Books

A Primer on Writing Trans Characters

Posted by Aibird on June 13, 2016
Posted in: Books, Characters, World Building, Writing. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Introduction

A question I’m commonly asked is: how does one write a trans character? I also get asked this question in regards to writing gay, lesbian, or bisexual characters, and/or how to write a person of color. There is a lot of overlap in these questions since a person can have a variety of skin colors, and that same person can also be trans or cisgender as well as gay, lesbian, bi, asexual, or straight; therefore, some of the articles I will link offer excellent advice on writing people of different skin tones and ethnicity as well as different genders and sexualities.

In this primer, I will focus primarily on gender identity. I will provide some common definitions, how to worldbuild with trans characters in mind, things to keep in mind when designing a trans character, and steps you can follow when writing trans characters’ stories. I will also have a list of resources at the end of this article for further reading.

How to use the guide

Think about the setting of your story and the characters you wish to create. For writers whose settings are real locations in current or historical time periods of Earth, you may not need to go through the worldbuild section. Instead, you can research how gender is perceived and how people are treated within your chosen location and time period, then go straight to the Designing Your Character section. For example, if your setting is 1800s Ireland, then do some research to see what it was like for men and women in that time period, then go straight to the Designing Your Character section of this primer. If you are writing an alternate Earth history, then you may find the content of the worldbuild section helpful. If you are creating your own science fiction or fantasy universe, I highly recommend going through the entire primer and not skipping any section in order to assist you in deepening your understanding of your world and characters.

Important Things to Keep in Mind

Trans people are a diverse group, so I will cover a few of the most common gender identities. Trans women were assigned male at birth but are women. Trans men were assigned female at birth but are men. There are also non-binary people, who could be assigned either male or female at birth and may use various identifiers such as genderqueer, neutrois, agender, and others. Although some intersex people are trans, not all trans people are intersex. You can view the transgender language primer link I provided in the definitions section to read more about the various terms and identities.

The gender identity of a trans person is real, and it is important to respect their pronouns, to use their chosen name, and to not out them without their permission. When talking about transgender people before they transition, it is important to  use their current pronouns unless specified otherwise by that individual; do not use the sex assigned at birth pronouns.  Also, avoid the use of their “deadname,” which is the name they were given at birth but is not their chosen name. Even if discussing their life before transition, it is still better to not use their deadname unless they give permission. When writing the character’s story, seriously consider whether it is even necessary to provide the dead name ever. In most cases, it will not be relevant to the plot.

Why is this important? Because trans people exist, and representation really does matter. In this essay by a transgender woman, she discusses the power of representation and the tragic tropes people often use when writing transgender characters. Negative portrayals that show us as comedic relief or as a villain only serve to perpetuate the stereotype that we are not serious (or real) or that we are dangerous, which can also cause tremendous harm — trans people, due to discrimination and rejection of who they are by today’s society and sometimes their family and friends, already have high suicide rates and rates of being murdered for who they are. Negative portrayals can aggravate those rates by perpetuating harmful myths, which can lead to increased harassment, lack of acceptance, and other harmful behaviors perpetuated against trans people.

Tragic portrayals done respectfully can be important in showing how society treats trans people today and gather sympathy for trans people. However, in our current culture (in America where I live), most of the stories I see of trans folks are tragic portrayals. Having an overabundance of tragic portrayals is exhausting to a trans person, who already faces discrimination and injustice and makes it hard to hold out hope for positive change in society’s treatment of us. At this point, I am desperate to read anything but a tragic and/or negative portrayal, so that I can enjoy seeing a trans person flourish and thrive rather than wither and die.

Positive portrayals provide hope for the future and shows people that trans people can do awesome things too, where trans people are shown as human beings just like everyone else and that we are just as worthy of rights and respect as a cisgender person. It’s important to think about how we portray characters, especially if you wish to write a trans character respectfully. We often underestimate the influence literature, video games, movies, TV shows, and other media can have on our perceptions of others and ourselves.

This isn’t to say you can’t have trans people as villains, comedic relief, or have them experience great tragedy and/or death. But if that is the only portrayal of trans people you have in your stories, then there is a problem. Trans people can be heroes as well — diversity in representation such as providing balanced portrayals is also important. Let trans people be heroes, and let them experience interesting story lines that aren’t only about their gender identity. Think about all the diverse portrayals of straight, cisgender people, then consider how, with some alterations here and there, you could give a trans person similar diverse roles in stories.

Diversity can help to deepen your worlds and stories. Diversity can also provide you with more opportunities for conflict, character growth, and societal change, which can give you even more ideas for future stories. Writing diverse characters and diverse story arcs also challenges us to learn more about people not like us; this can increase our ability to emphasize with others, helps us reconcile diverse worldviews, become more accepting of other people, and pushes us to challenge any biases we have that may be holding us back as writers and as people. Writing diverse characters can be a fun and interesting journey, but it will require you to do some research, but then as writers, we should all be used to research by now!

In order to start our journey, it is important to understand the terms we will be using. I have provided a short list of terms, but I included a resource for a more comprehensive list of terms that you may encounter as you research and explore the transgender community.

