Friday Freeday: Men vs. Women Infographic by Grammarly

Happy Friday!

It's cold as boots out today. It is 5 degrees with a RealFeel of -20 degrees. I am at work with my space heater blaring and a blanket around me, and I am still fairly cold.

But enough about that. I'm here with another post on behalf of the folks at Grammarly (grammarly.com/grammar-check). You can visit their site to check out how well you're doing in the grammar department!

The Grammarly team polled more than 3,000 men and women on which gender produces better writers. Here are the findings:

Having read both (of course lol) I do agree with the infographic. I will also say that men writers, for me, have provided a better shock value and moments that have me talking for days. Women writers, however, have given me moments where my soul just crumbled into little pieces and that I can't stop thinking about.

So basically, for me, they're doing the same thing but triggering different parts of my psyche to do it.

What do you think of the findings?

Friday Freeday: Being Black in Writerville

I alluded to this in my Wednesday post and am actually writing this on Wednesday because I won't be at my office.

But first, Happy Friday, and HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEENNN, ooooooo!!!!

Teehee. Now...

So, I'm black. haha (DUH, right?!). I don't call myself African American. I've often called myself an American of African Descent. That's more accurate. Africa's not even a country, so...anyhow.

Writing is already a profession/hobby/passion for which people give you strange looks when you tell them you do it. When I temped at Del State, an HBCU with a predominantly black staff, I used to work on my WIP at my computer. One of the ladies asked me what kind of stuff I write, and when I said fantasy, she was extremely confused (she kept asking me, "Like Star Wars?" which, duh, is science fiction). Black writers who do more than poetry and erotica? What?

Like, seriously, I had to Google black writers just now because the only one I could think of that wasn't Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, or the other classic writers was Zane. I know there are more because my cousin suffers through the WORST Netflix movies, some of which were based on books she'd read. I could be jaded, but in my opinion, black people tend to only read books that show them the "black experience": the streets, non-suburban, racial struggles, sex, hip-hop. I know that's partially untrue because my mother loves Shakespeare and Jane Austen, so I know there are more black people who do.

*raises hand* I didn't have the typical black experience, and I can't fit comfortably or truthfully into that kind of box, so I won't try.

There are 318.9 million people in the U.S. About 13% of them are black. About 190 of THEM (even though, some are probably nearly dead, and they counted Oprah, and I can't stand Oprah) are writers in some capacity. ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY! How many of THEM are speculative fiction writers?

There are 6 essential ones, according to Troy L. Wiggins. So that's 3% of black writers...What's the math on 6 out of 318.9 million? I feel like there will be an e next to the number (THERE IS! 1.880924913477454e-8).

So, prologue aside, when it comes to writing what I love, fantasy, I feel like I have a double-edged sword to battle: how can I be accepted by black readers who may not even read speculative fiction (though I know they're out there because I'm one), and how can I be accepted by non-black speculative fiction readers of a world dominated by non-black writers, agents, and publishers?

Because:

Just read an old review that said moving epic fantasy away from medieval Europe makes it hard to relate to the characters. Harder for whom?

— Debra McKellan (@DebraMcKellan) October 17, 2014

That was in response to a review I read about Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, which I think has been taken down since I tweeted...I tried not to respond in a way that seemed attacking, but it was a serious question I had.

My WIP isn't set in a medieval European world, and when I had tried to do it even a little bit (Ghuli spoke straight out of King James's world), it sounded horribly forced. So there are elf-like people and giant-like people, but the world is an American Progressive Era world. The ones who lived in what would probably be considered medieval European were wiped out before the story began. You see mules and steam-powered vehicles more than horses and only one actual castle. The characters speak differently depending on their nationality, but there are no forthwith's or Your Grace's (though I do use howbeit and my lady). Will readers who love Euro-centric fantasy be okay with that? My main character is a young interracial (by our definition, but not by their world) woman whose main issue is borderline (or just completely) existential, but not because she is a person of color. Will black readers be able to understand her inner plight without needing her to be worried about her color?

Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory created a WONDERFUL non-medieval European world in their Enduring Flame Trilogy (it had dragons, but there were ZOMBIES, too!). I related so well to the characters and loved that trilogy so much that I penned myself after their legendary hero, Kellen the Poor Orphan Boy.

I want people to read my book and not be put off that they don't see what they're used to seeing. There are no knights and dragons and fair maidens that some relate to fantasy. The black and blackish people aren't oppressed or living in neighborhoods to which others relate. But I want PEOPLE, not just black and not just white, to be able to relate to the big picture. I want them, like we all do, to like my MC just for being her, and I want them to appreciate this new world I'm presenting to them without feeling isolated because of what I didn't do in the story.

I also want to be an inspiration to upcoming writers who, like me, want to be a voice that can break through the tropes and trends and do it successfully. SO, here's to hoping!

Thanks for staying so long, if you did. I hate long posts.

Friday Freeday: The Darling Massacre

That would make a great title for a book, no?

Last night, I cut a minor chase scene that had been a piece of a dream I had the night I dreamed up the inciting incident of my fantasy WIP The Crystal Bearer. I'm not okay.

Unfortunately, it just didn't fit anymore. I used it to showcase a portion of Ghuli's power, but she does it again later, so I'm half okay with not using it. I need to figure out if I need to show her doing it against her will, though, because she wasn't able to control her powers at this point.

This cut comes during a time where I had also just told a friend, who was adapting a story from an RP in which she and a friend participated, that they're going to think everything is important to the story because of how close they are to it. I introduced them to the inevitable and painful term, "kill your darlings." So of course, I have to take my own advice. But *blubbers in my head* I loved that scene.

On the bright side, I do have another story where it will fit nicely. In my dream, I ended up jumping out of a window to safety (and catching a ride on a white tiger, which was normal for my dreams lol), but in this other story, I needed a character to fall from somewhere somehow, so at least I'll see that scene again.

IWSG: Write Because You're A Writer

Creator: Alex J. Cavanaugh (sensei)
Website: http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/


I know that sounds pretty obvious, right? But some of you would be surprised. People will ask some of us what we do for a living, and even if we have a day job, saying that we’re writers will sometimes get us strange looks. I had some perfect stranger (I hate when people at bus stations try to spark conversations) ask me, when I told him I majored in Creative Writing (at FSU), what would I write other than newspaper articles. As if books just…I don’t even know.

Heck, saying you want to be a published author when you grow up may not even be supported by your family. I follow a blogger who has that issue, and my older sister used to tell me how unrealistic it was to be a writer and spent too many years trying to get me jobs for which I was unqualified. And many people who ask what I graduated with (BA in English) think an English degree means I want to be a teacher. I still don’t understand why. I’ve known people who instead of going into Creative Writing or English go into weird things they’re not particularly interested in just to please their parents. No offense, but that’s some crap.

Some people have small minds. If you’re not being a teacher, doctor, lawyer, or whatever, you’re not doing anything of importance. WRONG.

You are a writer. NEVER put it on the backburner because people who don’t understand what it is to think these things up and to create other worlds and see other forms of mankind in their mind aren’t particularly worth pleasing. Life is not a drill. Go through it doing what you were meant to do. You’re not crazy, you’re not dreaming too hard. You write. That’s what you do. So, do it.

(Yes, IWSG peeps, you may use this for the E-Book. Happy Anniversary!!)