The Skellingcorner

[wanderingredleaves]

Michael Kraus

[weneeddiversebooks]

zettaelliott.com

The Face in the Mirror

Every year I conduct dozens of presentations in public schools, on college campuses, and at libraries. As a self-published author I am not welcome in certain spaces within the kid lit community, bu…

On her blog, author Zetta Elliott asks: “What would happen if researchers around the world made a commitment to track diversity in books for young readers? How might scholarship in the field be enhanced by such data?”

[writerswritecompany]

[writerswritecompany]

Happy Birthday, Bruce Coville, born 16 May 1950

Nine Quotes

1. My writing works best when I remember that bookish child who adored reading and gear the work toward him.
2. Every book is like starting over again. I’ve written books every way possible – from using tight outlines to writing from the seat of my pants. Both ways work.
3. Like most people, I was not able to start selling my stories right away. So I had many other jobs along the way to becoming a writer, including toy maker, gravedigger, cookware salesman, and assembly line worker.
4. Ideas are all around you – everything gives you ideas. But the real source is the part of your brain that dreams.
5. First, read a lot. Filling your brain with good stuff is an important part of the job.
6. Second, write a lot. Keep a journal—it’s one of the best tools a writer has. Also, write down ideas when they come to you. The human brain is cranky. If you want an idea, your mind will probably refuse to give it to you. But if you are doing something else, sometimes ideas just come floating by. The trick is to save ideas when they come to you. If you get a great idea today, it will probably be gone before you get around to writing about it—unless you write it down.
7. Third, and most important of all—never give up. You must believe in yourself, even when no one else does. People will think you are crazy. They will think you are conceited. You will get discouraged. You will think it is hopeless. You will think you are never going to get your work published. And if you give up, that will be true. You must believe in yourself, and Never Give Up.
8. Read your writing out loud. This will help you when you are revising.
9. Talent is only part of what it takes to be a writer. Luck and courage and mostly just plain old sticking to it are just as important.

Coville is an American author. He has written 101 books for children and young adults, including the international bestseller My Teacher Is an Alien, and the Unicorn Chronicles series.

by Amanda Patterson for Writers Write

[writerswritecompany]

Begin. Pause. Play. – How To Structure Your Children’s Story

[fandonetrash]

important

[apiphile]

Have you ever thought “Man, I feel impossibly shitty and I don’t know why”?

Run through this checklist before you do anything else.

1. What have I eaten in the last 24 hours? Is it enough? If not, go and eat some food, you butt.
2. Am I hydrated? If not, put some fluids in your body, fool.
3. Have I slept an acceptable amount in the last 24 hours and preceeding few days? If not, do your utmost to have a nap. You need a reset, bro.
4. Have I been outside/partaken in whatever form of exercise I am capable of? You’re stagnating, homie.
5. Have I communicated with anyone? At all? About anything? In the last 24 hours? Sup, you’re not actually a lone wolf, and even if you’re just shouting BUTTLUMPS at someone over the intertubes, it’s better than shouting it at yourself inside your own head.

So basically: eat, drink, sleep, walk, and talk. If you still feel like emotional ass after that, start looking for more involved explanations.

[foxtalbotnegatives]

This shit is no joke.

[izfierce]

All of these are extremely important.

[geardrops]

Adding: 6. Have I communicated too much? Am I overstimulated? Do I need some quiet time? Go stare at a blank wall in utter silence for a bit.

[dinosaurjam]

I try to go through this kind of checklist whenever I feel funky. It really helps.

[eldritchsandwich]

7.  Is there medication you forgot to take?

[writingwithcolor]

vorpalgirl asked:

Mod Jess said in the 1st chronological post in the "Dragon Lady" tag: "I think when it comes to Asian ladies, they immediately fall into the Dragon Lady stereotype whenever they get angry, no matter what kind of angry it is." Been pondering that, b/c everywhere else lists it as a specific set of traits derived from racist pulp fiction portrayals (not just "angry"), but that sounds more like "Asian equivalent of Angry Black Woman". Makes me wonder. What're your current thoughts/feelings on this?

Anger in the Dragon Lady vs. Angry Black Woman Stereotype

It’s tempting to make superficial comparisons like this, because hearing about specific emotions that fall into multiple stereotypes leads you to think that the root of stereotyping is tied to individual emotions and how they present. Stereotypes are, instead, meant to reinforce a behaviour or belief set about an ethnicity, and as a result cannot be compared on traits.

As a result, our thoughts are that you’re drawing a false comparison without understanding the history and beliefs behind the stereotypes.

Asian women are taken as submissive, and Dragon Ladies are understated, cool anger… when Angry Black Woman is the polar opposite of this, as being loud, brash, and bold. Whiteness views them as extremely different people, and uses the tools to reinforce completely different behaviour sets.

