I normally don't hit Ctrl+A followed by Del on anything but I did that twice on this post. Why? Well, I wanted to make absolutely certain that what I'm writing isn't coming across as cynical, arrogant, or whatever else negative you want to say here.
There are a few reasons for this particular post:
1) Something that happened last year
2) A post on the NaNo forums
3) Procrastination: I'm doing it. ;)
That's out of the way. We shall move onward to the good stuff.
Self publishing is Hard
For anyone thinking about becoming a self published author I have one simple word of advice for you: Research.
That's it. No seriously, that's it. That's what the entire self-publishing industry boils down to. Oh, you want details? All right. I've got the details. I've been trying to self-publish for exactly four years and a bunch of months. Don't believe me? Go find the first post in this blog. I'll wait. Done? Good. Let's keep going.
Writing
There are quite a few posts in the "Writing Tips" tab above this post. Feel free to check them out now (or later) but even writing can be boiled down to research. What kind of research? Well, it can be Google-ing how long it takes for a body to decompose in water. It can be reading about how to take care of a horse. It can be asking a doctor how they can operate on a known killer without having a thought of deliberately messing up. It's also reading. Stephen King says it best: "If you don't make the time to read, you don't have the time (and proper tools) to write." So, everything you read becomes research for what you're going to write. Cool, huh?
Of course you can also read about how to write. You know, all the grammar rules, the posts from other authors about showing not telling, how to create 3D/Human characters, how to world build, how to make things seem believable, all that is research too. And hey, you're only at the writing stage of self-publishing. Don't feel over-whelmed. It gets worse. ;)
Research
You're asking: "Wait, isn't this what this whole post is about? Why does it get it's own section?" Why? Because before you can pass go and collect your $200 you have to figure out what you're trying to accomplish by writing a novel and finishing it. Are you writing for fun or do you eventually want to publish? If you're writing for fun: collect your $200 and move onto the next story. Want to get published? Get some popcorn and keep reading.
There are two ways to publish in this day and age: traditional publishing and self publishing. Traditional publishing can take up to, well, YEARS to do. You'll have to find an agent (researching each one as you go) and hope they'll be able to sell your novel to a publishing house, assuming you don't submit to a small press (after researching each one).
Let's assume you find an agent or publishing house to process your novel and start selling it. Great! Now, the year long wait for editing, formatting, and making a marketing plan. And yes, it will take at least a year to get your novel into a salable form by going the traditional route.
On the other side of the fence, self-publishing may take less time. A word to the wise: AVOID VANITY PRESSES. Anyone who wants you to pay them money to sell your novel is not out to help you. They should be giving YOU money. Also, most of what a vanity press (AuthorHouse, IUniverse, Lulu, etc) does: YOU CAN DO for a lot less. Trust me on that. I've been there, literally.
You know what your task is now? That's right. Go do some research on traditional and self publishing. There are positives and negatives to each and you have to figure out which fits YOUR goals the best. Don't worry, I'll wait.
Done? Good. From here on out we're going to focus on the self-publishing route so if you've decided to go traditional: good luck and god speed. :)
Editing
You've finished your novel. Congratulations! It's no longer a work in progress. So, take out the "in progress" part and what are you left with? Work. Yep. Work. And yes, everything after writing your work in progress will be work. It'll feel like you're trying to break through a stone wall with a spoon.
But don't fret fellow writer for there are people out there who are willing to help you. They are Editors and they will whip that novel into shape. But before you get that novel ironed out you have to find an editor. That's right: research. I don't just mean type in "editors" in Google and pick out the first one you see. Dear God please don't do that!
When you find an editor you think might work out you have to do your (that's right) research on said editor. Who else have they edited for? Can you contact the authors that have left testimonials and talk to them? Are there authors that have left testimonials? Are they within your price range?
Wait, what? Price range? Why yes, you'll have to shell out some cash to get your novel off the ground before you start making cash. Hey! Don't look at me like that. You can't edit your own novel unless you've been teaching grammar for a decade or have a major in English. Oh I'm not saying you're unskilled if you meet those qualifications. It's merely a good idea to get someone besides you to look at your work.
Why? Because you're attached to it and you're less likely to "kill your darlings." You're less likely to find the plot holes, inconsistencies, POV shifts and all that other fun stuff if you're the one editing it. So yes, find a good editor and pay to get your novel looked at. It'll pay off in the end.
Editing is like tattoos: you get what you pay for. If you want your book to come out looking totally kick ass, you're going to have to pay in the upper hundreds and possibly close to thousands. BUT, there are editors out there who are in the lower hundred range that will still give you good work. It's a matter of finding them and, you guessed it: doing your research.
The Other Stuff
You've written your novel and you've gotten it edited. YAY! You're not done. Sorry. Now you have to actually put it out there and make it available for people to read.
There's so much that comes to mind for this section that I couldn't really give it a good title. First off you have to (research) pre-market. What's pre-market? Well, it's all that talking about your book that you do before actually putting it out there. Now would be a good time to sign up for Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and a blog of some description. Start connecting with other authors, talk to people, but don't say "Hey, I've written a book and will be publishing it in three months! Go buy it" over and over because people will stop listening. You have to be suave about marketing and you can't keep shoving it in people's faces.
