I know it has been a while since we had an author speaking to us about the craft of writing and we have Beatrice who will talk to us about a topic that is very relevant today – writing diverse characters and poverty as a diversity factor.
I will let Beatrice talk now!
Say hello to Beatrice!
Beatrice De Soprontu began writing at the age of four, when she scribbled on the walls with a crayon. Now an adult, she mostly scribbles on her home computer surrounded by her noisy children and their less noisy father.
Born and raised in New York City, (which includes: Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, maybe even Staten Island – a.k.a. the real New York and not the tourist trap that is Manhattan), she enthusiastically travels the world on a budget whenever she gets the chance.
You can find her book Vices/Virtues on Amazon or B&N
Let’s get on with it shall we?
One of the greatest tenants of fiction writing is that a strong character needs to overcome major adversity. In modern literature these hurdles can stem from identity markers such as race and sexual orientation, or they can be of a more fantastic nature such as aliens or monsters. Oddly however, being impoverished is rarely depicted as a problem.
Roughly a third of the world live in poverty and that’s not just in the “third-world”. In the arguably wealthy United States, roughly 40 million people are impoverished. That’s a lot of poor people. All of them differ in their backgrounds, beliefs and lifestyles, yet they face a common foe: grinding day-to-day poverty. Their stories are important and should spur us as writers to represent them in our tales.
Hence, for authors who wish to incorporate the struggles of being destitute into their fictional works here are 5 easy suggestions.
Separate poverty from race
In many fictional works race and/or ethnicity are linked to poverty, especially “urban” poverty. It’s understandable given that disproportionate numbers of minorities are poor. However, the problem is that this merging of class and race easily leads to stereotypes.
When poor characters live in rural areas, they become hillbillies, when they reside in urban areas we get a scene from “Boyz in the Hood”. Please just don’t.
Separate poverty from crime
Newsflash: lots of rich and even middle-class folks commit crimes. While poorer areas might be affected by higher crime rates, illegal activities don’t have to define the characters’ lives.
Remember the very admirable Evans family from “Good Times”? The episode titled the “Debutante Ball” is all about how the older son J.J. tries to date a young woman whose family feels his is not good enough for her. Their opinion isn’t based on anything he’s done, but solely on the fact that he lives in the “ghetto”.
Voila! A plot that tackles urban poverty minus the gangbangers!
Poverty is relative
A person might not even realize how poor they are. Curious but true, if everyone around you lives a life just like yours, you probably won’t know life could be different. Especially when you are young, it’s easy to imagine those wealthy people you read about or see on television are fictional. (I’m a grown woman, yet I still find it hard to wrap my head around the flying airplane suites of “Crazy Rich Asians”.)
Likewise, you might have quite a number of conveniences (clean water, free schools, tv, cell phones, microwavable pizza, really fancy sneakers, etc.) and still consider yourself to be quite poor, leading to the next point…
Poverty can damage a person psychologically
The impact of poverty in a character’s life doesn’t have to be confined to the tangible here and now. Psychologists have written extensively on how prolonged impoverishment results in long lasting detrimental effects.
Increased stress and internalized shame are just some of the possible legacies. It’s juicy stuff for an author, real psychological foes that need to be vanquished. Why not mine the possibility?
Characters are more than identity tags
We are all more than our identity markers. Never trap a character in a label. Your poor character is more than that, he or she also has feelings about religion, sexuality, and ethnicity. This person may be irked by the incorrect positioning of toilet paper. (What’s best rolling over or under?)
Write to all of it. Don’t feel you have to explain every decision they make. Fictional characters, like all people, are mysterious creatures and that complexity is part of their beauty.
Final words
Make your characters diverse. Make them interesting. Make them struggle. It’s easier than you think. Just rob them. Take away all their cash. You’ll find that when resources are scarce, your characters become richer.
Thank you, Beatrice
And I am back to thank her for taking time off her busy schedule to write us a guest post. You can follow and contact her through these links.
The online lives of writers (published or not) is quite hectic, right? While you might feel the need to be everywhere, most of us do not have the time to do that. Some of our favorite guest bloggers posted on their marketing techniques here. But here are a few more websites for the unpublished writers, especially if you are unpublished yet. Shall we talk to Victoria already, shall we?
Say hello to Victoria!
Hello, I’m Victoria Jayne, a writer. For the longest time, I couldn’t even identify myself as a writer. I struggled with the title fearing I lacked the clout to call myself such.
