You hit send, and then can’t resist the temptation to take one more—

*GASP* 

Ok, maybe a totally different four letter word just echoed through the room, but say it ain’t so! Right there, staring at you in black and white, is a blaring frickin’ error.

A word repeated twice in the same paragraph. The wrong to, their, or your. Punctuation gone horribly awry. You used a different agent’s name in your query letter, or spelled your comp title wrong. 

Long story short, you screwed up. Makes you cringe just thinking about it, doesn’t it? And I can guarantee every single person reading this has got not so fond memories of one, if not more, of those examples. 

Me? Oh, I’m guilty of every single one of those writing errors on more than one occasion. 

Which is why I’m here to tell you that none of them are the end of the world, and are only as bad as you make them out to be. 

Here’s some things to think about that will take the sting out of writing errors.

Sin #1: Repeat Words

Ugh I get it, and was just guilty of this in a recent Writer Fuel, which inspired this article. Check it out: 

“Not like pig in a tutu weird, but a little lipstick isn’t outside the realm of possibilities. I’d introduce myself, but I’m gonna bet you’ve already figured out that it’s not Gabriela or Lori typing this up.”

Yup, I double loaded on the buts and seriously winced when I read it. Especially since the sentence structure was so similar. 

BUT, you know what? Most readers read for enjoyment. Unless it’s super egregious, most people will cut you some slack over your writing errors. 

Overall, that article got some great feedback, and the only person looking at buts was me.

Ahem.

Which leads me to Sin #2.

Sin #2: The Wrong Word

This one is a straight up groan, and though AI programs are pretty good, not even a computer will catch all of these all the time. And yeah, sure, there are the usual suspects I mentioned above, but what about the sneaky ones like compliment (a polite expression of praise or admiration) vs. complement (a thing that completes or brings to perfection)?

Why yes, that is a super specific example. I wonder how I could have chosen it…

Look, unless you’re swimming in the Mensa side of the gene pool, you can’t expect yourself to know every single in and out of the English language, or any other language for that matter. 

That’s what editors are for, and even they miss stuff, which is why the publishing process goes through so many rounds of revisions.

And I’m gonna bet you’ve picked up a traditionally published book at some point in your life and there’s been an error that snuck through. Speaking of which, let’s check out Sin #3

Sin #3: Punctuation Gone Horribly Awry

Commas, I’m looking at you. True story, the last time I had a full-length manuscript professionally copyedited, it came back with over two-thousand corrected commas. To add insult to injury, I had run it through one of those AI programs before I sent it off.

If a computer is fallible when following specifically programmed algorithms, how can you expect yourself to be perfect every time? 

I mean, I get it. Those stupid little sickles of doom have given me a complex, and quite frankly, I’m so terrified of semicolons I won’t even use them. 

See the above editors / publishers comment and give yourself some grace.

Sin #4: Wrong Names and Misspelling

Using the wrong name on a query letter. Seriously, come on! You’ve researched the living daylights out of this person, agonized over toeing the line between informed and stalker-ish, the tears you’ve shed trying to distill your book into a frickin’ paragraph—

And instead of addressing it to Jack, you spelt it Jac, or called him Karen. 

For the record, at this point, it is entirely acceptable to curl up into a fetal ball of misery. Oh yeah, been there done that. Twice, actually. Repeating the experience doesn’t make it any easier in case you were wondering. And that also goes for misspelling a comp title or author name. 

So how do you deal with it? Well, at some point, you just have to laugh at yourself, and you know what? Agents are people, too. They have good days and bad, and they can tell a carefully crafted query with an oops from some schmuck just whipping out form letters.

In cases like this, you have to trust that the rest of your query will shine. And if the agent isn’t able or willing to look beyond that one flub, I’m gonna bet they’re not someone you want to tie your career to. 

Trust me, especially with the misspelled name thing. I’m kind of an expert with that. I mean what kind of a sadistic parent would saddle their kid with Alysen?

Um, this girl’s.

So, as someone whose family members can’t even spell her name correctly, it really isn’t that big of a deal. People who freak out about it generally have a chip on their shoulder and are best avoided.

Sin #5: Something You Wrote Rubbed Someone the Wrong Way

Are you laughing? I’m laughing. Because um, yeah, I’ve been here too. On numerous occasions and sometimes purposefully. Like, I have Lori scan all of my copy just to make sure I’m not saying something that’s too over the top. 

Look, almost none of us want to be hurtful or upset other people, but it’s inevitable that you’re going to unintentionally put your foot in it with someone at some point. 

And I will be the first to admit that my writing style and voice can sometimes be shocking.

But I like pushing my readers to look at the not so pretty and safe side of things. I write gritty books with edgy characters, and though my editorial prose is much lighter, there’s some bite to the self-deprecation. 

It’s not going to be for everyone, and neither is your work. That’s ok.

For me, writing is about eliciting emotion and making my readers feel something. A lot of the time, I want them to feel like they’re not so alone on this journey, and that they’re definitely not the only one making mistakes. Other times, I want them to question a preconceived notion. And I’ll admit it, sometimes I just want the shock value and a burst of startled laughter. 

That’s not without risks, and I’ve absolutely had people unsubscribe from my mailing list. But again, that’s ok. Not everyone liked you in high school and it doesn’t happen in real life either.

If you didn’t learn your lesson then, I’m here to tell you now: if you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one, least of all yourself.

And at the end of the day?

Institute a ritual, and celebrate your writing errors. 

Order nachos, break out the fancy bourbon, and text your BFF about what a bonehead you are. 

Promise yourself you’ll never do that again, knowing full well it isn’t a promise you’ll be able to keep.

You’ll be in good company. I, and every other writer, will be bumbling along right beside you, muttering the immortal words of Homer Simpson: “D’oh!”

AK Nevermore writes science fiction and urban fantasy with spice. She enjoys operating heavy machinery, freebases coffee, and gives up sarcasm for Lent every year. Unable to ignore the voices in her head, and unwilling to become medicated, she writes about dark worlds, perversely irreverent and profound, and always entertaining.

You can find her on her website or follow her on her sadly neglected Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds.

The post Take the Sting Out of Writing Errors appeared first on DIY MFA.

That’s the thing with parents in Young Adult literature—can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Teens are exploring their world for the first time, attempting to establish their own identity separate from their families of origin, so you will find almost all characters going on adventures independent of their parents.

If you are writing a young adult novel, it’s important to consider your characters’ parents on the front end, and develop them into three-dimensional, well rounded, fully fleshed out people to avoid stereotypes and cookie cutter plot devices.

Where it Started, Where We Are

When some of the first young adult novels came out in the 1960s, Julie Just from the New York Times said the parent narrative “fit in neatly with the classic narratives: its strongest stories were about orphans and lost boys of one kind or another.” In these novels, issues weren’t with parents but with other kids. 

