Things of Learning
Supernatual fic and Haiti
http://amazonziti.dreamwidth.org/51772.html
I've linked this so I can go back and read it again in future. This is an overview post about the 'Caught Between The Earth and Sky.' It's a fantastic summary too, and it's helped me to think about some stuff. In my selkie porn, I had a tsunami, and it was gently pointed out that a tsunami at that point in time would be unwise at that point. I changed it, but didn't grok it, and in the wake of this fic, I have a better understanding. I didn't think of the tsunami in my story as an echo of the Tsunami, however I think I should have. As a white cisgendered person safely on the other side of a TV, for me a tsunami is a very different thing to a Tsunami. It's an interesting feeling of shame, to figure this out. I expect that my learning around this is not actually deep enough though. I'll keep reading, and thank all that's holy, that there are people out there who are willing to keep talking, and to do so in ways that eventually I might understand better.
Other things of learning:
http://kaigou.dreamwidth.org/140665.html
This is yet another instance of people spelling things out so the people like me have some insights where we previously didn't. I've learnt a lot from this first post, and I am currently reading through the next one now. I know I can never get everything right, but what Kaigou talks about is the sort of thing that adds depth and reason to writing, and to all arenas of characterisation. It's not just the specific examples they talk about, but authors do need to think 'why does my character use THIS over THAT,' and the econonies of novels. I'm aware of trade in my fantasy, but it's another area I want to bone up on. There's so much I enjoy learning about that gets applied to my writing - economics, social sciences, all sorts of interesting things.