Definitions of Terms

Gender identity means a person’s internal sense of what their gender is. Some describe it as their brain’s gender. The person’s gender identity may or may not align with the sex assigned at birth.

Sexual orientation denotes who a person is attracted to. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same thing. A trans person can be any sexuality.

Sex assigned at birth means that at birth the doctor looked at the baby’s genitalia and labeled them as either male or female (rarely if ever is any other test used to determine sex). (Note: if the genitalia is ambiguous due to various Intersex conditions, the doctor may do surgery without permission to force the baby into either male or female. This is a common practice in America.)

Cisgender means people whose gender aligns with the sex assigned at birth, i.e., they are not trans.

Transgender means people whose gender does not align with the sex assigned at birth. This is often shortened to simply trans. A transgender person can be a woman, man, neither, or an third gender altogether. Trans people may or may not experience gender dysphoria, and they may or may not decide to physically and socially transition. Again, there is a lot of diversity within the trans community.

Non-binary denotes a person who does not identify within the male/female binary. Non-binary people fall under the transgender umbrella, although not all may identify with the term trans. See the Transgender Language Primer for definitions of various non-binary identities.

Gender Expression denotes the external appearance of one’s gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, haircut or voice. A person’s gender expression may or may not conform to society’s gender norms.

Transition denotes the process a person may undergo in order to align their body and/or their gender expression with their gender identity. Physical transition may or may not involve hormone therapy, various surgeries, and voice training. Social transition involves changing how a person expresses their gender and may or may not include changing their behavior, clothing, haircut, or voice.

Gender Norms denotes society’s rules, expectations, and roles that define for each gender a set of behaviors, gender expressions, characteristics, and roles. Norms often include how society enforces these roles, expectations, and rules.

Gender Roles denotes society’s expectations for each gender in regards to the familial, workplace, and social positions within society as well as the characteristics and traits society associates with each gender.

Socialization is a sociological term that refers “to the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs, values and ideologies, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within their own society.” (Definition from wikipedia).

For a comprehensive list of terms and definitions, please see this lovely list: Transgender Language Primer

Worldbuilding

I have an extensive list of resources and articles I have written regarding worldbuilding. You can view that here.  In this section, I will explore how gender can influence society (such as the culture of your country and/or planet). When you engage in worldbuilding and/or designing your characters, many different influences from society, language, and history can increase the complexity of your character’s journey, of how characters interact with each other, and of your plot lines. I have provided some questions for writers to consider:

  • How many genders does your society and/or country have? Some cultures on Earth have up to five genders. In fact, biology is showing more and more that even humanity is not as simplistic as having just two sexes. Think of gender as your identity that is within your brain. Your sex is related to your biological make-up such as secondary sex characteristics or chromosomes; however, studies show that using sex to determine gender is not always reliable. Also, there is some evidence that one person could technically have cells with very different chromosomes. The point here is to show that even gender can be incredibly diverse.
  • Is gender neutral pronouns common in your society? What types of pronouns does your society’s language have?
    • As a side note: In American society, gender neutral pronouns are rare, but people are slowing changing the language over time by using gender neutral pronouns within written and spoken works/discussion.  There are many languages in the world where there is multiple gender neutral pronouns or the language may not have any gendered pronouns at all. (Finnish is an example of a language that doesn’t have gendered pronouns (or nouns) like what we see in English.) Remember language also affects how people perceive others, and languages are not static. If a language doesn’t have gender neutral pronouns, this can change if enough people use gender-neutral pronouns, which is how languages evolve — folks changing how words are used over time.
  • How does your society treat each gender? Is one considered “better” or “stronger” or “more intelligent” or “more simplistic” than the other? How is gender perceived and experienced within your culture? What are the gender  roles? This leads into my next question about gender norms (rules or expectations enforced by society).
  • Has the treatment of each gender changed over time? Was some genders treated differently in the past? How did that change over time?
  • What rules and/or expectations does your society enforce for various genders? This can manifest in various ways (this list is just to get you started):
    • What types of employment are accessible to what genders?
    • In what ways are people of each gender typically presented in the media/entertainment, educational, and/or political discussions?
    • How do people view the body (as in are there specific body parts that society labels is for one gender only?)
    • How people view sex (as in how is consent taught? Is specific sex acts considered belonging to one gender only? Is one gender presented as more dominant in sex than the other genders?)
    • What clothing is taboo (or allowed) for each gender?
    • What types of physical or psychological characteristics are associated with each gender?
    • How are people of certain genders treated in public?
    • What actions a person of a specific is allowed to do in public and what is considered taboo?
    • Is one gender considered better than another gender and how this power differential is enforced?
    • If people transgress the gender norms, how does society punish them (if society punishes them at all)?
      • (For example, in America, if a man (cisgender or trans) acts too feminine, other guys may beat him up, insult him, abuse him, and/or demote him until he acts the way society states a “man” should act. In some extreme cases, the man could be killed. Or if a woman (cisgender or trans) acts too manly in America, she can be dehumanized, abused, raped, verbally harassed, insulted, and/or demoted until she acts the way society states a “woman” should act. Again, in extreme cases, the woman could be killed. Also, note that this enforcement is even more harsh for trans people in America, especially if they do not “pass” as a cisgender person. Many trans people, especially non-passing and non-binary people, are often seen as “transgressing” the gender norms, and so they experience harassment, abuse, destruction of their property, loss of jobs or denied jobs, loss of or denied housing, loss of rights, unable to access public services, etc. In some cases, they may be driven to suicide or are murdered.)