It's hard, I know, and I haven't mastered it. If I had I'd be writing full time and not working a 9AM to 5PM job.
Okay. So you're premarketing, that's great. Good job on making it to this point. Don't give me that look. Yes there's more.
Where do you put it? Keeping our minds out of the gutter, you have to decide how and where to put your masterpiece. Smashwords (online), Amazon (Kindle), and Barnes and Noble (Nook) tend to be the big three. All three have a bunch of legal hoops you have to jump through and different processes to formatting and submitting your novel. If I put it all here this blog post would go over the limit for what I'm allowed to write, I'm sure.
While you're pre-marketing (and even before you're editing) go to all three websites and check out how you submit a novel and what you need to get it up. Oh look, there's that word we're going to love to hate: research the publishing in self-publishing.
All right. You've written a novel, researched how you want to publish it/what you want to do with it, gotten it edited, pre-marketed and you're pretty sure you know how to put it up there. Great!
You're not done. For one: do you have a cover? A summary? An author bio? No? Well, you're going to need them. Covers can run you anywhere from free (if you're good at photoshop) to $500+ depending what you're looking for. What are you looking for? Professional. Eye-catching. Memorable. Neat. Concise and something that gets what your novel is about in one picture.
The summary is a paragraph about your novel that doesn't reveal everything but reveals enough that it makes someone want to read it. I know, I know, confusing. But do some *insert the dreaded r word here* on summaries by reading the summaries of your favorite novels and applying it to your own.
Author bio? Oh that's another hard one. It can be as simple as "John Handcock lives in Texas with his two cats and his muse" or as complicated as "John Handcock lives in Texas with his two cats and his wife. He works for X, and graduated from College with a Degree in X. This is his first novel and he hopes it won't be his last." Please don't take either of those word for word and again, do some research (again) on what others are doing. Writing is one of the few things where looking at someone else's work can help you with your own.
Okay so, you've written a novel, done your research on how you want to publish it, gotten it edited, have a cover, have a summary, an author bio, and set up pre-marketing. Now you can publish and start living the dream, right?
Nope. Oh you can publish it. You can totally hit submit on Smashwords, Amazon and all that and get it up there but you're not done. What else is there?
Continued marketing. You can't just stop marketing once you've hit submit. You've got to keep talking to people, slyly mentioning that your wrote a book and they should check it out. You've got to get reviews (this can also be a part of pre-marketing) and you have to get people you know buying your book.
That's not all you have to do. Oh I know, it's hard enough to market in such a way that is interesting, engaging and won't piss people off. You know what else you have to do? Start the whole process over again.
Yep. You read that right. You have to do it all again, well, minus the research part because you should know all that if you're doing it again. Anyway why do you need to start over? Well, you can't make a living off one novel unless you've got the next Harry Potter in your hands. If you only publish one thing and nothing else people will forget who you are in the myriad of all the other self-published and traditionally published authors out there.
Oh my poor sweet (summer) child, I know, it's enough to make you want to say screw it, right? It says right in the title of this post that self publishing is hard. What did you expect?
No one, and I mean no one, can write a book and become a best seller within three months. It takes months, years even, of dedication to writing and researching (you're cringing aren't you?) before you can finally make writing your living and even then you might be lucky enough to live slightly better than you are now.
Despite what people think writing a novel is not going to make you an instant millionaire and you can't expect to go from writing your first finished piece to self-published author in three months or less. You probably have a better chance at winning the lottery. Even the most successful self-published author I know (Russell Blake) took THREE YEARS to get to the point where he's making six figures. Guess how many books he's written? No, not three. Try a good dozen. Yeah, A DOZEN. He spends all his time writing and promoting and you know what? All his HARD WORK paid off and he's living the dream.
But, yes, it is HARD WORK and there is no short cut. There's no magical spell or pill you can take to make you an instant best seller. Most of it's trial and error. All of it is, wait for it: RESEARCH.
You know the fun part about self publishing? It's just that: SELF publishing. Who's at fault for not finding the right editor? You. Who's at fault for a cruddy cover? You. Who's at fault for sucky marketing? You. Who's at fault for not doing the research needed to be a success? You. Who gets all the credit (and cash) if you do become the next JK Rowling, Stephen King, GRR Martin, James Patterson, Anne Rice or *insert favorite author here*? You.
Until next time: comments, questions, rage, rants and everything in between can be directed to the comments. And if you want to help a writer out check my kickstarter campaign to get a diverse book published.
Showing posts with label research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label research. Show all posts
Friday, October 24, 2014
Sunday, September 1, 2013
The Gender Difference
I've learned a lot from writing Lies, my April novel. One of the main characters is genderless. At first this genderless-ness means that no one can tell what gender the main is. The character is always in a mask and there are no identifying bulges where there should be if the character was male or female. Later it's found out that said character is biologically genderless.
Let that sink in for a moment. Yeah, no gender identifying ANYTHING. No ability to reproduce because despite having two holes there is no uterus or ovaries. There are no testicles, no penis, no breasts, and nothing else to biologically identify this character as male or female.
