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November 2007
Writing the Other: A Practical Approach by Nisi Shawl & Cynthia Ward
Books on writing fiction come in several varieties, some of which I find more useful than others. There are the "How to write in X genre and make a ton of money" books, that I mostly ignore, though more power to the authors who write them. There are writing memoirs in which the authors share the details of their working lives, which I enjoy a great deal. And then there are instructional books that have specific, useful information that can help a writer better develop her craft. These are the ones I like best. Writing the Other: A Practical Approach is one of the latter. The contents include a written version of a workshop Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward conduct for writers interested in stepping out of the comfort zone of only writing characters who are just like their authors, something that's important for any writer to do. The book also includes two short essays by Shawl further exploring the concept of writing the other and an excerpt from one of Shawl's novels that illustrates the points of the preceding content. The workshop makes up the bulk of the book. It focuses on ways in which writers can approach characters with backgrounds other than their own, and, significantly, covers why this is something writers should want to do. Many people avoid writing about characters of different backgrounds out of fear of being offensive. Others don't think it's important and end up with novels and stories where entire segments of humanity disappear without explanation. Some use cultures other than their own to pick and choose cultural tidbits to make their settings more exotic. Each of these approaches arguably weakens a writer's work. Shawl and Ward present strategies for avoiding these pitfalls to strengthen one's writing. The authors created an acronym, ROAARS, to cover the categorizations they discuss, with the letters standing for Race/(sexual) Orientation/Ability/Age/Religion and Sex. Class is conspicuously absent, though the writers do briefly address why they chose not to include it in their acronym and do discuss class as a marker of difference throughout the workshop. They present examples from their own experiences and illustrations from published works. They use accessible examples from books, film, and television to demonstrate their points. The workshop portion of the book also includes exercises that are designed to be done individually or as a group. Each exercise illustrates and builds upon a concept or concern previously discussed and can be completed as the reader goes through the book. They also include several bibliographies for further study. Shawl's essays, "Beautiful Strangers: Transracial Writing for the Sincere" and "Appropriate Cultural Appropriation" are included as well. Earlier versions of each have appeared in other publications, but here, Shawl ties them into the workshop portion, continuing the conversation by offering questions to ask, things to look for, and specific strategies for people to employ in their writing. Writing the Other is SF-focused, but its content is good for any writer regardless of the genre in which she works. I've been in MFA-level writing classes where I've brought up problematic portrayals of race and culture of supporting characters only to have my concerns dismissed as, "not important to the writing," the implication being that these were things better left to interpretation, but not something writers should worry about. This book provides strong arguments for why these are important writing issues. Professional or amateur, working within the speculative genres or without, writers should be considering these matters in their work. From award-winning, professionally published novels to fan-fiction epics, strong characters lead to strong work. Even in the most seemingly monocultural settings, people have different experiences and points of view. This book can help interested writers develop characters to exhibit the complexity of the human experience (and, since we're talking genre here, multifaceted non-human experiences as well). This is of value to readers, too, as we get to reap the benefits when our favorite writers produce quality work. Writing the Other is a worthwhile addition to any writer's library. What I like best about this book is that Shawl and Ward encourage people to acknowledge their fears and concerns, but also to try anyway. They say, "the possibility of failure is no excuse for not making the attempt" (65). This is good advice all around, not just in writing the other, but in writing in general. |
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