But by the 70s and 80s, the narrative started to shift the conflict from friendships to what was happening at home. This is where the problem parent narrative entered the scene, and has never left. It’s not to say all parents should be problematic, because surely there are still supportive parents out there, but you do have to consider the role the parents will play because it’s a significant part of young adults lives…and of course, how to get rid of them so teens characters can go on their adventures.

Approaches to Developing Your Characters’ Parents

Active and supportive parents 

By all means, you can make the parents a positive force in your protagonist’s life. Or even if the protagonist’s parents aren’t the greatest, one of the side characters could have supportive parents. They can serve as mentors, confidants, or sources of guidance for the protagonist. 

This approach emphasizes a positive parent-child relationship and showcases the protagonist’s growth while navigating challenges. 

Here are a few examples of novels who took this approach:

• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: The protagonist, Starr, has parents who are actively involved in her life, providing support and guidance as she navigates the aftermath of witnessing a police shooting.
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling: Although Harry’s parents are deceased so you wouldn’t consider them active, their love and sacrifice play a significant role throughout the series, shaping Harry’s journey and providing emotional support.

Tips for crafting Active and Supportive Parents

• Show moments of emotional connection between the parents and your characters.
• Illustrate how the parents’ guidance and presence positively impact the protagonist’s journey.
• Use the parents’ wisdom or advice to provide insights and lessons for your characters’ growth.

Absent or Neglectful Parents

Absent or neglectful parents create a ton of opportunities for tension and conflict. This can lead the protagonist down the path of having to fend for themselves or seek support from alternative sources, such as friends, mentors, or other family members. It allows for a greater sense of independence and self-discovery as the protagonist overcomes obstacles. 

And the reality for a lot of kids is this is their lived experience, so experiencing a character overcoming this struggle can help them process their own life circumstances. 

Check out these novels for examples of this approach to parents:

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: The main character, Feyre, has a neglectful and unsupportive family. Her journey takes her into the magical Fae realm where she finds a new family and discovers her own strength.
• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: The novel tells the story of two misfit teenagers, Eleanor and Park, who bond over music and comics. Eleanor comes from a troubled home with neglectful and abusive parents, which adds to the challenges they face in their relationship.

Tips for crafting Absent or Neglectful Parents

• Explore the protagonist’s emotions and reactions to their parents’ absence, such as feelings of abandonment or independence.
• Emphasize the impact of the absent or neglectful parents on the protagonist’s self-reliance and resilience.
• Showcase the protagonist seeking alternative sources of support and building relationships with other characters.

Overprotective or Controlling Parents 

This is basically the opposite of the parental figure we just explored. There are so many challenges characters can face when dealing with overprotective or controlling parents, and a tremendous amount of conflict can come from this. 

In some novels, this role of the parents actually creates the plot in the novel. Obstacles arise as the main character tries to assert her independence, make her own choices, or pursue her dreams. The positive side, it creates opportunities for the protagonist to develop resilience and assertiveness. 

Here are a couple novels that wrote this kind of parental figure well:

• Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon: This is a novel where the main character’s overprotective mom creates the plot for the whole novel. Olly has a rare disease, where she is allergic to basically the whole world, and her mother keeps her protected from it. But when the new boy next door catches Olly’s eye, she begins to push the boundaries of her mother’s rules thus setting the story into motion.
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart: The story features a wealthy family known as the Sinclairs, and the main character, Cadence, has overprotective parents who try to control her life. Their actions and secrets play a significant role in the unfolding mystery.

Tips for Crafting Overprotective or Controlling Parents

• Highlight the tension and conflict arising from the overprotective or controlling behavior.
• Explore the internal struggle of the protagonist, torn between their desire for independence and their parents’ restrictions.
• Allow the protagonist to assert their autonomy and challenge their parents’ control throughout the story, creating opportunities for the protagonist to defy their parents’ expectations and find their own path.

Complex Parent-Child Relationships

No one is really all good or all bad, right? Creating nuanced parent-child relationships that blend positive and negative aspects might be the most realistic approach to developing parents in young adult novels. 

Showing the complexities of family dynamics, with parents who have their own flaws, conflicting expectations, or differing values from the protagonist can add depth and realism to the story. 

A couple examples of novels that did this well are:

• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver: The main character, Samantha, experiences a time loop, reliving the last day of her life repeatedly. Her complex relationship with her parents, including their expectations and conflicts, contributes to the overall narrative and Samantha’s self-discovery.
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: The characters in this novel come from various backgrounds with complex relationships with their parents or parental figures. Kaz Brekker, for example, has a complicated history with his deceased parents, which shapes his actions and motivations.

Tips for Crafting Complex Parent-Child Relationships

• Unveil the layers of the relationship through meaningful dialogue, flashbacks, or shared experiences.
• Explore the conflicts, misunderstandings, or differing values that shape the complexity of the parent-child dynamic.
• Show instances where the protagonist learns from their parents or reevaluates their relationship as they grow and change.

Parental Absence Due to External Factors 

Sometimes parents might be absent, but it’s not because they don’t care or are neglectful. External circumstances could be forcing the parental absence, such as work commitments, illness, death, or other external factors. 

This can create a sense of longing or loss for the protagonist, leading them to seek understanding or fill the void in their lives. It also offers opportunities for personal growth, resilience, and the formation of unconventional support networks. 

Check out these novels that show this type of parental relationship:

• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: In this West African-inspired fantasy, Zélie’s mother is absent due to being killed in a brutal raid. Her absence fuels Zélie’s desire for justice and sets her on a quest to restore magic to her world.
• The Clock Strikes by Dominique Richardson and Sorboni Banerjee: This is the fourth novel in my Everbeach series, and Elle’s father is absent but not because he doesn’t want to be there, but because he’s a truck driver and his work takes him on the road. This leaves Elle at the mercy of her soon-to-be-step mother Juniper, and she seeks guidance and comfort with her godmother, Titania. 

Tips for Crafting Parental Absence Due to External Factors

• Establish the reasons behind the parental absence, such as work, illness, or other circumstances.
• Depict the protagonist’s emotional response to the absence, capturing their longing, grief, or resilience.
• Introduce surrogate parental figures or unconventional support networks to fill the void left by the absent parents.

Whether the parents in your young adult novel will have a positive or negative impact (or even a mix of both) is yours to determine. Hopefully these ideas, examples, and tips will help you craft well-rounded, three dimensional parents for your young adult novel.