When you think about gender norms and their enforcement, think about socialization. This can be a complex topic, so reading sociological theory on socialization may be useful. How we are socialized by society today may not be how people in the past were socialized, as socialization of norms is changeable over time. Think of it this way. You know how we are socialized to think pink is feminine and blue is masculine? At the end of the 1800s and early 1900s, blue was actually considered feminine. Things like this can change depending on time period and culture.

For example, in American culture, guys are supposed to be tough and show little emotion, and masculinity is associated with power, sexual prowess, and violence. Femininity in America is often associated with being overly emotional, not smart enough, weak, or bossy. However, in some societies on Earth, the masculine person is expected to show more emotion than the feminine person and their gender roles are polar opposite of how gender roles are perceived in America.  These socialized perceptions and gender norms have an impact on how people are perceived and treated. And all of what I’ve discussed thus far? That’s all learned behaviors and perceptions. I bring this up because I want writers to think outside the box. To avoid having these biases and/or socialized perceptions color your world-building.

The Sociological Images page does a good job of breaking down how a society enforces and perpetuates its norms. Also see their “for instructors page” as it has a lot of good resources for learning more about sociology and societal norms.

Designing Your Characters

Now that you understand the backdrop of your world in regards to gender, think about your character and how they inhabit that space. By understanding the environment, space, history, and personality of your character, you can develop intriguing story lines that move beyond stereotypes. Although there is a time and place for stories about the act of transitioning, there’s also much to be said about giving your trans character different types of story-arcs. You don’t have to make their entire plot line about them being trans or about their transition. Remember, trans people are very diverse, exist in all sorts of professions, and there’s more to them than just their gender identity. Their gender identity is only one facet of who they are. Also, recognize that a trans person can be any sexuality — gender identity and a person’s sexuality are not the same thing, so a trans person can be straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, asexual, or pansexual.

The following questions can help you better understand your character and the space around them, so when you write, you can include little details that add depth to their story-arcs and their interactions with other characters and societal systems.

  • How does the character navigate their society? (Is there roadblocks that prevent them from accessing certain opportunities or areas of society? Are their laws that prohibit their movement or restrict their rights? Do they have laws that guarantee their rights? Is society accepting of them or not? How do they react to these things? What is their opinion on the state of society?)
  • How does the character get through a day? (As in how to people respond to the character’s existence? Is it positive, negative, and/or neutral? Do they feel safe going about their day?)
  • Does the character encounter discrimination? How do they deal with discrimination? (Is there legal recourse for them? Programs or resources to help them access healthcare, employment, education, basic needs requirements, etc…)
  • What sort of movements exist that challenge the society’s gender norms? Or is your society accepting enough that there is no need for such movements? Is your character connected with such movements and what do they think of them?
  • How does your character experience gender? Do they have dysphoria? Will they transition physically or socially? Or are there roadblocks that prevent their transition? How do they react to society’s view of people like them?
  • What does your character like to do? Hobbies? Work?
  • What is your character’s spirituality or belief system? How does that influence their behaviors and thoughts?
  • What is your character’s worldview — how do they perceive their place in society? What do they feel about some of society’s laws or expectations? What sort of political theory to they adhere to?
  • Where did your character grow up and what was their childhood like? How does events from their childhood influence them today? What lessons did they learn during their childhood in regards to life, society, and their view of  themselves?
  • What is their family like? How many siblings do they have? What are their parents like? Does their family accept their gender identity?
  • What is your character’s sexuality? Have they dated anyone in the past, and if so, why did the relationship end? Are they interested in dating anyone? Are they in a relationship?
  • If in a relationship, did your character marry the person or not? Why? Do they have kids?  What are their kids like? Do they have any pets?
  • Who are your character’s friends? Why did they choose those friends? How did they meet? How deep are the friendships?
  • Is there anyone your character really dislikes? Why do they dislike them?
  • What was their education like? What did they study? Why did they decide to study that particular subject(s)?
  • What type of employment does the character have? Why did they choose to apply for that job? Or were they forced into that job due to societal norms or family pressure?
  • What is a typical day in the life of your character? (Think of a day before the big events of your story changes their life forever.)

For a longer list of character questions, see this thread on Legendfire Writing Forums.

