By no means Say You Can’t Survive: When Is It Okay To Write About Somebody Else’s Tradition or Expertise?

Charlie Jane Anders is writing a nonfiction guide—and Tor.com is publishing it as she does so. By no means Say You Can’t Survive is a how-to guide in regards to the storytelling craft, but it surely’s additionally stuffed with memoir, private anecdote, and perception about flourish within the current emergency.

Beneath is the 20th chapter, “When Is It Okay To Write About Somebody Else’s Tradition or Expertise?” Yow will discover all earlier chapters right here. New chapters will seem each Tuesday. Take pleasure in!

Part IV
What We Write About When We Write About Spaceships

Chapter 5
When Is It Okay To Write About Somebody Else’s Tradition or Expertise?

I nonetheless keep in mind once I was scratching on the door of science fiction and fantasy, desperately making an attempt to get observed, and hopefully revealed. I racked up piles and piles of rejections, however I simply stored scribbling in obscurity (and Starbucks). After which I got here up with a guide concept that was completely assured to place me on the map.

I used to be going to write down an Asian-inspired epic fantasy novel.

I felt fairly certified to write down such a guide. I’d been an Asian Research main in faculty, and had turn out to be fluent in each Mandarin and Japanese. I’d lived throughout Asia, working as a journalist in Hong Kong and learning at Beijing College. And I had a reasonably incredible thought, primarily based on the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, two foundational texts in Japanese tradition which can be simply bursting with incredible story seeds. I used to be getting that factor I preserve speaking about in these essays, the place I used to be falling in story-love and having tiny epiphanies each time my fingers touched a keyboard. It felt like magic.

On the time, science fiction conventions had been stuffed with panels advising us White writers to go forward and write about different cultural traditions. There had been a couple of too many fantasy novels primarily based on the identical Western European traditions, and everyone was hungry for one thing new and totally different. And simply look—there was this wonderful wealth of tales and traditions simply ready, outdoors of our personal cultural heritage.

So I had very excessive hopes that my Japanese-influenced fantasy novel would lastly get me within the door of mainstream style publishing. I labored steadily on it, doing tons of analysis on the most recent archeological discoveries about historical Japan—what individuals wore, what they ate, how they lived.

After which… I began getting that three A.M. stomachache. You understand the one. The little anxiousness spike within the wee hours that often tells me that I’m making an attempt to do one thing I’m going to remorse, probably for a really very long time.

Right here’s the factor: I had seen firsthand how a lot my Asian buddies had been harm by the flood of books by White individuals appropriating Asian cultures within the 1990s and early 2000s. We’d all rolled our eyes over Memoirs of a Geisha, however there have been actually dozens of different books. Europeans had been obsessive about Asian tradition, however we stored coming again to the dream/pastiche of Asian tradition that we’d made for ourselves, ever since The Mikado and Ezra Pound’s laughable “translations” of Asian poetry. The flip of the millennium was stuffed with Asian tradition with out Asian individuals, as everybody copied anime collection and Tsui Hark motion pictures, with out bringing alongside precise Asians.

Plus, after faculty, I had spent a couple of months working at a doomed Asian-interest bookstore close to Harvard Sq.. I’d all the time tried to steer my White prospects to books about Asia by precise Asian authors, with out a lot success. These prospects appeared to crave the consolation of a White writer who may maintain their hand, and lead them via an unfamiliar tradition. Even—particularly!—when the guide was from the POV of an Asian character. I obtained sick of ringing up stacks of Asia-focused books by European authors, most of which had been tacky or worse, and I began to dread going to work.

So I wrestled with my conscience for some time. I attempted to persuade myself that my Asian-fantasy challenge can be totally different. I used to be going to watch out! I knew what I used to be doing!

After which… I reluctantly determined to place that novel draft in a drawer. After which mild the drawer on fireplace. I cherished Asian tradition an excessive amount of to do that.