Dominique Richardson is the coauthor of The Everbeach Series—a young adult, romantic suspense series full of forbidden romance, deadly twists, and scandalous secrets that will keep you turning pages into the night. The fourth and final book in the series comes out June 6th. Check out the first book, Red as Blood, if you’re looking for your next bingeable read. Passionate about all things books and giving back to the community, she is also the Executive Director and cofounder of YA by the Bay, a nonprofit young adult reading and leadership festival, dedicated to inspiring teens to “be the author of your own life.” Raised between Jamaica and the United States, her biracial heritage finds a home in her books. She spends her free time passing on her love of unicorns to her twin boys, running in the Florida heat, and drinking all the coffee. She now lives in Tampa, Florida with her family.

She would love to connect with you! Find her online on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. If you’d like to stay in the know about her upcoming book releases, sign-up for her email list. To learn more about the YA by the Bay Young Adult Book Festival, check out the website.

The post Crafting the Parents in Your YA Novel appeared first on DIY MFA.

Out of the numerous current events that have demanded our attention (and response) lately, I could not have predicted the surge of 490 proposals for anti-trans legislation that was introduced in 47 U.S. states this year. Instead of focusing on the numerous complex challenges that our country continues to face, our leaders have waged a one-sided war against trans people, in the name of “protecting” society from drag shows, among other fictional concerns.

Well, isn’t that just special?

The “discourse” in defense of these bills highlights how willfully ignorant society remains about transgender identity (people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth) and the harmful impact of misrepresenting trans communities in the media. 

In a previous post, It’s Messy in the Middle: Rethinking Transgender Narratives, we reflected on the problematic publishing trend of cisgender (people who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth) authors profiting by writing transgender narratives. Thus, making trans characters so trendy that I wouldn’t be surprised if Marvel hasn’t already optioned a YA or fantasy series with a trans vampire witch zombie that joins the Avengers. I’m joking…I hope.

However, after news anchors started referring to a singular act of tragic gun violence committed by a trans person as “trans terrorism,” followed by the rising panic over a supposed “Trans Day of Vengeance,” I felt a responsibility to refocus on deconstructing trans stereotypes in fiction.

We will do this by examining the specific pitfalls of the young adult (YA) novel Luna. Luna offers an excellent “case study” for understanding the potential impact of misrepresentation of trans identity. To be clear, I do not intend this to be an attack on the author; I am, however, offering a critical reflection on the novel.

Luna was published in 2004 by cisgender author Julia Ann Peters and is considered one of the first YA novels to center on transgender identity. Luna was quickly championed as a groundbreaking insight into trans culture and was eventually nominated for over 15 literary awards and honors. It is still one of the most highly recommended novels for understanding transgender identity, which makes my eye twitch.

However, I would argue that Peters’s portrayals in Luna provide a classic example of misrepresenting trans culture because she ultimately relies on harmful stereotypes that reinforce transphobia and transmisogyny.

Snarky Summary (With Spoilers)

Luna tells the story of a 16-year-old cisgender girl named Regan and her struggle to accept her older trans sister Luna. Unlike Regan, Luna is super popular at school and inexplicably independently wealthy. Luna, who was assigned male at birth and named Liam, presents as Liam during the day to please her family and community. At night, Luna can be herself (hyper-feminine), by hoarding wigs, makeup, purses, nail polish, etc. All in an effort to perfect what can only be described as a 70’s flight attendant chic aesthetic (despite the story seeming to take place in the early aughts).

Yes, Luna checks all the boxes for contemporary standards of YA fiction. Luna is a coming-of-age story that features a teenage protagonist that experiences conflict and complex emotions in her journey of overcoming a crisis. 

Consequently, selecting Regan as the protagonist of the story and Luna as a plot device that Regan must overcome inherently sends the novel down the wrong path before it starts and continues with a collection of missteps made in developing the characters, plotline, and world building.

Entering through the Basement

A commonly recommended approach to inclusive writing and character development is to “enter through the side door” by adding supporting characters with marginalized identities. This can be a particularly useful way to represent marginalized identities, especially if the author does not have a direct experience with the identity that they are writing about. 

However, applying this framework to Luna created multiple problems for the novel. By centering on a cisgender main character in a story that seeks to guide and inform readers about trans identity, Luna felt like muddling through the basement of trans culture.

Following Regan as our only guide for understanding trans identity not only disconnects the readers from Luna but also Luna from her own story. The reader connects, sympathizes, and roots for Regan in a way that is not possible with Luna because Luna seems to be a background character. The story would have been more powerful if the reader was also guided by Luna’s direct experiences, feelings, and opinions. If the aim of the story is to explore trans identity, then the main characters should be trans.  

Additionally, placing Regan as the sole protagonist positioned her as the “expert” on trans culture, which was problematic because she held unchecked transphobic and transmisogynistic views. Regan is also a problematic expert because she is never challenged to explore her own cisgender identity, gender expression, or cis privilege. It ultimately led to the undesired effect of casting Luna as “abnormal” and Regan as “normal.” 

“Entering through the side door” can be an effective way to include marginalized or diverse character experiences when characters are given a voice to narrate their own experiences and  characters with majority identities are able to explore privilege and inequality. 

It is also important that marginalized characters are developed beyond their marginalized identity and that their identity is not used as the inciting incident for the story. 

An Unfortunate Inciting Incident

An inciting incident is an important storytelling element that is utilized in all writing genres. Most stories are crafted to build up to a specific incident or the aftermath and impact of that incident. 

In Luna, the novel is structured around the aftermath of the family suffering from an unknown incident and each chapter moves the reader closer to understanding the root of the family’s pain. This is presented through a series of flashbacks until the last third of the book when the reader is given the complete picture, in which Regan dramatically recovers a traumatic memory of Luna’s genital self-harm. Thus, Luna’s transness becomes the bomb that detonates and destroys Regan’s family. 

Again, a book that seeks to offer support to transgender youth and education to cisgender youth should not portray trans identity as an inciting incident that results in the breakdown of a family. This is especially true, considering the unnecessary and punishing ways that the family languishes in the aftermath of the incident.

After the incident, Regan’s mother physically and emotionally abandons the family, by escaping into her work and ignoring her husband’s hatred for Liam. Because the father was not around when the incident happened with little Liam, he decides that his child’s feminine gender expression must mean that Liam is gay. In response, he sets out to try and “fix it” through intimidation, emotional neglect, and abuse. 

Surprisingly, Regan is arguably the biggest victim of Luna’s transness and seems to suffer through life as a hostage of her sister’s secret trans identity. For example, Regan can’t sleep at night because Luna demands that she stay awake to judge her outfits. This causes Regan to be too tired to practice good hygiene or keep up with her homework. Regan has no friends because she excommunicated herself from her social circle after Luna was teased for wearing a dress to a grade school birthday party. In fact, Regan couldn’t even go on a date with her crush because of her fears about having a trans sister. 

All the agony and fear that the family experiences stands in stark contrast to Luna’s life because she mostly enjoys an unburdened and carefree existence. In fact, Luna is portrayed as having a “perfect life.” She is super popular at school, dates the prettiest girl, and is adored by her teachers for her intellect. She also has tons of money to buy whatever she wants, including her own car or airfare because she runs her own computer repair business. 