Do not be afraid to use gender-neutral pronouns if there are characters who are of a third or fourth gender (or no gender). You can even meld the gender neutral pronouns into the society of your character’s world by making it a commonplace and/or important to the culture. When integrated into the setting (world) and characters, gender neutral pronouns will seem essential and not jarring to readers. For example, in science fiction, writers will use a variety of techniques to denote people (or aliens) of genders outside of the male/female binary:

  • Writers may use actual gender neutral pronouns such as ve/vir/vis (Alastair Reynolds has a character who uses these pronouns in one of his novels).
  • Or they may use a pronoun native to the language of the character (common with stories that have aliens in it like the Xenogenesis trilogy, where the aliens denote their third gender as just ooloi, or in Julie Czerneda’s works where it is a word native to the alien language).
  • Another approach involves writers using humanity’s tendency to stereotype and denote things by human’s norms. In this case, humans may decide to use only one pronoun for the entire alien species.  (The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin does this, where the human observer denotes all of the people on Winter as “he.” Ann Leckie does this in Ancillary Justice, where humans denote everyone within the alien species as “she.”) As a caveat: this particular approach may be useful for aliens and human stories, but I find this approach to be limiting and somewhat troublesome when used for non-binary characters (human or not).

 

Writing the story

Writing the story can often seem daunting, especially to people who are uncertain if they can portray trans characters well. I’ll tackle the steps to take in a bit, but first let’s discuss ways of writing the story your characters inhabit.

Once you have designed your characters, be willing to place them in diverse roles within your stories. You can make them the hero, the antagonist, an important side character, or peripheral characters that influence the plot in minor ways. It only takes a sentence or two to establish that they are trans. This can be done through a conversation the characters have, how other people interact or react to your character (such as microaggressions), the character’s inner thoughts about society and what they experience, or through well-worded descriptive details. The best way to explore how to do this is by reading books that feature trans people. Or think about how trans people may discuss being trans to other people — sometimes it comes up naturally in conversation. I will include a list of books to try at the end of this primer for you to explore how others have written trans characters.

For an example, I will use myself. A few days ago, some friends were sharing experiences of harassment (namely cat-callers). As a trans person who was assigned female at birth, I have experiences with this from when I was not yet out and was still perceived as a woman by nearly everyone. Since I was with friends, I joined the conversation by saying, “I get that. Before I came out or even considered transition, I experienced that too. I remember this one time…” Another example was when I was with friends on a hot day. I made the comment: “Ugh, I hate that feeling of sweat inside the binder. I’m totally going to take a nice shower when I get home.” My friends then shared their own discomfort with the heat, we laughed about it, and the topic changed to something else. In both these instances, my sharing of my trans part of my identity was brief and not the focus, but in both instances I felt comfortable and safe enough to share my experience.

By reading and listening to trans people’s stories and experiences, you can compile all sorts of ways to slip in details that the character is trans, where it may or may not be crucial to the plot but it is another interesting detail that develops the character further.

Here is a wonderful example of a writer doing a good job in creating a trans character. In Dragon Age Inquistion, there is a character who is trans, and the main indicator is some dialogue where the character mentions that they bind. Here is a blog post of how the writers and developers of Dragon Age Inquistion researched the subject and implemented the character in a respectful way: Building a Character: Cremisius “Krem” Aclassi. This article also shows the steps involved in writing a trans character well:

  1. Research and lots of it. Best way to do this is to listen to the stories of trans people. Read about their lives and read stories by them. Read up on definitions and concepts pertaining to trans people and the issues they face.
  2. Look for roles trans people can have in your stories — try for diverse roles in a variety of professions, and try to avoid making their story-arc just about the fact they are trans. Trans people are just as interesting and complex as cisgender people. Trans people can be any profession, any sexuality, any ethnicity or race, any socioeconomic position. Diversify!
  3. After you write your story, look for beta readers who are trans, and ask for their critiques. Listen to their constructive feedback on how to improve, and don’t feel defeated or sad if their reaction is less than stellar. Learn from your mistakes, fix any errors, and keep doing your best to diversify your characters. The best way to write diverse characters is by trying, learning from the experience, and trying again when you mess up.
  4. Understand that no matter how hard you try, some folks will love what you write and other people may not. As long as you do your best to write trans characters respectfully, that’s what’s important.

Remember, you don’t have to be a trans person in order to include trans characters! Writing trans characters may seem hard at first, but I challenge you to try anyway. Realize that trans people are just like you, and by writing about them, you can not only better understand trans people but also grow as a person and a writer. If you have any questions or want to see certain sections covered in further detail, feel free to drop me a note, and I’ll see what I can do.

Resources:

Legendfire Writing Forum Thread discussing how to write trans characters.

The Gender Book is a good 101 primer about trans people and issues they face. I highly recommend starting here.

Tips on writing trans characters (article published at Strange Horizons).

An article published on SFWA that provides tips on writing characters of different races and/or ethnicities. A lot of the advice is applicable to trans characters as well.

An article published on Walrus called Rise of the Gender Novel. It discusses how trans people are portrayed in literature.

Kat Blaque’s Advice on How to Write Transgender Characters (a YouTube video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3fbvOX8Zh4 (I highly recommend this resource. Kat Blaque is a trans woman, who does a wonderful job offering tips on writing trans characters well.)

Lists of books with a trans protagonist:

Book Review: The Telling

Posted by Aibird on June 17, 2015
Posted in: Books, Reviews, Writing. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

The Telling
by Ursula Le Guin
Published by Ace Books in 2000.

