Can people just write what they want to write?

The Chatters
41

That’s fair enough. And yes, I agree. Your story is your story and as long as you don’t turn it into hate speech, or harm other people for the wrong reasons, you should be good to go. Or speak over other people’s voices who should be more prominent within that community.

Yes, I understand what you mean as well, but I think that focusing on your voice is as important as learning the rules, and knowing them to break them. You need some sort of a structure too, good characters, a strong voice and know certain techniques to an extent, as long as it doesn’t overpower the story that you want to tell. If you understand what I am saying?

Wow, thanks to everyone who replied to this topic. I didn’t think it would be as big as it is, and I think I replied to everyone’s main points. Tag me if I missed you, or you have anything else to add.

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42

I bet you’d run before me. First out the room in a race.

I mean, I’m quirky as hell, but I think about 3-5 of us on this forum fit plain weird like that. I’m certain we don’t write in lock-step, and if someone wanted to obsessively dip into that reading pool, I’m sure we could keep most people busy for a while. That’s why I lowballed to 40 people in the first place… But there’s millions of people who write. We can be a bit needdle-in-a-haystack, but that’s a chonkin’ huge stack with plenty of needles.

And there’s no way to keep everyone engaged. All I have to do is go to A Confederacy of Dunces and my loathing for that story, and just stare at my own work through that lens to take a huge ego blow, no?

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43

I get where you’re coming from and I do completely understand. There are some lines in writing that just shouldn’t be crossed and majority of people will be understanding about it and respect it. It’s more the part where, especially these days, it’s gotten a bit ridiculous. There’s always the worry about damaging material or certain stereotypes and all that stuff, and it is very important to be aware or them and what you can and can’t do. No doubt about that. You can’t appease everyone. It’s impossible. But, again, there are some things that have gotten a bit ridiculous.

This was actually a huge topic we talked about during my degree, funnily enough :joy: We got a MAJOR lecture on “NEVER EVER EVER DO THIS OR ELSE” and how to walk the line and what to do if we accidently cross it (basically hope you or someone else picks up on it before you publish otherwise you’re screwed). It was hilarious in a terrifying way :joy:

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44

Exactly. Unless you have permission from the community to write on behalf of the community, don’t do it. It’s not your place. Spreading hate speech or harming is just a horrible thing to do. Like, there’s calling things out and then there’s being a d-k. They’re very different things and you definitely don’t want to cross the line, especially not in literature because people will hunt you down.

Let’s be honest, this is the side of creative writing people don’t really talk about while also making a major deal about it. It can be very confusing to figure out what you can and can’t write about. For the most part, it is just common sense. This is also why research is important

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45

This is why I write fanfiction instead :laughing: But yeah, I get what you mean. I enjoy writing fanfiction because I’m not overly concerned about minor grammatical errors or typos, and I’m just writing even if I’m half asleep because I have something I want to get out of my brain. Which is ideally how we should write our original works too, but yes, since it’s more difficult to get people invested in something original versus a fanfic where they’re already invested in the fandom itself, you question/nitpick/obsess over the writing versus just having fun, and getting it out first before any editing/revising. (Maybe that’s just me) And since it’s become this whole process instead of just “OMG I have the cutest/coolest fanfic idea, let me jot it down real quick,” writing the original story doesn’t become as enjoyable. :disappointed:

I also think critique “hurts” a lot more when it’s original work vs a fanfic. Like if someone said my fanfic sucked, I’d feel like, who cares, I did this because it was fun and I love this fandom. Not like I’m making money off it of. Versus something I took the time and effort to make an original world/characters, and someone saying it sucks. Ouch. :grimacing:

Also to add to that, the “political stuff” that we have to think about. Before people could just write whatever, whereas now we have this political climate where you have to ask yourself, is this “diverse” enough, will if offend XYZ group etc? And to make it even better, you can try and cater to whatever groups, and they will still come to bash it. Like that Forspoken game that came out. It’s probably not that great though I haven’t played it yet, but the main protagonist is a black female who was “isekai’ed” into a fantasy world. And since she’s from NY, some journalist (who is not black ofc) wrote an article criticizing the game bc she isn’t “black” enough. Like what? Because it doesn’t talk about her struggles in NY or whatever issues existed in that real world.