In isolation, these descriptions may seem like positive representations of Luna’s character. However, since they are narrated through the lens of Regan’s suffering and jealousy, Luna comes off as a self-centered character, which highlights the author’s poor character development of Luna and her tendency to info dump transgender theories throughout the story.

Info Dumping and Character Development 

“Info dumping” refers to an ineffective method of storytelling that involves cramming large amounts of exposition into a story. While the information can be pertinent to the story, “info dumps” are often jarring for readers, as they can remove the reader from the story, by forcing them to listen to what feels like a detailed book report. Info dumping can sometimes be a sign of poor character development or world building, which seems to be the case with Luna.

Surprisingly, we learn about trans identity from Regan in at least three instances of her info-dumping gender terminology. This method greatly interrupts the flow of the story because it is not believable that a teenage girl would suddenly ruminate on the etymology of gender theories. It would seem reasonable to assume that Luna, the only trans character, would be guiding readers in understanding trans identity. Furthermore, Regan’s impressive gender vocabulary did not often translate into how she thought about and treated her sister, as she essentially seemed to be trying to force her sister to stay in the closet.

Ultimately, to get through this book, I decided to view Regan as having intrusive thoughts about gender vocabulary or that she was sometimes possessed by a gender studies professor. Because the majority of these info dumps are delivered in exposition reflections from Regan, the reader could miss the opportunity to connect with the story as they are suddenly flooded with gender terms. 

It would have been more effective to break those terms and concepts into actionable dialogue or experiences that connected with both characters. I would argue that it’s less important for readers to walk away with an exhaustive list of gender vocabulary and more about connecting with the humanity of a character. 

Either way, Regan’s info dumping underscores Luna’s lack of character development and dialogue in the novel, which confined Luna to the role of a stereotypical trans girl; an empty two-dimensional puppet used to move the plot along. Instead, readers need to be able to connect with Luna as a whole person, with fears, desires, and motivations beyond being trans.

Luna does not have a lot of dialogue, but, when she does speak, it is often related to her selfish, shallow, and vain obsession with her appearance and passing (being accepted and recognized as a girl in social situations). Luna’s focus on passing often comes at a great cost to Regan and at times places them both in danger. These scenes are particularly cringey because the reader is guided by Regan’s transphobia and discomfort.  

Stereotypes about transgender people, particularly casting trans women as hyper-feminine, vain, and obsessive, have a long-standing and harmful history in the media. These misrepresentations are often the fuel for transphobic legislation and violence against trans women. 

I cannot unpack the entire history of transgender stereotypes here, but I highly recommend watching the 2020 Netflix documentary Disclosure by Sam Feder, Amy Scholder, and Laverne Cox to better understand the history and impact of transgender stereotypes used in the media.

We Can Do Better

Hopefully, examining the specific pitfalls in Luna has provided a better understanding of what is at stake when we misrepresent a marginalized community. I hope this critical analysis did not scare you away from inclusive writing. It is possible to provide equitable and nuanced representations of marginalized communities when we are intentional with character development, world building, and plot. 

There are also limitless resources available to guide our understanding of transgender identity. I am hesitant to provide an official list of these resources for understanding transgender identity for many reasons. For one thing, understanding marginalized communities’ experiences with systematic inequality and misrepresentation is less about memorizing terms and historical facts and more about understanding the humanity and resilience of each group. 

We can gain that by surrounding ourselves with the stories and experiences of transgender people. Depending on how you prefer to learn and connect with others, I would start by reading trans memoirs and following trans people on social media and, because I am an academic to my core, I would also recommend reading more about theories on the social construction of gender.

Most importantly, we must elevate and support the work of trans authors and creators. Lastly, we need to hold each other accountable for appropriation and poor representation of marginalized communities, especially when the work is exploitative, inaccurate, or full of harmful stereotypes.  

Please see my recommended list of memoirs and authors below.  

Recommended Resources 

Memoirs

• She’s Not There: A Life In Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan
• Nina Here Nor There: My Journey Beyond Gender by Nick Kriege
• Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt
• Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock
• Unprotected by Billy Porter 

Academic and Social Science

• Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us by Kate Bornstein
• Undoing Gender by Judith Butler
• Beyond The Binary: Thinking About Sex and Gender by Shannon Dea
• Trans* In College Z. Nicolazzo
• Whipping Girl by Julia Serano
• Transgender History by Susan Stryker
• Beyond The Gender Binary Alok Vaid-Menon

Colice Sanders is a blogger and diversity, equity, and inclusion facilitator. Colice writes nonfiction, poetry, and memoir. Her blog, A Reason to Rise, chronicles her journey of radical self-acceptance through the lens of childhood trauma. 

You can also reach her on LinkedIn and Instagram.

The post The Messy Middle: Luna & the Rise of Trans Narratives appeared first on DIY MFA.

In fact, I started out writing a novel about Elisabeth (as I called her, although in some sources they refer to her as Louise—the French double-first-naming thing is tricky). I thought at first it would be another in my growing oeuvre of young adult historical novels. Although her youth in a convent school and her father’s death when she was twelve were poignant—as well as her training and friendship with pastellist Rosalie Filleul—I soon discovered that the most interesting parts of her life occurred when she was an adult. She was under thirty when she became Marie Antoinette’s official portraitist, and had an inside view of court life.

However, Elisabeth fled Paris in 1789, when it was clear her ties to the court made it unsafe for her to remain. She spent the Revolution traveling around Europe from court to court, painting portraits and being celebrated. Her husband divorced her in absentia during the Terror to preserve his own life (he’d stayed behind, she took their daughter with her), and she didn’t return to Paris until 1800. 

Early attempts

After I figured out that Elisabeth’s story should be an adult novel, I started writing it in the first person. I think I got about fifty pages in and realized that I was just sort of rewriting her autobiography. I didn’t want to do that. I figured I’d have to switch to third person at the very least.

In the meantime, I thought I’d find out what Elisabeth had to say about her chief rival, Adélaïde. After all, they’d both exhibited publicly for the first time at the Académie de Saint-Luc salon in 1774, and were elected to the Académie Royale at the same time, in 1783. Surely they knew each other.

The advantage to reading something as an eBook is that you can search the text. I searched all three volumes of Elisabeth’s autobiography for every version I could conjure of Adélaïde’s name, and—nada. I found a couple of places where she made a veiled reference to her rival, but she never mentioned her by name.

Hmmm.

And the manuscript thickens

This started me thinking: What did the two women artists, the most famous women artists of their time in Paris, know of or feel about each other? How might they have interacted? For that, I had to dig into research about Adélaïde.