I’ve since learned that to call oneself a writer, one must simply write. I do that. I am a writer.
Websites for the unpublished writers
With that sorted, I moved on to another handy dandy self-identifier, author. Ohh, this one is tricky. In my head, this one required a bit more validation than a writer. For me to refer to myself as an author, I decided I needed to get published.
This post is going to focus on some of the tools I used on my journey to calling myself an author. Translation: here are some websites a previously unpublished writer used before publication and will continue to use for future works.
This little gem has a lot to offer unpublished and published authors alike. The main thing I took away from Scribophile was the ability to get feedback on my writing. A writer can sign up for free with Scribophile and get an author page where you fill out all sorts of nifty things about yourself. You gain access to works by other authors both long and short.
Scribophile works on a critique system where you earn “karma” by critiquing other writer’s work. The amount of karma you earn is based on the length of critique and whether or not the work is “spotlighted.” You need five karma (points?) to post your piece. When a work is spotlighted, more karma is awarded. There are several avenues to “spotlight” your work.
I like to think of Scribophile as a way to get honest beta readers. Scribophile also offers a paid version allowing to post an unlimited amount of works, and other things. Scribophile also offers writing contests frequently which can earn you karma or cash! Yes, cash! It also has forums, comments sections on profiles, and a messaging system.
Finding ManuscriptWishList.com was like finding gold! This website contains the profiles of people in the publishing industry telling the world what they want. It is their manuscript wish list. In their profiles, they talk about what they want right now.
Writers can search by name; they can search by genre; they can search by keyword. As far as I can tell, this resource is free. This is a wonderful resource when you are at the query stage. This leads to my next two suggested websites.
I like lists. I like spreadsheets. And I like to track the crap out of things. That said, query tracker is a way to track publishers and literary agents you think might be interested in representing and/or publishing your work. You can search by genre, company name, agency name, location, and whether or not someone is open to queries.
Each agent gets a snippet of information about how they like to be contacted, and there is a comment section. This was invaluable. I got a peek at what this agent received. I got a glimpse at response times. In the free version, you can sort of gauge response times, or lack of response, by users updated their comments on the agent. In the paid version, you have access to this in graphs. I like graphs.
Additionally, querytracker hosts forums where you can feedback on your opening paragraph, chapter, your title, etc. You can also get some insight as to what it is like to work with some agents or agencies — a wonderful tool.
Social media? Come on Victoria, that’s where I follow celebrity meltdowns and get my sports news. Well, this is where you are going to get your agenting information too. Agents and publishers have a twitter presence.
They often post about what they are looking for using #MSWL (manuscript wishlist, see how that ties in?) and they discuss horror stories. They talk about querying pitfalls and also provide updates as to where they are in their queries. You follow an agent you will get a lot of information about who they are and what they want.
Additionally, Twitter has a very active writer presence. #writingcommunity #amwriting These are other writers sharing their experience and supporting one another. There are also pitch parties. You can use Twitter to pitch agents. Yes, you can get published by reaching out to an agent via a hashtag!
Also, if you are struggling with getting into the mind of your character, #authorconfession and #writerlywipchat offers daily exercises geared toward putting you in your characters heads. You can connect with your characters by answering questions like “what video games does your main character play?” or “who does your main character have a crush on?” These questions, while the answers may not appear in your story, will help you get a better understanding of your characters as well-rounded people and make them fully dimensional in your writing.
The wealth of information that is Reedsy, I really can’t begin to explore in this post. There just isn’t enough time in the day. As an unpublished writer, what can you get out of reedsy? Resources. You have access to articles about writing, some of which can be emailed directly to you.
You also have a directory of editors, promotion experts, and anything you can think of that will help you get on the road to publishing and if you have already been published. Seriously, this is a one-stop shop where you can get almost everything you need to get published.
Final words
So that’s my top five. Those websites for the unpublished writers were a gift from the heavens. I learned a lot along this journey. My debut paranormal romance novel came out on December 4, 2018. It’s been a wild ride where I have learned more than I ever thought possible.
It’s all worth it to hold my first book in my hand. That was something I never thought I’d be able to do. Now, it is done. You can do it too. Happy writing.
If you have something to add to Victoria’s story, drop a comment here or send him a word of thanks on the social media. Both of us would love that.Also, if you are interested in writing a guest post for the independent publishing community, write to me right away. I am still accepting guest post submissions.