This brings up a few issues. The first is what personal pronoun to CALL said character. "He or she" obviously doesn't work for being too repetitive and just annoying. Great for word count mind you, but really annoying for an entire novel. "Ze" (the term used for transitioning transsexuals as far as my research told me) doesn't work because there is no transition. "One "wouldn't work because the main bad is "The One." "They" is grammatically incorrect. This issue was solved when the character decided on being called "she."
Why "she?" Well because the character leaned more towards dresses, skirts and feminine clothing. It just made life easier for everyone involved, including me. The NaNoWriMo April Cabin I had during that time knew about my sleepless nights figuring out what the HECK to call this character. And there were many sleepless nights until she decided to be she.
But this identification opened a whole other issue about gender roles and gender identity. See, there are people out there who are biologically male and dress as females. My character even brings up the question of "am I a female or am I a male who likes to dress like a female?" It leaves the poor thing confused about what to identify as. The character continues with being a she, again because it's easier. The second reason she remains as a she is because during her stint as a prisoner of sorts she was not allowed much to eat. When she's able to eat like a normal person, she begins to grow breasts (which she's quite proud of). Despite that she still has a somewhat masculine physical structure: strong jaw, abs, large biceps, and physically more powerful. She still isn't completely 100% in being called she but it stays because it seems to suit her more.
What does all this mean exactly? Well, it can mean different things to different people. Recently I heard about a school teaching children to call people "yo" as in "Yo hit me" rather than "she (or he) hit me." Exploring the issues a non-gendered character went through deciding what they were I don't think calling people "yo" is such a good idea.
In order to identify yourself as male or female (or the third gender) you have to have a jumping off point. You have to know the biological differences between male and female and know that despite everything males and females ARE different. Yes, a female can in theory do any job a man can BUT when physical labour is involved, men DO have more muscle mass and can do heavier loads. Yes, a female can lift heavy objects but men (in that instance) can do it better. It can't be helped.
Females are not genetically meant to be physically powerful. We're meant to be more flexible and faster. An instance of this is in the simple task of mail carrying. The maximum load a mailman (or woman) can carry out was lowered when women came into the job simply because the female mail carriers COULD NOT lift the same weight as male carriers. This meant more gray boxes, more trips to their bins, longer routes, and longer work for some. This extra physical power men have is due to higher testosterone levels in men which is also said to lead to "aggression" making men the more "violent" of the genders. Why do you think steroid pumped weight lifters are so angry? Extra testosterone. Yep.
Anyway, this whole issue about gender roles/identity in general will confuse the Hell out of kids if we simply decide to do away with gender. We have genders because we're born that way. We have to learn to embrace our genders rather than ignore them or group everyone into one. Yes, we have to learn gender roles. Yes, we have to teach kids the difference between a male and a female. That doesn't mean we have to tell the kid that because they're biologically male they have to do male things.
In fact, if a male child decides to pick the pink blanket we should allow him to. We should NOT tell him that because he likes pink he should be raised as a girl. A couple in the states did this and their six year old physically male son is trying to live as a female. Granted the kid might know the difference but he's six. I changed my mind every day on what I wanted to be growing up. I can't imagine changing my gender permanently that young. Let him decide on his own when he's older and knows the so-called expectations of both genders, don't tell him he's a girl just because he did some things like a girl.
Heck the only reason certain "genderless" models know whether they are male or female (or both) is because they were told about gender roles and decided they liked either both or liked identifying as opposite to what does or doesn't hang. Perfect example: Andrej Pejic. He identifies as neither: the perfect blend of male and female. If he was raised without a gender he likely would not be doing so well as a male model being female solely because male and female would not exist. Then there's the whole point of him not even knowing what male or female was or that he was unique because he's a he who works as a she.
**NOTE: An update on the Andrej Pejic gender-issue: 1) an ex says that in personal life Andrej prefers the female personal pronoun BUT Andrej has said that "it's whatever" AND Andrej's passport now holds the infamous "X" where a gender would be described. THEREFORE, I assume Andrej is continuing to live as a transgender: that is someone who lives between genders and therefore really doesn't mind what personal pronoun is used. Until Andrej changes his passport to reflect the female or outright says he wishes to use the female in ALL aspects of his life: I'm sticking with the he as I don't know him personally and he's made it clear that it's "whatever" or "X". Proof of the passport change (skip to about 2:30 if you don't want to watch the whole thing):
UPDATE:
In a recent interview with La Monda Magzine:
How should we refer to you? He or she?
A lot of my close friends say ‘she’. But a lot of people say ‘he’ too and I am not offended by that; when you are in this position, living this life in between genders, you can’t be too offended by anything. Either way is fine, but I prefer “she”.
So from now on I'll try to stick with the "she" pronoun when referring to Andrej. It's only fair.
UPDATE 2014: Andrej has gone through SRS surgery to become Andreja. Go look it up, I'll wait.
Again, no I'm not changing the above because quite frankly I'd rather keep things as "original" and unedited on this blog as possible besides updates and notes. Moving on.
***
Anyway it's probably not healthy to force a kid one way or another based on what they like to do. Liking or disliking certain colors or activities DOES NOT make one male or female. Being male or female is not also just a physical thing. What we feel on the inside is what defines us as male or female: not the clothes, not the toys (ha), and certainly not the looks. This defining takes place because of what we learn or are told.