I was soon frustrated by the relative paucity of existing material. Thank heavens for Laura Auricchio’s book, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard: Artist in the Age of Revolution (The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2009). That source, along with a much earlier short biography by Roger Portalis (1902) furnished most of the information I was able to glean about her life and career.

Armed with this, as well as some fascinating research about Rosalie Filleul—who drew portraits of her neighbor in Passy, Benjamin Franklin, and was guillotined during the Terror—I wrote a massive (for me) novel with three points of view.

Writers always look for beta readers when they have a draft polished enough for people to read, and I’m so grateful to my friends who slogged through that manuscript. I also workshopped it, and submitted it for a meeting with an editor through the Muse and the Marketplace conference.

Response was virtually unanimous: It was just too much. And the character that resonated most with everyone wasn’t Elisabeth or Rosalie, but Adélaïde. She was the one who had to struggle in her career. The true underdog. She was also the one who became involved in the politics of the Revolution, worked (unsuccessfully) to reform the Académie, painted a portrait of Robespierre, and fled Paris (but not France) during the worst years of the Terror.

Kill all your darlings

So, I started again. I had some material I could salvage from the earlier draft, but really, it was a complete rewrite, which I began in 2020. After several drafts, many revisions, and chopping off the first fifty pages, The Portraitist: a Novel of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard came into existence. And this focused, more manageable novel is a vast improvement over its predecessor.

I was able to make a logical progression of Adélaïde’s career, of the choices she made or might have made—lack of documented history can be a boon to a fiction writer. Reader, I invented stuff. I hewed closely to the known facts, but that still left a lot of room for filling in motivations and emotions.

I fell so in love with Adélaïde. But that left me still wondering about Elisabeth. She had made such different choices. And even with the abundance of information available, an autobiography is notoriously unreliable. She wanted to control the narrative about her life. Why? I wasn’t finished with her.

Elisabeth will rise again

I have already written enough to make an entire second novel about Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun. But I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m creating a series of novellas, called Behind the Painted Fan, which I have yet to figure out how to publish so readers can enjoy them as a gloss on The Portraitist. As I deepen my acquaintance with Elisabeth, I’m finding so much more in her to celebrate that gets beyond the rather egomaniacal self-portrait in words. As always in such cases of professional rivalry, the two women probably had completely mistaken views of each other.

The novellas are my attempt to give modern readers a chance to get to know not just Adélaïde as I envision her, but Elisabeth, too. Whichever one of them was more successful, they both faced similar challenges and found ways to survive and prevail. And that’s nothing short of inspiring.

Susanne Dunlap is the author of twelve works of historical fiction for adults and teens, as well as an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach. Her love of historical fiction arose partly from her studies in music history at Yale University (PhD, 1999), partly from her lifelong interest in women in the arts as a pianist and non-profit performing arts executive. Her novel The Paris Affair won first place in its category in the CIBA Dante Rossetti awards for Young Adult Fiction. The Musician’s Daughter was a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Bank Street Children’s Book of the Year, and was nominated for the Utah Book Award and the Missouri Gateway Reader’s Prize. In the Shadow of the Lamp was an Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award nominee. Susanne earned her BA and an MA (musicology) from Smith College, and lives in Biddeford, ME, with her little dog Betty.
You can find her on her website or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The post Why the Underdog? Or, How I Came to Write a Novel about Adélaïde Labille-Guiard appeared first on DIY MFA.

As a person who mostly writes non-fiction, I definitely make room for fiction in my life. For a long time, I was very selective about the books I would read and stuck mostly to the classics. But the more involved I got on Bookstagram, the more contemporary literary fiction I began reading. This kept me going for quite a while because there’s a lot of variety within that umbrella.

However, the last year has led to a veritable explosion in the genres I read. I started picking up a lot of contemporary romance novels last summer, probably because Taylor Jenkins Reid’s last couple of novels have been pretty good gateways to romance. Lately, I’ve been picking up more YA (probably because of the upcoming Writer Igniter YA Summit) and sci-fi (probably because of the podcast). But I still get a heavy mix of romance and literary fiction and non-fiction as well.

For whatever reason, this topic has been on my mind for a while. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump and have been reading widely to try to break it. But the more I think about it, the more I can see the benefits of reading widely, both as readers and as writers.

Benefits of Reading Widely

You can learn from different genres.

This is a benefit of reading widely that I hadn’t thought of before a recent podcast interview. I was asking the author about her inspiration for the book we were discussing and she talked about how she was inspired by a number of genres, not just the one she was writing in.

She pulled craft lessons from different genres. Sci-fi and fantasy novels do an excellent job of world building. Romance novels do a great job of creating character arcs. And thrillers can teach you a lot about plot and pacing. 

To be sure, you need all three elements within a single story. But when you think about what draws readers to different genres, this rings pretty true.

Sometimes you just need a break from your genre.

Like I already mentioned, I mostly write non-fiction, so if I only read within my genre, I’d never get to read novels. I love novels! They are a great escape for me.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like reading too much of the same thing over and over without a break. Even though I frequently tell myself that it’s a good idea to go ahead and buy book 2 of a series or another book by the author I’ve been reading and loving, I never wind up reading another book by the same author after I’ve finished one. My brain just craves something different and I would venture to guess you’re the same.

It’s definitely important to be well-versed within your genre because you need to know the tradition you’re coming from as well as what’s been done so you can write something fresh. You also need to know what other people are doing currently, again so you can carve out your own niche within the genre. And of course you like reading the genre you write, otherwise why would you write that genre?

But I think it’s important to give yourself a break sometimes so that you don’t get burnt out. 

This leads me to my final point about the importance of reading widely…

It can spark creativity.

Another author I interviewed for the podcast said she doesn’t really have a genre, but she gets inspired by the different genres she reads. She wrote a thriller when she was reading a lot of thrillers and she wrote a sci-fi when she was reading a lot of sci-fi.

I think this makes a lot of sense. Inevitably, whatever we read shows up in some form in our writing—I’ve heard of authors who don’t read or avoid certain genres when they are in heavy drafting mode because they don’t want outside influences seeping into their work—so why wouldn’t it also spark an idea in the first place?

There have been plenty of times when I’ve had creative energy to burn, but no focus for it. The usual things aren’t speaking to me, so I look for a different outlet in the hopes that something sticks. And it usually does. Don’t be afraid to go looking for that source of inspiration.

These are just three of the benefits of reading widely. There are tons of other reasons you should consider reading widely.

Tell us in the comments: What are your reasons for reading widely?

Lori Walker is the Operations Maven at DIY MFA. Though she’s fallen off the wagon as a writer, she’s hoping to return to writing essays (perhaps even a novel!) through her involvement with DIY MFA. She is also Launch Manager, Web Editor, and Podcast Producer for DIY MFA and a Book Coach. She resides in Smalltown, Oklahoma, with her husband and their cat, Joan Didion. You can follow her on Instagram at @LoriTheWriter.

