totally-magneato asked:
Hello! This blog was recommended to me by a writing professor, in regards to the novel I’m currently planning in class. I had a couple questions I hope you could clear up.
-My main character is a black man. His mother always told him white women were the devil, due to a literal bargain with the devil who appeared to her during a summoning as a white woman. Ignoring his mother, he settles down with a white woman. When she dies under mysterious circumstances, he finds the town that once pretended to respect him liked him a lot less than they let on. The first part of this question, I suppose, is is it a savior’s narrative if my novel addresses PTSD, fear of the dark, racism in small towns, and police brutality? Along, of course, with random occult under themes to address the historical fire under Centralia, PA. My professor believes that to be the case, though I am uncertain.
-What DOES constitute as savior narrative? As of today, I believed it was the narrative that it takes a white person to show up and make everything all better. Is the fact that I’m a white author make it instantly a savior narrative?
Aw, so cool that your professor recommended us!
Anyhow, I’ve read over this question a few times and don’t see where your details would connect to a white savior narrative.
White Savior, in short, relates to white people saving People of Color.
- It could be from circumstances (e.g. financially poor PoC, White people in “Africa” …who also don’t even bother to mention/know the African country they’re in!)
- It might be from themselves or their own bad decisions
As mentioned in “Is this the white savior trope?” – on our common misconceptions II post:
If you have a story with a sympathetic or kind white character, that doesn’t mean it’s the white savior trope. The problem with the white savior is that it centers POC’s realities and stories on whiteness. The only time so many of our stories get told is through whiteness, like Dances With Wolves, The Last Samurai, etc. Whether or not the white protag is a jerk or genuinely being helpful isn’t the only issue.
So, not seeing a white savior in your particular storyline.
Is the fact that I’m a white author make it instantly a savior narrative?
I think your last question is spot on; I think your professor may have been warning that you, the author, are leaning towards becoming “the white savior” from your approach to these subjects.
You’ve got:
- Black intercommunity issues (dating outside race and mistrust of white people/women)
- PTSD (potentially traumatized Black characters?)
- Police brutality
- Racism
So many of these topics we have warned against writing about if you’re outside of the community. (See: White Authors and Topics to Avoid/Tread Carefully)
Personally, I cannot recommend writing this for all the ways it can and does go wrong. I also don’t feel like in the climate of the world, especially my world in America, I need a book like this right now. I’m sure others agree as well. There’s not much you can teach me with this book, especially as a non-Black person, who also sees what is happening around me and is affected by it.
As for those it may teach, i’m more comfortable with a Black voice imparting that authentic perspective vs. someone outside of the community.
There are questions you should ask yourself before tackling such a book:
- Why are you writing about this subject?
- Are you qualified to write it? If you’re trying to teach readers a lesson about racism: if you cannot experience racism or anti-blackness yourself, I would not trust your qualifications.
- What is your message? What does your book intend to say blatantly and also what does it imply subtly?
- Does it hurt/benefit the people?
- Does it portray the people in a three-dimensional matter or is it a one-sided story of pain and struggle? How proportional are your happy/normal moments to the struggles?
- Can you comfortably represent these people’s culture and daily life?
- Does your voice add to the conversation or attempt to dominate the discussion?
- Have you talked to the people you’re writing about (regarding your ideas/ events in the story)?
- Has your ideas and actual story been/going to be beta-read by the people at hand?
There are also things you should do before tackling such a book:
- Become as close to an expert as possible. This requires extensive research. (Books alone will not do. You need to talk and work with people in the community. Scourge blogs, conversations, know the history, etc. See WWC Research Posts)
- Have sensitivity readers. They should review everything from your concepts, the work in process, and final product. (I’d recommend someone you pay and can be brutally honest, not just a friend)
- Know your limits. You simply cannot write about what racism feels like or what it’s like to be an X, if you haven’t experienced it. Be aware of your perspective.
- Consider addressing issues on a smaller scale. This could mean scaling down the number of issues you focus on, and/or making one of the race topics just one aspect of the plot vs. the plot. This seems more manageable, especially if you have never written on the topic before.
- …Or smaller Issues altogether: Another idea would be to practice covering the tough topics. For example: writing a story that incorporates micro-aggressions into a Character of Color’s life without any aggressive racism, and then working your way up in this WIP.
- Consider a co-writer. Maybe you shouldn’t write this work alone. What about inviting a voice to the work who has first-hand experience in the topic?
- Balance the struggle. Even stories that cover the hard stuff should not be all about struggle. You need moments of light, breaks from the pain, sweet with the bitter, or else it’s just needless suffering that simply hurts to read.
- Don’t speak over us/for us: If you’re white, your story naturally comes with privilege. People are more willing to listen to a white person talking about People of Color’s issues than actual People of Color themselves. That’s why a book like this should work with that privilege to actually center the struggles of the people at hand. Don’t make it about you or the white characters and certainly to not excessively highlight or victimize them. As a white writer, become as invisible as possible.
