Category: Musings

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: Diversify Your Portfolio

DH Hanni

Diversity in reading and writing has always been an issue. In recent years it has rightly gained more traction and become the source of debate and discussion within the publishing community and amongst readers. Readers want books from different voices not only in the characters on the pages, but those who write. The publishing world is listening and working to give readers what they want. This is fantastic and is something which is very overdue.

As I’ve mentioned a few times I am a firm believer in expanding one’s reading. This can be accomplished not only by exploring other genres, but by also trying new authors. But when I take a look at my library I notice a trend. The authors on the self are overwhelming white. The protagonists and antagonists within the pages are white. To get even more finite, the characters are straight, not disabled, and if they are religious, fall more in line with the Christian faith. You get the idea. Take a look at your own library and you’ll more than likely find a similar trend or if not necessarily white, you’ll find you fall into some kind of pattern.

This isn’t based on any inherent bias I have nor do I think there is any inherent bias the publishing industry has. At least I hope the publishing industry doesn’t have one. A lot of it is based upon what is available and what sells. I do, though, shoulder the responsibility for what I choose to read and realize I need to do a better job of diversifying my library. This is something I have slowly started to work on. One great resource has been my book club. The leader of it picks books set in different parts of the world as well as choosing non-white, non-Western authors. Another resource has been going to book festivals and conferences. This allows me to meet and speak with authors about their work. And finally, yes, looking at that photo but only if the story sounds fascinating.

But one area when it comes to encouraging diversity in literature is in how books are marketed. Marketing is tricky no matter what, but factoring in such selling points as race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender, it makes things even messier, in my opinion. While it makes sense to market books based upon genre, why is it okay to market using labels based upon race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion of the characters or the author? I understand these are underserved markets but whereas a label like Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, or Western is based upon the story, labeling a section based upon race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion seems bizarre.

As a reader I find this troubling. To me it doesn’t actually help with diversity in fiction, it hampers it. Does it help the average reader discover new and more diverse voices? I don’t think it does and instead this type of labeling reduces an author’s audience into a niche. This has the potential to hamstring an author’s ability to attract new readers. A diverse audience of readers which is what I think all authors desire. We want our stories to connect with people of all backgrounds because we hope something in that story, be it the plot or the character, will resonate.

One of the most beautiful things about literature is the ability for a story to transcend race, religion, culture, time, age, gender, sexual orientation, and genre. A well-told story connects with readers regardless of barriers. It’s why someone who never reads fantasy may fall in love with Harry Potter. Or someone who never reads westerns may love Lonesome Dove. Or why someone who is white can feel the pain and strength expressed in Maya Angelou’s poetry. Literature can teach us about people’s lives and make us better people by forcing us to see the world through another’s eyes. That metaphorical walk in another person’s shoes.

As a writer I am working to better incorporate diversity in my characters. I admit it is a struggle since the characters who come to me are white, straight, and not disabled. Unfortunately any characters who don’t fall into these categories tend to be supporting players. My biggest quandary is do I try to force changes which don’t fit a character purely for the sake of diversity? My hopes this will change as my own reading habits evolve as I am frequently inspired by what I read. Again, it’s the power of literature to show me something outside myself and I am hopeful it will come through in my writing. Everyone’s voice deserves to be heard.

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: NaNoWriMo 2016

DH Hanni

2013 was the year I not only started this blog but also the first year I participated in National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. Each year since then I’ve participated and won meaning I accomplished the goal of 50,000 words written during the month of November. No small task under normal circumstances and really difficult a couple of years due to coordinating a cross country move and dealing with family matters.

This year, though, I’m not participating. Not for lack of an idea. I’ve got ideas and characters galore, many of which have been nosily rattling around in my head for over a decade. I should probably deal with the backlog at some point. Nor is it because I no longer believe in the idea of NaNoWriMo. I still do and still think it’s a great idea for writers at any stage in their development to try it at least once. It’s a way to work to shake off the wretched gremlins and just accept a crappy rough draft. It’s also great to accept that one doesn’t have to complete the novel in the month of November. Like I mentioned, I’ve used it to start novels and technically last year’s novel isn’t done. I’m not alone in using it as a springboard.

My reason for not participating is I have been focusing the last couple of months on revising a historical fiction book I’ve been working on and off for the past several years. It has a connection to NaNoWriMo because in 2014 I took the opportunity to sit down and start a true rough draft. The first rough draft wound up being well beyond 100,000 words but the first 50,000 to 60,000 words were written during NaNoWriMo 2014. Instead of stressing my brain out with trying to work on something completely new and killing momentum with my current project, I’ve decided to stick with revising my novel.

It is odd not being involved this year. While I’m not participating, I’m still keeping abreast of those in my local writers group who are and have shared on Facebook when my local library is having write-ins. I will miss the rewards you earn on the NaNoWriMo website for earning milestones. I will miss the community which comes together for the month to share frustrations and successes. I will how it encourages me to set up my own rewards both the daily candy, thank you Halloween, and non-food rewards as I each hit target. It’s probably something I should think about whenever I draft a novel regardless of time of year.

So to everyone out there who is participating in NaNoWriMo this year, whether as a veteran or for the first time, good luck and have fun! You will face frustrations and stumbles and staring at walls, but it can be done. Remember, the book doesn’t have to be finished in 50,000 words, just have 50,000 words down by November 30th. Hopefully I’ll be joining you next year in all the nervousness and excitement of a new world.