 

Sutty comes from a tumultuous time in Earth’s history, where religion has bombed libraries and universities. She comes the planet Aka as an observer in hopes of studying a world of rich history, where equality is paramount. Except by the time her ship finally arrives, the world does not match the reports of the original Ekumen observers. Technology has utterly transformed it. The Corporation strictly monitors the citizens in their March to the Stars, and all books and stories of their history has been banned and eradicated. Her first few months is spent under rigid control by the authorities, where she is given propaganda and nothing that she can truly study. However, Corporation bureaucrats suddenly grant passage out of the capital city and north to a small town in the foothills of the mountains. Here she uncovers the once rich society of the the Telling. People here risk much to keep their stories alive, and intrigued by their beliefs, Sutty joins them on a sacred journey into the mountains. It is there, deep in the highest caverns of the mountains, that she delves deep into her past, these peoples’ past, and how it all intertwines here on this planet far from Earth.

The book itself is short but is a fascinating trip through philosophy and societal change. The characters are vibrant and interesting, full of quirks and flaws. Even the Monitor — one of the Corporation’s agents — has incredible depth, once Sutty has the chance to truly talk to him outside of the strict confines of the Corporation. All of the dissendents — the Maz, storytellers — have a richness of personality and character. The characters just leap off the page. The discovery Sutty makes surprised me a bit and added further depth to the world. It’s such a small book, and yet the richness of the world-building and the characters is displayed so brilliantly.

I highly recommend the novella as it’s masterfully woven, each page begging to be turned. It’s science fiction at its best — exploring humanity in all its depths.

Let Us Go Write! – Choosing a genre

Posted by Aibird on October 5, 2014
Posted in: Books, Writing. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

As much as we’d probably not like to admit it, our works will get categorized into genres. Often times people will seek out books of certain genres because that’s what they like. People expect certain experiences from the genres they like, and they choose that genre because it promises to provide their expected experience. When it fails to deliver, this can leave them feeling disappointed, annoyed, regretful, and sometimes even anger. This can be even more pronounced in the genres of speculative fiction such as science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Why is this? Jule Selbo, explains in the essay “Choosing Your Speculative Genre:”

“Because these three genres attract specific audiences that tend to be knowledgeable and demanding and very, very picky—not to say prickly—if their expectations are not met. That’s a lot of pressure for a “genre”—a French-based word that original meant to simply denote “type” or “category,” but one that has now taken on a much, more important place in the lexicon of narrative fiction.”

This means that sometimes it can be useful to know what genre your story is, and how it informs your storyline and writing in general. A book or movie or even TV show is never solely one genre only, there is often a supporting genre that also influences the characters and plot. So for this exploration, we’ll take a look at genres and how to identify the primary and supporting genres in your piece of fiction. To do so, let’s discuss the three main speculative genres and how the supporting genres can lend development to the story. Jule Selbo goes on to explain some of the basics of these three genres:

“I suggest we think of science fiction, fantasy, and horror for a moment as “world” genres, for there are few inherent story components in these genres (genres that have stronger narrative dictates include mystery, romance, and crime). Their main feature is that they invite the audience into a specific world—and there are many fans enthralled with these worlds.”

For Science fiction:

Science fiction genre stories have their roots in science. The writer’s imagination can extrapolate and vamp on the chosen scientific nugget, and the fun of the sci-fi genre is its proximity to some scientific truth or hypotheses.”

For Fantasy:

“The fantasy genre allows the author to create an imaginary world, often using supernatural elements as primary inspirations for plot and characters. The world may be dreamlike, it may at times feel real, but it is always illusory. Think Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings novels and films.

Environments can be otherworldly but at the same time must be clearly drawn; rules of the society and more and beliefs of the characters must be clear. Without such as societal expectations, rules of conduct, limitations on power,etc., it is very hard to create conflict.”

For Horror:

“The horror genre features plots where evil forces (events or characters) invade the everyday world and upset the social order. There is narrative dictate in horror, which makes it different from the science fiction and fantasy genres; the horror genre calls for a writer to create a space or situation for the evil entity to show itself and, in most cases, make life miserable for those who inhabit the story.”

Now that we have basic definitions for each of the primary speculative genres, what about supporting genres?

Supporting genres tend to include adventure, action, mystery, romance, buddy, coming-of-age, comedy, drama, and probably a few more I’m forgetting. These tend to have narrative dictates that influence the plot and characters arcs more directly than the over-arching world genre. These provide more of the beef of the story, and all stories, no matter the medium, tend toward a mixture of some of these supportive genres along with an overarching world genre. Each of these supporting genres have a narrative dictate that is often used, and is what defines that particularly supporting genre. They also provide an expectation of what to expect in the story itself, and help provide it with a more structurally sound and interesting narrative. It can help flesh out characters, worlds, and plot points.