- Know your book will likely be highly criticized and rejected. At least by the community. You’re going to get stuff wrong. You’re also going to get stuff right, but people aren’t comfortable with who is speaking that truth when it could be someone more qualified speaking it. These are all valid reactions.
~Mod Colette
Tag: writing with color
Writing about a Friend of Color’s Pain (Rromani)
@starburstbabydoll said:
Hi! I have a question about the Romani Tropes 101 post, specifically about not writing Romani characters as abusive. I am not Romani, but a close friend of mine is, and has unfortunately suffered much abuse in his childhood. His strength and ability to rebuild his life inspired me to write a fictional story drawing on his experiences, which will hopefully help other abuse survivors. I don’t want to perpetrate any negative stereotypes, but I believe the story needs to be told. Would this be okay?
“The story needs to be told” – this is not your story. Did he specifically ask you to fictionalize his very personal pain, to help him to get the story into the world? Or did you hear about it and think “wow, that would be really creatively fulfilling to write! And I bet it would help other people!” without involving his opinion at all? Because if it’s the second one, I kinda have bad news for you.
If that’s not enough by itself, let me add that if a non-marginalized person along a specific axis (in this case a non-Rromani person) writes about pain one marginalized person has caused another (in this case, his Rromani parent(s) on him) their writing is going to be subconsciously informed by their own passive prejudice even if they try to consciously fight against it. For example if I wrote a story about one trans girl being mean to another trans girl, it’s possible that my own being cis would infuse the story with transphobia in my portrayal of Trans Regina George no matter how hard I tried to not have that come across.
But yeah, this is his story and belongs to him, and whether or not it gets into the world is not up to someone else.
–Shira
more on writing muslim characters from a hijabi muslim girl
– hijabis get really excited over pretty scarves
– they also like to collect pins and brooches
– we get asked a lot of questions and it can be annoying or it can be amusing, just depends on our mood and personality and how the question is phrased
– common questions include:
– “not even water?” (referring to fasting)
– hijabis hear a lot of “do you sleep in that?” (we don’t) and “where is your hair?” (in a bun or a braid, usually)
– “is it mooze-slim or mozzlem?” (the answer is neither, it’s muslim, with a soft s and accent on the first syllable)
– “ee-slam or iz-lamb?” (it’s iss-laam, accent on the first syllable)
– “hee-job?” (heh-jahb, accent on the second syllable)– “kor-an?” (no. quran. say it like koor-annn, accent on the second syllable)
– people tend to mess up our names really badly and you just get a sigh and a resigned nod or an awkward smile, maybe a nickname instead
– long hair is easy to hide, short hair is harder to wrap up
– hijab isn’t just covering hair, it’s also showing as little skin as possible with the exception of face, hands, and feet, and not wearing tight/sheer clothing
– that applies to men too, people just don’t like to mention it ( i wonder why)
– henna/mehendi isn’t just for special occasions, you’ll see people wearing it for fun
– henna/mehendi isn’t just for muslims, either, it’s not a religious thing
– henna/mehendi is not just for women, men also wear it, especially on their weddings
– there are big mehendi parties in the couple of nights before eid where people (usually just women and kids) gather and do each other’s mehendi, usually just hands and feet
– five daily prayers
– most muslim kids can stutter through a couple verses of quran in the original arabic text by the age of seven or eight, it does not matter where they live or where they’re from or what language they speak natively
– muslim families tend to have multiple copies of the quran
– there are no “versions” of the quran, there has only ever been one. all muslims follow the exact same book
– muslims have no concept of taking God’s name in vain, we call on God at every little inconvenience
– don’t use islamic phrases if you don’t know what they mean or how to use them. we use them often, inside and outside of religious settings. in islam, it is encouraged to mention God often and we say these things very casually, but we take them very seriously
– Allahu Akbar means “God is Greatest” (often said when something shocks or surprises us, or if we’re scared or daunted, or when something amazing happens, whether it be good or bad; it’s like saying “oh my god”)
– Subhan Allah means “Glory be to God” (i say subhan Allah at the sky, at babies, at trees, whatever strikes me as pleasant, especially if it’s in nature)
– Bismillah means “in the name of God” and it’s just something you say before you start something like eating or doing your homework
– In Shaa Allah means “if God wills” (example: you’ll be famous, in shaa Allah) (it’s a reminder that the future is in God’s hands, so be humble and be hopeful)– Astaghfirullah means “i seek forgiveness from Allah” and it’s like “god forgive me”
– Alhamdulillah means “all thanks and praise belong to God” and it’s just a little bit more serious than saying “thank god” (example: i passed my exams, alhamdulillah; i made it home okay, alhamdulillah)
– when i say we use them casually, i really mean it
– teacher forgot to assign homework? Alhamdulillah
– our version of “amen” is “ameen”
– muslims greet each other with “assalamu alaikum” which just means “peace be on you” and it’s like saying hi
– the proper response is “walaikum assalam” which means “and on you be peace” and it’s like saying “you too”As a Muslim this post is so very important and it makes me so happy that it gives the small facts and details that one might be unaware of or confused about.
Rebellions are built on hope 