution of Book Outlines

Part 1: Characters

Characters are one of the most important parts of any story. You have to have someone who needs to learn a lesson or accomplish some sort of task. Because without that one person overcoming his or her challenge, why does the story exist? And there are different types of characters: flat, round, evil, good, supporting, etc. What type of character they are and their level of importance affects the story.

Today, I want to focus on something else: the characters' names. It may seem basic to many people. Who cares if his name is Joe or Joseph or Edward or Jacob? (Lol. See what I did there?) Of course, all jokes aside, it has been my experience that the name an author gives their character ultimately influences who that character is as a person and how other characters respond to them. A character's name has bearing on the type of personality you give them.

I have never once read about a Walter who was an underwear model, or an April with a fiery temper. I'm not saying stories with characters that have meek sounding names with alternative personalities don't exist. I'm simply saying I have never read any.

As much thought that goes into planning your plot should go into creating the characters. The characters are the soul of the story. Their desires, ambitions, and friendships are all important. And personally, I think the character's name plays a roll in how you, as a writer, build your characters and the world they inhabit.

It's FICTION baby

I apologize for the shouty caps but I wanted to make a point. That the operative word in 'fiction novel' is 'fiction': as in made up. As writers and readers, I think we often get caught up in the 'rules' of fantasy that more famous authors have come up with. These rules include elves, vampires, werewolves, etc.

What I want us all to remember is that when you create a fantasy world for your story, there are no rules. Your elves don't have to be benevolent immortal beings with blonde hair and pointy ears. They can be evil with short life spans. Through reading, I've recently discovered that wolves and humans aren't the only were animals in the fictional world. And mermaids aren't all beautiful creatures with shimmering tales and flowing hair.

Many of the fantastic creatures that make fantasy novels so special have their roots in ancient legends. You can stay true to those ancient traits if you like. But you can also tweak them a little--or a lot. Often, we writers restrict ourselves to the status quo when it comes to putting these species in our own work. However, there are no rules that say a creature needs to be this way or that. Creative license gives authors an amazing power to change any and everything.

Create religions. Nuns don't have to be Catholic. They don't have to be revered for their holiness. They can be the zealous soldiers of a destructive dragon king. They can be men or even genderless. Create a world without religion or a place where many religious factions view for power. Push the boundaries and see what remarkable worlds and beasts you can create.

Genre Anyone?

Writers are creatures of habit. We order the same thing almost every time we go to dinner, watch the same types of movies, even go to similar places when we go on vacation. And as much as we live this way, we write this way as well. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but most of the time, we write what we like to read.

Exploring new genres is our duty as writers. It's also fun. Even if you can't publish what you create, you should allow yourself the experience of venturing outside your comfort zone.

Personally, I find it thrilling to come up with new ideas and see where they take me. Fantasy, Sci-fi and contemporary fiction are all things that I have played around with and discovered I can do. Of course, there are just some things that I enjoy reading that I have learned that I should leave to the experts (like mysteries). I love a good crime novel, but I have learned that I should leave the mysteries to the professionals.

Reading outside your comfort zone is a great way to try out a genre to see if its something you really want to dabble in. With a little practice, you might craft something great. There are things I still haven't tried, such as writing paranormal, romance or erotica yet, but I have read a few things that make me think I could have fun with those.

Even if it isn't something that you want to do forever, give a new genre a try. Read it, write it and have fun with it.

@ The Author's Desk

What works for one author won't always work for another.

The last writer's conference I attended, I remember the speaker addressing the audience's questions. Someone asked if writing was easy for him. His answer: yes. It always had been. He never had to struggle to come up with ideas. Even putting them on paper was almost magical because his brain and hand practically wrote the story for him.

I was overjoyed to hear this because I had spent my life listening to people say how difficult they thought writing was. How they could never imagine writing a book because it just seemed like too much time and too much work. It always made me feel uncomfortable answering questions about how I write. I always felt like I was somehow bragging. I then started feeling like there was something wrong with me for being this creative person.

Of course, I'm not that way anymore. I don't volunteer information about myself as a writer (even though I probably should) because people still give me blank stares. The stare is just a sign that books isn't something we're going to have in common and I change the subject. But if people ask, it's hard to get me to stop.

The point is, we all know it takes time and work to produce a quality book. I never feel like I'm struggling when I'm writing. I don't experience the same level of boredom I had when I used to work at a call center and had to do the same series of tasks for 6 and 8 hour shifts. And I definitely don't feel frustrated or stressed about having people yell at me the way they did when I worked insurance.

However, our presenter went on to describe meeting another writer who told him that he found writing difficult. That he wasn't able to work unless he shut himself up in a room devoid of noise. The man in his story had to treat writing like a 9 to 5 job. He set daily page and word limits for himself. He used outlines and stuck strictly to the ideas and points he had plotted out.

Personally, I just can't work like that. When I work on a novel, I need the flow of ideas to be organic. It has to come naturally to me. I work best when I have background noise. I listen to music or reruns of a favorite show on TV. I like Futurama or cartoons from the 90's like Recess, Pepper Ann and The Weekenders. This way I don't get distracted by new content because I've seen all these shows before.

What kind of music I listen to completely depends on the scene. If I'm writing a love scene, then slow R&B style is what I need. If I'm writing a fight scene or a chase scene, then I need fast paced pop or rock music. If the scene is emotional, then Country is where I turn.

Every author has their style. Mine came naturally to me as breathing air. For other people, they have to take their time and try different things to see what works for them. Take your time. There is no rush. With every word you write, you'll get one step closer to that perfect form.