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Let us chat
Authors, what are your go to sites for resources, motivation or maybe just networking? What are your fave websites for the unpublished writers? And readers do you even spend time scoring out Social media to read about the writing community? Let us talk.
I am here as promised with the piece of news that I have been talking about excitedly for almost a month now. Yes, the series of guest posts from indie authors and relevant people from the independent publishing community is here!
For the first edition we have Kathleen Jowitt talking about the highs and lows of writing as she sees as an author herself and ways to keep yourself motivated through the whole process. So let me hand it over to her and get out of the away after a round of introduction.
Say hi to Kathleen!
Kathleen Jowitt is an author and trade union officer. Her first novel, Speak Its Name, was the first self-published work ever shortlisted for the prestigious Betty Trask Prize.
Again, I am so pumped with the posts I have scheduled already in this series guys. Okay, I am off and K Jo is here!
The highs and lows of writing
Self-publishing can be a lonely business. Writing can be a lonely business even if you’re conventionally published – there are long stretches when it’s just you and the keyboard – but when you don’t have an agent checking in with you, or a publisher checking up on you, you’ve only got yourself to keep you going.
And it can be dispiriting. When you’re at the early stage of a new book and are reluctant to show your work to anyone else, you end up without talking to anyone about your writing, and there’s nobody to counter the negative voice that suggests maybe this one isn’t very good. If it’s been a while since you last published something, and you haven’t had an Amazon or Goodreads review in ages, it can start to feel as if nobody’s reading any of your work at all.
I’ve had a reasonable amount of success with self-publishing. In 2017 I was the first – and, so far, the only – self-published author to be shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize, which is awarded to the best debut by an author under the age of 35.
When the news broke, I had most of the second one done, and I was able to use the momentum from the excitement of the shortlisting to carry me through the final round of editing all the way through to the publication and launch.
And now what?
Seven months on, with another cycle of awards passed and gone, nothing very exciting in the way of sales, and a measly 10,000 words down on the next novel, I have to admit that I’m feeling a bit flat. I know that this is a temporary state of affairs.
There’s a reason why my work in progress doesn’t seem like it’s going to be very good, and it’s this: it isn’t finished yet. I know that the only way out of this patch of the doldrums is through it. There’s just one problem: I’ve got to keep writing, when the very thought of writing is getting me down.
“[…] the only way out of this patch of the doldrums is through it. There’s just one problem: I’ve got to keep writing, when the very thought of writing is getting me down.” says Jowitt on “the highs and lows of writing”.Click to Tweet
There are two ways to approach this conundrum, and I tend to apply both at once.
Remember that you’re not alone
Firstly, keep reaching out. If nobody’s talking to me, then I’m going to have to be the one to talk to them. Here are some ways that I do that:
Talk to other writers. Do it on Twitter, or in a writing group, or anywhere else that you can have a sensible, encouraging conversation. You might feel like you’re alone, but you’re not the only one.
And remember that even a self-published author shouldn’t be doing everything on their own. At the very least, you need a beta reader. Find the right one, and you might find that they’re a staunch ally and cheerleader for years to come.
Keep asking for reviews. If your book is still available, then it’s still worth looking for people to review it. Earlier this year I found a list of reviewers who specialise in F/F fiction, and I contacted all those that I hadn’t come across before.
And three of them were entirely happy to review my first novel, even though it was over two years old at that point. Meanwhile, a reviewer who has just finished my newest book has come back to me with a set of thought-provoking interview questions, which has cheered me right up. The prospect of having an intelligent conversation about my writing has done wonders.
While I’m on the subject, there’s nothing wrong with reading your old reviews. They tell you that you have produced something that other people have enjoyed reading, and, therefore, that you can do it again. It’s a useful reminder.
“[..]there’s nothing wrong with reading your old reviews. They tell you that you have produced something that other people have enjoyed reading, and, therefore, that you can do it again.” Hear more from Kathleen Jowitt!Click to Tweet
Remember to please yourself
Secondly, look after yourself. Remember why you started doing this in the first place. If you’ve chosen to write, and particularly if you’ve chosen to go it alone, it may well be that you’re doing it because nobody else is writing the kind of books that you want to read.
In short, you’re writing to please yourself. So please yourself. Put in the silly plots, the jokes that only you and two other people will get, the cheesy pop culture references – whatever makes you smile and keeps you writing. You can always take it out again later.