Here is a list of definitions for some supporting genres:

  • Adventure (a goal is set and the hero, against all odds, must strive to reach that goal for the betterment of community or all of humanity)
  • Action (a heck of a lot of action, where there is less dialogue and more movement and doing things.)
  • romance (two or more people interested romantically and sexually with someone else or with each other)
  • coming-of-age (character matures and comes to understand something about themselves)
  • buddy (character arc toward bonding and friendship)
  • comedy (humorous scenarios, incongruity)
  • drama (suspenseful series of unexpected events or set of circumstances that happens at a crucial moment in a characters’ life, focuses on emotional conflict generally, those sub-genres can include conflicts such as war, political conflict, crime, tragedy)
  • mystery (plot points structured so that a puzzle is slowly put together by figuring out the meaning of clues)
  • Any other genres I missed or better definitions for the ones above? Drop them in a comment!

As a tool, this can be very useful, especially if you are struggling with a story idea. I find that I often struggle more toward the middle of the story rather than the beginning and the end of the tale. By thinking about the different supporting genres, what I expect when I hear about those genres, and what are some common themes and plot points I often see in those genres, it helps me develop ideas for my own work. Its like I’m jump-starting the idea section of my brain. I wish I’d thought of this earlier to be honest, but it’s only recently that I started thinking about the use of genres and their effect on my writing.

Here is an exercise to help us jump-start this process:

1. In choosing to write in one of the speculative genres, consider making it clear to your audience from the outset that they are going to “get what they paid for.” Construct a scene or situation set in the overriding genre to open your narrative. Just keep in mind that the goal should be to create a scene or situation that makes the genre clear as well as includes a way to get to know one of your main characters so that the audience begins to understand/care for him/her. If you want to start your story with an event that does not feature your main character, best to keep it relatively short. Audience members are quick to understand a “setting the genre/world” scene and are waiting to engage in characters, so don’t tax their patience.

2. List possible supporting genres. Decide which may lend a sense of originality to your piece. Which will illuminate characters and which will help raise conflicts between characters? Consider which supporting genres will help complicate/raise the stakes in your plot. Write a scene that exemplifies this supporting genre, but still has the over-arching world field of your primary genre.

Feel free to discuss this further in the comments, and if you have more resources regarding genres, definitely drop it in a comment!

 

 

Banned Books Week: Reflections

Posted by Aibird on September 27, 2014
Posted in: Books, Feminism, Writing. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

Inspired by the Banned Books Blog Party hosted by Hannah Givens.

Reflections

It would probably take me quite some time to go over every book that heavily influenced me over the years, especially those that appear on numerous banned book lists. Instead, I’ll finish off this week with a reflection.

The most common theme for book bans, at least in my part of the US, centers on if the book contains objectionable material. Yet, the question here is what do people consider objectionable?

Words hold power, and books often can hold tremendous power in the ability to put a reader in the protagonist’s shoes. It allows people to really feel for the character, to experience their suffering and their joys, and it lets them try on a worldview for a little while, even if they may not realize it. Stories can challenge our most tightly held beliefs. They can also reinforce those tightly held beliefs.

If we go through our history, you’ll notice that what is deemed objectionable shifts based on the culture of that time period. For much of American history, novels and stories about African Americans, especially any that had interracial couples, were seen as objectionable, and often called amoral and dangerous. Books about LGBTQ people often fell into similar categories, where even the existence of an LGBTQ character may cause the book to be banned. Another target is minority religions, such as paganism or wicca, which the majority religion may view as evil or bad; often times books will be banned for having imagery that might relate, even remotely, to those unpopular religions. Yet another reason may be the politics within the book itself, which people may deem as dangerous for whatever reason.

This link provides a synopsis to commonly heard reason for banning books: Reasons for banning books. Violence and sex is also a fairly common reason. Yet, what do all these books hold in common?

They challenge the reader to think, and to put themselves in another person’s shoes. All books do it to some degree, though how much they challenge the reader depends on the genre and how the book is written. It also depends on where the reader is, what they personally believe, and what their worldview is, as to how challenged they are by the book.

Although people will cite that the primary reason for banning books is to protect children, the truth of the matter is that it’s not really about children at all. It’s about the control of ideas. Some people want to control what ideas a child is exposed to and the reasons for this may differ depending on the group. Control of ideas allows people to stay in power, to exert their influence, and to propagate the beliefs they find most important.

When we examine whether a book is appropriate for a child, we are exerting our control and power over that child, whether we realize it or not. Is this always a bad thing? Not always, because sometimes a child may not be able to handle the material within the book. It’s up to the child, their loved ones, and their teachers to determine what is best. It’s often not necessary to ban the book outright for that child, but instead to have them wait until they are at an age where they can emotionally and intellectually handle the book.

However, there are a great many times when exerting our control and power is a bad thing. By banning books, people are controlling the flow of ideas and this exerts their power over others in their communities. It’s a form of forcing others to conform to their view of the world,regardless of the damage that may cause to those around them. This excerpt from On Liberty John Stuart Mill sums up a few reasons why this is harmful (found at the ALA website):

If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

We need to be challenged in order to grow as people. Children, especially, need to be challenged in order for them to learn. By being exposed to multiple viewpoints, children learn critical thinking skills and how to differentiate between arguments. They are better equipped to handle differing point of views as adults and discern truth from propaganda, which is necessary if we wish to uphold and strengthen our democratic society.

