Speaking of fandom, am I the last fan on earth to see this absolute gem with Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto? I just saw it and came here to share it. George, your post was at the top of the feed. Coincidence is weird. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVoDnGVkWCA
No matter what genre/universe/series/etc. there is always someone reading it who is an expert in some background detail that will immediately notice when you've made a mistake.
Like, why would you want to willingly write something that's bad or inaccurate when you can ask someone to read it and make sure you're getting it right?
And a lot of writers feel they aren't equipped to write about certain groups, and thus leave them out. This is how you gain the knowledge to expand your writing.
I'm writing an erotic detective cozy about a woman in the South Seas and I'm trying to be very accurate as to the culture of the times, dress, activities, way of life, etc. that would have been prevalent in the 1800s.
So a sensitivity read from a real Polynesian woman would be helpful. 😅
There are Pasifika women who are sensitivity readers. Ask your agent who you can hire to help you so that you aren't relying on outside interpretations of history. There are many professional people who do this well.
Just the way you conflate South Seas and Polynesian immediately makes me think that you need to start researching and engaging with someone on this way earlier than a sensitivity read.
Which island nation? Are the indigenous people Polynesian, Melanesian, Micronesian? How will you avoid exoticism?
I hope you find one! As informal sensitivity reader, I've seen the difference it's made to the female and/or queer characters my partner writes, in the ten years we've been together. He wrote a stonker of a love story between women for the Midnight Pals podcast, reckons it's the best he's written.
It's just a form of editing to make your writing stronger. Like you'd check with a geologist if you're writing about geology, you get a wheelchair user to check if the descriptions of using a chair are accurate and if you're using unintentionally harmful tropes. It's just editing.
I'm sorry that you feel that way. Does having your work edited have the same effect for you? A sensitivity read is just an extra editing pass. It gives you more opportunity to ensure you aren't accidentally saying something you don't intend.
No, I guess I needed some clarity. This is fine. I was concerned this reading was a measuring stick to see if I might offend someone with what I was writing.
It's not whether you're offending someone, it's whether you're accidentally saying something that is likely to offend someone you didn't WANT to offend for a reason you didn't mean.
*considers getting Tory sensitivity readers to make sure they're offended*
It can be informal too. I'm a queer disabled woman, my partner is a non-disabled straight man, so he often asks me to check some bits of his writing, or just discusses ideas first. He's more confident about writing women and queer characters as a result, and they're better fleshed out.
Well, it can be, if the author has accidentally used a nasty racist slur, for instance. I think it's more about having someone with greater insight into being a minority check it over. Like my friend Ely hired a Sikh sensitivity reader to check their Sikh character in Duck Feet. Paid job.
But what if it's not an accident?
I believe fiction novels are entirely that, fiction. We shouldn't be limited to what we can say and illustrate in our works. If we need to write something offensive to get a specific point across, i.e. persecution, bullying, etc., then we should be free to do that.
The existence of sensitivity readers doesn't limit you at all. You're just getting an opinion from someone with more insight than you on a certain effect your writing may be having. Whether/why you seek that opinion, and what you do with the information, is entirely up to you
And if you are writing about persecution of minorities, then you should be focusing on doing that well, it's a difficult job. That means research and good editing, and sensitivity readers are a really useful tool there. It's not just an excuse to write slurs! The first part is listening to others.
If a publisher rejects a text for being racist drivel, on the other hand, that's their right, and I'm fine with their decision. But I'm much more concerned with the marginalised writers being unfairly excluded. Bigots never seen to have trouble airing their views very loudly.
People are limited in what they write all the time, that's how publishing works. The writer I mentioned spent twenty years getting knocked back by publishers for being "too niche", which meant queer and working class. They're highly respected and winning awards now.
My partner also points out that it makes sure you offend only the people you want to offend, that your writing is doing what you intended. No one is suggesting sensitivity reading on behalf of Tories!
I once panic-called Harvard's physics dept, just before Famously Grouchy Actor was to record narration for me. My q: wh. side of Einstein's GR equation is matter-energy; wh. spacetime? Nobel laureate Sheldon Glashow laughed & told me it didn't matter. I said he should see my email if I got it wrong.
Comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVoDnGVkWCA
😂🤣😂
The more this world changes, the less I feel like writing anything. 😥
So a sensitivity read from a real Polynesian woman would be helpful. 😅
Which island nation? Are the indigenous people Polynesian, Melanesian, Micronesian? How will you avoid exoticism?
Thanks, gang. 😁
Apparently this is not the case.
*considers getting Tory sensitivity readers to make sure they're offended*
Well, I'm usually pretty good about not doing that in my writing anyway.
Yay. 😁
I believe fiction novels are entirely that, fiction. We shouldn't be limited to what we can say and illustrate in our works. If we need to write something offensive to get a specific point across, i.e. persecution, bullying, etc., then we should be free to do that.
That was a better explanation. 😅
Made me laugh online for at least a decade. She’s a heckuva writer with a generous soul, who deserved better than to get blindsided by long covid.
I hope they #FindACure for that, not just a treatment.