Since then, I’ve included loads of Asian characters in my fiction, and drawn on my data of Asian historical past and folklore right here and there. However I’ve by no means tried to write down tales that heart uniquely Asian cultures or experiences. Like, I wouldn’t attempt to write a narrative that’s all about what it means to develop up in a Taiwanese household, or in regards to the expertise of dwelling via the Hong Kong protests from the standpoint of a Hong Kong native. There are different individuals who may write these tales approach higher than I may. Then again, I embody Asian characters in my fiction fairly usually—for instance, if I used to be writing about an alien invasion, among the heroes combating off the slime-flyers would most likely be of Asian descent. And I’d do my finest to provide them the identical inside life that I attempt to imbue all my characters with.

That’s the place I made a decision to attract the road for myself, however everyone has to determine this out themselves. Hiromi Goto’s WisCon guest-of-honor speech features a guidelines of inquiries to ask your self earlier than writing a narrative a few tradition outdoors your individual. However I really feel like that is all the time going to be messy, and ever-shifting, and include precisely no straight traces, as a result of we’re speaking about human beings, and the complexities of historical past. You by no means get to be finished making an attempt to determine these items out.

Admit it! You’re JT LeRoy!

A short time after I made a decision to surrender on writing my Asian epic fantasy, I began studying the work of a trans writer named JT LeRoy, aka “Terminator.” Within the early 2000s, LeRoy was a literary sensation: this previously homeless trans intercourse employee was featured on the duvet of Self-importance Truthful, and his autobiographical novel Sarah was a sensation, praised by each main literary determine of the time. Well-known authors even listened in on hours of LeRoy’s remedy periods.

LeRoy was precisely what individuals needed from a trans writer on the time: younger, fairly, pixie-like. He remained a reclusive thriller, even after he turned a celebrity. And he was a truck-stop intercourse employee from a messed-up household, whose historical past of abuse clearly had one thing to do together with his being trans. LeRoy was all the time on the sting of transitioning from male to feminine, and continuously talked about getting backside surgical procedure, but in addition expressed countless ambivalence—which made him non-threatening to individuals who had been nonetheless uncomfortable with trans folks.

After which sooner or later, this random dude chased me round a bookstore and demanded my autograph, as a result of he was satisfied I used to be JT LeRoy.

Backing up barely… JT LeRoy would by no means really present up and skim his personal work in bookstores, as a result of “reclusive thriller.” As an alternative, he obtained different authors to learn his work at guide occasions—and there have been all the time rumors that he’d be someplace lurking within the viewers. At a guide launch for LeRoy’s brief story assortment, this one older White man noticed me within the viewers, and zeroed in on me, declaring that he’d discovered me. He’d discovered JT LeRoy! I informed him I wasn’t JT, and requested him properly to go away me alone, however he stored following me, insisting that I should be mendacity. Eventually, he cornered me within the cookbook part, and compelled me to signal his guide. I did the one factor I may consider: I signed his guide “TJ Hooker.”

JT LeRoy obtained wind of this incident and mailed me a raccoon penis bone, which on the time was thought of an enormous honor. I feel I nonetheless have it someplace.

Being mistaken for JT LeRoy in public solely confirmed for me what I already believed: JT had opened a door, and possibly I may stroll via it. JT had carved out a complete new area within the mainstream publishing world for experimental, semi-autobiographical trans literary fiction, and this was going to assist the remainder of us. I began to question numerous publishers and brokers with the surreal, off-kilter, super-personal trans fiction I used to be writing on the time, and… crickets. We already had one JT LeRoy, and we didn’t want one other one.

You would possibly already understand how this story ends: JT LeRoy was a pretend.

The true JT was a middle-aged white cis girl named Laura Albert, aided by her boyfriend Geoffrey and his sister Savannah. I’ve met Laura a few instances, and I actually don’t assume she supposed to trigger as a lot hurt as she did. However. For years, JT LeRoy was the one well-known trans fiction writer, and it’s nonetheless uncommon to see a trans particular person reaching anyplace close to that stage of notoriety in mainstream literary tradition.

In fact, most individuals actually believed JT was trans. However as I stewed about this through the years, I couldn’t assist pondering of JT’s success as one other instance of what I’d seen in my bookstore job: individuals from the dominant group needed somebody to make them really feel “secure” visiting an “unique” realm. A tour information, principally. Even when individuals didn’t know that JT was cis, on reflection I felt as if JT was consciously performing that “information” function, by giving individuals precisely what they anticipated and couching every thing in phrases that made cis individuals really feel snug. And naturally, each different profitable novel about trans individuals on the time was additionally by cis authors, like Trans-Sister Radio.

