The Skellingcorner

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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
its-a-writer-thing authorkahlanweir

Simple Writer Tip:

thefantasticalempire

Get yourself an all-time fan. A friend, a family member, a significant other, it does not matter. They just need to be a person willing to read your work and tell you to keep going because they love what you’re doing. Trust me, though it may not help with the editing phase at all, it does help a ton in the drafting phase when you can barely stand your own work.

Note, always tell these people when you’re just looking for positivity. It doesn’t help to receive criticism on these days, especially when you’re working on early drafts.

Stay motivated, keep writing, good luck.

yess!! writing tip getting started tips for early drafts favorite writer encouragement
writingwithcolor

Black Woman Gladiator with Servitude Ties

@pieforhumanity asked:

I have a fantasy story with a black female MC. She is in a industry where homeless children are snatched off the streets and trained as gladiators. When they become adults they can be “rented out” as bodyguards and such. 

There are gladiators of all races and are judged by their performance. However, I realized it could be very problematic to have a black protagonist in this position, due to how similar it is to slavery in how the gladiators are treated as objects or animals. 

The race of the character was a complete coincidence bc I created the character before I created the plot. And the whole system is shown to be corrupt, kind of like a fantasy dystopian society. 

I wouldn’t want to take away diversity from the story by making her white, but still, this greatly worries me and I’m really unsure if I should continue the story as is. Do you have any advice on how to handle the situation? Is it like super offensive and problematic? (I’m so sorry if it is!)

The first thing that comes to mind is, would this be representation I’d want to read as a Black person? This really is a concept we get too much to be a mere coincidence and it makes me wonder what would be best to do. 

In terms to debunking harmful tropes it would best be left to a Black author who has their own lived experiences to find the right nuances, points and areas to focus on and sensitivity to write this so it’s not jarring even with the best of intentions. And with a premise and protag like this you really need that sensitivity and knowledge to give it different from all the other harmful representation we get. 

Another thing that comes to mind is that it would be great if your Black MC is not dehumanized in your writing, even if other characters are. This story needs a fully developed and complex character and they need agency, even if it’s limited by their situation. Allow them to be vulnerable too, no Strong Black Woman nonsense here.

But most of all you’ll need to think about if this would be a story your readers would like to read. Ask yourself: is this representation Black women are looking forward to reading?

~ Mod Alice

writing advice representation Black Black women fantasy asks why we always gotta be slaves submission
marvellousbee crossedbeams

A Letter from London to those who wish us harm

crossedbeams

My city is alive.
And you may not have its joy.
Batter it with ugliness,
It cannot not be destroyed.
You may not taint the palette
of its people with your hate
Your lies have no religion,
and your murder has no race.
You will not terrorise us
(though in moments we are terrified)
We’ll mourn the dead
Then forge ahead.
My city is alive.

especially not in such a multicultural city I grew up to be a multicultural lover thanks to you london attack terrorism
fandonetrash did-you-know
did-you-kno: “ As WWII escalated, Lamarr was motivated to find a way to steer torpedoes by remote control using changing radio frequencies, which she called “frequency hopping,” so that the transmissions could not be jammed by enemies. She donated...
did-you-kno

As WWII escalated, Lamarr was motivated to find a way to steer torpedoes by remote control using changing radio frequencies, which she called “frequency hopping,” so that the transmissions could not be jammed by enemies. 

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She donated her patent to the U.S. government, but the Navy rejected her designs, convinced the mechanisms would be too large to fit into a torpedo. 

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They responded with, “You should go raise money for the war. That’s what you should be doing instead of this silly inventing,” (which she did, raising war bonds by the millions). So she silently watched her invention become a reality under the credit of others and never made a dime from it. 

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Over 50 years after her original patent, Hedy did FINALLY get some acknowledgment - even a few awards - but she didn’t show up to accept them. By then, botched plastic surgery made her very reclusive. She died alone in Florida at the age of 86. Her obituaries began with her beauty and made only brief references to the invention she had hoped would prove her mind was beautiful, too.

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Today, frequency hopping is used with the wireless phones that we have in our homes, GPS, and most military communication systems.

 Source

Source: didyouknowblog.com