A Writer’s Block

I’ve been writing for most of my life.  While going through Mom’s stuff after her passing, I found a story I wrote more than half-a-century ago.  It was about finding a wooly mammoth frozen in the ice and how I brought it back to life and trained it to be my pet. 

I didn’t think it was too bad for a six-year-old. 

I’ve seen, heard, and written about a lot of things in the 57 years since I wrote that story, but I heard something yesterday that left me saying, “Are you serious?”

——————————————

While several of my sons have writing talent, Bobby, more than most, feels the need to write, much as his old dad does.  If possible, he may even write MORE than I do.  He sticks mostly to science fiction, especially the Star Wars universe, while I write about a lot of different subjects, most of which exist in the same universe we live in.

Bobby’s drive to write and compulsion to improve his craft have led him not long ago to take a writing class.  The students wrote on their chosen topic, then shared their work so that others could critique their craft.  He got some useful feedback, most of which he took in and learned from.

One day, however, he was asked to leave the class.  OK, maybe ordered to leave.

Bobby called me to explain how it all happened and, being his dad, I had to try to stay non-committal about the situation, offering advice where I could.

It was tough.  At one point, I just had to say, “Are you serious?”

——————————————

In the class, one particular critic had told him that his characters needed diversity.  Now, any of you who have watched any of the Star Wars movies know that they include members of many different life-forms.  That seems pretty diverse to me, but my son’s critic said he specifically needed to include some LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and questioning) characters.

Bobby’s enough like his father that keeping his mouth shut is not among his stronger characteristics.  He said, “Are you serious?”

OK, he kind of sounds like me too.

——————————————

Bobby pointed out to the woman that he has characters from many different locales, and of multiple genders, but that he didn’t usually see the need to point out their sexuality as being LGBTQ or straight.  The woman took umbrage at his comment and the discussion went downhill from there.

Bobby is many things but afraid to stand up for what he believes is not one of them.  I know my son well enough to understand that he may come off a bit harsh if he feels he is being pushed too far.  If he did come off abrasive, he could certainly work on that.

——————————————

Now, I want to point out that my sons were all raised to be tolerant of people from other backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations.  I’m really proud of that.  One of our sons and his wife work voluntarily with LGBTQ kids, helping them deal with the intolerant way the world often treats them.  The couple helps the kids to build self-esteem and teach them that, just because they are not exactly what many people consider “normal” doesn’t mean they can’t be wonderful, productive, happy people without the need to change who they are.

Last year I ran into an old friend I haven’t seen in years.  I made my way to him and gave him a big bear hug.  He introduced me to his roommate.  I had heard that my old pal was gay, but it didn’t change the way I feel about him, or our friendship…not in the least.

I shook hands with his friend with a heartfelt smile and invited them both to come out and visit us before they had to go home.

Bobby was home visiting us at that time also and he shook hands with the two men and introduced his own son to them.

——————————————

I could give you other examples, but I think that one adequately illustrates that Bobby is NOT homophobic.

You see, the reason he disagreed so vehemently with the woman was NOT because he thought there was no room for LGBTQ people, or LGBTQ aliens for that matter, in the Star Wars Universe.  Actually, he considers characters in that future time to be more accepting of diversity than people are now.   And if they are more accepting, why would there be a need to point out each one’s sexuality if it had no direct bearing on the story.

That’s the issue Bobby was trying to point out while the woman was arguing that he needed obviously LGBTQ characters, I assume, to educate people.

OK, I admit there’s a bit of a point there.

——————————————

Bobby and I agreed that he honestly doesn’t know the sexuality of most of his characters, because it doesn’t matter to the story.

At the risk of confusing the issue, there are two times when a writer should indicate the sexual orientation of his or her characters: when it really doesn’t matter…and when it really does.

Let me illustrate.  Let’s say I’m writing a book about a series of murders in a small town and I write, “after questioning Tim and his wife, the police went next door to talk to the gay couple living there.”  That would be pretty obvious but, would the reader know whether it was pertinent to the story, or whether I was being homophobic?  You wouldn’t know, would you, at least not yet.  However, if you are an experienced reader, you probably assumed that the gay couple either does, or will, play a bigger role.  Why is that?  Because I pointed it out. 

Now, the fact that I talked about Tim Jones and his wife does not necessarily mean that it’s a pertinent fact, because it’s not pointing out something that stands out in most segments of society.  However, if they lived in a predominantly gay neighborhood, it definitely could be important…and many readers would take note of the fact.

——————————————

A good writer does not want to confuse their readers any more than is necessary to tell the story.  Sure, a red herring here and there can make for a more interesting read (A red herring is a narrative element intended to distract the reader from a more important event in the plot, like a twist ending.) but it is a tool that can easily be overused.  In other words, if a writer points out every character’s sexuality, it can easily get to the point where the reader just gets tired of reading the story.

