It's how we live these days.
I want to talk about how western editors and readers often mistake protags written by BIPOC as "inactive protagonists." It's too common an issue that's happened to every BIPOC author I know.
Writing tip: let\u2019s talk about the INACTIVE PROTAGONIST. I\u2019ve seen a lot of amazing books lately with incredible plots, intricate worlds, and just really great writing with one recurring issue, which is the inactive protagonist. I think it can get tough when you\u2019re writing (1/10)
— Briston Brooks (@briston_brooks) January 26, 2021
It's how we live these days.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. 😆
Hi, I write fantasy fiction with a Filipino flair and many of my protagonists are just actively trying to survive 😆 you can get a copy of my work here:
https://t.co/hCK8uspghp
https://t.co/awSu7y5674
https://t.co/7c21iqwMgz
https://t.co/yPxghYAuQO
More from Writing
I can second this observation through personal experience. I was only able to start writing because "it's just dumb weeb fanfiction quests, who cares." 100,000 pages of dumb weeb fanfic later, and I actually got better... but only because I was trying my best with every page.
"It's dumb weeb fanfiction" gave me permission to be bad, to vomit things onto the page that I knew fell far short of what I wanted it to be. To just write and write instead of laboring over six paragraphs for weeks like I'd always done before.
But I still *wanted* to be good.
Writing is HARD. And unfortunately, most people don't appreciate just how hard writing (or communication in general) is, and that cultural attitude infects writers, too.
You must give yourself permission to be bad. And realize that all writing is practice.
IT. COUNTS.
And as the folks in my mentions are pointing
... it's an excellent way to find out what actually resonates with other people - putting work out there. Even your early bad stuff you'll cringe at later.
What resonates is NOT easy to tell, because we all, inherently cringe at ourselves, a lot.
I think the mistake a lot of people make is that they write to make a good work instead of writing to make themselves a better writer (who will eventually be able to make good works). The second promotes training and builds humility while the first is just narcissism.
— Dan Kim (@CloneManga) October 31, 2020
"It's dumb weeb fanfiction" gave me permission to be bad, to vomit things onto the page that I knew fell far short of what I wanted it to be. To just write and write instead of laboring over six paragraphs for weeks like I'd always done before.
But I still *wanted* to be good.
Writing is HARD. And unfortunately, most people don't appreciate just how hard writing (or communication in general) is, and that cultural attitude infects writers, too.
You must give yourself permission to be bad. And realize that all writing is practice.
IT. COUNTS.
And as the folks in my mentions are pointing
It gave us hellcow, so it clearly worked
— Argatson (@warhammer651) October 31, 2020
... it's an excellent way to find out what actually resonates with other people - putting work out there. Even your early bad stuff you'll cringe at later.
What resonates is NOT easy to tell, because we all, inherently cringe at ourselves, a lot.
\u201cDumb weeb X\u201d is a concept with a lot of power.
— J (@Becquerl1) October 31, 2020