Representing PoC In Fantasy When Their Country/Continent Doesn’t Exist

Hi, I’ve been considering starting a book in the fantasy genre. I really wanted to give some Native American representation in it, since it's something that I rarely see. However, this story wouldn't take place in America, it would be in a completely different world (though one loosely based off of earth in the 14 hundreds ish?) This is similar to your mixing cultures post, but I wanted to know: is there a good way to give Native American representation in stories that aren’t historical fiction?

Representing PoC in Fantasy When Their Country/Continent Doesn’t Exist

The core of this question is something we’ve gotten across a few different ethnicities, and it basically boils down to: “how can I let my readers know these people are from a certain place without calling them by this certain place?” Aka, how can I let people know somebody is Chinese if I can’t call them Chinese, or, in your case, some Native American nation without having a North America.

Notes on Language

As I have said multiple times, there is no such thing as “Native American culture”. It’s an umbrella term. Even if you are doing fantasy you need to pick a nation and/or confederacy.

Step One

How do you code somebody as European?

This sounds like a very silly question, but consider it seriously.

How do you?

They probably live in huts or castles; there are lords and kings and knights; they eat stew and bread and drumsticks; they celebrate the winter solstice as a major holiday/new year; women wear dresses while men wear pants; there are pubs and farms and lots of wheat; the weather is snowy in winter and warm in summer.

Now swap all those components out for whatever people you’re thinking about.

Iroquois? They live in longhouses; there is a confederacy and democracy and lots of warriors from multiple nations; they eat corn, beans, and squash (those three considered sacred and grown together), with fish and wild game; they wear mostly leather garments with furs in winter; there are nights by the fire and cities and the rituals will change by the nation (remember the Iroquois were a confederacy made up of five or six tribes, depending on period); the weather is again snowy in winter and warm in summer.

Chinese? They harvest rice; there is an emperor appointed by the gods and scholars everywhere; they use a lunar calendar and have a New Year in spring; their trade ships are huge and their resources are plenty; they live in wood structures with paper walls or mud brick; they use jade and ivory for talismans; their culture is hugely varied depending on the province; their weather is mostly tropical, with monsoons instead of snow on lowlands, but their mountains do get chilly.

You get the gist.

Break down what it is that makes a world read as European (let’s be honest, usually English and Germanic) to you, then swap out the parts with the appropriate places in another culture.

Step Two

Research, research, research. Google is your friend. Ask it the questions for “what did the Cree eat” and “how did Ottoman government work.” These are your basics. This is what you’ll use to figure out the building blocks of culture.

You’ll also want to research their climate. As I say in How To Blend Cultures, culture comes from climate. If you don’t have the climate, animals, plants, and weather down, it’ll ring false.

You can see more at So You Want To Save The World From Bad Representation.

Step Three

Start to build the humans and how they interact with others. How are the trade relations? What are the internal attitudes about the culture— how do they see outsiders? How do outsiders see them? Are there power imbalances? How about greed and desire to take over?

This is where you need to do even more research on how different groups interacted with others. Native American stories are oftentimes painful to read, and I would strongly suggest to not take a colonizer route for a fantasy novel.

This does, however, mean you might not be researching how Natives saw Europeans— you’ll be researching how they saw neighbours.

You’ll also want to look up the social rules to get a sense for how they interacted with each other, just for character building purposes.

Step Four

Sensitivity readers everywhere! You’ll really want to get somebody from the nation to read over the story to make sure you’ve gotten things right— it’s probably preferable to get somebody when you’re still in the concept stage, because a lot of glaring errors can be missed and it’s best to catch them before you start writing them.

Making mistakes is 100% not a huge moral failing. Researching cultures without much information on them is hard. So long as you understand the corrections aren’t a reflection on your character, just chalk them up to ignorance (how often do most writers get basic medical, weapon, or animal knowledge wrong? Extremely often).

Step Five

This is where you really get into the meat of creating people. You’ve built their culture and environment into your worldbuilding, so now you have the tools you need to create characters who feel like part of the culture.

You’ll really want to keep in mind that every culture has a variety of people. While your research will say people roughly behave in a certain way, people are people and break cultural rules all the time. Their background will influence what rules they break and how they relate to the world, but there will be no one person who follows every cultural rule down to the letter.

Step Six

Write!

Step Seven

More sensitivity readers! See step 4 for notes.

Step Eight

Rewrite— and trust me, you will need to. Writing is rewriting.

Repeat steps seven and eight until story is done.

Extra Notes

I’ll be honest— you’re probably going to need a certain amount of either goodwill (if you’re lucky enough to make friends within the group you’re trying to represent— but seriously, please do not make friends with us for the sole purpose of using us as sensitivity readers. It’s not nice) and/or money to get to publishing level.