Take a break if you need to. You don’t have to write every day. Personally, I always find that going for a walk helps. There’s something about being out in the open air, away from my desk, and with nothing to do but put one foot in front in the other, that seems to shake the ideas loose.
And enjoy other people’s work – books, films, art, music, whatever makes you feel refreshed, curious, or inspired. You can only put so much out into the world before you need to replenish your own resources. If you honestly don’t feel like writing at the moment, then there’s probably a good reason for that. Take care of your own needs.
Give yourself time. Give yourself company. But don’t give up. There’s a way through this, I promise.
Kathleen Jowitt talks on the highs and lows of writing “Give yourself time. Give yourself company. But don’t give up. There’s a way through this, I promise.”Click to Tweet
Thanks K Jo!
I am back! I am just here to thank her for taking time off her busy schedule to write us a guest post. You can follow and contact her through these links. I am adding a Goodreads link to her latest book!
Do you ever feel that writing is a lonely business? And how far does being in writer’s group, physically or virtually help you out when the lows hit you? What do you do to celebrate your highs and get out off your lows? Let us talk.
Almost everyone I know and follow on the blog world is either taking part in the #NaNoWriMo or cheering for someone who does. I definitely am in the latter category and all am hoping is to not get stuck in a blogging rut once again. *knocks wood*.
But as a writer, be a blogger or a novelist or a poet, getting into a rut seems too scary, yet it is very possible that any day you might. There are days when I just stare at the blank page waiting for the words to pour out for hours and they wouldn’t.
Well, if this scenario sounds a little true for you then this article is for you. If not, please let us know what kinda crazy potion do you drink each night.
I am gonna try and tell you the secrets of managing the slump or rut so that your writing doesn’t have to stop.
10. Write like you talk
Do not worry about your writing voice.
Why try to change a voice that you use daily to talk to people in your real life? Talk to your readers as you would talk to your friends and family. Don’t try to be the pompous ass that you are not in real life. If you are one real life, DO NOT FOLLOW THIS ADVICE.
9. Talk to a person
More often than not, I get stuck when I try to generalize my readers and talk to them, as a faceless crowd. It is easier to think of that one person who would enjoy your story or post and just write for them. It is definitely less intimidating.
8. Don’t self sabotage
Negative thoughts send us down a spiral. It happens to the best of us and it is easier to say to be positive. But to truly overcome that try and understand its pattern and then solve the cause.
Worried that you are you not organized? Get a spreadsheet or a planner. Worried that you are you not creative enough? Start writing. You are not a real writer? Write MORE.You can do it.
7. Best laid plans
One can never stress enough on the importance on planning. Instead of waiting for an inspiration to strike every time you need to post on your blog, working with a plan makes sense doesn’t it?
Every week I start with a blog plan and schedule for the week which avoids the time I spend on frantically searching for topic when I actually write.
6. That elusive perfect ritual
Every post or article we write is different and the process we end up might be different as well. What I am trying to say is, do not fixate on your perfecting a writing ritual.
There is no one perfect writing process. If you do have one, please share it below in the comment section.
5. Write a spinoff
When you are stuck without knowing what to write read some of your old works. Write a sequel or part two of your most favorite. If you are a blogger, I believe every post can off shoot more posts.
Another thing that never fails to gets started is making a list. Make a list of 10 items. or 20. It could be on anything. Do not try to hard or to make sense. Dump everything on the blank page.
You can even write list of ideas for your posts that you can expand later. I do that often. It never hurts to have an idea bank.
Despite all these I do suffer from ‘staring at the white sheet’ more often than I would like to admit, and there is only one thing that gets me going. I set a timer for a short time, say 20 minutes and start freewheeling. I am sure you will start making sense in one or two bouts.
2. Use your creative muscles
When everything fails, shut your work down and go do something else. Read. Draw. Sing. Dance. Just do not obsess about what you are supposed to be writing. A creative break usually gets us back in the mood to write something. If doesn’t, well you did something else creative didn’t you?
1. Enjoy what you do
Lastly but the most important thing is: write for yourself and enjoy what you do. When you push and push you might end up frustrated, which ultimately is not achieving anything. Write for writing sake and enjoy the writing craft, I am sure your readers will thank you for it.
These are some of the things I do when I have to get over the writing rut, be it for a blog post or copy writing. Let me know if it works for you.
