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jl_merrowI write deep third/first person POV pretty much all the time. So even the describey bits of my stories are from a character’s POV – not mine. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I can’t describe anything until I know who’s looking at it. To take a simple example, where I might see a medium-size blue car with a baby-on-board sticker in the back window, my male character might see a three-year-old Citroen with some damage to the rear bumper.
But what if I’m writing from the POV of a racist character? Or a homophobic one?
Should I still describe the setting, the other characters from that person’s POV, prejudices and all?
Isn’t there a danger those prejudiced views will be ascribed to me, the author?
And in case you’re in any doubt, the answer to that is, Yes. It’s happened.
So what do I do about it?
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Date: 2011-05-23 08:53 pm (UTC)Or are you everything that you write? So you've been a tortoise? Or a werewolf?? Just absolutely ridiculous - people like that don't even deserve a response! *rolleyes*
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Date: 2011-05-23 09:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-23 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-23 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-23 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-23 10:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-23 09:08 pm (UTC)*hugs* It's not you, it's them. One of these days we'll teach the world what the term "fiction" means...
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Date: 2011-05-23 09:12 pm (UTC)And I hate upsetting people. :(
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Date: 2011-05-23 09:18 pm (UTC)In all seriousness, you can't control the way people think. Or, more accurately, the ways in which they use their heads for little more than hat racks. Stay calm and, if confronted, state your case in as few words as necessary. What's the bumper sticker? I don't agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. (or something like that, anyway.)
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Date: 2011-05-23 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-23 10:11 pm (UTC)Rock and a hard place, huh?
I personally would be more offended by the lack of multiple points of view (as it were) and opportunities for social dialogue. But I admit I'm a bit of a rabble-rouser sometimes. As long as you see others' point of view, you don't have to ascribe to it or pander to it. It's up to the reader what s/he reads and whether or not s/he chooses to be offended by it. Just as much as, if what you were writing *were* expressing your own opinion, you have every right to put that opinion out there.
That said, I can completely see your point, as well. There've been enough times that I've subsumed my own opinions because I just didn't want to deal with the ramifications of sticking to my guns. You have to make the choice that's right for you.
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Date: 2011-05-23 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-23 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-23 11:44 pm (UTC)But at the end of the day you should write what you feel a need to write. The idea of putting a little warning disclaimer on it that these aren't your personal views is probably good, but won't prevent all misunderstandings.
Another thing that might help is after you sell it, blog and talk early and often about why it was important to you to write the story, from that viewpoint. You could start now - I'm curious. :-)
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Date: 2011-05-24 08:12 am (UTC)With hindsight, I should have thought a little more carefully about what I was doing BEFORE I did it.
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Date: 2011-05-23 11:54 pm (UTC)There's nothing so bad that someone won't love it, and nothing so good that someone won't hate it.
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Date: 2011-05-24 08:14 am (UTC)Definitely one to chalk up to experience, I feel.
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Date: 2011-05-24 12:15 am (UTC)The character saying it is gay, it is a gay romance. Um... I even asked a friend and he didn't see a problem. It stayed in the story.
But I totally understand where you're coming from. And I guess it could mean that it makes you a good writer, if you're able to express those views and have people believe them, even though they are not your views.
What to do about it? Other than a disclaimer, which really, you shouldn't have to do, ignore it.
I was in a fandom role playing game once and because my female character was chatting up the male hero of the piece who was already earmarked to be with the other lead male character -even though the people playing these characters swear they weren't (but they were always paired together in fandom slash) - I actually received death threats. Not my character, ME! Some fandomers are seriously insane.
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Date: 2011-05-24 08:26 am (UTC)Thanks for your input. :)
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Date: 2011-05-24 01:31 am (UTC)If you ever get a chance,read Chris Smith's "The White Empire" where the main character is racist and mysoginst and still manages to win the readers over
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Date: 2011-05-24 08:29 am (UTC)I'll have to take a look at The White Empire!
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Date: 2011-05-24 02:12 am (UTC)Have you read "Filth" by Irvine Welsh? It's written from two POVs, one of them being a tapeworm's - and he's the likable one.
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Date: 2011-05-24 08:10 am (UTC)Lonewolf
Date: 2011-05-24 03:18 am (UTC)I haven't read your short, but as a reader and German, I would like to add my two cents: Of course, you as a writer can write whatever you want - be it your opinion or the one of your character POV, but as we say: Your freedom ends where my beginns. And if I - or other readers feel offended, I would think somethings not right.
Anke.
Re: Lonewolf
Date: 2011-05-24 08:09 am (UTC)This is why I've put up a revised version of the story on Smashwords, and may revise it further following consultation with a kind German friend.
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Date: 2011-05-24 03:39 am (UTC)A nice disclaimer, such as the one above, should remind readers that the characters' views may not be shared by the author.
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Date: 2011-05-24 08:31 am (UTC)I'll certainly think more carefully when writing unlikeable characters again.
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Date: 2011-05-24 08:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 08:00 am (UTC)You don't see this on books about murder. "The publisher and author do not condone murder and advise that you don't try this at home" do you?
People denigrate romance readers and having to tell them that you don't actually have those views just adds fuel to the fire.
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Date: 2011-05-24 08:35 am (UTC)I do feel, though, that in this particular case I was probably at fault.
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Date: 2011-05-24 09:45 am (UTC)Hopefully the edited version will appease those who have been offended, but bear in mind, some people make it a hobby to offended by just about anything, and you'll never be able to please them. It isn't worth mangling your writing so that it won't ever cause offense. That way, blandness lies...
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Date: 2011-05-24 05:15 pm (UTC)Then again, the trans* character I'm writing at the moment keeps coming across as kind of sexist (mostly in her views on men, but sometimes where certain types of women are concerned as well) and that's kind of fun to write, even though I disagree with her a lot of the time.
Having said all that, and after reading the other comments, I probably interpreted your story as dark fantasy from the start, and so came into it with a completely different set of expectations as to who the characters were likely to be than a lot of other readers.
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Date: 2011-05-24 05:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 05:59 pm (UTC)Шикарный блог
Date: 2011-06-06 07:23 am (UTC)Познавательный блог
Date: 2012-01-31 09:34 am (UTC)Благодарю за информацию
Date: 2012-02-17 06:25 pm (UTC)