The Skellingcorner

[weneeddiversebooks]

bookexpoamerica.com

We Need Diverse Books™ Following Up After Fouling Up: Real Talk About Real Apologies - Conferences - BookExpo 2017

We Need Diverse Books presents a frank and honest discussion on genuine apologies that acknowledge the impact of our errors and decentralize our fragility. As p...

This Friday at BookExpo:

WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS™ FOLLOWING UP AFTER FOULING UP: REAL TALK ABOUT REAL APOLOGIES

06/02/2017, 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM

Room 1E16

Language: English

We Need Diverse Books presents a frank and honest discussion on genuine apologies that acknowledge the impact of our errors and decentralize our fragility. As publishing grows more engaged with telling PoC/Native, LGBTQIA+, Disabled, religious minority, and other stories from historically marginalized groups, the potential for errors rises, especially when writers/illustrators and publishers aren’t working from personal experience. Rather than avoid these issues, we must prepare for when we fail. This panel presumes that errors in judgement will occur and asks what our responsibility is for what happens next.

Session Take Aways:

•  Why publishing more diverse books will mean more errors, why it’s important to acknowledge that, and why it’s important to persevere instead of ignoring the need for young people’s literature that reflects our world

·       Components of performative, surface apologies and why they are both ineffective and damaging

·       Components of genuine, effective apologies and why they are critical for true commitment towards a more diverse publishing industry

Moderator:

Laura M. Jiménez, Lecturer at Boston University School of Education, has been published in scholarly journals including The Journal of Lesbian Studies, Teaching and Teacher Education, and the Journal of Literacy Research. Her work focuses on both literature and literacy with a special interest in graphic novels and issues of representation in young adult literature. She is currently working on several research projects including a large-scale critical content analysis that takes an intersectional lens to the ways women and girls are represented in graphic novels. Her blog, https://booktoss.wordpress.com/ features reviews of graphic novels and essays.

Speaker Bios:

Daniel José Older is the New York Times bestselling author of Salsa Nocturna, the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series from Penguin’s Roc Books and the Shadowshaper Cypher, including Shadowshaper (Scholastic, 2015), a New York Times Notable Book of 2015, which won the International Latino Book Award and was shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize in Young Readers’ Literature, the Andre Norton Award, the Locus, the Mythopoeic Award, and named one of Esquire’s 80 Books Every Person Should Read. You can find his and hear his music at http://danieljoseolder.net/, on youtube and @djolder on twitter. Shadowhouse Fall comes out in September.

Alex Gino, author of Stonewall-Award winning GEORGE, loves glitter, ice cream, gardening, awe-ful puns, and stories that reflect the diversity and complexity of being alive. They would take a quiet coffee date with a friend over a loud and crowded party any day. Born and raised on Staten Island, NY, Alex has lived in Philadelphia, PA; Brooklyn, NY; Astoria (Queens), NY; Northampton, MA; and Oakland, CA. In April 2016, they put their books and furniture in storage and moved into an RV, and are currently driving around the country, happily watching the landscape change.

Kiera Parrott, reviews director, Library Journal and School Library Journal, began her career as a children’s librarian at the New York Public Library and later Darien (CT) Library, where she developed a lifelong love and respect for children’s and young adult literature. Now she oversees a team of talented editors and several thousand volunteer librarian reviewers who read and evaluate over 12,000 titles each year.

[writingwithcolor]

[happy-knight]

The fuck is up with this person trying to make an actual project to represent the characters from series of unfortunate events as Jewish? I’ve read over 5 of books from the series and I’m pretty fucking sure there is no character that is actually a Jew within the entire fucking story. How delusional do you have to be to slap a specific group of people to a story that isn’t even yours or about them for the sake of satisfying your representational needs? If you want a story with Jews so bad go make a fucking story about them and stop trying to push your delusional agenda to other people

[rose-in-a-fisted-glove]

You apparently need to work on your critical reading skills. There are mentions of B’nai Mitzvas and Rabbi and Jewish themes throughout the series. And if that’s not enough, the Baudelaires are a Jewish family as stated by Snicket himself. Most of his characters are Jewish which is not surprising considering the man himself is Jewish. 

