On Race

The other day, as I was working on the novel, I was debating on the merits of including race - Elves, dwarves, snake people, etc that are are human-like, very Tolkien and D&D. Yesterday, I read a blog post by a fellow Fantasy author, Marshal Ryan Maresca, talking about the difficulties of including race in fantasy and sci-fi. But it's not your typical Fantasy Race distinctions, but Race as subcatagories of humans. 

In his post, he only touched upon the topic in terms of clarity and description, avoiding the deep-seeded cultural, societal, and emotional baggage that comes with Race and Race issues.   He goes on and describes two characters in an exercise to describe racial traits... and I immediately saw a reinforcement of American societal "norms" in terms of race - the light skinned, light haired, light eyed character gets an easier time because he can pass for "local." To that, I'd like to point you to the follow YouTube satire that captures the sentiment of race/ethnicity and "local normal" sentiments.

And then there was racist, vitriolic reaction when Miss New York, a woman of Indian descent who was born in the US and grew up in New York, won the Miss America 2014 title. Many of the people who were outraged felt that Miss Kansas - tattooed blond beauty who is in the National Guard and hunts is more representative of "American" than the dark-skinned "foreigner."

So, authors, when you're considering race in your work, take a deep pause and research the loaded history of racism and ask yourself if you want to give your world that amount of cultural depth. If you are writing a world where race doesn't matter anymore, take an example from Suzanne Collins. She did a really good job of it in Hunger Games when Katniss meets and describes the District 11 tributes - Rue and Thresh, who are black. But even though you describe a character as dark skinned, your readers my picture the character totally unlike how you pictured her, as evident by the racist reaction to how Rue was cast in the movie. 

Also, writers, be cognizant of your word choice and connotation when describing physical features that has racial tones.  You may be reinforcing racial "norms" of your society, undercutting it (what if dark-skinned was the norm and light-skinned was the "other"?), or attempting to show that race is no longer an issue for a culture/society (often seen in "future" settings).

Writers, ask yourself - what purpose does race have in my work? If I have race, do I need to include racism and what purpose does it have in my world?


Here's more food for thought -

 What if Captain America was a Sikh man?

How do you deal with race in your work? Do all Humans look the same? Do all Humans enjoy the same ranks/privileges, etc despite the differences in their physical features? Does the racial norms, hierarchies, and [insert colored/racial majority here] privilege exist? How do you react as a reader when you see it in others' works?

On Character Development

Today I managed to do several character sketches to prep for my NaNo project. On a break, I checked out this article pertaining to a school assignment focusing on a child's development. In the article, it describes an assignment were children (with their parent's permission) were to venture out on their own to tackle a task that they wanted to tackle - taking the bus by himself, going to the store by herself, trying something new, preparing his own food for the first time, - tackle it, then write about it.

Reading the excerpts from the kids' essays were inspiring. The kids were taking their first steps to become independent adults - pushing their own boundaries and comfort zones, their awe and wonderment of that "I did it!" moment, and the pride and growing confidence in knowing they can accomplish something.

With that in mind, I'm revisiting the character sketches of my primary characters (and if I have time, my secondary characters) and adding developmental background information that mirrors the developmental markers of people in general -

• First time they accomplished something they didn't know they could do
• First time they accomplished something they struggled to do
• First time they failed at something they thought would be easy
• The biggest failure that resonates with them
• First time the character experienced a sense of loss
• Any lasting rivalries with another character
• Fears (and explain the origins of the fears)

I know that some of these "first" or landmark incidents could happen during your story. Sometimes, the 2nd or 3rd "fail" is the one that resonates with a character the most. I expect very few of these scenes/markers to make their way onto the pages of the main story, but it will go a long way in explaining why a person is a wallflower, or why they always have to make sure everyone is safe, why they notice the littlest details (ala Monk's OCD) and how that can be a flaw.  

How do you develop your characters? What thoughts drive you or inspire you? 

On the Strong Female Character

I just read an article where an author explained why she hated the Strong Female Character. In her article, she talks specifically about the SFC as portrayed in movies, but the arguments translate into story writing in general -

The Strong Female Character falls into one or more of these pit traps:

• many times one dimensional
• is also the token female
• easily becomes a caricature of "strength"
• is still marginalized in the big picture
• is an exception rather than the norm, subtly reinforcing sexism. 
• is still delegated to the role of male main's love interest
• still needs to be rescued

The main characters that we know and love are not merely Strong. They are complex and dimensional.

While the author, Sophia McDougal, writes about the many examples of where the SFC just doesn't work, I'd like to take the time to show examples of how some authors/writers/producers/directors did it right.

Joss Whedon's Firefly series:
The SFC isn't extraordinary, but the norm in the society. The ratio of female to male characters - 4:5
All of the female characters are multi-dimensional and strong in their own way.

• Kaylee - the best mechanic one can find. She's essentially a savant when it comes to ships and engines, but she's a girly girl at heart and painfully shy. She's portrayed as emotionally vulnerable and has a crush on a man that is emotionally unavailable. 
• Zoe: Tough-as-nails second in command. Super loyal and is a soldier who managed to survive a war where she's seen many of her friends killed. She follows orders, even if it's against her better judgement. Very calm, clear headed and methodical. There's a softness in her character that is hinted at since she's married to Wash. He serves as reminder that there is a certain amount of depth to Zoe that we don't normally see since the rest of the crew (and the audience) sees her hardened exterior 90% of the time. 
• Inara: A professional Companion (think Geisha), she's the epitome of willowy strength. She leases one of the Serenty's shuttles and take occasionally takes on clients (done off screen) as part of her trade. She's part of the Serenity, but is independent of her crew, giving them a veneer of credibility. Her strength is in her business reputation, her savvy, and her diplomatic skills. In the few episodes that she holds the spotlight, she was the one who saved the rest of the party from getting conned - proof that you don't need to wield a weapon or throw a punch to be strong (although she does have some combat training, going by one episode). 
• River: She's mentally unstable and is a victim. She's the most overt character that needs to be "saved" in the series, but she does her own share of saving, displaying combat prowess and some psychic ability.  

TL;DR Version: The writers developed the female characters as much as they did for the male characters. Every person has strengths, weaknesses, and flaws. That coupled with a checkered past makes good, interesting characters.

Novels with a well developed (not just "strong") female protagonist:

 The In Death Series by J.D. Robb
Not only does if feature a multi-dimensional female protagonist, there's a kick-ass female side-kick and female supporting characters.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Again, female characters with depth and dimension

What series - be it book, movie, or TV show - can you recall that has a great female characters that are just a great characters in their own right?

The hardest words to write

I think the hardest words I write every day are the first ones.

After a break from writing, it feels like one of the most arduous tasks in the word - to get back to work. The whole ordeal feels like an amusement park ride. The time you spend preparing - getting the coffee, queuing the music, setting up the productivity software so you can ignore social media... that's like being in a 120 min line, each part of the process necessary. Sometimes, you get to fast-track it, but most of the time, not.

Then... you finally get there. You sit down to write... and the words can't seem to make it on to the page. This is that climb. During some part of a great roller coaster ride, you have that slow climb where you anticipate the best part of the ride. A person doesn't always remember this part of the ride, but it's there. To me, the first few words, few sentences really, of writing each day is this slow climb. I pray that the ride doesn't break down during this climb since the rest of the ride is going to be awesome.