The post The Book Nook: In Praise of Reading Widely appeared first on DIY MFA.

I find myself reading writers’ memoirs, pen in hand, underlining something on most pages. Ones that are especially useful, I go back through with a notebook and take down notes of the things I’ve underlined for quick reference later on.

For this #5onFri I’ve listed my five favorite writers’ memoirs and explained what I love about each. A quick note about the order. They are listed in alphabetical order of author’s last name, not in the order I read them or the order of preference. I find that in lists, alphabetical order is the most democratic.

1. Bukowski in a Sundress by Kim Addonizio

This memoir was so entertaining that it was like meeting a gal pal for endless martinis and swapping insane story after insane story. Addonizio’s memoir is really about the perseverance it takes to carve out a career as a writer, in particular as a poet.

There are a ton of great anecdotes about her adventures on the road at writing conferences and readings, as well as lessons about juggling real life and writing. She approaches it all with humor and grit—which are two crucial characteristics you need to be a writer.

This collection is definitely not for the faint of heart. Language and sexploits abound in this wild romp. But, for me, it was a super accessible memoir in that nothing was sugar-coated.

2. I Came All This Way to Meet You by Jami Attenberg

This is the most recently published of these writers’ memoirs. One of the blurbs on the back sums it up quite nicely: “A love letter to work and to friendship.” A lot of the book is grounded in road trips Attenberg took to promote one book or another and how grueling they were, but also the sights she saw and the things she learned about herself on the way.

She talks about books she wrote that didn’t do well and how she didn’t understand why, and I really appreciated that kind of honesty. This whole writing and publishing thing is a fickle mistress, which is why we really should just focus on the bit we can control, the writing.

This one made me realize that as hard as it all is, if you love the work (and surely you must, otherwise why do it?), it really is worth it. 

Plus, who doesn’t love a good road trip book?

3. How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

I loved this memoir in essays. It is so poetic and beautiful. This book is a manifesto on the interconnectedness of life, art, and politics. Good writing encapsulates all three.

Chee does a wonderful job of balancing writing about his life and how that informed his development as a writer. Just when you think you’re reading an essay about writing, you realize that it’s also about life. And when you think you’re reading about Chee’s political activism, you also catch glimpses of writing advice.

I think I heard that he has another collection of essays coming out and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us. He’s also the guest editor of this year’s Best American Essays, out in the fall.

4. On Writing by Stephen King

This was the first writers’ memoir I read cover to cover and I read it when I wasn’t really into Stephen King’s novels. This volume is broken into three parts: C.V., Toolbox, and On Writing, plus a couple of recommended reading lists.

In C.V., King presents his curriculum vitae, his bona fides, his path to writing. He delves into his childhood spent shuffling around and living with various relatives and how he eventually discovered he kind of liked this thing called writing. 

He is really honest about his struggles with and recovery from addiction and how it has shown up in his writing. Plus, he reveals how writing brought him back to life after his near-fatal accident in 1999.

This one provides another glimpse at the level of dedication it takes to become a master of the craft of writing. It is entertaining and inspiring.

5. Just Kids by Patti Smith

When I first saw this memoir, I had no idea who Patti Smith was, but I saw this memoir EVERYWHERE, so I eventually broke down and bought it. Naturally.

This is a love story by Patti Smith about her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe. They lived together when they were struggling artists in New York City in the late 1960s and early 70s. Smith does an amazing job of exploring the depth of that relationship. 

But she also writes a beautiful account of the devotional aspect of being an artist. And that’s my biggest takeaway from this memoir—the importance of truly living your art.

You’ll have to excuse me for not writing much of a conclusion to this post. I am struggling to decide which of these writers’ memoirs I’m going to revisit first!

Tell us in the comments: What are your favorite writers’ memoirs?

Lori Walker is the Operations Maven at DIY MFA. Though she’s fallen off the wagon as a writer, she’s hoping to return to writing essays (perhaps even a novel!) through her involvement with DIY MFA. She is also Launch Manager, Web Editor, and Podcast Producer for DIY MFA and a Book Coach. She resides in Smalltown, Oklahoma, with her husband and their cat, Joan Didion. You can follow her on Instagram at @LoriTheWriter.

The post #5onFri: Five Writers’ Memoirs You Should Check Out appeared first on DIY MFA.

Right?

Wrong. It’s 2022, and my debut novel is finally coming out! So, what happened? What did I still need to learn?

A lot, as it turns out.

Full Disclosure about My MFA

I want to say up front that I am not out to trash MFA programs. I definitely feel my MFA experience was worth it—I found community with other writers, benefited from great mentoring, and learned a lot about workshopping my own and other writers’ work. 

As an introvert, it got me out of my cave, interacting with other aspiring writers and with faculty members who were experienced, published authors. Most of the reading and writing I did was valuable. 

Just taking myself seriously—and being taken seriously by others—as a writer was valuable. Committing to the leap of faith that is the writer’s life was valuable.

My MFA Experience

The biggest disappointment of the program for me was not about the program itself. It was the painful realization, seconded by my mentor, that I wouldn’t have a complete first draft of my novel by the time I graduated, as I’d hoped, because the book’s opening was untenable and had to be rewritten. 

To succeed, the story needed to be built on a better foundation.

So, yeah, that explains a lot of what happened during the past ten years!

But when I look back on my MFA experience, here’s what I think: many of the seminars were too theoretical for me, focusing on the quirks or private theories or esoteric philosophical musings of the faculty members. These were interesting—even exhilarating—at times. 

But I realize now that what I needed was much more concrete and practical: the nuts and bolts of how to structure a whole novel, even how to structure a scene, how to create believable characters, how to identify my themes and use them to deepen and enhance the story. The kind of down-to-earth help I’ve since gotten from the books of people like K.M. Weiland, Donald Maass (no relation, though I wish he was!), and Jessica Brody.

I have a B.A. in English lit and I’ve been a voracious reader all my life. You’d think I would have known what a plot point was, but in relation to my own writing (not English major-type analysis of other people’s writing), I didn’t have a clue. 

I don’t remember anyone at my MFA program talking about basic three-act structure, and, as amazing as it seems to me now, I never heard the term “inciting incident” even once.

Finding Discipline

Full disclosure: I’ve always been more of a pantser than a plotter. I tend to resist strict outlines, preferring to “discover” things as I go by writing into them. Which is fine, but, as I found out, definitely more time-consuming!

The discipline of stepping back and being made to look at what the three acts of my own story were composed of would have helped give me the clarity I often lacked. Looking at fundamental questions like the purpose of a particular scene, or my story’s thematic principles, or my characters’ goals in specific situations would have been a huge help in diagnosing why a particular scene wasn’t working or why the narrative seemed to have suddenly veered off-track. 