Children also need to be exposed to a diverse group of people in order to learn and expand their ability to empathize. Everyone is capable of empathy to some extent; we evolved with it (and it’s also present in many different species of animals as well), but the issue here is that empathy also requires a choice, to mentally put yourself into another shoes. If you don’t do that or don’t know how to do it, then you are less likely to seek understanding, less likely to view that person as an equal, and often times it can cause people to view others as less than human and not worthy of their respect or caring.

By reading books from diverse point of views, children learn how to put themselves in another person’s shoes. They are able to see, through the eyes of the protagonist, a different point of view, one that may be wildly different from their own. Stories often present their protagonist as someone that is relate-able or sympathetic to the reader, in order to get readers to care enough to read to the end, and by doing so, it helps teach children and adults alike ways to empathize with others. It also provides them a chance to understand someone else’s perspective and allows them a chance to reevaluate their own views and opinions.

In order for us to grow as individuals and as a society into a more caring and accepting world, we need books that challenge us, that provide diversity in protagonists and perspectives, and we need the freedom and access to be able to read those books.

 

Banned Books Week: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Posted by Aibird on September 25, 2014
Posted in: Blogging, Books, Feminism, Writing. Tagged: , , , , . 2 Comments

Inspired by the Banned Books Blog Party hosted by Hannah Givens over at Things Matter.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I don’t remember exactly when I picked up this book. I’d put it anywhere between senior year of high school and second year of college. I was reading a lot of young adult novels back then, mostly because they were fast reads, and it was nice to just take a break from reading all that textbooks and English novels for class.

The reason this book stands out to me so much is the subject matter. A very traumatic moment happens to the main character, Melinda Sordino, and for months afterward, she stops speaking. People began to scorn her, rumors abound, and still she doesn’t speak up. Melinda begins to lose her friends, as one by one they drift away because of her weirdness. It is through her art class, and her caring art teacher and the students there, that she begins to find a safe place to release the inner pain and turmoil.

However, throughout all of this, she is tormented by seeing the person who had violated her, the guy who haunted her dreams and even in the halls of school. She tries to hide from him and others, but eventually, she reaches a point where the pain is too much, the fear is too unhealthy, and so Melinda tries to speak up for the first time in months. The moment where she tries to stand up for herself and tell her story as it is was incredible, terrifying, and transforming moment in the book. It triggers an avalanche of events, that ends with a confrontation with the one who violated her, and her using her voice to once again speak up and bring justice down upon him.

That’s a powerful story. Incredibly powerful. When I first read it, I wept through the last few pages of the book. When I read it a second time, a few years later, I decided to follow the narrator’s example. To speak up to my loved ones about what had happened to me, to break the silence that had kept my own traumatic night a secret to all for so long, and it was a terrifying moment, but just as it helped Melinda step onto the path of healing, it did the same for me as well.

As a survivor, this book was incredibly hard to read because I related to it so incredibly much. It is often very bleak at times, yet, even in her darkest hours, there is still this tiny shred of hope, that maybe things will get better. It perfectly captures the essence of a survivor’s journey and how society victimizes us again and again. It also shows that we can triumph over our trauma and that healing is possible. It shows that by speaking up and facing it, we empower ourselves and those around us.

We don’t have to live in silence. This book taught me that, for I’ve never forgotten that lesson.

I am not surprised to see it was banned in some areas for a few years, but at the same time, I am sad for it because this is really a fantastic gem of a book. In fact, I think it should be taught within classes, to have students really dig into it, and most of all to provide a chance to educate people about sexual assault and domestic violence and how to react in a way that affirms the victim and denounces the abuser/rapist. We need to stop protecting the rapists and abusers; we need to stop painting them as poor souls that messed up briefly — especially if they came from positions of power. We need to show rapists and abusers that what they did was wrong, and they must face justice.

Most importantly, we need to reach out to the survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and rape and let them know that it’s not their fault. They are not to blame. Their abusers and rapists are the ones to blame. We need to stop teaching ‘how to prevent rape’ and instead teach ‘how to not rape.’ We need to dismantle our culture of rape, and create instead a culture based upon respect, empathy, yes meaning yes, and no meaning no.

As a little aside, Catalyst by the same author, references Melinda, when the narrator walks by her and some other students creating an art sculpture. The narrator sums up her story as brave and leaves it at that.

Banned Books Week: Annie on My Mind

Posted by Aibird on September 23, 2014
Posted in: Author, Books. Tagged: , , , . 8 Comments

Inspired by the Banned Books Blog Party, hosted by Hannah Givens.

Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden

I don’t recall how I found this book, but I do remember where I was when I finished reading the final page. I was sitting under a tree at college and there was snow on the ground. I had devoured that book in the span of a day, and as I sat there, with it clenched in my hands, I pressed it against my face and wept. Here was the affirmation I had long sought, and for the moments I spent in its pages, I felt alive and, most importantly, like I mattered. It’s a short and simple story of two girls falling in love during the last year of high school.

