Writers' Blok and Responsibility

This has been a round for a little while, but I'm posting it cuz I love it and some of you writer types may not have seen it.



Jackson Pearce's novel, SISTERS RED is out in June.

The foreigner population of my town (i.e. 4 people, well really the English-speakers, because there are mountains of Chinese) got to talking last night. All 4 of us are religious and have deep morals, and lots of thoughts about society. So from time to time, we discuss things in a way that would make Socrates sit up and smile.

Last night on the table, the moral responsibility og the author. It started, as many a recent literary argument, with Twilight.

W, the social worker of the group, said Edward was a poster child for spousal abuse. Twilight, she believed, extols the wrong values in a man and in a relationship, and puts this caricature on display for pre-teens as the ideal man.

S, the ABSOLUTE moralist, said it was the responsibility of the author to present truth in their words and to consider all the repercussions of their work.

P, ever the libertarian and the sole male, thought that while some of the responsibility of raising children was the parent's; that society was too quick to let others off the hook. It should be everyone's duty to consider the things they directed towards children and teens.

As an artist, I argued that it was unreasonable to expect an artist to be responsible for every reaction his or her work invoked.

Back to the Twilight example. Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon. From what little I know about Mormon life, there is nothing wrong with a woman educating herself and then staying home to take care of the children, while the huzzers brings home the moolah. The flip side of the coin is that there is also nothing wrong with the husband being responsible for everything that does not concern the home, and the wife being submissive to him.

In fact, not only is this not wrong. It's an ideal. And not just for a couple Mormon women. For many women of many religions. And once upon a time, that ideal was widely believed, even in the secular Westen culture. Back then supporting your husband didn't mean you had the personality of a canteloupe's toe. Nor did it equate to him being an abuser waiting to happen.

So if as a writer, I write something that reflects my ideals - ideals which are NOT OUTRAGEOUS, and were once revered in this very society- and someone takes something else from it, is that my fault?

It's a thin line for me. I don't believe I'm responsible for every reaction my words cause. But on the other hand, I do believe I have a responsibility to use my writing to open people's minds. I've travelled a lot, seen a lot, lived in 3 very different countries, met oodles of people. My strength IS these experiences and I mean to share them. I'm not just trying to convince anyone of my views with my writing either. I've less respect for someone who "believes" the same thing I do for no reason at all, than for someone who has carefully considered all the information and come to a different conclusion. So that's what I do with my writing, present the options. Hopefully in a creative way you've never seen, which makes you consider things you've never considered.

BUT

That's MY writing. I don't think that it's everybody's responsibility to open your mind. Some people were meant to write books which make you laugh so hard, you think you're having an aneurism. Some were meant to write books that would take your mind off your problems. Some were meant to write plots so convoluted that you feel like you could tackle LAPD's unsolved case file when you're done. And every writer should strive to ensure that a reader comes away from their reading with a net positive. They're not in a worse position than where they started for having read the book.

And what about you? What's your social moral responsibility as a writer? Consider the possibilty effects of what you're writing, think about what you want people to come away with, let your true colours shine and above all,

Write YOUR book.

Artist Responsibilty

The last time this came up, it was caused by Twilight.

The 4 views presented back then:

1. Edward is a poster child for spousal abuse and extols the wrong values in a relationship.

2. It is the artist's responsibility to present the truth and consider all repercussions of their work.

3. Some of the responsibility of raising children is the parents, but society is too quick to let others off the hook.

4. It is unreasonable to expect an artist to be responsible for every possible reaction to their work.
(Which one do you think was me? lol)

This time it started over Tyler Perry. A friend on my personal facebook posted this article.

The basic premise is that Tyler Perry always portrays professional Black women in a bad light.

Of course the argument on facebook became whether or not he did portray them as such, whether or not that woman exists, how prevalent she is...

Only a tiny corner even considered the fact that it's entertainment.

Here's my (exasperated) point:

Why are artists supposed to accurately portray the world? If you want accurate accurate portrayals, watch documentaries and read memoirs. Fiction is about having a kernel of truth and telling a story in a way that people enjoy it.

As a YA writer, it comes up a lot, our responsibility to our audience.

There's a lot I could say to concerned parents. I could make the point that some teens need the books you want banned. I could make the point that some teens are doing the things you think are inappropriate in our books. Or that reading such books could give a teen the insight and strength to help a friend before it's too late. Or that we do take responsibility and we want to portray truth without sensationalisation when it comes to "issue books".

But I won't say any of that. I'll just let you in on a little secret.