K.M. Weiland’s analysis of scene structure in her book, Structuring Your Novel, is worth the price of the book alone. More recently, I’ve been using Jessica Brody’s 15 beats (or essential plot points) from Save the Cat Writes a Novel to create an outline (yes, I actually did put together a rough outline!) for my second novel.

Again, I don’t mean to be negative about MFA programs; my point is that no one in my program talked about these things—and I needed them. True, I might have resisted them, but I needed them. 

I think it’s similar to practicing scales in music. Learning them can seem boring and tedious, but you can’t start riffing—the fun, creative part—till you have that foundation.

My Most Important Takeaway

So, what did I get out of my MFA experience? What was my most important takeaway?

One word: accountability.

I graduated in August 2012 with my newly-minted MFA, and by that November, I was floundering again. I’d invested too much time and money to walk away from the mess that was my novel, so, on the advice of one of my fellow graduates, I hired a writing coach. Though it was hard to make that financial commitment (especially just coming off an MFA!), it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself as a writer. I will never write another book without one.

What my MFA program ultimately taught me was that I could not write a novel on my own. There are just too many ways to go wrong, to veer off course, to fall down rabbit holes that don’t serve your story. None of these things are unrecoverable from, they’re just time-consuming.

Here’s what I found: you need a coach/companion on the journey—someone who reads you, someone who gets you. Gets who you are and what you’re trying to do, and even, if you’re lucky, loves it. 

But at the same time, someone who can tell you the hard truths about what’s working and what’s not; someone who will encourage you to keep going deeper until you say what you really mean; someone who’s even willing to offer the occasional shoulder for you to cry on.

There is no single right way to write a book—any book, fiction or non. But there are many wrong ways, and by wrong, I mean diversions and detours that can end up sucking the life juice out of you and your story, or worse, derailing it altogether.

When I get off the phone from my monthly call with my writing coach, no matter what she’s said to me—and she’s said some pretty hard things at times—I always feel excited and energized to get back to work. Most of the time, I think, wow, I can’t believe I get to have this much fun.

And, MFA or no, that’s what is ultimately going to help you keep your rear in your chair, finish your book, slog through all the revisions—and become the published author you’ve always dreamed of being!

I wish you the very best of luck.

Robin Farrar Maass is a lifelong reader and writer who fell in love with England when she was twenty-two. She enjoys tending her messy wants-to-be-English garden, painting watercolors, and traveling. She lives in Redmond, Washington, with her husband and two highly opinionated Siamese cats. The Walled Garden is her first novel, and she’s already at work on her next novel set in England. Learn more at www.robinfmaass.com.

The post What My MFA Taught Me & What I Learned on My Own appeared first on DIY MFA.

Sincerely,

Aimlessly Acquiring An Agent

Dear Aimlessly,

Yours is a loaded question, with an even more loaded answer. Before I get to that, though, something I always encourage writers to do is define what success means and looks like to them. It’s important to revisit this question often, in all stages of the writing process, and brings me to the first part of my multi-layered answer to your question:

Paths to Publishing

Now, more than ever, there are so many different ways to publish. So, to answer your question with another question: why traditional publishing?

Traditionally, I consider traditional publishing to be publishing with one of the Big Five (Penguin/Random House, Hachette, Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster, and Macmillan). If you are looking to submit to any of these houses, chances are yes, you will need an agent. 

However, the imprints of these houses may open submissions for unrepresented authors periodically throughout the year (but don’t quote me on that). 

At the same time, there are also a number of independent and hybrid presses, along with self-publishing options, that don’t require you to have an agent in order to submit your manuscript for consideration.   

So, I’d ask you to consider why you believe traditional publishing is the right path for you, but more than that, if traditional publishing is truly where your book belongs.

Great Expectations

There’s a common misconception that once an author signs with an agent, their life becomes infinitely easier: their book gets purchased for a boatload of money, eventually topping the bestseller list before being optioned for a multi-film deal. The truth is, an agent isn’t a guarantee of publication. When it comes to books, there are no guarantees.

There are benefits of having an agent—someone to advocate on your behalf and to share the heavy lifting (and the misery of rejection) with. At the end of the day, though, an agent isn’t a one-way ticket to publication. 

It’s a Numbers Game

Getting rejected is part of the deal when it comes to writing. I’m not a believer in word or page counts, and I don’t subscribe to the idea of X number of rejections equalling a particular badge of honor. 

That being said, a hundred rejections almost tells you the same thing as fifty—something isn’t working or resonating.

Ask yourself if your query is clear, if your characters, and their motivations, are coming through. 

Another thing—and this is important—is to consider where you’re querying and WHY. When I was starting out, I submitted my work everywhere that was accepting submissions. It wasn’t until I got an email from an editor with a simple question, “Why do you think this piece is a good fit for us?” A quick scan of their website told me they already knew the answer: it wasn’t. 

Make sure you’re querying with purpose. 

Good luck, and keep writing!

What other questions do you have about getting an agent, writing a novel, or getting published? Drop them here and Lauren might answer them in a future column!

Lauren J. Sharkey is a writer, teacher, and transracial adoptee. Inconvenient Daughter is her debut novel, and loosely based on her experience as a Korean adoptee. You can follow her at ljsharks.com, and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The post Aimlessly Acquiring an Agent appeared first on DIY MFA.

Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter, especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for April is Picture Books, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Leslie Johansen Nack and I discuss:

• Why she leaned into fiction for this project as opposed to writing a biography.
• Her research process and how she chose which scenes to fictionalize.
• How she balanced writing about the public and private personas of her characters.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Leslie Johansen Nack

Leslie Johansen Nack’s debut, Fourteen, A Daughter’s Memoir of Adventure, Sailing, and Survival received five indie awards, including the 2016 Finalist in Memoir at the Next Generation Indie Book Award. She lives in San Diego and enjoys sailing, hiking, and reading. 

Before she started writing, she raised two children, ran a mechanical engineering business with her husband, took care of her aging mother, and dreamed of retirement when she could write full-time. She did everything late in life, including getting her degree in English Literature from UCLA at age thirty-one.

You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The Blue Butterfly, A Novel of Marion Davies

New York 1915, Marion Davies is a shy eighteen-year-old beauty dancing on the Broadway stage when she meets William Randolph Hearst and finds herself captivated by his riches, passion, and desire to make her a movie star. Following a whirlwind courtship, she learns through trial and error to live as Hearst’s mistress when a divorce from his wife proves impossible. A baby girl is born in secret in 1919 and they agree to never acknowledge her publicly as their own. In a burgeoning Hollywood scene, she works hard making movies while living a lavish partying life that includes a secret love affair with Charlie Chaplin. In late 1937, at the height of the depression, Hearst wrestles with his debtors and failing health, when Marion loans him $1M when nobody else will. Together, they must confront the movie that threatens to invalidate all of Marion’s successes in the movie industry: Citizen Kane.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 407: Public vs. Private Personas: Crafting a Novel Based on Historical Figures – Interview with Leslie Johansen Nack appeared first on DIY MFA.