(Disclaimer: I am a hispanic NYer who grew up in a low income minority neighborhood which I imagine is what this so-called journalist is talking about)

And it’s like… have you ever considered that the NY in the game is not the NY in real life? Like the way Stan Lee created cities loosely based on NY etc. but you had Spiderman and obviously things that don’t exist there because it’s FICTION as in NOT REAL and not necessarily 100% true to life? It’s also possible that this protagonist hasn’t faced the “issues” this journalist claims she should talk about. How do we know that she didn’t live a decently poverty free life in a decent neighborhood and healthy family? If anything, kind of racist to make assumptions that she HAD to have come from that background and if she didn’t, then she’s not “black enough.” (sigh) Or maybe the game wanted to focus on the fantasy world she’s been transported to, not whatever went on in her “old” world, and why is there anything wrong with that?

Anyway, I digress. I get it. I really do. Writing is hard enough as it is without all this other stuff to consider. :weary:

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46

The first thing I thought of when I read this was all the “reboots” they’re doing of stuff from the 80s and 90s to basically destroy most of these beloved IPs since they can’t be bothered to think of something original or at least similar just without the IP name. :laughing:

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47

What I heard is that I should put Gravity’s Rainbow through Gizoogle and submit it to Simon and Shyster and then I’ll be the next critical darling of the literary world.

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48

Fuck people! Seriously, fuck them!

Reading your comment bothered me because I agree so damn much! Are black people the only ones forced to talk about their problems and shit in order to be deemed black?

In my novel, I have black main characters living on a fictional planet. If I were to publish my novels and some dumbass complains how my black people aren’t black enough or some other bullshit, someone call the cops on my ass. I am not kidding.

What the hell is considered black or white enough in those people’s eyes? Stop putting damn people in colored coded box and let shit die!

I am going to write what I want, not want people want.
I’m my own damn person!

Sorry for ranting! I can’t stand when people say shit like that as if it is okay.

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49

I finally finished that book. Mohsin Hamid’s a good writer, but for the love of Rudolf Hess don’t start with The Last White Man. It was a good story ultimately, but omg so painful to read because of the run-ons. Start with Exit West instead. I don’t remember any run-on sentences in that, so evidently it was some kind of experiment for him to write every sentence as a run-on in this book, and for me at least it totally failed. It’s otherwise a good story, although he’s yet another writer who refuses to acknowledge population pressure as a contributing factor to racism, and the reactions of some of the characters was unrealistic. If it happened in real life, you know there’d be at least some white people saying, “Omg now I don’t have to spend a fortune on tanning booths anymore! Booyah!” And many who’d be glad to return to the beach again without having to worry about cancer from UV rays. Nor does he mention whether the white people keep their facial features and just turn black, or do their faces totally change too? He suggests that they’re unrecognizable, but doesn’t explain exactly what that means. If he meant their faces change too, then one thing he should’ve done was describe the reactions of fashion models, movie stars and other celebrities and how they’d react to suddenly losing their looks. He doesn’t mention the reactions of natural black people either. You’d think they’d have something to say about the phenomenon! The book’s very short, though, so he doesn’t really address a lot of issues I wish he had. I do recommend it, but omg those sentences. Argh. (>▂<)

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50

Did all the albinos go extinct? There are African albino people as well, did they suddenly get melinated?

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51

Yeah, I don’t like the labels either. At this point, they do nothing but (inaccurately) refer to skin color (most of the time), but said labels say nothing about where someone is from or who they are as a person. And people are so STUCK to these labels that are not factual that they can’t understand that in fiction, even if their skin color is represented, it doesn’t mean that the fictional world is our world, and therefore said world should suffer from the same issues our world does.

