Say you have the second sight

[sovay]

My appetite has evaporated thanks to the current medicinal cocktail, so I made myself a dessert with a can of sliced peaches boiled with coconut cream and honey in order to have something in my stomach for antibiotics and it was remarkably tasty. I will replenish my store of sliced canned peaches at the earliest opportunity. At some point in the future I will feel like making it again.

I am so very sick of not writing critically about things. That entire area of my brain appears to have gone on vacation without me (have the decency to send a postcard, you bum!) and I want it back. It's been weeks. The rest of this paragraph edited for Tiny Wittgenstein.

I left a comment on Facebook which I think I will want to remember, so with minimal edits for context:

"We were asked as part of the panel after the reading about this question of front-and-centering our own representation in fiction; when it came around to me, what I said is that prior to compiling my most recent collection, I would have said that my characters were relatively neutral sort of lens people, except that then I started reading the thirteen years of short stories and my idea of a neutral lens is apparently Jewish, queer, genderblarghy, okay; I can live with that."

Comments

[thawrecka]

I find I inevitably centre my own representation in original fiction (to an amount that feels a little embarrassing, maybe) 90% of the time. Which is interesting.

[sovay]

Which is interesting.

Doesn't sound embarrassing to me. It is important to be able to write different kinds of people, but it shouldn't be compulsory, especially depending on which angle you're approaching the difference from.

[cmcmck]

That does sound like a nice combo.

We were fed a spicy dahl soup as a starter at a dinner the other night which had a yoghurt and coconut cream dressing. VERY nice indeed. :o)

[sovay]

That does sound like a nice combo.

Trivially easy to make, warmly fruit-tasting, and nice on sore throats. I recommend.

We were fed a spicy dahl soup as a starter at a dinner the other night which had a yoghurt and coconut cream dressing. VERY nice indeed.

Lovely!

[thisbluespirit]

I hope the medicinal cocktail at least gets on and does its job properly for you! In the meantime, peaches are something. But I hope you finally do feel at least more virus-free soon! <3

[sovay]

But I hope you finally do feel at least more virus-free soon!

Thank you! I think I'm still in the stage of feeling just as flattened by the meds as by the illness, but I'm willing to trust them a little more!

[asakiyume]

When you say "neutral lens," do you mean that that, before you thought about it more, you were thinking of your characters not so much as people-like-yourself (i.e., not front and centering your own representation particularly)? I was thinking you were going to follow that by saying that, when you realized the types of characters you wrote, you realized you did front-and-center your own representation. But maybe what you're doing is calling into question the notion of "neutral"? In other words, Jewish, queer, and genderblargh is just as neutral (or ought to be) as white cishet anglo male? An unselfaware writer meeting that description might not think of himself as centering his own representation; he might think he was writing a basket of Everymans, but really he's front-and-centering himself--that kind of thing?

[davidgillon]

In other words, Jewish, queer, and genderblargh is just as neutral (or ought to be) as white cishet anglo male?

I thoroughly approve of this point!

[asakiyume]

yay!

I think a writer's own experience is a natural neutral for the writer. They just have to realize it's not a universal neutral (because there is none). That's a thing that some people, unfortunately, have bashed into them in early life, while other people (equally unfortunately) obliviously go about assuming their neutral is everyone's when it very much isn't.

[sovay]

When you say "neutral lens," do you mean that that, before you thought about it more, you were thinking of your characters not so much as people-like-yourself (i.e., not front and centering your own representation particularly)?

I knew there were a fair amount of Jewish themes, queer themes including gender in the stories; it wasn't like I was surprised to discover I wasn't writing straight white Christian cis men. I just hadn't realized how much the prevailing mode was best two out of three or sometimes hat trick.

(I differentiate the question of representation from whether my characters are like me in terms of personality or interests or reactions, which I suspect in some cases is yes, in some not. There are definitely stories of mine that feel slantly autobiographical. There are others that don't except insofar as I was interested in writing about the things that went into them. I don't think the only utility of fiction is what it tells the reader about the author.)

But maybe what you're doing is calling into question the notion of "neutral"? In other words, Jewish, queer, and genderblargh is just as neutral (or ought to be) as white cishet anglo male?

That was kind of my thought. That's my default, my neutral. What makes it a less legitimate center to start from? Aliens certainly make more sense to me than some of the mainstream behaviors of the country I live in.

An unselfaware writer meeting that description might not think of himself as centering his own representation; he might think he was writing a basket of Everymans, but really he's front-and-centering himself--that kind of thing?

I think this is exactly the problem with a lot of assumed neutrality in fiction, or the world.

[asakiyume]

I think this is exactly the problem with a lot of assumed neutrality in fiction, or the world.

Strongly agree

[davidgillon]

There's an interestingly wider context to that question, when you consider that one of the things literature is trying to do as part of We Need Diverse Books etc is increase the percentage of own-voices authors. If people don't front-and-centre their own representation, then there's no way we can achieve that.

Clearly there's been a degree of kick-back against that shift in writing with the Puppies etc, but it's difficult to know whether the question was conscious of that resonance.

Personally I'm perfectly happy to live with "Jewish, queer, genderblarghy" as the lens on your writing, keep it up ;)

[sovay]

There's an interestingly wider context to that question, when you consider that one of the things literature is trying to do as part of We Need Diverse Books etc is increase the percentage of own-voices authors. If people don't front-and-centre their own representation, then there's no way we can achieve that.

Agreed. With lots of bullet points, like we shouldn't expect marginalized authors to write nothing but ownvoices fiction as if it's the only thing they're qualified to do and everyone should get a lot better at writing the Other including me, but agreed. When people tell their own stories, suddenly there are so many more kinds of stories to tell.

(I sent the most recent poem to Disabled People Destroy Fantasy, speaking of.)

Clearly there's been a degree of kick-back against that shift in writing with the Puppies etc, but it's difficult to know whether the question was conscious of that resonance.

I was reading as part of an event for February as Women in Horror Month, so the discussion afterward focused a lot on the idea of writing as women in horror, whether we felt conscious of it in our work, whether we felt it affected the perception of our work, whether it informed how we wrote about horror, other axes crept in.

Personally I'm perfectly happy to live with "Jewish, queer, genderblarghy" as the lens on your writing, keep it up

Thank you! I expect to.

[davidgillon]

other axes crept in.

This seems perfectly appropriate for a horror discussion ;)

[davidgillon]

And forgot to say, agree completely on your bullet points.

[asakiyume]

LOL

[sovay]

This seems perfectly appropriate for a horror discussion

I think "And then the axes crept in" is my new "And then the murders began."

[selkie]

...I wonder what my neutral looks like.

I am so glad to see you typing sentences! Also, Child was playing defense at their 6:50am game and got an assist on a goal, and wanted you to know.

[sovay]

...I wonder what my neutral looks like.

HELLA JEWISH. With lesbians in.

I am so glad to see you typing sentences!

Thank you! I am attempting to maintain some kind of intellectual connection to the world.

Also, Child was playing defense at their 6:50am game and got an assist on a goal, and wanted you to know.

Go, them! I am glad to have the news.