If there are 10 people in this world who got through their teen years not doing a single thing that a good parent wouldn't be proud of, that's a lot. Teens will do the wrong thing regardless of how well they're raised. That's what being a teen is for: pushing boundaries, test-driving the new you.

All any of us, as parents, can do is to raise the kids the best we can and hope that teenage mistakes are small enough that they make it out alive.

As for the Tyler Perry melee, I'm reminded that the responsibility card is also often played in niche communities.

I'm from Barbados. Rihanna's from Barbados. Either the first or second time Rihanna came home after making Billboard, there was a picture of her in the paper. She was wearing a swimsuit (one-piece with a belly-out) and a pair of jeans. And people got up in arms about the skanty clothing and the image she was giving Barbados. (Funnily enough she was across the road from the beach. I think they should be happy she had on jeans!) Her costumes are skanty. But she's a pop star. That's how they roll on stage. Noone expects Lady Gaga to walk around her house in a meat dress. Or... er... well... Maybe Lady Gaga is a bad example. lol

Still, why must people take everything that artists do as a personal affront or an attempt to corrupt the world? We're just telling the stories we have inside. We want to entertain you. Many of us also want to educate you. Many of us want to tell you that you're not alone. Many of us want to help you find strength you didn't know you had. We want you to cry and laugh with us. Hate with us. Love with us. We want you to come away from our products feeling, "Wow!"

And then we want you to put our books down and remember there's a real world. Maybe, if we're lucky, something we wrote will affect you enough that you transcribe it into your lives. But we know you are not characters in our novels. We just wish you knew it.

Noone is forcing you to read our books. The same way that noone forces you to listen to hard rock lyrics about stringing up your girlfriend.

You asked for stories, we're just giving you stories.

Unknown celebrities

I've got a little secret.

You know Jodi Piccoult? THE Jodi Piccoult who wrote My Sister's Keeper (now a major motion picture- can't wait for the day I can say that about my novel) and a whole long list of other works?

Well, I didn't. Know Jodi Piccoult, that is. Until I was introduced to her last year, by facebook. That's right, if it wasn't for WeRead on facebook recommending her, I would not know who she is (or Marian Keyes or Jennifer Weiner).

Oh, but it doesn't stop there. Nopes.

Remember Interview with a Vampire? Of course I knew Interview with a Vampire. Even I'm not that bad. lol. And I'd heard of Anne Rice. But they had a connection? News to me!

Oh, but it gets worse. (Can it get worse, you wonder?)

You know Neil Gaiman? Yes, yes. That Neil Gaiman. I had never even heard his name til January! I didn't know he wrote Coraline til last month and I only discovered on Thursday that he wrote Stardust!

What rock have I been under? What huge literary rock?

Right now, I'd love to blame Japan. After all, you lose your Western focus out here. They don't overload you with pop culture like in the US. (With the exception of J-pop and anime.) I legitimately didn't know about Twilight because I was in Japan. I read Twilight because I was in JFK and bored. By sheer coincidence.

But Jodi Piccoult? Anne Rice? Neil Gaiman? Definitely around before 2008.

So how did I miss them? I guess it's a mixture of things. But the biggest is probably this:

I forget the names of authors I've never read, and I never noticed writers, screenwriters, directors, etc in movies. Just the actors.

That said, I notice all the actors. Case in point, last week my neighbour read somewhere that straight actors are more likely to be cast in gay roles than gays in straight. To confirm this, we tried pulling up a list of gay actors on wikipedia.

Me: Omigosh! David Odgen Stiers!
Colleagues: blank stares
Me: Cogsworth!
Colleagues: more blank stares
Me: The clock in Beauty and the Beast
Colleagues: You know the name of the clock in Beauty and the Beast?
Me: Yeah, don't you?

I know actors like the back of my hand. Off the top of my head, I can tell you who did the singing and talking voices for young and grown Simba, for example.

But yet, these acclaimed writers slipped through the cracks.

I realised something last week (as I was spluttering at myself for never realising that Neil Gaiman wrote Stardust). If I'm to call myself a writer, I have a certain responsibility- not just to know of these authors because someone I know happens to mention them, or because something they did crosses my path.

It's my responsibility to be familiar with them. To read something by each of the greats. To know how Stephen King's style is different from Toni Morrison's. (That is like the weirdest comparison ever...) To internalise them to the point that I know what I like in their writing and what I don't like. (Please lightning, don't strike me.)

And the biggest responsibility of all? To seek them out. Just because I've never crossed paths with an author's work, doesn't give me an excuse to not know them.

Reporters don't sit in the news room waiting for news to jump into their laps.
Avon ladies aren't relaxing in their living rooms, waiting for customers to knock on their doors.
Doctors aren't lounging around the hospital waiting for patients to... Wait a minute... :)

Point being, stay informed.