How often do you struggle to write an article or post? What are the things that you do to manage the rut? Do you follow any of these ideas? Let us talk more.
How often do you drop a book down because you could not take it anymore? Not in the positive, overwhelming, OMG I-need-a-moment kind. But more of a what-in-the-crap-did-I-read way that you reserve when hate books. The kind that made us wish we had the book in its physical form, so that we would have had the pleasure of throwing it against the wall.
We pay for the sin of having not taken the hint when their friends warn us about the book in not so subtle ways. We want to taste the poison for ourselves. We are masochistic. We persevere. We suffer through books with half baked plots, overcompensating sex scenes, subplots that adds nothing but pages and what not.
10 reasons why I hate your books
Yet it does not stop us from reaching to the next book you have not heard reviews or rather not good reviews about. Now that is what they call ‘the adventurous life of a book lover’. We already discussed a few things that would make you stop reading a book, if you can help it. Here we are on the second part. Go on.
6) Show not tell me:
Why would you spend 25 lines saying what a badass your villain is when you can tell me what he did and I could form an opinion myself? We readers like visualizing the horrors your villain could unleash, not just accept your word for it. Now, Twilight lovers do not harm me but I have to add this excerpt hides away under the table
“You know Bella, Jacob?” Lauren asked—in what Iimagined was an insolent tone-from across the fire. “We’ve sort of known each other since I was born,” he laughed, smiling at me again. “How nice.”She didn’t sound like she thought it was nice at all, and her pale, fishy eyes narrowed. “Bella,” she called again, watching my face carefully, “I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come out today. Didn’t anyone think to invite them?” Her expression of concern wasunconvincing. “You mean Dr. Carlisle Cullen’s family?” the tall, older boy asked before I could respond, much to Lauren’s irritation. He was really closer to a man than a boy, and his voice was very deep. “Yes, do you know them?” she askedcondescendingly, turning halfway toward him. – Twilight, Stephenie Meyer.
I am going to ignore every other problem with the above prose and focus on the topic. What does Meyers tell us? Lauren is unlikeable. Yet she does not show us anything to help the fact. I am annoyed; Period!
We have all read books that have too many things going on. Too many sub plots and too many characters do overwhelm us, the readers. Imagine if only we had had a story for each of the seven dwarfs in the Snow White, would we have enjoyed it as much?
Yet the number of times I had to skim through the story of the side kick because it does not help the story move forward nor to understand the characters better is too many. They simply might have been filling the pages andbe distracting. If so, why would I have to read them to reach the end of the book?
3)What did I read now!:
One of the major issues I have with the YA and fantasy world is that I can’t make myself believe in them, this from someone who adores horror fiction and might possibly be scared that one could walk in and out of a picture frame.
Credibility of the story or plot doesn’t mean that these things should be able to happen in the real world, but they should be plausible in the world that the author has spun for me. For instance, I don’t care if vampires are real or not, but I do mind if you tell me vampires do not drink blood.
I hate books that has characters who are not credible – they do something quite not like themselves at all without proper reasons. Likewise, when books lack cultural and historical authenticity readers tend to stop getting into the characters. Book with no credibility means lazy writing, which is an excellent way to make me hate your book.
2) Plain bad writing and editing:
I linger in the doorway of Command, the high-tech meeting/war council room complete with computerized talking walls, electronic maps showing the troop movements in various districts, and a giant rectangular table with control panels I’m not supposed to touch.-Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.
The above excerpt is a narration by Katniss, how are we supposed to ‘hear’ the ‘meeting/war’ part? Does she say slash? Does anybody around here say slash when you are talking to IRL? Minor quirks like these usually end up to form a huge ball of hatred even before I could even complete the book.
“So today is the day,” she says. “Yes,” I reply. “Are you nervous?” I stare into my own eyes for a moment. ….. “No,” I say. “The tests don’t have to change our choices.” “Right.” She smiles. “Let’s go eat breakfast.” “Thank you. For cutting my hair.”-Divergent by Veronica Roth
Brevity might be the soul of wit. But having to read conversations like the one above or the much infamous
One can be able to tolerate a typo here and there but not those with terrible tenses, senseless smilies and cringe-worthy cliches.
To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed. –The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
How often do you quit a book that you do not enjoy? And what makes you decide to stop putting yourself through hell? When do you say “I hate your book”? Let me know in the comments.