——————————————

OK, back to my earlier example of the straight couple and the gay couple.  If they all lived in a neighborhood that was predominantly gay, the astute reader would notice the straight couple and wonder if they were going to play a bigger role in the book, perhaps as the murderers.

Now, to belabor the point, how about if I were to say the police interviewed Tim Jones and his wife (a straight couple), then went next door and talked to Bob Brinks and Bruce Satterfied (a gay couple), then finished their interviews by asking the same question of the couple next door to them, Chris Harris (a transsexual) and his/her spouse Anders Landon (bisexual)?

That would probably be the point where many readers would close the book just because of all the unnecessary detail/confusion.

——————————————

A writer can use contextual clues to slip a bit of information to the readers.

A few years ago, I started working on a series of books for kids.  The series was about a club that found themselves thrust into various adventures.  They called themselves the YAKs (Young Adventurers Klub, get it?).  Two members of the club were black.  I can’t remember feeling the need to tell my readers the boys’ race until I was working on the fourth or fifth book, and, even then, I’m not sure I ever felt the need to come right out and blatantly tell readers that they were black.  In one of the later books, “The Great Gorilla Adventure,” those two accompanied their parents to Africa.  The parents would be researching their family genealogy while the boys were going to do other things.  The contextual clues would tell the astute reader that the boys were probably of African descent, even without me saying the words.

——————————————

Now, I have nothing against a writer putting LGBTQ people in their book.  If it is important to the story, that’s fine.  If it’s not important to the story, the writer can still include them but, for instance, I would say something like, “after questioning Tim and his wife, the police went next door to talk to the couple living there, Bob and Bruce.”  You see, the reader would get the idea that the couple is gay but it shouldn’t set off any major alarms that Bob and Bruce may be more important than just another couple who lives the neighborhood.

——————————————

Are there any problems with including LGBTQ characters?  Well, there is the obvious fact that some people will stop reading because they are homophobic (LGBTQ-phobic?).

Oh well, you can’t make everybody happy.

More important to the writer and his craft, there is the risk, if you use an LGBTQ character, of accidentally saying something that reinforces negative stereotypes.

Rather than giving an example using an LGBTQ character, I’ll make another example of the two African American members of the Young Adventurers Klub, and I cringe as I do it.  Please keep in mind that I love all the members of the YAKs (imaginary though they are) and would never say anything derogatory about them, or intentionally make hurtful fun of them.  Remember, this is just an illustration.  Now, if I had those two boys going to a picnic and I named off some of the foods served there, what if I listed fried chicken and watermelon among them?  I like to think my readers would understand that I didn’t mean to bring up the old racist stereotype, but there’s always the chance that not everyone would understand.

In my area, fried chicken and watermelon are pretty much must-haves for any summertime picnic, just like potato salad, fruit salad, and baked beans.  Fried chicken and watermelon are two foods I always look for at picnics.  I have black friends who love fried chicken and watermelon too.  In and of themselves, there is nothing wrong with friend chicken and watermelon.  I might have included it because that is what I like at a picnic, while some people would perceive it as me using a racist stereotype.

Something similar could happen with an LGBTQ stereotype.

——————————————

The point I’m trying to get at is that every writer has his or her own style, not to mention agenda.  Oh, yes, agenda.  Part of my agenda is inclusion.  I want everyone to learn tolerance for those who are different from them.  Male, female, black, white, gay, or straight, we can all get along by practicing tolerance.  However, I don’t feel the need to point out every detail of every character I write about, not because I necessarily disagree with a certain aspect of that character, but because I think it takes away from the readability of a work for a writer to try to include a lot of things that aren’t important to the advancement of the plot or storyline…until or unless those facts become important to the plot.

——————————————

Writing is a difficult, although rewarding, craft.  Every writer has his or her writing style.  Let him or her write according to their own style and say what they want, the way they want to say it.

I’m not trying to say, “Leave my boy alone and let him write the way he wants,” but, well, yeah, there’s that too.

——————————————

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AT THE UPPER RIGHT. IT’S FREE!

You will ONLY receive notifications when I post new entries to my blog.

Go to the top of the right hand column where it says, “SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG VIA EMAIL”.  Fill in your email and hit the “Subscribe” button.  You will receive a verification email.  Please confirm that you want to subscribe by clicking, “Confirm Follow” and you will be set!  Thanks!

It doesn’t seem to work from a cell phone, only a computer.  I don’t know why.  Sorry.  If there’s a problem, send me your email address and I’ll sign you up.

——————————————