Annie and Liza gave me hope. Ms Widmer and Ms. Stevenson gave me courage.

“If you you two remember nothing else from all this,” Ms. Widmer said, “remember that. Please. Don’t—don’t punish yourselves for people’s ignorant reactions to what we all are.”

“Don’t let ignorance win,” said Ms. Stevenson. “Let love.”

Those words resonated within me. For years after, I’d come to this book and read it again and again. To walk with those characters as Annie and Liza met and fell in love. To see the ignorance and hate that threatened them and their two teachers, and most of all to reread the words of Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson. “Don’t let ignorance win. Let love.”

They gave me the courage to stand on my own two feet and live out those words. To let love win and to fight against the ignorance. To take away its power, to shed light upon it, so that the hatred can be seen for what it is—hate and not love. I had fought so hard to try to deny my sexuality and deny my gender identity, to try to live as others wanted me to be, but in doing so, I let ignorance win and it was killing me. This book gave me the courage to come out about my sexuality, and it gave me the courage to allow myself to be okay with my confusion about gender. And in allowing that, I was more receptive and more open to exploring gender. I wouldn’t have taken those steps if I hadn’t had this book at my side as a constant source of encouragement. And once I’d taken those steps, the people who affirmed my sexuality, who let me question my gender identity, started to appear. Love began to win out over the ignorance.

This book also gave me something else that I hold dear to my heart, even today. I spent a lot of my adult life wondering if I was defective, if I’d ever be loved or worthy of love. When those thoughts hit me, I would go to this book, to read yet again Annie and Liza journey. To hear of Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson’s lives, and be reminded yet again, that it is possible. Someday I will find someone like Annie or Liza. Someone who will see me as I am, and love me as I am. Where we will stand up against the world and let love win not hate and ignorance.

Annie on my Mind saved my life a thousand times over, and so, to see it on the banned book list breaks my heart a bit. For all the LGBTQ kids out there, these stories are solely needed, and this book is for them. To remind them that no matter how vicious the hate may seem, no matter how strong the ignorance, love does exist, and we can let it win. We just have to hold up our love and light the way, so that they may know they are not alone. They are not alone.

We all stand with you, even in your darkest hours. So thank you, Liza and Annie, Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson. Thank you for lighting my way through one of the darkest eras of my life.

Banned Books Week

Posted by Aibird on September 23, 2014
Posted in: Author, Books, Feminism, Writing. Tagged: , . 1 Comment

I write this to join the Banned Books Blog Party hosted by Hannah Givens over at Things Matter

I love books. Growing up, we visited the library often, and I would pick up a huge handful of books, sometimes more than my little kid arms could carry. I wanted to read everything. To learn everything. My parents didn’t really steer us away from books, though they sometimes would read what we took home just in case, but I don’t recall either of them saying we couldn’t read a book we picked out. I sometimes would stop reading a book if it disturbed me too much, so in a way I did censor myself, but only because I recognized that I wasn’t emotionally prepared for what the book covered, so I would find a different book until I was ready to try that one again.

A lot of the books I read spanned many genres. I read nonfiction books about space. I read science fiction books, especially the Star Wars Galaxy of Fear books, as I was an avid Star Wars fan all through childhood. I devoured Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, and dived into the If I was a Wizard by Diane Duane and The Circle of Magic quartet and the Magic Opens quartet by Tamora Pierce. I cheered on the heroine of The Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith, and read in rapt fascination the escapades Luke, Leia, Han, and friends in the huge array of Star Wars novels that spanned the adult SF shelves. Yes, by middle school, I’d read through most of the good books in children’s and teens sections, and so delved into adult fiction, mostly going for the SF and Fantasy. I loved exploring other worlds.

Ironically, it’s the books that really tugged at my heart and got me to think that are the ones most targeted for being banned. This is a great tragedy because these are the books that helps us to grow. To see the world through another’s eyes. To learn how to empathize with others, to get us out of our own heads and view other perspectives. To challenge our fiercely held opinions, and forcing us to look at those opinions with new eyes, and maybe even discard the ones that aren’t as healthy.

Those were the books that stayed with me, and it doesn’t surprise me that I find many of them here on the banned book lists.

I took a look at the banned book list for 2000-2009, and of the list, these are the ones that I read (I’m starring the ones that hit me the hardest as in I still remember the details of the book vividly today):

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling*
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou*
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
16. Forever, by Judy Blume
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee*
23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry*
26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison*
28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson*
29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney
43. Blubber, by Judy Blume
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
60. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson*
65. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien*
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
86. Cut, by Patricia McCormick*
87. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
90. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
94. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
99. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume*

And for 1990-1999, I will only include the ones that are not repeats of the above list:
The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
The Pigman, by Paul Zindel
Annie on My Mind, by Nancy Garden*
The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain

I won’t get through all the ones I starred above, but I’ll cover a few this week.

First up is Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden. If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend you go and read it now. It’s an amazingly little gem, and it was my lifeline for quite a few years. That will be the contents of my next post.