And I nonetheless can’t assist questioning sometimes—if JT LeRoy had by no means come alongside and tried to characterize the trans expertise to “mainstream” readers, would there have been a chance for an precise trans particular person?

Illustration with out appropriation

So at any time when I take into consideration the continued (and consistently shifting) debates over cultural appropriation, I take into consideration that “tour information” factor that I first observed as a annoyed bookseller. Folks from the dominant group will all the time hunt down a non-challenging model of any marginalized group’s expertise, and it’s simpler to get that from authors who come from that very same dominant group. And traditionally, books have been revealed with one precisely sort of goal reader in thoughts.

Privileged individuals can turn out to be conditioned to anticipate just one sort of story a few marginalized group, to the purpose the place they received’t settle for some other tales, irrespective of how actual.

The guide world is slowly getting extra inclusive—too slowly—however we nonetheless have an extended, lengthy methods to go. And so long as the writing and publishing scene continues to mirror the large energy imbalances within the wider world, these of us with privilege want to remain conscious, and refuse to tackle that “tour information” function, ever. It’s additionally on us to do no matter we are able to to advertise marginalized authors, and assist them to inform their tales about their lived expertise and their heritage.

However on the similar time, there’s a conundrum, or possibly a balancing act. All fiction, together with fiction by individuals from the dominant group, must characterize the variety of the true world. All of us have to populate our worlds with individuals from many backgrounds, genders, sexualities, and incapacity statuses, with out making an attempt to inform the tales that aren’t ours to inform.

In different phrases, we have to attempt for illustration with out appropriation.

That’s not an end-state, however fairly an ongoing course of. Like many elements of writing, it’s a ton of labor, a course of that by no means turns into simple or clear-cut—however the work pays off, in richer characters and smarter storytelling.

The excellent news is, there are tons of sources on the market to assist us to strike that steadiness. The award-winning badass Nisi Scarf co-wrote a incredible guide known as Writing the Different (with Cynthia Ward) and is now operating on-line workshops about writing about different cultures and experiences, with Okay. Tempest Bradford and a number of different lecturers. There are additionally a ton of nice sources on anti-racism and decolonizing science fiction. And no matter cultures or identities you may be writing about, you’re certain to seek out loads of analysis sources, from books to YouTube movies to precise dwelling individuals whom you’ll be able to pay to speak to you.

I’ve talked earlier than in these essays about how tough it’s to create characters who really feel like actual individuals, fairly than stick figures or plot gadgets. I’ve discovered that this turns into far more tough once I’m writing about individuals whose experiences are radically totally different than my very own. I’m not simply speaking about writing stereotypes—although, sure, I’ve written loads of stereotypical characters, and I’ve been fortunate that folks have principally known as me on them earlier than these tales noticed print. Nevertheless it’s a extra international downside than that.

I’ve a basic tendency to write down flat, lifeless characters, and but trick myself into pondering I’ve written dwelling, respiration people. And the extra totally different these characters are from myself, the more severe this problem appears to turn out to be. I’ve a tougher time moving into the top of somebody whose life could be very totally different from mine, which implies I’ve to work tougher, but in addition be consistently conscious of this downside. You don’t know what you don’t know, so it’s arduous to appreciate if you’re lacking one thing vital.

The perfect fictional characters have a lived-in high quality. This implies they’re formed by every thing that they’ve been via, and that features the entire experiences that come out of their very own identities.

And that is the place the balancing act will get trickier.

On the one hand, I work arduous to keep away from writing a narrative that’s solely about another person’s distinctive expertise or cultural heritage, like that Asian fantasy novel I used to be making an attempt to write down again within the day. I all the time have at the back of my thoughts that another person may very well be scratching on the door of publishing, hoping to write down about their very own lived expertise, the way in which I used to be again when JT LeRoy was a celebrity. Then again, you’ll be able to’t characterize the variety of the true world, when you pass over any of the fun and challenges which can be shared by members of marginalized teams.