The good part is the first three steps are free, and these first three steps are what will allow you to hurt others less when you approach. While you’ll still likely make mistakes, you’ll make a few less (and hopefully no glaring ones, but it can/does happen) so long as you do your due diligence in making sure you at least try to understand the basics.

And once you feel like you’ve understood the basics… dive down even deeper because chances are you’re about to reach a tipping point for realizing how little you know.

People will always find you did something wrong. You will never get culture 100% accurate— not even people who were born and raised in it will, because as I said in step five: cultures have a huge variety of people in them, so everyone will interact with it differently. But you can work your hardest to capture one experience, make it as accurate as possible, and learn more for next time.

~ Mod Lesya

About My Side WIP

Intro

By now, most of you have probably know that that I’ve been planning a new book, and I’m happy to finally introduce it to everyone as my side WIP! It explores a lot of themes and topics that are very close to my heart. I hope to be more open about this WIP, and I’m very excited to share it!

Putting this much info about my WIP online is a huge admission and gesture of trust, but I trust you guys. I hope you’ll continue to prove that my trust is not unfounded.

Basics

Title: Pawn

Main character: Alice Lee

Age group: Middle-Grade/YA

Genre: Fairy-tale retelling of Alice In Wonderland / Alice Through the Looking Glass, fantasy

Elevator pitch: The Chronicles of Narnia meets Legendborn in this Asian Alice retelling

Synopsis:

As children, Alice Lee and her older sister Evie created Meer, an imaginary world where they would finally belong. But as the two sisters grew older, they grew apart--in both emotion and imagination.

Four years after she first abandoned the fantasy land of Meer, Alice’s life forever changes in a horrible accident that leaves her injured and Evie dead. She has no memory of what happened that night, and she fears that there’s something more to the truth. Now, one month after the incident, she still doesn't remember her past.

But her past hasn't forgotten her. When she encounters an old friend from Meer, Alice discovers that the imaginary world of her childhood is very real—and in trouble. The Red Queen and the White Queen who ruled the land all those years ago are suddenly and brutally enforcing their reign. Her old friend is part of the rebellion that fights back against them--and he suspects that Evie’s death was no accident.

Hoping to find answers about her sister’s death and her own scars, Alice soon finds herself involved in a deadly game where the Red Queen and the White Queen control the chess pieces. One wrong move will cost Alice the board and any chance at reclaiming Meer. Will she ever be more than a pawn in a game? Or will she play straight into her enemy’s hands?

Inspiration

I’ve always wanted to write a retelling, but there were so many stories to choose from. In the end, though, there was really only one I could begin with, and that was Alice in Wonderland.

Lewis Carroll's Alice consistently expresses a confusion about her own identity and a stubborn adherence to logic, despite her travels being distinctly illogical. She clings to her old self in a world where she's someone new--someone other. I often write Asian heroines, and it wasn’t too hard for me to make the connection between that and identity of the self.

How do others define us, how do we break free of those definitions, and how do we define ourselves? Those are some of the big questions in my WIP. It’s set both in the real world and in a fantasy world, so it gives me more room to explore modern issues.

That’s not the only thing I want to do in this book, though. Alice just appeals to me as a stubborn, practical heroine who’s very set in her ways until her circumstances change completely. I found myself asking questions of the original story: What if Alice’s sister had found Wonderland first and introduced it to her? What if Alice rejected it? What if it changed, completely and irrevocably? And what if Alice was then forced to return and face her past?

This is a very personal WIP, due to the topics and questions it incorporates. Honestly, it’s a very indulgent story, but it’s one that I enjoy a lot. I hope to share more about it and my process in the future. Thank you for reading!

5 notes View Post

the-writer-muse

3 years ago

writing characters with one eye

i can pretty much guarantee that ↑that↑ is not a heading you see everyday.

now i will not be giving advice on writing cyclopses, (though it may be sort of the same thing) i still hope this will be helpful for some people out there that are looking to provide a more diverse cast to their wip!

i have never ever ever read a book, watch a show movie etc etc that involves a character with one eye. (aside from those badass characters who wear eye patches bc they lost sight in one eye in some badass way)

for context: i am one of many people who was born with microphtalmia, an eye disease that results in one or both eyes develope smaller than normal at birth. i myself was born with a smaller left eye, which resulted in my left eye being removed exactly twenty days after birth.

microphthalmia (along with many other eye diseases) typically leads to being half or fully blind. i lucked out and only lost my left eye which i am so so thankful for.

i would really really love to see more representation for my community in literature, especially so people would come to see that being half blind isn’t as unusual and weird as people make it out to be.