See this is what it comes down to: gender roles, physical roles, emotional roles, parental roles, and sociological roles for males and females are TAUGHT. They are not innate things we automatically know upon coming out of the womb. Teachers, parents, and other adults TEACH children that a girl plays with Barbies and a boy plays with GI Joe. Society teaches children that girls like frilly things and dresses while boys like sports and cars. Girls like make-up and pink, boys like mud and blue. I could go on but I think you get it.
If our children are taught that what you like doesn't make what you are or identify as, we won't need a "yo" pronoun to describe every person. Besides, can you imagine describing someone without using he or she? Trust me, I've tried and it's HARD. Now there's a bill that's attempting to make it through in Boston that will stop police from describing ANYTHING about a subject on the "politically correct thought" that gender and racial descriptions are "bad." So the cops in Boston will receive a description of a subject as such: "Be on the look out for a running person." Yeah, that'll help the crime rate.
We need gender description and physical description in order to know what we may or may not be looking for not only in criminals but in general life. Can you imagine walking up to someone and trying to tell them you're looking for your friend but you can't say if your friend is male, female, Caucasian, Asian, Africa-American or whatever else? Identifying characteristics can't be taken away.
We have genders (and physical differences) for a variety of reasons and instead of ignoring them to "protect our children from gender (or racial) stereotypes" we should be embracing them and teaching our children that what is or isn't between their legs (or what color their skin is) doesn't dictate what they can do or can't do or what they might identify as.
That's how I was raised. I was able to play with whatever toy I liked. I played with Barbies AND toy cars. I made model air planes, I played sports, I wanted to learn play piano and dance. I played with worms and went fishing. I played dress-up with my cat. I am a straight female and embrace my femininity instead of feeling repressed or threatened by it. I don't feel inferior because of plastic dolls, I don't feel like a man is better than me and I don't feel like I need a man in my life to make it better. I know I don't HAVE to be a housewife, that I can have a job and I can support myself. I am a well-adjusted, independent woman who loves her womanhood. Adding to this I was taught that skin color also doesn't matter. We're all the same pink, squishy-ness on the inside.
Regardless, people worry too much about gender roles and what it means when their little boy might want to play dress up or their little girl likes cars "too much." Who cares? Let your kid discover who they are for them self but for gosh sakes, don't tell them they have no gender or that they're one or the other because of what they do when they're curious about everything. Most people forget this: KIDS ARE CURIOUS AND WILL TRY EVERYTHING so let them figure it out on their own. Telling them they have no gender or are one or the other (opposite to what's between their legs) will only make things worse from an identity stand-point because let's face it, no matter what you identify as later in life, you knew growing up whether you were male or female and if it was right or wrong for you.
Yeah, you may have known it was a bit weird (I did) but you get over it and eventually you grow that lovely backbone that makes you say "So what? I like what I like, I'm not normal and I love me for me because of it." If we repress the differences we can't learn to stand-up for what makes us unique. We can't learn to tell people: "Yeah, I'm a girl who knows about cars, bugs and guns. What's your point?" or "Yeah, I'm a guy who wears make-up and sews. Big deal."
We'll learn instead that we're all the same and nothing is different or strange about everyone. If I was raised genderless I wouldn't feel so unique because I'm oddly fascinated by swords, video games, and skulls. I won't feel like I know myself because I'm not an individual if everyone is "normal" for being able to like everything. We need differences in life to make us appreciate and learn to accept those differences. We need weird. We need odd. We need unusual. Besides, what the heck do you call "mom" and "dad" when they're not supposed to have a gender? What about all those languages that aren't gender neutral like the a and o's commonly in French and Italian?
Furthering it, what happens to the kids who are biologically one gender but feel the other? Does this mean the transsexual will no longer exist? I mean, if they don't know or feel like one to start with how can they transition to the other? Are we really prepared for our entire society to become Gender X? Are we really prepared to raise children who can't create a solid identity for themselves because they have no jumping off point? Are we prepared to take away something that makes us different and instead be a single one-gendered "yo?" Are we prepared to deal with all those gender-confused individuals who have no idea what they are because someone told them they were the opposite when they were younger?
Are we prepared to stop describing people all together and never know what a person looks like in stories we read? Can we deal without knowing what or who the main character is? Can we cope with having gender neutral names abound? Are we prepared to sacrifice our individuality on the overly-politically correct assumption that describing a person belittles them? Are we ready to give up what makes us different, unique, and special because some people are going crazy about gender identity and physical descriptions? Can we deal with everyone being thought of as the same? Do you want to be the same as everyone else?
Let that sink in for a moment. Yeah, no gender identifying ANYTHING. No ability to reproduce because despite having two holes there is no uterus or ovaries. There are no testicles, no penis, no breasts, and nothing else to biologically identify this character as male or female.
This brings up a few issues. The first is what personal pronoun to CALL said character. "He or she" obviously doesn't work for being too repetitive and just annoying. Great for word count mind you, but really annoying for an entire novel. "Ze" (the term used for transitioning transsexuals as far as my research told me) doesn't work because there is no transition. "One "wouldn't work because the main bad is "The One." "They" is grammatically incorrect. This issue was solved when the character decided on being called "she."