You should instead ask yourself how delusional you have to be to slap a specific group of people to a story that isn’t even yours or about you? Why is it that you feel so threatened by having a Jewish story by a Jewish man continue to remain Jewish in it’s television interpretations? 

And to cut you off at the pass, here’s an interview where Snicket talks about how the Baudelaires are Jewish and how the entire story plays from Jewish themes. 

http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Jewish-Secrets-of-Lemony-Snicket?offset=1&max=1themes. http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Jewish-Secrets-of-Lemony-Snicket?offset=1&max=1

[stellaathena]

“f you want a story with Jews so bad go make a fucking story about them and stop trying to push your delusional agenda to other people”

We literally just did and you’re complaining about it

[zombieferengi]

“ive read over five of the books” my guy……. there are 13 books in the series……….. dude thats not even half thats like saying “theres NO way darth vader is luke’s father i would know i watched A New Hope"

[strangeasanjles]

And how about let’s start with not fucking referring to people as “Jews” or “a Jew” if you aren’t Jewish, but rather “Jewish people” or a “Jewish person”. Since you figured you’d come up to talk without having any clue what you’re talking about.

[gowheretheskymeetsthesea]

This read was well deserved 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

How can a person be so aggressively wrong

How do you no fact check before posting such hateful condescending shit

I mean if you’re going to be an ass at least be a factually correct ass smh

[writingwithcolor]

This is why I keep gently expressing my preference against characters being “coded” Jewish instead of undeniable representation. Things exactly like this OP.

–Shira

[wondrousworldbuilding]

Using prophecies in fantasy without making eyes roll

Good ol’ stand-bys, ubiquitous fantasy tropes, are difficult to avoid. And sometimes we don’t want to avoid them. Goddammit, sometimes you just need a good, solid prophecy to write the story your want to write. 

“It’s not my fault all these other people before me have written prophecies, too!” you say. 

And you’d be right. Unfortunately, they did. So us modern-day writers have to live with the it. So what do you do when you want or need to use a well-worn trope? 

Know the trope. Make it your own. 

Know that, no matter what you do, some readers will still hate it.

But you can’t make everyone happy, right? So let’s get started.

How-to guidelines from our predecessors

Prophecies in fiction have been used countless times. But there are reasons why we continue to use them. And while you don’t want to completely copy how it has been done before, we can all learn something from the basic form of real and fictional prophecies. 

1. Prophecies are often vague and general

The language and phrasing used in prophecies, because of its important and symbolic nature, tends to go for sounding mystic and grand over sensible and utilitarian. This language achieves its poetic goal, but as a price, the meaning can be allusive, vague, or even seem contradictory. 

A man named Jerry will kill a man in a fight on the corner of 3rd and Main on the fifth of January, 3820. 

On the dawn of winter in a forest of gray, when one life dims, another remains.

One of these actually gives you some useful information. The other could mean a vast array of different things at any point in time, but technically applies to the same situation. One of them (though poorly) reads more like something you’d find in a piece of fiction. 

2. Prophecies are often misinterpreted

There’s likely to be disagreement on the meaning of any yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecy. If it’s well-known, then common folk might take it to mean one thing, while the wealthy another. The well-educated might take it to mean one or two (or three or a thousand) things, while the uneducated take it to mean another. If there are two prominent schools of thought, then people might passionately disagree about the meaning. It’s possible that none of these interpretations are true. 

‘Tis the nature of vague and metaphorical language.

The culture of your world will influence how people treat the prophecy. Conversely, the prophecy and its interpretation might have a huge impact on the culture, government, or religion of your world. 

3. Prophecies are given in context

In the example above about the murder in winter, with no context that “prophecy” means basically nothing. Part of what creates nuances in interpretation of prophecies is variations in the understanding of the prophecy’s context. 

Upon the rebirth of the emperor, the dark messenger will be slain; the eagle will conquer the land.