Could you imagine? Being interviewed by Oprah and she wants to discuss how my themes are similar to Neil Gaiman's and I'm like "Who?".

NEVER.SELL.ANOTHER.BOOK!

PS. Don't forget to check out my contest.
And stay tuned tomorrow for an interview with the author of Passing For Black, Linda Villarosa

Stephanie Perkins on Talk Back Thursday

Stephanie Perkins is the author of ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, slated for release on December 2nd. In her spare time she does exciting things like dye her hair blue and fantasize about HBM’s (Hot British Males)!



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Welcome to Talk Back Thursdays. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed. Congratulations on the upcoming publication of ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS. Tell us a little bit about it.


Thank you, Claire Dawn! It's an honor to be here. ANNA is about finding true love in the City of Light. (Finding true love with . . . a totally hot boy with a French name and an English accent!) Here's the official description:


Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris — until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.


But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.





And Étienne’s accent? Is there a particular HBM you hear when you think of him?


HA! There is, but the information is top secret. I'd much rather have my reader think of their *own* Étienne.



So, you started this book on nano (wrimo)? I’m always thrilled to discover fellow –er- nanners?-um. Tell us a bit about your writing process.


Yes, I did! That's cool that you do it, too! My daily process varies, depending on what stage of a project I'm in (first draft, revising, editing, etc). But I'm a night owl, so I usually begin work at about 10 or 11 pm and work until sunrise. Unless I get distracted by Twitter. Or email. Or a cool video on YouTube. Then I'm doomed for the rest of the night.


My long-term writing process is, well, long! I start with the 50k NaNo draft in November, let it stew for a few months, and then I rewrite the entire thing slowly over a period of several months. This period involves a LOT of research, and my novel usually bulks up to about twice the size. And then I begin my next draft, which is my favorite part of writing—stripping out the unnecessary parts, building up the better parts, making it prettier. After this one, I begin showing it to my critique partners, and then I do a few more drafts. Then my agent sees it. Then I do another draft. Then my editor sees it. MANY more drafts follow that!


I'm a slow writer. And I'm very nitpicky and rarely satisfied. If I didn't have deadlines, I'd never stop editing.



We’ve heard from the “I randomly met my agent in Starbucks “ to “I’ve been hammering away at this industry for 12 years” stories. What was your road to publication like? What’s your relationship with your agent like? And why is your hair blue?


(A) My road to publication was . . . exhausting. Wonderful! But exhausting. Things began happening much faster for me once I took writing seriously as a FULL-TIME JOB, and accepted that a lot of yucky things come with FULL-TIME JOBS (like responsibility, a huge commitment of time, and a loss of leisure activities). A full, detailed breakdown of my specific journey with ANNA is available in the second half of this blog post.


(B) My agent is Kate Schafer Testerman, aka Daphne Unfeasible. http://ktliterary.com I discovered her as most writers do, through her best friend/client, YA writer Maureen Johnson. Kate was my dream agent for years—the ONLY agent, as far as I was concerned!—and it's a joy to be represented by her. She works hard, and she plays hard. I love that in a person.

(C) I don't really know, to be honest. Blue isn't even my favorite color! I'd just always liked the *idea* of blue hair. I've had it for over two years now, and I'll probably have it for about two more. It's become a part of me. I don't even notice it when I look in the mirror!



So, what’s up next for Stephanie Perkins?


Next fall, my publisher (Dutton) will release LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR. It's a companion novel to ANNA which means that it has some character and story overlap, but it's not a direct sequel. It's made to stand alone. It's not set in Paris, but it is another romantic comedy!


Many of us here at Points of Claire-ification dream of some day being where you are. Any advice for aspiring writers?


The first several years of writing are hard for EVERYONE. It takes a long time to be good enough for publication, and the only way you'll get there is by practicing. Write daily. Being published is an achievable goal, but it only comes with hard work. Work isn't easy, and it's not often fun. But the reward? Pretty freaking amazing.


Thank you for visiting with us, Stephanie and good luck with the book.


Thanks again for having me! I always love seeing your name in my blog comments!


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Still swooning from the comment love! But seriously guys, add this to your TBR lists. It looks soooo awesome! I can’t wait. Do the scream of t. Do the scream of t. Also, swing by and help Steph celebrate the recent sale of the third companion novel, Isla and the Happily Ever After.

Oh, and because I loves you so muchy! I'm giving away

A PREORDER OF ANNA!!!!

Just leave a comment to be entered.