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: Strengths and Weaknesses

DH Hanni

Every writer, no matter their level of experience and success, has their strengths and weaknesses. Some write such realistic dialogue the reader can hear the characters as if they were sitting next to them having a conversation. Others are able to weave incredibly tight, complex plots. Still others are able to juggle multiple points of view. While others excel at creating unique, compelling characters. But for every writer with a strength or two or three, they also have a weakness or two or three.

And that’s okay. In theory anyway. There is a ton of information about how to improve every aspect of your writing. For someone like me, a born perfectionist who overthinks pretty much everything (thanks anxiety), getting bombarded with such makes me feel that in order to get anything published I must excel in all areas. On an intellectual level I understand this simply isn’t possible. How many of my favorite books and authors could I point out the strengths and weaknesses?

So below are what I consider my strengths and weaknesses at this point. Admittedly there will probably be more weaknesses since I tend to focus more on the negative and how to improve. Anyway, typical massive writer insecurities aside, here we go!

Strengths

Dialogue: One of the things I always appreciate in any story is dialogue. Dialogue for me is not only what gives me a sense of who a character but the story as well. I’m also fascinating by how people talk. Their choice of words, regional slang and dialect, accents, cadence, it’s all interesting.

Since characters are usually the first things that pop into my head I often find I hear their voices before I see them. So when I’m writing I try my best to capture their voice as much as I can. I think in some small way I’ve been successful at this so far. It does take me a lot of effort to really listen in a scene and make sure each person in a scene sounds like himself or herself.

One Point of View: This year I came to the realization trying to juggle more than one person’s point of view isn’t my thing. Recognizing all of the stories I’ve written have always been from one point of view, one character’s point of view is what I’m much better at. My brain concentrates better on just one task and in this case, one person’s story. I can stay inside that person’s world and mind better and it’s easier for me to see things as they do.

Oddly enough, while I don’t particularly care for first person, I noticed a fair amount of the stories I’ve had published have been the ones written in first person. Maybe because this point of view allows more freedom in truly getting deep into the emotion of the person something third person can restrict.

Weaknesses

Setting: I’ve been trying to make more of an effort to bring settings out more. After all it’s what helps ground readers into the world. It’s a struggle for me because in my head I can see it perfectly but it’s difficult to figure out how to translate that visual onto the page. Stories I’ve written of late I think I’ve done a better job but more often than not I worry if I don’t have enough information. What confuses as I study what I read are authors who have the ability to use very few words to give the reader the setting while others go into beautiful, lengthy descriptions. As a reader I respond to both so as a writer I’m unclear as to which route to take.

Descriptions: In a similar vein to setting, descriptions trip me up. Mainly in regards to what characters look like and how best to introduce this when the reader first meets them. There are two schools of thought as to what is the “best” approach. Does one do a quick paragraph description or does one sprinkle details throughout? Personally I like getting the description all at once. I tend to forget what people look like unless there is some kind of memorable feature or if the author beats me over the head with reminders.

As I writer I struggle with seeing the characters in my head yet can’t seem to find a creative way to describe them beyond generic things like blue eyes, curly blonde hair, short, tall, has a limp, etc. This struggle filters over to what people are wearing. Since I tend to write sci-fi, fantasy, and historical fiction, what people wear and look like tend to be kinda important because it gives a visual cue to the reader as to what kind of person these people are.

Endings: I struggle mightily with endings. Beginnings I’ve gotten better at seeing where the appropriate place is to start the story and middles are easy. But endings, yikes. My spouse was the first, and still only person, to point out I seem to have a tendency to kill off characters as a way to end a story. This reeks of lazy writing to me.

Since I do some form of outlining, I’ve concentrated more on endings. I’m also listening to the most common feedback I get that my endings are weak. Honestly getting suggestions for what might work helps spurn my creativity. At least I can take some comfort in I’m not the only person who struggles with endings as many, many books, TV shows, and movies leave many of us unsatisfied.

Crowd Control: This is a term I use to refer to whenever a scene has more than two characters. I find managing two people easy enough. Anything more, oh dear. I have a tendency to forget people until rereading the scene. And heaven forbid there be anything else in the scene like weapons or animals to consider. I’ve started to take up diagraming on a piece of paper where people are physical at in relation to others to have a visual.

Emotion: This one could be in my head. Probably is. But I think I have yet to truly be comfortable allowing a character to be 100% honest in a story.

While I do well writing from a character’s point of view, I feel myself pulling back. I’m scared to dig deeper at times to let some kind of uncomfortable emotion come out for fear of offending. It’s not unusual for an author to be blamed for something a fictional character does. A fictional character is not a reflection of the author. Yet fear of judgment and possible hate email holds me back from allowing any kind of raw, pure emotion aside from what is socially acceptable from coming out.

This is something I view as pretty detrimental to my characters and ultimately my career and probably the one weakness which worries me the most. It’s also the one I think there is no amount of advice which can be given other than my own internal work to get over it.

 

So there you have it. My strengths and weaknesses as I see them right now. It is my hope I can turn some of these weaknesses into strengths. But I must keep in mind, and every other writer must keep in mind as well, that you cannot excel in all areas. Play to your strengths and work on your weaknesses.