without further ado, i present to you, a list of information, facts, and first hand experiences from yours truly!

i’ve had prosthetic eyes made to fit my eye socket for about fifteen years (i’m 16 lol) (the first 6ish months after the surgery i never had a prosthetic)

in my life i’ve had four different prosthetic eyes made because just like other people, my eye socket grew alongside the rest of me, meaning the prosthetic needed to be made bigger

i’ve had my current prosthetic for four years now, the past ones lasted about 2-3 years at a time. this one will probably last me through the rest of my life unless i need/want a new one

as opposed to most media/assumptions, my prosthetic (along with most prosthetics) is PLASTIC (people always think it’s glass) and only half a circle!!

i’ve had three surgeries related to my eye

i do not have depth perception which makes doing certain things very difficult (estimating distance, how close/far i am from something etc)

driving is not affected too much, i just have to turn my head more than other people. i believe being blind in the right eye might be more difficult, but i couldn’t say

doing my make up is kinda easy, except for eyeliner is a pain in the ASS since most people close their eye to do it on their upper lid, but clearly i can’t close my right eye whilst doing it lol

my family as well as my friends and even myself often forget i have a prosthetic, which sometimes results in awkward/funny situations

i hate walking with people on my right bc i can’t tell where they are unless i’m constantly looking down at my/their feet

i sucked at basketball bc i had such a disadvantage (no depth perception, i could only see half the court, i was constantly turning my head) but professional swimming is much easier for me since it’s not a contact sport and doesn’t really require for me to be paying attention to a million things at once

i rarely have to take my prosthetic out, and if i do, it’s either to clean it, (we do get eye crusties on our prosthetics just like other people do when they have pink eye or sever allergies) it’s bothering me/really dry, or i want to take it out to show/scare people lol

a lot of people don’t realize when i first meet them that it’s fake bc my recent prosthetic is amazing accurate to my real eye. others notice and assume i have a lazy eye since it doesn’t move

for some reason people think i can’t cry out of my left (prosthetic) eye??? i still have a tear duct??? i actually think more tears come out of my left tear duct than my right lol

i am extremely self conscious about it, but i know there are other one-eyed beauties out there who aren’t which is amazing!! i try to live vicariously through them lol

i make sooo many jokes about my eye lol, and i’m usually ok w other people making jokes as long as they aren’t like overly rude/offensive, then i’ll feel a lil bad about my self

people never really made fun of it, but kids in middle school likes to wave things in front of my left eye/on my left side that i couldn’t see which got really annoying after a while

getting custom designed prosthetics are available, but they’re really expensive (so are normal lol) they costs thousands of dollars, just like other prosthetics do

i run into things that are on my left side ALL THE TIME it’s actually kinda funny lolol

i try to hide my left eye/turn more to my left side in photos bc my eyes aren’t always looking in the same direction, which really gets to me

i wear glasses for both protection and bc my right eye is -1.75 lmao but i did used to wear non-prescription glasses purely for safety

i do have contacts to wear during the summer, swim meets etc, for when i don’t want/can’t wear my glasses but need to see. bc of this, i have a second pair of glasses that have no prescription

if doctors/scientists managed to figure out a way to fix microphthalmia (a birth defect), or do a sort of eye transplant, i would not be able to have that done to me because all parts of my left eye have been removed from my body

microphthalmia is NOT the only disease that results in the haver losing sight in one or both eyes!! there are many others, but it is not my place to share any experiences for something i have not experienced!!!

for once i just want to see a clumsy character who has one eye that WASNT a result of some tragic event.

so please please please consider including a character with one working eye in your wip. it would mean the world to myself and all the other members of the community (there’s a lot of us, trust me) plus, i wouldn’t mind starting an acting debut playing a half-blind female protagonist, that would be so dope.

that’s about all i can think of for now! please send an ask or reply to this post if you have any questions, i’m willing to answer any!!! and if you happen to be a member of the one eye club, please add to this post!! that would mean the world to me:)

21K notes View Post

the-writer-muse

3 years ago

dark academia book list

The Secret History by Donna Tart

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman

A deadly Education by Naomi Novik

The Decay of Living by Oscar Wilde

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Dead Poets Society by Nancy H Kleinbaum

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

The Little Friend by Donan Tartt

Vicious by V. E. Schwab

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marissa Pessl

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Gentlemen and Players by Joan Harris

The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

Maurice by E. M. Forster

A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde

Vita Nostra by Marina and Serhiy Dyachenko

Poems by Oscar Wilde

The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson

Ace of Spades by Fradiah Àbíke-Íyímídé

If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

The Lessons by Naomi Alderman

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Wilder Girls by Rory Powers

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

The Bellweather Revivals by Benjamin Wood

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Truants by Kate Weinberg

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

In the Woods by Tana French

The Atlas Six by Olivia Blake

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Persuasion by Jane Austen

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Love and Friendship by Jane Austen