Why "she?" Well because the character leaned more towards dresses, skirts and feminine clothing. It just made life easier for everyone involved, including me. The NaNoWriMo April Cabin I had during that time knew about my sleepless nights figuring out what the HECK to call this character. And there were many sleepless nights until she decided to be she.
But this identification opened a whole other issue about gender roles and gender identity. See, there are people out there who are biologically male and dress as females. My character even brings up the question of "am I a female or am I a male who likes to dress like a female?" It leaves the poor thing confused about what to identify as. The character continues with being a she, again because it's easier. The second reason she remains as a she is because during her stint as a prisoner of sorts she was not allowed much to eat. When she's able to eat like a normal person, she begins to grow breasts (which she's quite proud of). Despite that she still has a somewhat masculine physical structure: strong jaw, abs, large biceps, and physically more powerful. She still isn't completely 100% in being called she but it stays because it seems to suit her more.
What does all this mean exactly? Well, it can mean different things to different people. Recently I heard about a school teaching children to call people "yo" as in "Yo hit me" rather than "she (or he) hit me." Exploring the issues a non-gendered character went through deciding what they were I don't think calling people "yo" is such a good idea.
In order to identify yourself as male or female (or the third gender) you have to have a jumping off point. You have to know the biological differences between male and female and know that despite everything males and females ARE different. Yes, a female can in theory do any job a man can BUT when physical labour is involved, men DO have more muscle mass and can do heavier loads. Yes, a female can lift heavy objects but men (in that instance) can do it better. It can't be helped.
Females are not genetically meant to be physically powerful. We're meant to be more flexible and faster. An instance of this is in the simple task of mail carrying. The maximum load a mailman (or woman) can carry out was lowered when women came into the job simply because the female mail carriers COULD NOT lift the same weight as male carriers. This meant more gray boxes, more trips to their bins, longer routes, and longer work for some. This extra physical power men have is due to higher testosterone levels in men which is also said to lead to "aggression" making men the more "violent" of the genders. Why do you think steroid pumped weight lifters are so angry? Extra testosterone. Yep.
Anyway, this whole issue about gender roles/identity in general will confuse the Hell out of kids if we simply decide to do away with gender. We have genders because we're born that way. We have to learn to embrace our genders rather than ignore them or group everyone into one. Yes, we have to learn gender roles. Yes, we have to teach kids the difference between a male and a female. That doesn't mean we have to tell the kid that because they're biologically male they have to do male things.
In fact, if a male child decides to pick the pink blanket we should allow him to. We should NOT tell him that because he likes pink he should be raised as a girl. A couple in the states did this and their six year old physically male son is trying to live as a female. Granted the kid might know the difference but he's six. I changed my mind every day on what I wanted to be growing up. I can't imagine changing my gender permanently that young. Let him decide on his own when he's older and knows the so-called expectations of both genders, don't tell him he's a girl just because he did some things like a girl.
Heck the only reason certain "genderless" models know whether they are male or female (or both) is because they were told about gender roles and decided they liked either both or liked identifying as opposite to what does or doesn't hang. Perfect example: Andrej Pejic. He identifies as neither: the perfect blend of male and female. If he was raised without a gender he likely would not be doing so well as a male model being female solely because male and female would not exist. Then there's the whole point of him not even knowing what male or female was or that he was unique because he's a he who works as a she.
**NOTE: An update on the Andrej Pejic gender-issue: 1) an ex says that in personal life Andrej prefers the female personal pronoun BUT Andrej has said that "it's whatever" AND Andrej's passport now holds the infamous "X" where a gender would be described. THEREFORE, I assume Andrej is continuing to live as a transgender: that is someone who lives between genders and therefore really doesn't mind what personal pronoun is used. Until Andrej changes his passport to reflect the female or outright says he wishes to use the female in ALL aspects of his life: I'm sticking with the he as I don't know him personally and he's made it clear that it's "whatever" or "X". Proof of the passport change (skip to about 2:30 if you don't want to watch the whole thing):
UPDATE:
In a recent interview with La Monda Magzine:
How should we refer to you? He or she?
A lot of my close friends say ‘she’. But a lot of people say ‘he’ too and I am not offended by that; when you are in this position, living this life in between genders, you can’t be too offended by anything. Either way is fine, but I prefer “she”.
So from now on I'll try to stick with the "she" pronoun when referring to Andrej. It's only fair.
UPDATE 2014: Andrej has gone through SRS surgery to become Andreja. Go look it up, I'll wait.
Again, no I'm not changing the above because quite frankly I'd rather keep things as "original" and unedited on this blog as possible besides updates and notes. Moving on.
***
Anyway it's probably not healthy to force a kid one way or another based on what they like to do. Liking or disliking certain colors or activities DOES NOT make one male or female. Being male or female is not also just a physical thing. What we feel on the inside is what defines us as male or female: not the clothes, not the toys (ha), and certainly not the looks. This defining takes place because of what we learn or are told.
See this is what it comes down to: gender roles, physical roles, emotional roles, parental roles, and sociological roles for males and females are TAUGHT. They are not innate things we automatically know upon coming out of the womb. Teachers, parents, and other adults TEACH children that a girl plays with Barbies and a boy plays with GI Joe. Society teaches children that girls like frilly things and dresses while boys like sports and cars. Girls like make-up and pink, boys like mud and blue. I could go on but I think you get it.
