Yes. I am referring to skin color. For just a few minutes, I ask you to tuck all discomfort of the subject of race safely into your pocket. This is a safe place of learning, and today the lesson is on diversity and how the omission of racial diversity among characters is whitewashing literature. Are…
Category: General Interest
Pachinko: Why Reading an Epic Korean Novel Matters
I first became aware of Korea as an iconic setting for profound fiction when reading Paul Yoon’s award-winning collection of short stories Once the Shore. Despite having traveled to over 27 countries by the time I was thirteen, I’m embarrassed to say how little I knew about Korea, or about Korean literature. Korea has once…
Looking Backward, Looking Ahead
We’re coming down to the cusp of the year. Between the solstice and the new year, I try to look backward to see what happened and to look forward to see what the new year might offer. I’ve written about some of my personal milestones in the last year—Smarter Artists, the Nebula Awards, becoming the CFO…
DEEP POV Lesson 5 – Using Internalization on Purpose
DEEP POV uses internalization purposefully. As you’re studying DEEP POV, you may think there’s an awful lot of internalization. You may be right. And as writers, we need to make sure our internalization – our DEEP POV – is not all over the place. Every thought the POV character has in a scene should be…
I’m a writer. . .aren’t I?
I got stuck on my work-in-progress. So, I answered emails from writing colleagues, I dove headfirst into critique and edit requests, I attended critique groups, I wrote blogs about writing, I did interviews on writing techniques and past releases… I kept busy, and most of it was writing-related. Meanwhile, my WIP languished. I’m a writer,…