If people want to be hammered all day long with our world’s issues and our world being on fire, then go watch the news. Plenty of it there. Go and do something actually useful like donate to a charity, make a difference in your community etc.

But sometimes I just want to read a book/comic/play a game where I’m anywhere, but in the real world with real people. :weary: Sometimes I just want to be entertained with a story that is so good, that politics from our world don’t even factor into it – unless that’s the point of the story. Some stories will focus on those topics, and that’s fine. But not all genres need to do this. Funny thing, I never hear anyone say horror isn’t “diverse” enough. :laughing: That’s because they’re fine with all the “white” (usually they’re white in American movies, and a lot of women ofc because they need the screams :scream: ) people getting murdered by Michael Myers lol no one cares about diversity there, but I promise you, if Michael were real, he’s chopping anyone regardless of political stance haha :see_no_evil:

Ahem, anyway, off topic. But yes, it’s tough to write in today’s “political climate” where every little thing is scrunitized and automatically assumed as “endorsement.” Oh, you wrote a story about an axe-murderer so you must endorse murder? No. Just… no. :roll_eyes:

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52

Your comment is a god damn blessing!
Where the hell are the rest of the people in the world like you? Seriously, where are they?

I am so worried for humanity sometimes. I too want to enjoy fiction without the real world interfering in my fantasy or science-fiction. That is why I refuse to write a novel set on Earth. You know what, fuck earth and all it’s bullshit!

I want something fantastical not every day reality.
I deal with realism every single day. Leave me alone and stay in your damn lane!

I appreciate your comment so much!

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53

Dunno! That’s one of many issues he never addresses. He never mentions colorism either. I wish he’d made the book longer and fully explored the whole situation, but then, I couldn’t have taken reading any more of those damn run-on sentences if he had. Still, I recommend it. Maybe the run-ons won’t bother you, but I’d check out the LookInside feature on Amazon before buying it if I were you. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯

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54

If you can afford this kind of thing, it might help sell your books, dood. I can’t afford it, but it’s what a lot of successful indies use. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯

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55

This is what most modern day writers fear most…

“Have I included the minorities, of which there are many these days?” Why would I write a tale of Fantasy and “Have” to include every notion of this modern world, within a tale set in an Imagined World that I have created set in a time before any such modern struggles?..
I write Fantasy mainly, all set in a time of Swords and Shields, Magic and Mystery, a time of Lordly Settlements, and Mysterious creatures (Dragons also)…

I do so to escape the trials of these times that I live in… There is a romance with Medieval struggles that I would love to be wandering through, and it is a wonderful world to be within…

Welcome to Arillion, and a wonder of the ancient world. A time lost to history, and much that has been lost to time in equal measure…

The Endurlon, by SecretDurham.

SD

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56

Once you’re published and people start reading your works, it is literally impossible to avoid this. Even on Wattpad it’s pretty hard to avoid this

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57

Yeah, that is if I even decide to do publishing.

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58

Same. :smiley: Fantasy/fictional worlds/countries FTW!

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59

There is always a small chance, emphasis on small, that you say screw publishing, write what you’re passionate about without worrying about anything else outside of it, and if it has enough fans, suddenly publishers are coming to the author/creator because they have $$ in their eyes. It might take years to get recognition. Like the Yakuza/Persona video games. No one knew what the heck they were, but it had a very niche/devoted fanbase, and now all of a sudden, everyone wants to play these games, and the fans who were always there are like… posers, where were you before? :laughing: It’s a small chance, but sometimes passion is rewarded. Either way, as humans, passion is makes us different than other mammals?

Reminds me of this quote by Mozart in the Jungle:

You say ‘amateur’ as if it was a dirty word. ‘Amateur’ comes from the Latin word 'amare’, which means to love. To do things for the love of it.

So long as you love it, keep going. :muscle:

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60

Preach!
To be fair, I don’t think I have ever created a fictional country to place on Earth. That should be an interesting thing to try one day. I just have a figure out where I can place the country, far as which continent.

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