If our children are taught that what you like doesn't make what you are or identify as, we won't need a "yo" pronoun to describe every person. Besides, can you imagine describing someone without using he or she? Trust me, I've tried and it's HARD. Now there's a bill that's attempting to make it through in Boston that will stop police from describing ANYTHING about a subject on the "politically correct thought" that gender and racial descriptions are "bad." So the cops in Boston will receive a description of a subject as such: "Be on the look out for a running person." Yeah, that'll help the crime rate.
We need gender description and physical description in order to know what we may or may not be looking for not only in criminals but in general life. Can you imagine walking up to someone and trying to tell them you're looking for your friend but you can't say if your friend is male, female, Caucasian, Asian, Africa-American or whatever else? Identifying characteristics can't be taken away.
We have genders (and physical differences) for a variety of reasons and instead of ignoring them to "protect our children from gender (or racial) stereotypes" we should be embracing them and teaching our children that what is or isn't between their legs (or what color their skin is) doesn't dictate what they can do or can't do or what they might identify as.
That's how I was raised. I was able to play with whatever toy I liked. I played with Barbies AND toy cars. I made model air planes, I played sports, I wanted to learn play piano and dance. I played with worms and went fishing. I played dress-up with my cat. I am a straight female and embrace my femininity instead of feeling repressed or threatened by it. I don't feel inferior because of plastic dolls, I don't feel like a man is better than me and I don't feel like I need a man in my life to make it better. I know I don't HAVE to be a housewife, that I can have a job and I can support myself. I am a well-adjusted, independent woman who loves her womanhood. Adding to this I was taught that skin color also doesn't matter. We're all the same pink, squishy-ness on the inside.
Regardless, people worry too much about gender roles and what it means when their little boy might want to play dress up or their little girl likes cars "too much." Who cares? Let your kid discover who they are for them self but for gosh sakes, don't tell them they have no gender or that they're one or the other because of what they do when they're curious about everything. Most people forget this: KIDS ARE CURIOUS AND WILL TRY EVERYTHING so let them figure it out on their own. Telling them they have no gender or are one or the other (opposite to what's between their legs) will only make things worse from an identity stand-point because let's face it, no matter what you identify as later in life, you knew growing up whether you were male or female and if it was right or wrong for you.
Yeah, you may have known it was a bit weird (I did) but you get over it and eventually you grow that lovely backbone that makes you say "So what? I like what I like, I'm not normal and I love me for me because of it." If we repress the differences we can't learn to stand-up for what makes us unique. We can't learn to tell people: "Yeah, I'm a girl who knows about cars, bugs and guns. What's your point?" or "Yeah, I'm a guy who wears make-up and sews. Big deal."
We'll learn instead that we're all the same and nothing is different or strange about everyone. If I was raised genderless I wouldn't feel so unique because I'm oddly fascinated by swords, video games, and skulls. I won't feel like I know myself because I'm not an individual if everyone is "normal" for being able to like everything. We need differences in life to make us appreciate and learn to accept those differences. We need weird. We need odd. We need unusual. Besides, what the heck do you call "mom" and "dad" when they're not supposed to have a gender? What about all those languages that aren't gender neutral like the a and o's commonly in French and Italian?
Furthering it, what happens to the kids who are biologically one gender but feel the other? Does this mean the transsexual will no longer exist? I mean, if they don't know or feel like one to start with how can they transition to the other? Are we really prepared for our entire society to become Gender X? Are we really prepared to raise children who can't create a solid identity for themselves because they have no jumping off point? Are we prepared to take away something that makes us different and instead be a single one-gendered "yo?" Are we prepared to deal with all those gender-confused individuals who have no idea what they are because someone told them they were the opposite when they were younger?
Are we prepared to stop describing people all together and never know what a person looks like in stories we read? Can we deal without knowing what or who the main character is? Can we cope with having gender neutral names abound? Are we prepared to sacrifice our individuality on the overly-politically correct assumption that describing a person belittles them? Are we ready to give up what makes us different, unique, and special because some people are going crazy about gender identity and physical descriptions? Can we deal with everyone being thought of as the same? Do you want to be the same as everyone else?
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Writing is Hard Work
Let me repeat that: writing is hard work.
Okay, maybe: writing should be hard work.
There are some authors (and non-authors) out there that don't think writing a novel is hard. I laugh and then they give me a look (or type back a response) that lets me know that they're serious. Then I wonder what the heck kind of happy pill they're on that they think writing a novel is easy.
I understand that on the physical side it's not hard. I mean you just have to plant yourself in a chair for over 100 hours pounding out a first draft, then stay in the chair for another 50 hours doing first round edits, then another 50 hours doing third round edits before sending it off to an editor, oh and about 10-50+ hours making the cover, pre-promoting, and final run through before FINALLY publishing. Sitting for over 200 hours in one place isn't hard, right?
