tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774363178370829558.post1228973689236338342..comments2024-03-20T02:49:17.606-07:00Comments on Between Fact and Fiction: Diversity As Trend? Please.Natalie Whipplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09978251567306345129noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774363178370829558.post-66597967077589354672016-03-10T14:45:16.362-08:002016-03-10T14:45:16.362-08:00Wow, those are scary submission stats for your POC...Wow, those are scary submission stats for your POC characters! Thanks for sharing. <3 Maya Prasadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13095006683729632047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774363178370829558.post-12976329980597258292016-03-09T09:37:47.350-08:002016-03-09T09:37:47.350-08:00Hi Natalie!
Great post, and you are speaking righ...Hi Natalie!<br /><br />Great post, and you are speaking right to my heart! I'm also worried about doing this wrong (we talked about this at WIFYR, it's something I think about a lot as a writer.) <br /><br />I want my (fantasy) stories to reflect the same rich diversity that my world does. Not because it's a trend, but because everyone is invited to participate in my fictive worlds. Because to me fantastic stories are beautiful and wondrous and that immersive glamour shouldn't be limited to white cultures and endless pseudo-european worlds. I want my made up fantasy worlds to draw inspiration from the supernatural traditions of many peoples, but with respect and inclusion, rather than cultural appropriation. <br /><br />Sometimes, though, the attempt feels like navigating a minefield. Are you following the latest news stories about JK Rowling and concerns of cultural appropriation? I'm still trying to sort out how I feel about it all. <br /><br />Love your blog, and I'm really enjoying Relax,I'm a Ninja!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05790112869537685030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774363178370829558.post-25076790018868043272016-02-26T07:27:58.294-08:002016-02-26T07:27:58.294-08:00Thanks for sharing your personal story (linked) an...Thanks for sharing your personal story (linked) and how it relates to your professional life! This is fascinating. I am seeing a ton of fantasy agents now asking for stories about POC, especially written by POC, and it seems they are way ahead of the publishers. I wonder how quickly they will be able to chip away at the literary whitewash of centuries. <br /><br />My husband and daughter also "pass"--they're Asian, African, Native American, and European--and due to genetic lottery, they just look 100% white. All three of us grew up/are growing up in diverse neighborhoods and friend groups, so an all-white story feels unnatural to me, even as a person with no non-European heritage known to me. It is continually startling to me how weird other white people get about stories containing people of various backgrounds and skin colors--that it is possible to live a life that is screened from interaction with people who are not extremely similar in appearance and culture. <br /><br />Isn't that the whole point of storytelling--to allow us to transcend the world we know and visit someone else's reality? Is it that terrifying to imagine being or knowing non-white people? <br /><br />You're right, this is not a trend. White supremacy is a trend that I hope is passing, because not only is it oppressive and wrong, it's boring.Jean Michelle Miernikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08971882597502010124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774363178370829558.post-78950348918845406732016-02-24T17:40:30.378-08:002016-02-24T17:40:30.378-08:00I have to say, I agree with David Hickenbotham. I ...I have to say, I agree with David Hickenbotham. I wrote a post on my own blog questioning the trend of diversity, but not that IT is trending, but that the request for it is.<br /><br />I often think that the request for diversity is definitely....and yet it's barely around. While pitching my work, I kept seeing agents asking for diversity but no "token" POC and how they wanted "authentic" POC. And suddenly, EVEN as a black person myself, I actually started questioning if my characters were black enough.<br /><br />Ridiculous. <br /><br />POC can have ordinary backgrounds just like their white counterparts. I rarely see white characters being defined by their heritage because white is normal. But so are POC. I hated that the agents requests made me feel as though I needed my characters to pass some kind of authentication. I am authentic, asking me or my characters to fit into some kind of mold is borderline stereotyping. I assume the agents were aiming their comments at writers from white backgrounds writing POC, but still, do they even know what they are really talking about?S.E. Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01900678669541652968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774363178370829558.post-36626683535136079882016-02-24T04:39:16.047-08:002016-02-24T04:39:16.047-08:00I didn't know that about the industry. I can r...I didn't know that about the industry. I can relate to your fear of not getting it exactly right. Even when I worked as a ghostwriter and communicated directly with authors I still sometimes found it challenging to get their voice just right. And that's with having them to directly ask. <br />Thanks for your honesty. Love getting your posts in my inbox!<br />JL GillhamJennifer Gillhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10448008781236026769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774363178370829558.post-89370714708642108262016-02-23T22:37:27.867-08:002016-02-23T22:37:27.867-08:00I always get excited when a new post of yours hits...I always get excited when a new post of yours hits my inbox. They're my favorite! This is a great post, and I love hearing your actual experiences with the diversity movement. I've had similar experience lately writing about disabilities--I love this, it's fantastic, no way I can sell it. It's sad, but hopefully if enough of us keep trying, we'll make it a reality. Thanks for the awesome insights!Emmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13463911712861223684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774363178370829558.post-84733982338719430832016-02-23T22:00:30.770-08:002016-02-23T22:00:30.770-08:00Great post, Natalie! I'm not familiar enough w...Great post, Natalie! I'm not familiar enough with the publishing industry to comment on those aspects, but I've definitely heard other writers say similar things and find it really sad. Having said that, I've definitely seen more agents that are open and trying to be more understanding of the movement (I don't know what the stats are overall so the ones I've looked at might be a skewed perspective, but I'm staying optimistic)Wendyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13947005368442937489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774363178370829558.post-6062492318218380142016-02-23T20:05:52.438-08:002016-02-23T20:05:52.438-08:00Thank you for this post, Natalie. I've also be...Thank you for this post, Natalie. I've also been grappling with this discussion, and with <i>why</i> I write the stories I write. I think it's an important discussion to have, and an important thing to grapple with.<br /><br />(And I wish this kind of thing didn't have to be met with all the defensive/indignant crap that makes it impossible to have any kind of discussion. We gotta grow, guys! Let's figure out how!)Adam Heinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02225813532455467868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774363178370829558.post-10334671424381778032016-02-23T15:43:35.292-08:002016-02-23T15:43:35.292-08:00You just said all the same things that I've be...You just said all the same things that I've been talking to my friends about recently. We may WANT it to be true, but it isn't true. Not yet.<br /><br />And, sadly, it might never be true if people don't change their buying habits.<br /><br />A publisher can publish a token book here and there to help their image or to do what's right, but this can't and won't be a trend until it starts making money. <br /><br />Publishers need to be profitable to survive. They have bills to pay. They have lights to keep on. They are, first and foremost, a business. And they're not a very risky business either, so they tend to go with the safe bet. They go with authors who've sold well in the past. And they go with protagonists who've sold well in the past.<br /><br />I read author's blogs, go to author's conferences, read the #MSWL tweets, and all of them are telling us the same thing, that everybody is looking for diverse main characters.<br /><br />Except that it just isn't true.<br /><br />When this changes, it'll probably be little by little and through quality works by self-published authors willing to take the risk that create the change. And sadly, I'm not sure there's much money in that for us authors who also want to keep the lights on.<br />David Hickenbothamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15114833910659451784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774363178370829558.post-12621479941605442032016-02-23T14:52:44.498-08:002016-02-23T14:52:44.498-08:00It's hard to hear, but it makes sense.It's hard to hear, but it makes sense.William Kendallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00331324250821836822noreply@blogger.com