Last month, I talked about the many stories we hold and mentioned that I want to talk about the need for space for people to make (writing) mistakes. This is mostly because my own writing is filled with things that, if I did them again today, I would do differently. This is really a view born from my personal experience, and I’m not eloquent enough to make a general argument so I’ll just share my experience and hope that my message goes through. But first, the main point of today’s post:
Writing mistakes, including those mistakes about culture, are not unforgivable sins.
(Note, I said “writing mistakes” not “stalking your reviewer and writing about that” mistake. The latter involves writing but is not a writing mistake at all.)
When I first started writing, I wrote what I considered to be a very typical story – a dark re-imagining of the Nutcracker’s tale. It was wholly based on what I knew of the myth and I made no attempts to change the setting.
However, for the second book, which explores the complicated relationships family can have through the question: “What if Sleeping Beauty refused to give her daughter a name?”, I wanted to bring things closer to home. The relationship between these two characters had struck me as being familiar, something that was close to home. And so, I wanted to make the setting Asian.
At that time, I was living in Japan, so the answer seemed rather simple to me – I would take bits of Japanese culture I liked and bits of Chinese culture I liked to combine them into my own world. My reasoning was that since it was fantasy, the influences could be whatever I wanted. Each decision made sense to me, with what I knew of each culture at that time.
However, after I started learning more about Chinese history and culture, I realised that what I wrote was very shallow because my understanding at that time was pretty shallow. Sure, I knew a bit about Chinese culture because I was raised in it, but I didn’t understand it deeply enough to be original. I also realised that it may not have been the best idea to mix two cultures, because while I knew which influence was Chinese and which was Japanese, the readers may not have. And even though it is fantasy, people may end up coming away confused about what was Chinese and what was Japanese (or they might just think the two countries have the same culture!).
Do I regret writing the book? No!
What I’m trying to say, in my inarticulate way, is that accurately writing cultures into stories is difficult. Even people who grew up in that culture can make mistakes, and I can imagine that for people who are not from that culture, it’s even easier to make a misstep. And so, because I feel that diverse stories that draw from a range of backgrounds are important, I believe that it’s important that we hold space for writers to make mistakes. Given how different each person’s lived experience is, I think it would be very easy to make a mistake when writing – what may pass one beta/sensitivity reader may not pass another.
For me, as long as the writer has put in a good faith effort to understand a culture before translating it to print (i.e. they are not using cultural stereotypes or ridiculing the culture), then there’s no reason to cancel them. I may or may not like the stories, but they should still exist. It’s when we have the space to make mistakes that we have the space to learn.
I think it’s so hard with the internet now because everyone sees your mistakes and it feels like there really is no forgiveness. I do try to approach life with the belief that most people mean well. That they did their best, and they are also willing to listen and they are willing to try to do better. But internet culture seems like the opposite, like everyone has to make sure people who did something “wrong” must suffer in payment.
There is the added complication that not everyone agrees what is “wrong.” There are have been kerfuffles over books, for instance, that were said to be inaccurate–only for the author to come forward and say that the experience depicted was their own. It can be hard for the internet to recognize that life is complex and not everyone experiences it the same way or agrees on what stories should be told and how. I think all we can really do is extend everyone some grace, try to listen, and try to come to answers through lively–but still respectful–debate.
I would also note that even writers of a certain culture may not always have the answers. I recently finished a book where the author wrote at the end that they had to research the folklore the entire book was based on. It was their culture, but they weren’t familiar with every aspect of it. Well, culture is a big thing. It makes sense not even someone who grew up with it would know everything. I would hope that readers would recognize that the author made a good-faith effort to bring her culture into mainstream publishing and share it with others. And maybe others can continue the conversation from there.
I’ve seen the internet (the SG internet, to be specific) try to cancel people for views they had in the past, even though they quite clearly hold different views at the time the cancelling tried to take place. It’s so counter-intuitive to me because that means that people have no incentive to change their minds.
Very much agree that writers may make mistakes even with their own cultures! I don’t think readers should stop pointing out discrepancies/their feelings in their reviews, it should be part of the dialogue if the author is planning to continue to write/learn. So I think effort is needed on both parts instead of just jumping to cancel others (I’ll note that some cancelled authors have previously tried to cancel other authors, which I think contributes to the problem as well.)
Yeah, I don’t like when people dig up Tweets from ten years ago to try to cancel people. Most people DO change over the course of a decade, and I think most of us would not want to be judged based on our past selves. I think people deserve a chance to show that they’ve changed.
And, yes! I think that’s the key! Dialogue is needed, but cancel culture shuts down that dialogue and says it’s not interested in anything but making the person pay. It doesn’t even feel like it’s often about creating real, positive change.
I have seen authors who are a big part of cancel culture getting cancelled and I do wonder how long the movement can last in its current form before it just…eats itself?
I do think it’s eating itself. Problem is, so many people buy into the idea that there’s no shortage of new people willing to cancel and people who are subject to being cancelled.
I loved the book 🙂
A fun mix of cultures as a setting that elevated the story as a whole in my opinion.
The only way to get better at writing is to write. Making mistakes is pretty much necessary to get better at something. And by making mistakes you not only get better at your craft but you also gain a lot of knowledge and wisdom, which makes the whole experience of writing a book that much more satisfying.
We live in a time where some people will attack any mistake you make like a pack of rabid wolverines though. I came across a survey earlier this year that said 73% of the 950+ participating self published authors had been harassed because of their writing. That scares me a bit to be honest.
Thank you for the kind words!
Yes, I definitely agree that you get better at writing by writing more. I had a convo with someone who mentioned putting her book on hold because she was afraid of making mistakes, and I completely understand that fear. But it’s also a pity because I would have loved to see her stories out in the world!
It’s such a shame that although the internet makes it easier for us to put our stories into the world, it also makes it easier for people to get attacked.
This was such an interesting article, I loved it! You bring up some really important points about intent when creating and growing and improving over time
Thank you!! Intent matters hugely, imo. And of course, authors have to be willing to take the feedback and grow/learn from it even if it is difficult to do so.
That is very well said. And yes authors do make mistakes as no one is perfect and expecting to include every aspect of life and culture is rather impossible. I only point out things when it comes to culture when the point is well known in the community, it’s kind of general and is easy to find even from internet but I wouldn’t dwell on it if the story is really good.
I like your approach! I definitely like hearing how something does/does not follow with the reviewer’s experiences – it makes it interesting and part of how we interact with books.