Let's not forget the actual process of writing. Whether you type or hand-write (or both), you're still constantly doing repetitive motion with your hands and fingers. If you have weak wrists: you'll make them weaker. If you're wrists are fairly average: they'll become weaker over time, faster than non-writers. You WILL eventually get carpal tunnel syndrome especially if you're crazy like me and just keep pumping out novels. I've all ready done permanent damage to tendons in my right hand that flare up if I push too hard.
Oh then there's the whole myriad of problems that occur when one writes all day, every day for long periods of time that may or may not include: sleep deprivation, caffeine addiction, high salt, high sugars, eye strain, etc. Not to say that all writers are unhealthy it's just that writing is a sitting down thing that does not require getting up and moving as recommended. Most writers try to balance writing with being healthy and that in itself is hard.
So we've determined that it's not as hard as say, construction on the physical sense but there are certain difficulties that come with writing in the physical sense.
Now let's move onto mental problems. These are always the best issues, really. And these are what makes writing easy, right?
Whoever said it's easy to come up with a plot, sub-plots, plot-twists, research things for accuracy, create entire worlds, and make the novel flow has either been writing too long or not enough. I can't being to count the amount of times I've hit a mental wall in a novel and went into sleep deprivation for days trying to figure it out. Actually, the entire reason I'm writing this blog is because I can't think of HOW my current WIP (will be Novel Series #8) ends.
Making a world from scratch including social beliefs, people, races, technology, entertainment, religion, landscape, language and anything else is taxing. You have to be able to weave it in a way that makes sense and everything has to co-relate. You also have to have a kind of history in mind as to how everything got to that point.
Okay, screw it, let's use Earth as a base. Even still, you have to make up new people (characters) that have some kind of conflict (hi: PLOT) to go through to fix whatever was wrong (CLIMAX/MAJOR PLOT TWIST) that threw them into the mess.
Okay, screw it. We'll use a Chosen One plot. Why is your Chosen One so different? What exactly does he have to do to save the world/other person/city/etc?
Crap. Yeah. Exactly. Let's not forget about foreshadowing, sub-plots, minor characters, scenes, and how everything interacts with each other to form a cohesive, interesting novel.
Well, let's forget about the mental difficulties that come along with being a writer and move onto emotional. There's no emotion in writing, right?
If you don't connect with your characters then your READER will not connect with your characters. Simple as that. If you don't feel bad when your main character, your hero, the Chosen One dies or is dismembered, neither will your reader. You need emotional investment in your novel to make it seem real.
So, what exactly is easy about writing again? I say again: writing should be hard work. This is something you're going to spend over 100 hours on so you should be giving it your all. It should include your blood, sweat and tears. If you think it's easy, please explain HOW it's easy.
I've been doing this for over a decade and it's not easy. There are challenges I face from time to time that make me want to scream. The tendon damage is one of them because it forces me to a stop. The not being able to figure out the plot is another because again, it forces me to a stop. Does it get easier? Yes. If writing is your passion, your dream, and your career despite all the hardships it will seem easy. That's the trick. Making it seem and feel easy to you.
So, is writing hard work? That's up to you as an individual to decide.
Okay, maybe: writing should be hard work.
There are some authors (and non-authors) out there that don't think writing a novel is hard. I laugh and then they give me a look (or type back a response) that lets me know that they're serious. Then I wonder what the heck kind of happy pill they're on that they think writing a novel is easy.
I understand that on the physical side it's not hard. I mean you just have to plant yourself in a chair for over 100 hours pounding out a first draft, then stay in the chair for another 50 hours doing first round edits, then another 50 hours doing third round edits before sending it off to an editor, oh and about 10-50+ hours making the cover, pre-promoting, and final run through before FINALLY publishing. Sitting for over 200 hours in one place isn't hard, right?
Let's not forget the actual process of writing. Whether you type or hand-write (or both), you're still constantly doing repetitive motion with your hands and fingers. If you have weak wrists: you'll make them weaker. If you're wrists are fairly average: they'll become weaker over time, faster than non-writers. You WILL eventually get carpal tunnel syndrome especially if you're crazy like me and just keep pumping out novels. I've all ready done permanent damage to tendons in my right hand that flare up if I push too hard.
Oh then there's the whole myriad of problems that occur when one writes all day, every day for long periods of time that may or may not include: sleep deprivation, caffeine addiction, high salt, high sugars, eye strain, etc. Not to say that all writers are unhealthy it's just that writing is a sitting down thing that does not require getting up and moving as recommended. Most writers try to balance writing with being healthy and that in itself is hard.
So we've determined that it's not as hard as say, construction on the physical sense but there are certain difficulties that come with writing in the physical sense.
Now let's move onto mental problems. These are always the best issues, really. And these are what makes writing easy, right?
Whoever said it's easy to come up with a plot, sub-plots, plot-twists, research things for accuracy, create entire worlds, and make the novel flow has either been writing too long or not enough. I can't being to count the amount of times I've hit a mental wall in a novel and went into sleep deprivation for days trying to figure it out. Actually, the entire reason I'm writing this blog is because I can't think of HOW my current WIP (will be Novel Series #8) ends.
Making a world from scratch including social beliefs, people, races, technology, entertainment, religion, landscape, language and anything else is taxing. You have to be able to weave it in a way that makes sense and everything has to co-relate. You also have to have a kind of history in mind as to how everything got to that point.
