This is a continuation from last week’s article, because in literature, everything is connected.
Finding inspiration in writing poetry is like pouring alcohol — precise, thrilling, foreshadowing — while developing the piece is bold like taking the shots you just poured in one breath, and editing the finished poem — the words intoxicated and the stanzas ecstatic — is the morning after. You wake up, hungover, the taste of alcohol and poetry lingering in the air and in the back of your throat. There is a beautiful mess from last night. Suppose it’s like picking torn-up confetti and broken bottles off the ground, but the jagged edges turn into knives, or like closing the tab for a horror film you couldn’t have gotten out of bed to turn off, but flashbacks still haunt you with the sun over the horizon. It hurts to read your own drunken thoughts — because you know they’re true, because you know that if you wanted to say something drunk then you wanted to do it when you were sober. It hurts to know that you’re hurting.
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A Short History of Lesbian Pulp Fiction6/19/2021 LGBTQ+ novels have seriously come so far. Odds are, if you go into any major book store, you'll be able to find at least a few LGBTQ+ books. Sure, sometimes the bookstore won’t have a huge section, or it might just be Elton John’s best selling autobiography across the shelves, but the books are still there. Before LGBTQ+ celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Tan France, and Neil Patrick Harris were writing unapologetic memoirs about their adventurous gay lives, there was pulp fiction. More specifically, the subset of lesbian pulp fiction, a genre of novels which were equal parts secret and stubborn in existence.
Trigger Warning for discussion of homophobia, the bury your gays trope, and brief discussion of violence against LGBTQ+ people. Enhance Your Writing with Word Painting6/18/2021 When you think of “word painting” you might think of imagery, but this term actually originates in music theory. Simply described, it is when the music of a song mimics its lyrics. Here’s a helpful Wikipedia article about the history of word painting if you’d like to learn more.
But why am I talking about this on a writing blog? Good question. The art forms of music and writing share this technique of word painting. In writing it’s when the sound or rhythm of words reflects the action being described. But let’s back up to where word painting began. A famous example in music is the note progression in “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz. The notes between “some” and “where” go way up high like the lyrics say. You can hear the lyric here. School's out and pride month is in full swing! It’s a great time to get some writing out there if you haven’t already. Whether you’re an LGBTQ+ writer, or writing about LGBTQ+ characters, here’s a good resource list for places that are judgment free.
Before I list them out I’d like to explain a little bit what these sites offer. Some sites are larger publishers that have opportunities for young writers like Lambda Literary. Others are literary magazines and journals that specialize in LGBTQ+ writing or minority authors. Some resources are just tried and true at TYWI. And some are safe spaces to publish freely without censorship. Whether you’re out or closeted, these are great places to publish your sapphic love stories, journeys of self-discovery, or anything else you feel ready to share to the world. On Writing Asexuality6/16/2021 Asexuality is probably not a word you are used to hearing often. Asexual characters are often ignored in the media and often neglected in real life. Doing a quick google search, only eight characters come up. From my own knowledge of the media there are not any that come to mind. The Wikipedia page lists a little over 63 total characters that either canonically identify as asexual or that the creator has stated after the fact.
The actual definition of asexuality is one who does not experience sexual attraction. This does not mean they do not like sex or do not want a relationship. There are many different types of aces out there. Sex-positive and sex-repulsed, relationship positive and relationship repulsed, and even polyamorous aces all exist within the community. I personally am sex-repulsed, so that is what I will be focusing on, but just because aces do not experience this type of attraction does not mean they have negative views on relationships of any nature. This article contains spoilers for the TV show BoJack Horseman.
There’s an ongoing debate in writing: how do you write honest representation when it means including experiences outside of your own? How can you be inclusive of other genders and sexualities in your writing? I mull over these questions a lot, trying to determine how I can best represent other communities and experiences. But as a straight white male, I do not have the answer. I have a limited world view, and will never fully understand the experiences of other people. Yet, I can’t just write a book about only straight white cisgender men. That would be awful, boring, shallow, and dishonest. So what do we do? How do we go about offering the best representation of communities we don’t belong to? Writers often fall short of realizing how different it can be to interact with the world as an LGBTQ+ person. Everything about you factors into this tangled web of worldview and interaction.
Sometimes, it’s radiant and accepting, and sometimes, it’s displacing and alienating. And every now and then, it’s both at the same time. While this article is less advice and more a distorted sort of inspiration, I hope it helps flesh out your LGBTQ+ characters and the experiences that shape them into who they are. Wasted Sobriety: Development in Writing6/13/2021 This is a continuation from last week’s article in the same way that peace is a sequel of suffering.
You stare at the lines of black text on your laptop screen — the metaphor about nights and stars and being human. Something is missing; words are hoarded in the back of your throat and it’s unendurable, it’s suffocating, but you find yourself unable to cough out anything other than colorless blood. The figurative language you once deemed as clever now screams cliché. It’s pretentious; you’re pretentious, but you know of no other ways to write. To put it simply: you make metaphors out of everything because you think abstract things can’t weigh you down. You embody the paradox of using writing as a means to abstain from being human, knowing that it’s the most human thing to create — more than you make a home in your own torso. [Contains spoilers for Supernatural by CW]
This is how it would go usually: Fingers impatiently tap on the counter and he is suddenly jolted from his stream of thought. “Are you done dreaming yet?” the customer demands. He rolls his eyes reaching out to prepare the coffee, not reacting to the fond smile that takes over the customer’s face. It’s a weird ritual of banter that they have between them and he wouldn’t give it up for the world. He wonders if one day, he’ll get to learn more about his customer than a single T written on the side of the cup. Beep! Beep! He immediately startles and swears. His superhero alarm is ringing. But, he could not leave right now! His identity would be exposed! And that too in front of his favorite customer? No! But, he had a decision to make… Or how it would go if I was writing a 25k, strangers to lovers, superhero secret identities, hurt/comfort, fluff, coffee shop au. We’ve all been there one way or another. Our favourite show takes a long, long time to come back on air or the romantic subtext between two characters is never addressed and the only way to let it all out is through fiction. And that’s where fanfiction comes in. LGBTQ+ representation is so important. Especially if you’re trying to figure yourself out, it’s important to know that you aren’t alone. I don’t believe that people should feel ashamed of their sexuality or gender identity (or even just questioning it) under any circumstances. That being said, there are many reasons why someone, especially if you’re a teen at home, may not be living in a safe enough environment to come out. If you’re living in a place where you feel like you can’t be openly and authentically yourself, take a look at these books. These are novels with canon LGBTQ+ characters and themes. However, these books don’t look like it at first glance, so if your parents happen to notice you reading them, you don’t have to worry about outing yourself. Coming out is an exceptionally personal choice: never feel pressured to reveal private information about yourself if it isn’t safe.
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