For instance, I’ve discovered the arduous approach that when writing BIPOC characters, I can’t be afraid to point out them dealing with structural racism, or to painting their connections to their very own communities. As dangerous as it’s to write down a stereotype, it’s additionally totally heinous when a author from the dominant group writes a self-portrait, however then slaps some marginalized labels on that character.

I screw up consistently, and the one factor I can do is attempt to do higher and to concentrate on my very own shortcomings as an writer—and all of the ways in which my privilege makes me worse at writing different views.

Which is why I’m so freaking grateful for sensitivity readers. For years, I used to be asking my BIPOC and disabled buddies to learn my fiction and provides me a gut-check on how I used to be dealing with characters who had been nearer to their expertise than to mine. After I first discovered about sensitivity readers, I used to be overjoyed that there was a phrase to explain the factor I’d been asking individuals to do (and in some circumstances, that I had been doing for others), however I used to be additionally embarrassed that I hadn’t been paying individuals for that work.

(Full disclosure: I ran this essay previous plenty of of us together with Nisi Scarf, Na’amen Gobert Tilahun, Claire Mild, and Annalee Newitz, and a few individuals requested to be compensated within the type of donations to the Carl Brandon Society.)

Even once I’ve written White trans characters, I’ve made an enormous effort to point out these tales to different trans individuals, simply to ensure I’m not inadvertently reproducing hurtful stereotypes or concepts about my very own neighborhood. My very own trans id doesn’t assure that I’ll know what would possibly show hurtful to different trans folks—and in reality, this has generally occurred, particularly within the stuff I wrote early on in my profession.

So the place is the road between illustration and appropriation? It’s by no means a simple query, nor ought to it’s. However I’ve discovered that numerous soul-searching, and a willingness to pay attention, are key elements of reaching the previous with out straying into the latter.

A couple of years in the past, I attended a panel on the Brooklyn E book Pageant the place Nelson George and Jeff Chang talked about cultural appropriation in music, which helped form my views on appropriation in fiction. In a nutshell, they stated musicians who acknowledge the place they’ve gotten their sound from, and who be sure the originators of that sound receives a commission, are much less prone to be appropriating. (I’ve searched and looked for a video or transcript of that panel. When you ever discover one, please let me know.)

Within the guide world, too, it’s vital to consider these two issues: respect and cash. Who’s getting them, and who deserves extra of them? In different phrases, assist marginalized authors, particularly BIPOC authors. Promote their work, rejoice them, assist them—and most of all, pay them. There isn’t a substitute for precise inclusion of marginalized voices, at each stage. And by no means fall into the entice of pondering there ought to solely be one token writer or voice representing a complete neighborhood—that’s how we obtained JT LeRoy.

Tales solely matter as a result of they’re related to individuals. There’s nothing extra tragic than when somebody’s story is current, however the one who really lived that story remains to be locked outdoors.

[Editor’s note: Nisi Shawl, of Writing the Other and The History of Black Science Fiction column, will be continuing the conversation with a response to this essay, which should appear later this month.]

Charlie Jane Anders’ newest novel is The Metropolis within the Center of the Night time, which received the Locus Award for finest science fiction novel. She’s additionally the writer of All of the Birds within the Sky, which received the Nebula, Crawford and Locus awards, and Choir Boy, which received a Lambda Literary Award. Plus a novella known as Rock Manning Goes For Broke and a brief story assortment known as Six Months, Three Days, 5 Others. Her brief fiction has appeared in Tor.com, Boston Assessment, Tin Home, Conjunctions, The Journal of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Wired journal, Slate, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Lightspeed, ZYZZYVA, Catamaran Literary Assessment, McSweeney’s Web Tendency and tons of anthologies. Her brief fiction has received Hugo, Theodore Sturgeon, and Locus awards. Charlie Jane additionally organizes the month-to-month Writers With Drinks studying collection, and co-hosts the podcast Our Opinions Are Right with Annalee Newitz. She is writing a Younger Grownup area fantasy trilogy, to debut in early 2021.