In this sample, very little is made clear when there’s no context. We have no reason to care, let alone believe, what these words are trying to convey. But say that our myths tell the story of a vanished young emperor who would someday reappear to take his throne, that the messengers of evil are immortal, and that the eagle is symbolic of peace…

It all starts to make a bit of sense, doesn’t it? Any alteration in context, however, could vastly change the meaning. 

Prophecies don’t stand alone. They only work within their context. They aren’t created in a vacuum and they are not understood in a vacuum. Creating the vibrant world that surrounds your prophecy will go a long way to making it interesting and important.

4. Prophecies require a prophet

Why do people believe the prophecy? Why don’t they? When implementing a prophecy into your world, you need to pay attention to how people receive its message and ensure that that belief has a sensible backing. 

A prophecy came from the mouth (or pen) of a prophet. If the people of your world totally buy into the words of this prophecy, then there needs to be a reason. What made this prophet reliable? 

What not to do: There was this old woman and everything she said was totally batty…all except this one thing. This one thing will definitely be absolutely true, so help me, God.

Like any aspect of culture, the “why” factor is important. Why do people believe the prophecy? Why has it survived so many years? Or perhaps people don’t believe the prophecy…so why is that? 

Consider Nostradamus. He’s a pretty infamous prophet, even though only some of what he said every seemed true (and almost entirely in retrospect). For the most part, when you mention him, people will kind of laugh it off. It’s mostly a joke. However…his words might also be true! But it’s best not to put all your money on it. 

How are the words of your prophet generally received? How will this affect how your Important Prophecy™ is viewed and understood by the people?

“This Important Prophecy™ is believed because my story needs it to be believed,” is not a good reason. So make sure it runs deeper than that.

Pitfalls to avoid

1. Using a prophecy as a matter of course

Your prophecy should have a very integral part in your story and world. Using a pointless prophecy or using one just because you think, since you’re writing fantasy, you probably should, are one-way tickets to eye-rolls. 

Like any trope, if you’re sticking it artlessly into your story, then you doing the trope and yourself a disservice. Every element you choose to include in your story should drive it forward, should deepen your conflict or characters. No inclusion should be made flippantly. Be sure that if you’re including a prophecy, you use it to its full potential.

2. Making it too simple or mundane

If you’re doing it right, then your prophecy will be super important to your story. And if it’s super important, you’re going to want it to be super interesting. If a dull, run-of-the-mill Chosen One prophecy is, unironically, what your story hinges on, then you’re likely going to get some eye-rolls and, worse, readers who put down your book.

3. Going for too much

On the other end of the spectrum, prophecies that are convoluted or require the ten-page backstory to put into context are likely going to take too much attention away from your actual story. Prophecies tend to focus on one (general) event. It can cover a few facets of this one event, but if you try to outline too much you risk detracting from the here-and-now or getting too far in over your (or your character’s) head. 

Things to consider

• Is the fulfillment of the prophecy a mystery even to your reader? Or does the story give the answer, leaving the path to the fulfillment to be the mystery?
• Is your prophecy immutable? Is it Destiny and it will come true no matter what anyone does?
  
• Is the prophecy self-fulfilling? How do the characters’ knowledge of the prophecy affect events? How might their ignorance of it? 
• How does the fulfillment differ or align with the expectations held by the characters?
• Did the prophet speak of their own freewill, with true foreknowledge, or were they a vessel for a deity, or some supernatural being?
• How was the prophecy passed down to the present? Was it done so flawlessly, or might there have been translation, oral, or interpretation errors that happened along the way?
• How widely accepted, or known, is the prophecy among the common people? 
• How common are prophecies in general? Does this one stand out in some way? If so, how and why?
• Does the prophecy give away an outcome, or does it simply set up a situation?
• How detailed is your prophecy and how have those seemingly specific details been misinterpreted?
• How certain is anyone that they understand the prophecy? 
• If the prophecy proves to be false, how does that element find resolution within the structure of the narrative? (i.e. if you placed great importance on the prophecy with the intention of pulling the rug out from under your reader, how are you going to resolve the situation to keep them from feeling cheated?)

What do you think about the use of prophecies in fiction? What are some of your favorites or least favorites?

Happy writing!

[writerswritecompany]

What Makes A Good Writer?