While some stereotypes do indeed share root similarities— Magical Negro and Magical Native American both fall under “x ethnicity has special powers inherent to being x ethnicity"— most do not. Making comparisons like this without understanding the behaviours that are being perpetuated leads to only revealing more ignorance, instead of making you sound educated.
Stereotypes do not come from “x people express emotions in y way”; stereotypes come from “x people should behave in y way, which influences all emotional expressions allowed and imagined.” Of course stereotypes are going to cover the same emotions, because people only have so many emotions. They just express them in different ways, and different people will have different default sets of behaviour.

What racist stereotypes do is limit the set of default behaviours allowed down to a single note. Angry East Asian women are Dragon Ladies because white people assume all Asian women are submissive and restrained in their behaviour, and that falls in line with the Dragon Lady stereotype— clinically calculated, refined, seductive, and deadly. Angry Black Women are their own stereotype because all Black women are loud and hot-tempered— motivated by exploding at the smallest provocation from a chip on their shoulder.

Most racist stereotypes are reinforcing different sets of behaviour, founded in totally different beliefs from centuries of white people creating certain images for certain ethnicities. Dragon Ladies have their roots in the “dangerous Asian who will seduce then kill you” stereotype, while Angry Black Women come from “slaves complain about everything” stereotype. The two do not mix.

You need to have a much deeper understanding of stereotypes before you go throw around comparisons such as this. It is hurtful to try and flatten individual ethnicities’ experiences with “both of these stereotypes impact the same emotion, therefore you’re similar, right?” It’s the same logic that drives “Japan and China are close enough I can blend the two cultures easily, right?” or “Native Americans are all the same, right?”. Just because we have some tenants of shared oppression and limitations in our expression does not mean our experiences are the same. Individual stereotypes should be taken as individual stereotypes until proven otherwise.

— WWC

[the-enchanted-storybook]

[floralwaterwitch]

this is so lovely 😍🌿

[fandonetrash]

In case no one told you growing up

[dlanadhz]

• Bras last longer if you let them air dry. Don’t put them in the dryer.
  
• If you have a problem with frizzy hair, don’t dry your hair with a towel. It makes the frizzies worse. (I recently read an article that said to use a t-shirt? I brush mine out and let it air dry.)
  
• Whites wash best in hot water. Everything else can be in cold - save on your electricity bill.
• You can kill 99.9% of germs in a sponge by putting it in the dishwasher for a cycle or by microwaving it for 2 min (be sure to make the sponge damp before microwaving and to put a cup half full of water in with it and please DO NOT squeeze the sponge until it has cooled off)
• Airing out your room/house and letting sunlight in every so often can decrease the number of household pests like silverfish and ants.
• Black underwear is best during your period as stains are less likely to be visible.
• To save money, put aside 10% of each paycheck into a savings account. It’ll add up.
• Unless your hair has something on/in it (like grease or mud or something), using conditioner first can actually be the better choice. The conditioner holds in the good oils that help you hair look sleek and beautiful, which shampoo would otherwise wash away.
• Speaking of shampoo - if you have long hair, washing just the bits that touch your scalp is generally enough. The rest of your hair gets cleaned with just the run off from your scalp.
• If you put a tampon in and it’s uncomfortable/you can feel it, you didn’t do it quite right. A properly placed tampon is virtually unnoticeable by the wearer.
• Apply deodorant/antiperspirant a couple hours in advance of when you need it. This gives the product the chance to block your sweat glands. Using deodorant just before going somewhere where you’ll sweat (this means walking outside for people in high humidity places) results in your sweat washing the deodorant off and starkly limiting its usefulness.
• After running the dryer, use the dryer sheet from that load to brush out the lint catch - it gets everything off in a fraction of the time it’ll take you to get it clean with your bare hands. Paper towels also work well.
• Wash your face everyday, or as often as possible. Forget which brand of cleanser is best. Just washing your face everyday will guarantee you clearer skin. And do you best not to pop pimples, as tempting as the urge may be.
• Fold laundry asap after taking it from the dryer to avoid wrinkles. This may seem obvious for dress shirts and silly for things like t-shirts, but you’ll notice the difference even then once your shirts stop looking like unfolded paper balls.

[home-is-where-the-wifi-is]

To all the kids whose parents couldn’t help you with this kind of stuff

[katchan00]

Addition: the natural acidity of a vagina can bleach the gusset on darker underwear. It’s perfectly normal.

[interestingly-pale]

i did not know some of this stuff, so useful!

[gingerhaole]

The best thing you can do to keep your skin clear (aside from washing) is to frequently change your pillowcase. Throw on a fresh one every day if you want. Get nice cotton pillowcases at Ross.

[elihearts]

Use sunscreen every day and floss at least once a day.

[softselfsignificance]

[iguanamouth]