Okay, screw it, let's use Earth as a base. Even still, you have to make up new people (characters) that have some kind of conflict (hi: PLOT) to go through to fix whatever was wrong (CLIMAX/MAJOR PLOT TWIST) that threw them into the mess.
Okay, screw it. We'll use a Chosen One plot. Why is your Chosen One so different? What exactly does he have to do to save the world/other person/city/etc?
Crap. Yeah. Exactly. Let's not forget about foreshadowing, sub-plots, minor characters, scenes, and how everything interacts with each other to form a cohesive, interesting novel.
Well, let's forget about the mental difficulties that come along with being a writer and move onto emotional. There's no emotion in writing, right?
If you don't connect with your characters then your READER will not connect with your characters. Simple as that. If you don't feel bad when your main character, your hero, the Chosen One dies or is dismembered, neither will your reader. You need emotional investment in your novel to make it seem real.
So, what exactly is easy about writing again? I say again: writing should be hard work. This is something you're going to spend over 100 hours on so you should be giving it your all. It should include your blood, sweat and tears. If you think it's easy, please explain HOW it's easy.
I've been doing this for over a decade and it's not easy. There are challenges I face from time to time that make me want to scream. The tendon damage is one of them because it forces me to a stop. The not being able to figure out the plot is another because again, it forces me to a stop. Does it get easier? Yes. If writing is your passion, your dream, and your career despite all the hardships it will seem easy. That's the trick. Making it seem and feel easy to you.
So, is writing hard work? That's up to you as an individual to decide.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
WWW....
Ah the world wide web. An amazing tool for research, communication and just plain fun.
It has always amazed me how much information the Internet actually holds. Anything you want to know about anything is just a few keystrokes away. It is almost impossible for people to be uneducated about anything. But, I have noticed a trend in the few years I have been an avid Internet user.
People on the Internet, do not actually use it for information, but more for entertainment. Which is fine really, the Internet is a wonderful tool for entertainment as well. But what does bother me is the following: People still ask uneducated questions.
Meaning, that a person will post a topic in an online forum asking how to do certain things, or when certain events in history occurred, or other such topics. Is it that hard to open a new tab, go to Goggle and type in a query? I think people are forgetting just how vast a research tool the Internet actually is.
Without it, I doubt I would have been able to write in some of the finer details of Book One (more so distances between two points). In Book Two, one of the new main characters has the background of someone in ancient history. Without the Internet, I would not have found this information as quickly as needed. And the Internet has been immensely helpful in finding the distances between certain cities that will be featured in Book Three. All those names were found via the web, well the meanings anyway.
Sure, I could have gone to the library but the local library isn't open on a Monday night. Nor is it open after 9PM. It would be almost impossible for me to write properly without proper research. A few novels that I have in the back of my head may be possible without it, but a good deal of them will require some method of research. And the Internet is a wonderful tool for that.
So, when did the line between research tool and entertainment tool blur? And why is it that some people can't seem to understand both concepts? Don't get me wrong, there are a good deal of people that do use the Internet for research. But, the same amount only seem to do it when they are told then ask simply answered questions of the online community. And I'm certain the online community is getting very annoyed with the simplicity of these questions.
Is there a point to this ramble? There are a few:
1) The Internet needs to be recognized for the research tool that it is.
2) My official website will be up in 24-48 hours and I started thinking about how vast the online world actually is.
3) You can make up your own point here. ;)
It has always amazed me how much information the Internet actually holds. Anything you want to know about anything is just a few keystrokes away. It is almost impossible for people to be uneducated about anything. But, I have noticed a trend in the few years I have been an avid Internet user.
People on the Internet, do not actually use it for information, but more for entertainment. Which is fine really, the Internet is a wonderful tool for entertainment as well. But what does bother me is the following: People still ask uneducated questions.
Meaning, that a person will post a topic in an online forum asking how to do certain things, or when certain events in history occurred, or other such topics. Is it that hard to open a new tab, go to Goggle and type in a query? I think people are forgetting just how vast a research tool the Internet actually is.
Without it, I doubt I would have been able to write in some of the finer details of Book One (more so distances between two points). In Book Two, one of the new main characters has the background of someone in ancient history. Without the Internet, I would not have found this information as quickly as needed. And the Internet has been immensely helpful in finding the distances between certain cities that will be featured in Book Three. All those names were found via the web, well the meanings anyway.
Sure, I could have gone to the library but the local library isn't open on a Monday night. Nor is it open after 9PM. It would be almost impossible for me to write properly without proper research. A few novels that I have in the back of my head may be possible without it, but a good deal of them will require some method of research. And the Internet is a wonderful tool for that.
So, when did the line between research tool and entertainment tool blur? And why is it that some people can't seem to understand both concepts? Don't get me wrong, there are a good deal of people that do use the Internet for research. But, the same amount only seem to do it when they are told then ask simply answered questions of the online community. And I'm certain the online community is getting very annoyed with the simplicity of these questions.
Is there a point to this ramble? There are a few:
1) The Internet needs to be recognized for the research tool that it is.
2) My official website will be up in 24-48 hours and I started thinking about how vast the online world actually is.
3) You can make up your own point here. ;)
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