Source for comic: Mari Andrew

[weneeddiversebooks]

navdeepsinghdhillon.com

On White Princesses, Disney, CAKE Literary – a Book Packaging Company, and Non-Token Diversity in Storytelling!

“Some of my students, who are in their 20s, suffer from these same feelings of internalized racism, where they muffle their own voices or those of other students because it’s in contrast with what has been presented to them as normal. In almost all of the introductory creative writing courses I teach in New York City and New Jersey, regardless of how diverse the students are, the characters for their first stories are always white. When you don’t see yourself reflected anywhere, you start believing you can’t exist in these spaces.A white character is presented as normal, a character we can all relate to, with universal problems, and the mere presence of a character who isn’t white immediately implies that their otherness must play a major role in the characterization. Or that they’re going to die soon, which will highlight the humanity of the white protagonist.“ –  Navdeep Singh Dhillon

[thatsthat24]

[snoopmaya]

😍😍😍

[writerswritecompany]

The Pros (& Cons) Of Outlining

[writingwithcolor]

felilla asked:

Hiya! So, I'm writing a novel that involves several different fantasy cultures that are based off of real-world cultures and ideals. Everyone in this world shares the same religion {although it is worshipped differently in each place, but real world religion doesn't have an impact on this}. Anyways... One of the countries in this world is based off of Chinese and Japanese culture due to it being an ancient empire. Is this okay or should I focus on the aspects of one culture over the other?

One Region, One Religion: Avoiding Colonization Parallels

Regarding combining Chinese and Japanese culture, please read Research:Large to Small Scale, Avoiding Homogenizing East Asian Cultures, & Paralleling Regions Appropriately.

I would advise a lot of caution on “a single religion”, especially if you’re making one or more nations representative of various East Asian countries/empires, because while it looks like there aren’t any real world parallels there actually is one very large one, and it can come across as very hurtful if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Christianity is very close to the whole “one religion across the globe” thing, and most authors are going to be pulling Christian influences just because that’s what they grew up with. As a result, inserting a single religion across everywhere can lead to replicating colonialism in a fantasy setting.
Some ways to avoid this are:

Make it a polytheist religion
Not only can you better replicate folklore by having this situation, but you avoid the whole “one god is the ultimate don’t worship anyone else but this one god” thing by doing this from the start. Many world religions are polytheist (Abrahamic religions are actually the anomaly for that, but you can even find references that they aren’t truly monotheist and there are multiple gods, but the god of Abrahamic religions just wants to be the only one worshiped).
You can have different gods be major or minor in various regions, depending on their cultures, which in turn preserves the rituals and cultural values of non-Christian cultures more effectively.

Have the gods physically show up
This may or may not work depending on your world, and it would still be better in a polytheist religion instead of monotheist, but having a physical representation of a deity everyone can interact with (not just a few set people who then tell everyone what they saw) can help create a sense of non-Christian-ness to the world, and also reinforces why people follow only those gods instead of creating new ones to fit their cultures.

Reconsider it all being “the same”
Even people who worship the so-called “same god” practice in wildly different ways— just look at the differences between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three of them share a general history, but they’ve all taken it and run with it in different directions based on the historical context of the time and early followers. While there might be some similarities between how key gods are worshiped, they could have wildly different practices for minor gods, or some minor gods are only in some places, or some major gods are minor gods and minor gods are major gods.

Overall
Religion is such a big messy thing people love to argue about, and having one religion across a huge variety of cultures rings extremely false. Really, really trace back logic for why you want to have just one religion, and consider instead to work a little bit harder to preserve the huge variety in religion that exists in the world.

Religions are a product of their culture, so changing a religion so fundamentally means changing the culture to the point you might even end up with something unrecognizable if you insist on following this course. Not to mention, making marginalized groups who’ve been greatly hurt by Christianity (not necessarily East Asian individuals, but it is very possible) feel like you’ve pushed them out of their escapism by insisting that no, Christianity (or a Christian-like religion) is the best, theirs isn’t worth putting in other than a few trappings.

~ Mod Lesya

[redheadcooks]

feasting on fruits + healthy fats.