Season Two of Bridgerton

Thanks to the second season of the hit Netflix drama, Bridgerton, adapted from the historical romance series written by Julia Quinn, we are having a much-needed international conversation about colorism. This season featured a 19th-century steamy love triangle between the most eligible Englishman, Anthony Bridgerton (played by Johnathan Bailey), and the regal and captivating South Asian sisters, Kate (played by Simone Ashley), and Edwina Sharma (played by Charithra Chandran). Some of the conversations have centered around the excitement of casting two dark-skinned British women with Indian heritage in leading roles.

Bertha Antoinetta Mason

Bridgeton made me think of another romance novel set in the 19th-century that featured a love triangle between an Englishman (Mr. Rochester), a devoted English governess (Jane Eyre), and a Jamaican and Creole madwoman (Bertha Antoinetta Mason). Of course, I’m referring to Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel, in which the character Antonietta was portrayed as a gruesome caricature of a mad black woman. Upon meeting Antoinetta, Jane describes her as:

• “a woman tall and large, with thick and dark hair hanging down her back.”
• “Fearful and ghastly to me…It was a discoloured face—it was a savage face. I wish I could forget the roll of red eyes and the fearful blackened inflation of linaments.”
• “a figure ran backwards and forwards. What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight, tell: it groveled . . . on all fours, it snatched and growled like some strange wild animal”

Instead of simply dismissing Bronte’s racist character descriptions as a sign of the times, let’s explore further. 

It’s important to remember that there is no biological basis for race. Race cannot be determined through science. Race, instead, is a social construct developed by the British ruling class to validate white racial identity and vilify blackness, to protect their power at the time. For over two hundred years, the myth of race was perpetuated through American institutions and society.  Bronte’s racist rhetoric is evidence of a job well done. 

But, in order to fully comprehend the social construction of race, we need to go back to the Bacon’s Rebellion.

The Birth of Racial Identity

Bacon’s Rebellion, led by Nathaniel Bacon over frustrations with the British and the ruling class, was the first rebellion in the American colonies. It took place in Jamestown, Virginia from 1676 to 1677. The most scandalous aspect of Bacon’s rebellion was that he dared to join forces with indentured servants, Native Americans, and Africans to attack the ruling elite. 

This deadly rebellion led to a conscious effort to create a white ruling class, to avoid being overrun. Suddenly laws were being created that granted access to public office, property, housing, and work for Whites only. Whiteness was defined by the physical attributes that were common for fair skin. White racial identity became a mode of upward mobility. For those who were willing to assimilate, change their names, lose their accents, and hide their customs, prosperity was promised.  

Understanding that racial identity is a social construct, created to advance one group while stifling another, helps underscore the impact our characters’ physical attributes can have on our readers. This is especially important when considering the historical undesirability associated with black features. These attributes can carry both painful and triumphant histories.

Accent, hair texture, eye shape, lip thickness, nose width, and skin color are all legitimate ways to illustrate a character’s racial and ethnic identity. But we can longer ignore that these attributes come with explicit values of good and evil. 

In fact, those character descriptions and traits associated with blackness are often deemed as too much, when they appear on black bodies. Lips that are too full, noses with nostrils that are too wide, bodies that are too curvy and take up too much space, hair that is too curly and unruly, and, in returning to our focus on colorism, skin that is too dark.

Colorism

Colorism refers to the explicitly communicated value for light skin tones over dark skin tones within Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Its use as a weapon lays bare for us the cost of white supremacist standards of beauty. As a result, BIPOC communities continue to obsessively identify, evaluate, and categorize each other based on skin color. The way the world perceives lightness or darkness can lead to very different realities. 

Walking through the world with light skin can provide unearned advantages in BIPOC communities through its association with superior morality, normalcy, and intelligence. For example, motion detection devices were designed with light skin in mind. Items like makeup, shapewear, band-aids, and flattering color patterns that match your skin tone are readily available. There’s no need to pray that the school photographer has experience in capturing your skin tone. Popular celebrities and fictional characters of your racial group often match your skin tone.  

Walking through the world with dark skin can mean navigating more than the obstacles like the ones mentioned above. Society associates dark skin with criminality, untrustworthiness, and a predilection toward violence, which can jeopardize health and safety. 

Back to Bridgerton

Season two of Bridgerton is a great example of the power of representation over tokenization. The characters Katie and Edwina Sharma were written as dynamic and courageous women, which provided the space for Charithra Chandra and Simone Ashley to bring them to life and connect with audiences. The story did not overly focus on, nor hide from, their cultural differences. This is what is possible when we craft complex characters and build dynamic worlds that readers with marginalized identities can connect with. #charactergoals

Things To Consider

Crafting character descriptions that include racial identity can be messy and imperfect. We need to accept that we can’t portray “the” experience or create characters that represent everything for everyone. 

We can, however, offer intentional experiences and viewpoints that illustrate the complex experiences of BIPOC. Are there things you would change in your current writing project or character descriptions after reading this passage? Use the questions below to guide you in your writing.

Considerations for Crafting Racial and Ethnic Character Descriptions

• Be specific: why have you chosen this identity group?
• How does this character enhance or advance your story?
• How can you demonstrate the way your character’s racial identity impacts their view of themselves and connections with others?
• Be intentional with the descriptions that portray racial and ethnic identity. Research using credible sources. Interview and listen to BIPOC with varied experiences.
• Consider including the unique and complex experiences of biracial identity.
• Consider using more than skin color to convey race and ethnicity.
• Consistently describe all characters’ traits, not just BIPOC characters.
• Consider describing skin color by pairing hues, shades, and tones instead of relying on food.
  • Note: Using food descriptions to refer to BIPOC is not considered a politically correct writing practice because it can be seen as reinforcing colorism. This is a relatively new concept for me, as someone who has been raised to hear love and affinity in these types of descriptions. However, after researching this concept, I haven’t been able to overlook the possible association that chocolate, brown sugar, or honey could have with the crops my ancestors were forced to grow. Did slave owners use food descriptions to sell my ancestors at slave auctions?

Tell us in the comments: Are there things you would change in your current writing project or character descriptions after reading this passage?

Colice Sanders is a blogger and motivational speaker.  Colice writes YA, poetry, and memoir. Her blog areasontorise.com chronicles her journey of radical self-acceptance through the lens of childhood trauma. You can reach her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

The post It’s Messy in The Middle: Unpacking Racism & Colorism in Character Descriptions appeared first on DIY MFA.