There have been some interesting discussions today about fear of writing marginalized perspectives (check out Ava Jae’s twitter for what’s been going down). I’ve been thinking about making this post for a while, but after seeing what went down on my feed this afternoon, I figured now was as good a time as any.
So here are my thoughts on fear.
Fear is inescapable, especially in the world of publishing. There are so many things to be afraid of when you’re putting something you spent years working on out for basically anyone to read. Being an author is an exercise in constantly swatting down these anxieties in a big overwhelming game of whack-a-mole.
But fear is also crucial as hell.
For one thing, fear keeps you working. It’s the voice in the back of your head that says “Hey, maybe this book won’t make it, so you should definitely write something else fast or else.” It’s the voice that says “Hey, maybe we should promote the book or people might forget about it.” It’s the voice that makes the unproductive days a little bit crushing.
It’s also critical when you’re writing outside your experience.
Fear keeps you sharp. It makes you triple check that you haven’t made a misstep in representing something you yourself haven’t dealt with. It keeps you asking the right questions. It keeps you respectful, keeps you deferring to the people who have lived what you’re trying to represent. The fear of messing up and hurting those people is, I would argue, essential to writing outside your experience.
If you don’t have it, you’re probably doing something wrong.
So if you’re writing marginalized characters whose experience you haven’t lived and you’re scared, good. Be happy about that. Love your fear, and listen to it. Let it drive you to research harder, hear more, and actively seek out readers who do have those experiences.
People want to avoid fear, but I don’t think that’s the right approach. Repressing your fear of something only results in inaction and stagnation. You have to figure out how to make that fear work for you. See the good things that it’s pushing you towards. Embrace it as a force urging you in the right direction. Stay fearful.
Because that fear, when you’re in a position of privilege, is just another voice asking you to listen.
Tag: publishing
Great News for Dark Soldier!
Our publishing date may be sooner than expected! Yes!
Great news! Because the second draft is now likely going to be done before the summer is over, we may see the novel Dark Soldier be published BEFORE it’s original goal of March 2016! This is heavily reliant upon us getting the proper publisher, as I do not plan to self-publish. I have nothing wrong with self-publishing, but I think this is a better style for me. The plan as of right now is to get…
Great News for Dark Soldier!
Great news! Because the second draft is now likely going to be done before the summer is over, we may see the novel Dark Soldier be published BEFORE it’s original goal of March 2016!
This is heavily reliant upon us getting the proper publisher, as I do not plan to self-publish. I have nothing wrong with self-publishing, but I think this is a better style for me. The plan as of right now is to get either Baen Books, Gollancz Publishing or Penguin Random House. I’m slightly more worried about Penguin house, as I have not heard great things about their interactions with authors. But no matter! We’re closer than we’ve ever been!
Sorry for the great lack of writing-based posts in the last couple of days. I will fix that issue in the coming week.
can I get published if I live in Europe? English is not my native language but I write in English and I know I will have to edit my draft throughout with help with a native English speakers, but is it possible?
Yes, it’s possible. Many English-language publishers will work with international writers. Just make sure to get those native English-speaking beta readers first.
A Series of Updates
A Series of Updates on Dark Soldier:
Because I have absolutely nothing else of interest to blog about and I don’t want this blog to go completely out the window, here’s some updates regarding the book I’m in the process of writing, Dark Soldier!
In regards to the teaser trailer, we are finally along more now than ever! Now that we have both actors ready for action, we have to make the props, find a special effects makeup… person……
A Series of Updates
Because I have absolutely nothing else of interest to blog about and I don’t want this blog to go completely out the window, here’s some updates regarding the book I’m in the process of writing, Dark Soldier!
In regards to the teaser trailer, we are finally along more now than ever! Now that we have both actors ready for action, we have to make the props, find a special effects makeup… person… whatever their title is… and start filming! We’ll be posting pictures on the Facebook page as things come along.
As it gets closer to beg-publishers-to-sell-my-book time, we are getting down official canon looks for the characters. This means y’all get to see General Zenti in all her “five feet tall with a five foot six inch sword” glory. (The drawing version, I mean, not the real life version. I would like to see the real life version too, but we can’t all have it our way. You lied to me, Burger King.)
The overall tone of the second draft is darker than the original, although there is more humor. Surprising how that happened the way it did. It gets a bit more political as well, but I don’t mind that so much. I typically am quite against fantasy being so incredibly realistic, because fantasy is about letting people get away from all that. But I think this has enough non-realist stuff to get away with a bit. That’s what happened with Game of Thrones I think – murder, politics and dragons. Obviously the Soldier Chronicles is nothing like Game of Thrones, but you get where I’m going with this.
That’s it for today! Hope you have an excellent week!
Gabriel to Earth 