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

Bunny by Mona Awad

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

The Ivies by Alexa Donne

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

Emma by Jane Austen

The Watsons by Jane Austen

The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino

The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter

The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring

Confessions by Kanae Minato

Truth Exercise by Susan Choi

We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

The Basic Eight by Daniel Handle

Confessions by Kanae Minato

Lady Susan by Jane Austen

3K notes View Post

the-writer-muse

3 years ago

how to balance multiple wips

i never thought that i would be qualified to make a post on this since i’ve only ever had one wip i was working on at one time, but since finishing the first draft of my first novel, that has changed! having more than one wip can be stressful and chaotic, which is why i’m going to offer some of my tips on how to keep your stories straight.

one per day

a useful strategy i’ve found is to decide which wip you’ll be working on today and set your daily goal for it. i do this by using my google calendar to plan out my writing week in sessions. you don’t always have to plan ahead on what wip you’ll work on—on occasion i schedule open or free writing sessions where i can choose which wip i want to work on that particular day. you can ofc adapt this strategy how you need, but i do think it’s one of the best ones i have to offer.

work on projects you love

you should spend your writing time with a story and characters you adore. if something isn’t working for you in one of your wips, don’t be afraid to change it or to put that project aside for a little while to focus on other wips. you don’t have to keep going with every single wip you ever started—as writers, our stories will fluctuate and persist and if we really love one, it will stick around for as long as you want it. sometimes it’s hard to let go, and you never truly have to. your characters and their stories will always be a part of you, no matter if you’ve left them behind or they still stand by your side.

stuck on one, move to another

one of the great things about having multiple wips is that you will probably always have something you can bounce back to. say one of your plots gives you writer’s block and you just can’t get past it. turning to one of your other wips will keep your creative brain busy and pumping out ideas, which will eventually lead to your block breaking down. this is definitely one of the best things about having more than one wip at a time, but if you can always start a small writing project like a short story too to overcome writer’s block!

distinguish battle lines

it is important to draw distinct lines between your wips to help keep you organized and your plots tight. you want to avoid the voices of one wip bleeding into another, so this is another good reason to stick to one wip per day. before you start writing, go through your wip notes or outline or skim the last few paragraphs you wrote to ensure your mind re-grasps the style of your current wip. deciding and identifying the differences like point of view (first person or third?), the number of character perspectives, the pacing, and the base themes will help with this.

final word

it really is up to you to take initiative of your writing projects and prioritize your time between them. remember not to overwork or stress yourself and practice making reasonable and achievable goals. as always, you and your mental health come first so don’t forget to take care of yourself!! a bit of a shorter post today but i hope you still find it useful. that’s all from me :)

14 notes View Post

the-writer-muse

3 years ago

ty for the tag, i love this <3

parts of a story as aesthetics-

characters: ivy creeping up a building wall, jasmine perfume, chipped nail polish, white satin pillows, laughing with your friends while walking down the block, that smirk when you figure out a secret, jeweled masks for masquerades, looking up to see the rain fall on you, earbuds falling out on the bus, listening to podcasts

plot: heated philosophical debates at midnight, poetry of different cultures, the bridge of every song forever on loop in your head, the fire in you that makes you crave, listening to lord huron, acoustic guitars, leather-bound diaries, analog clocks, that realizing moment when everything makes sense, flannel clothing

romance: pastel candy hearts, ruffled skirts, holding a warm hand in the middle of the night, soft hair, sunlight streaming through the curtains, reblogging fanart, oversized sweaters, calligraphy, listening to the songs your parents did, that pining look across the room, faux fur, pastel purple, bright eyes

development: plot twists, redemption, seeing the good in everyone, auto tuned voices, quoting the most obscure people of the century, pursed lips, bubblegum pink hair, dangling earrings, combat boots, starry skies, soft voices, mullets, tapping out songs, marbled countertops, falling out pom-poms

world-building: seeing more than what is in front of you, warm brown eyes, braiding your friend’s hair, replying to everything with finger guns, playing the piano, the smell of bread in the air, watercolors, hair in front of your eyes, craning your neck to look, the only raised hand in the room

19 notes View Post

the-writer-muse

3 years ago

the sheer offensiveness of rereading something you wrote, discovering that, hey, it’s actually pretty good, and then reaching the end, wherein you realize that if you want more you actually have to write it

99K notes View Post

the-writer-muse

3 years ago

checking in with my wips to see if they’ve written themselves