Do people give you shit over writing cis-men and cis-women (which you “clearly have no experience with,” all sarcasms intended)? Or is it that your non-binary/trans/queer characters have to be “right”? Either way, the people giving you crap are themselves full of crap!
I didn’t realize that writing for the non-binary was harder than for straight folks.
You may get pressured by other people to write a certain way, but don’t give yourself any extra pressure, okay? Write what you want. People will see the joy in your creativity and love it.
People have given me a hard time for writing queer characters – even as a queer person. I’ve also had many queer friends get hate for making their characters not “right” or perfect angels. It’s a very fine line and people can be quick to judge or send hateful comments. But thank you for your comment! It means a lot!
This is something I’m trying to remember…
I’d argue: You tell it for you, but also for whatever audience you have in mind, and for whatever experience you want to give the audience.
Once you have those ideas set, you do need to find the best ways to fulfill both audience experience and creator’s intent without letting one overpower the other, or losing sight of either.
But then again, I don’t have a lot of experience getting my stories out in places people can see them. So it’s also possible, I’m just overthinking storytelling.
I think you misunderstood the comic a bit, in this I’m speaking more along the lines of being scared of people calling me out for writing something ‘problematic’ or finding things wrong with the way I’d write. As a queer artist I’m under a lot more pressure to ‘get it right’ or write perfect characters who do nothing wrong. I’m expected to write a perfect story, but I’m trying to overcome that fear. This will be for a webcomic after all, I’m not overly worried about audience–if I write a story that I really care about then people will find it and eventually read it.
it’s not about what they find problematic, it’s about how you handle it and react.
you’re not in the wrong and people are attacking you for nothing? either acknowledge it and explain yourself or ignore it if they’re obviously trolls
you fuck up? apologize, try to do better in the future.
the second panel especially makes me think of how the mcelroys have handled their fandom. they always strive to do better and represent their fans in an acceptable way.
6 Comments
Do people give you shit over writing cis-men and cis-women (which you “clearly have no experience with,” all sarcasms intended)? Or is it that your non-binary/trans/queer characters have to be “right”? Either way, the people giving you crap are themselves full of crap!
I didn’t realize that writing for the non-binary was harder than for straight folks.
You may get pressured by other people to write a certain way, but don’t give yourself any extra pressure, okay? Write what you want. People will see the joy in your creativity and love it.
People have given me a hard time for writing queer characters – even as a queer person. I’ve also had many queer friends get hate for making their characters not “right” or perfect angels. It’s a very fine line and people can be quick to judge or send hateful comments. But thank you for your comment! It means a lot!
This is something I’m trying to remember…
I’d argue: You tell it for you, but also for whatever audience you have in mind, and for whatever experience you want to give the audience.
Once you have those ideas set, you do need to find the best ways to fulfill both audience experience and creator’s intent without letting one overpower the other, or losing sight of either.
But then again, I don’t have a lot of experience getting my stories out in places people can see them. So it’s also possible, I’m just overthinking storytelling.
I think you misunderstood the comic a bit, in this I’m speaking more along the lines of being scared of people calling me out for writing something ‘problematic’ or finding things wrong with the way I’d write. As a queer artist I’m under a lot more pressure to ‘get it right’ or write perfect characters who do nothing wrong. I’m expected to write a perfect story, but I’m trying to overcome that fear. This will be for a webcomic after all, I’m not overly worried about audience–if I write a story that I really care about then people will find it and eventually read it.
it’s not about what they find problematic, it’s about how you handle it and react.
you’re not in the wrong and people are attacking you for nothing? either acknowledge it and explain yourself or ignore it if they’re obviously trolls
you fuck up? apologize, try to do better in the future.
the second panel especially makes me think of how the mcelroys have handled their fandom. they always strive to do better and represent their fans in an acceptable way.