I'm one of the picowrimo mods (that sounds very posh, it really just means I will be putting up nearly al the posts this November.) and I'd just like to say it's a really great community and everyone is welcome. Mind you my last couple of picos have been writing sprints with up to 30-40K words each time. This one is going to be more gentle for me.
I have to say that thanks to this community and general practice I have learned a lot more about writing characters of colour and I think it's made me a better writer overall. I found when I first tried it, I was very stiff (I think I added a scene and you provided some very constructive feedback). