Free advice for cis writers who want to do a story about a trans character troubled by their transition.
Print out your outline. Make sure it's nicely formatted and on quality paper. Take care in your presentation.
Then set it on fire.
Then throw your computer into the fire.
@Nezchan Kind of giving off a Spacing Guild Navigator vibe...
@awhite The algae must flow!
@Nezchan pardon my ignorance but why would that be a bad thing for them to write about?
@ben0_o Because they've got a bad habit of getting it very wrong.
Object example in this case is a new science fiction novel that relies on forced transition as the main plot point.
@Nezchan hmm..see my first thought was that 'why can't they write about it if they've taken the time to research it and approached it thoughtfully and sensitively despite not having gone through it themselves', in sort of an anti-gatekeeper stance. But that relies on them actually doing that
@Nezchan
I'm not sure this is good advice. Writing is a profoundly empathic act. Look at a Clockwork Orange, for instance. The human condition is a very universal thing. While it is true that representing a character like this should be done with a lot of careful research it's by no means undoable, and I do not see any good in arbitrarily making trans characters even more under-represented in fiction.
@Irick If we want trans characters more represented in fiction then promote trans characters /writing/ that fiction instead of cis people half-understanding their stories and centering themselves as the authors who should be telling them.
We've been doing it the wrong way too much, and the results aren't so hot.
@Nezchan
I respectfully disagree with your conclusion. While it is good to take both approaches, excluding the well meaning is not the way to go.
Listen to the manatee. The manatee knows.
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