Boot me up and let me play in

[sovay]

(And now, a rare non-housing query.)

Hey, my friendlist! Can you point me toward especially good articles on writing a diversity of characters that are not from one's own sexual/social/cultural background? I am trying to aggregate links for people who are working in this direction.

derspatchel gave me this song. It's a horrible earworm. I realize that may not be fair payment for you linking me helpful things. Have this comic, too.

Comments

[rinue]

I thought immediately of Nisi Shawl's essay "Transracial Writing for the Sincere". I know she and Cynthia Ward also wrote a book/manual called Writing The Other that they've used to teach workshops on the subject, although I haven't read it.

Possibly helpful articles from Reflection's Edge (where I was nonfiction editor years ago, which is why I know the archive pretty well) are:

"Still Seeking Chloe and Olivia: How to Write Strong Female Characters" by Sarah Monette (which talks about among other things how underrepresented female friendships tend to be)

"Writing Visual Dialect in Fiction" by Tony Burton (some guidelines about how to represent non-standard English so that the characters sound like themselves without being unreadable)

"Aliens at the Office Christmas Party: How to Write Subtle Discrimination" by me (a piece about cross-cultural relationships and the frictions that can emerge)

We published a fair number of primers on different subcultures; one I particularly remember is "Chains of Words: Writing Sadomasochism" by Meredith Schwartz.

If any of that seems particularly like or unlike what you're looking for, point me in a direction and I might be able to dig up more.

[sovay]

If any of that seems particularly like or unlike what you're looking for, point me in a direction and I might be able to dig up more.

These are very much the sort of links I was looking for; thank you! Both derspatchel and I have been making a lot of these points in conversation, but it helps to have supporting literature (and also a lot of points we didn't make).

[edit] I knew of Writing the Other, but I think now I would like to encourage this group to purchase a copy; it looks practical as well as thoughtful and well-argued.

[jjhunter]

Have a slightly eclectic assortment of what I can lay my hands on quickly:

- Nisi Shawl @ SFWA.org: Transracial Writing for the Sincere

- dark_agenda

- capri0mni: A disability version of the "Bechdel Test," maybe?

- viklikesfic: Con.Txt Write-Up: Handling Problematic Characterizations Through A Social Justice Lens

We started this panel with a brainstorm of some problematic characterizations that we've seen, whether types or more specific, then came up with a list of 16 ideas as a group for doing it better, whether as a writer or a reader or a commenter.

- glockart: TUTORIAL: Drawing Characters of Colour

FYI #3: The advice I give in this guideline (ie take the time to think about what you draw) really applies to everything. The reason I'm writing this out is because it's one thing to know general knowledge; it's a whole other task to know how to apply general knowledge to specific tasks.

- rydra_wong: The Great Race Discussion Linkspam [LJ link]

[sovay]

Have a slightly eclectic assortment of what I can lay my hands on quickly

Thank you! I hadn't seen several of those.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I haven't dared unwind the earworm, but the comic is excellent.

[sovay]

I haven't dared unwind the earworm, but the comic is excellent.

It is being reblogged everywhere I look and it deserves it.

[gwynnega]

That song is indeed earwormy. And the comic is awesome.

[sovay]

That song is indeed earwormy.

I'm listening to other catchy songs in a probably doomed attempt to drive it out.

And the comic is awesome.

I'd never heard of the guy! I'm reading his cartoon reviews of bars now!

[marrael.livejournal.com]

Looked in my bookmarks and found this:

http://bookviewcafe.com/blog/2011/07/25/being-the-other/

[sovay]

Looked in my bookmarks and found this

Thank you! I had not seen it.

[mrbelm.livejournal.com]

Is this your first exposure to Freezepop? I can remedy that.

[sovay]

Is this your first exposure to Freezepop? I can remedy that.

derspatchel's been playing me a lot of their songs, but most of his copies are iTunes-protected. We discovered the overlap of Kasson Crooker between Splashdown and Freezepop the other night after watching Titan A.E.—I recognized "Karma Slave" by the former in a snippet of background music, which I appreciated. I would happily accept deliveries of Freezepop I can play on my computer.

Randomly, I met a realtor named Kelly this afternoon who not only recognized Mission of Burma from my Vs. T-shirt, but then talked to me enthusiastically for the next fifteen minutes about following them in their original lineup and then again post-reunion. He was seriously into the Boston scene of the '70's and '80's. I didn't get his last name, but his son's in a band called Ethics now. That was cool.

[mrbelm.livejournal.com]

It took me a year to realize that Jussi Gamache, a graphic designer I worked with, was also Liz Enthusiasm.

I'm uploading five Freezepop albums for you, but you'll have to get Dropbox working to download them. I'll send the invite when the upload is complete.

[sovay]

It took me a year to realize that Jussi Gamache, a graphic designer I worked with, was also Liz Enthusiasm.

That's still cool. I'd paid attention to the half of Splashdown that was Melissa Kaplan, because of Universal Hall Pass, so it hadn't crossed my radar that Kasson Crooker was integral to Harmonix. I told derspatchel I really wasn't surprised.

I'll send the invite when the upload is complete.

Thank you very much!

[edit] I have now downloaded a very great quantity of Freezepop and am listening. I did not realize "MIDI earworm" was their actual genre. Thank you again!

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

I wish I had any useful links, but alas all I can say is that I'd like to see the aggregation.

The earworm is a little disturbing, but I'm sure it could be much more so. Thanks for sharing the comic, which is grand.

[sovay]

The earworm is a little disturbing, but I'm sure it could be much more so.

It's been three days now. It's still in my head.

Thanks for sharing the comic, which is grand.

I am very glad it's getting the exposure (at least on the sites I read) it has.

[selidor]

I bookmarked this the other day from Tina Makereti, which probably would generate some interesting thoughts for people who aren't used to having multiple cultures in their version of English.

[sovay]

I bookmarked this the other day from Tina Makereti, which probably would generate some interesting thoughts for people who aren't used to having multiple cultures in their version of English.

Awesome! Thank you.

[desayunoencama.livejournal.com]

I don't have good links, but Aliette de Boddard has written some good pieces:

http://aliettedebodard.com/2013/02/01/mixed-race-people-in-sff/
http://thebooksmugglers.com/2013/05/sff-in-conversation-aliette-de-bodard.html

and she also tweets or posts about other people's good pieces.

I also recall some smart pieces by Juliette Wade on language but don't have the links any longer...

[sovay]

I don't have good links, but Aliette de Boddard has written some good pieces

Thank you! I'd seen the first of these, but not the second.

I'll look for Juliette Wade.

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

You probably know this already, but Nisi Shawl has Writing the Other? I sadly don't have a copy, but Nisi is awesome, so I think I can dare to recommend it even unread.

[sovay]

I sadly don't have a copy, but Nisi is awesome, so I think I can dare to recommend it even unread.

I haven't read it myself, either, but (a) I can totally agree on Nisi Shawl (b) I've had several strong recommendations for the book, so I think I'm going to try to get my hands on a copy. Thank you!

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

Okay, stepping away from Freezepop. That's an infection and no mistake! Excellent comic, thanks.

[sovay]

Okay, stepping away from Freezepop. That's an infection and no mistake!

I did warn people!

Excellent comic, thanks.

I found it on Facebook and now I'm seeing it all over Tumblr, which is correct.