Far Out Friday: Hikikomori

There are lots of beautiful, amazing things about Japanese culture and society. I love the privilege of being able to share them with you. But I also believe, above all else, in truth. Which is why I don't shy away from the stuff that might not be all unicorns and rainbows.

The meaning of the word "hikikomori" falls somewhere between the English "recluse" and "hermit." Hikikomori are people who don't (or seldom) leave home. As opposed to a recluse, who may just not be sociable, but be perfectly functional in society when they need to be. Or a hermit, who's withdrawn completely and lives in a cabin in the woods.

Why?

I think the reason that hikikomori are so common in Japan is partly due to the society. Everybody knows that Japanese society is a very strict one. There are rules governing everything, from the ways you can use chopsticks to the order in which colleagues should sit in when riding together in a taxi.

The flipside of all of these rules is an extreme aversion to failure. In Japan, it's not uncommon for a leader to take responsibility for any failure by resigning. It's a major part of the reason that I've seen 6 Prime Ministers in my not-quite-5 years here.

Another side effect of the strict society is the hikikomori. Hikikomori have usually failed at something. Some did badly in school. Some haven't worked out well with the opposite sex. Recently, I even saw on a drama one girl who ended up being a hikikomori because a guy called her ugly.

Facilitation

The thing is I don't think Westerners can really be recluses of the hikikomori variety. If you don't get up and go to work, you can't support yourself. And your parents or whoever else aren't going to keep leaving food on your bedside table if you refuse to brave the 10-minute walk to the supermarket. Not to mention the school-aged hikikomori. What do you mean, you're 13 and you've decided that going to school is too hard? Let me introduce you to my friend the truant officer.

Re-evaluation

When I first came here, hikikomori were bad ju-ju. Not in that they were bad people or something, but in that, somebody should have been doing something to help them. But I'm kind of re-evaluating that. The truth is that lately, I'm leaning (almost horizontal) towards being a hikikomori. One thing led to another, and being around people is kind of painful.

I'm not like some hikikomori who CAN'T go out or anything. And it's not like there isn't at least one place I still really enjoy going to. But I don't see the point in making myself go out if it's not fun. Spending my weekends and weeknights, curled up under a blanky (snowed earlier this week- Spring, where are you?) and watching J-dramas is fine by me. In fact, as a Japanese student and a writer, watching the ridiculous amount of dramas that I go through (an average of 11 episodes on the days I'm not at work) counts as studying in more ways than one.

I expect I will go back to the real world at some point. I suppose the writer in me doesn't have a choice. Unless I want to write re-hashings of J-dramas or anime, all the material is outside. But for now, I'm not sure that retreat is such a bad thing.

INSANITY!!! Day 3- The Other Edition

The INSANITY!!! Day 1 winner, according to random.org, is...

Entrant # 4...

Sidrah!

Congrats, Sidrah.

In literature, there's a certain type of character that appears more often as the protagonist. In YA, that's a white, female, who's at least fairly fit and heterosexual. Any MC (and to some extent it also applies to secondary characters) who doesn't fit that norm is Other.

There's a lot of talk, especially in YA circles, about our responsibility to write the Other. I think writing stereotypical Other characters or ones you're not passionate about is worse than no Others at all. Before you write an Other, think about what that will really mean.

How does being Black/ Asia/ LGBTQ/ fat/ short/ developmentally-challenged/ academically-challenged (etc) affect your character? Go deep, don't just think about the surface ways. What does being fat mean for going to parties? What does being Black mean for college choices? What does being gay mean for which countries a character dreams of visiting?

Today, for INSANITY!!! Day 3, it's the Other Edition. Up for grabs, some of the books I've read this year featuring an Other MC.

 One of the best things about this book is that Hanna's (the MC) struggles with who she is aren't the main focus. Because not every Other character spend s all day thinking about their Other-ness. She's half Finnish and half-Black, but the strange, paranormal goings-on in her town in the American South are the bigger issue.

 This book is as multicultural as they come. About a Muslim girl, torn between not letting her school friends know that she's Muslim in the midst of all their post-911 issues and really enjoyng many of the facets of her Muslim heritage. Also, it's set in Australia.

Marcelo is somewhere on the autism spectrum. This is the story about a boy who sees the world in a different way, but is being forced to interact with it.

To enter, tell me in the comments:

WHAT TYPE OF OTHER CHARACTERS WOULD YOU LOVE TO SEE MORE APPEARANCES FROM IN (YA) FICTION?

Rules:
Open until Wednesday, 11.59 pm.
Open to everyone - international and non-followers as well.

Don't forget the only way to win on Friday is to send me your 10 books every writer should read.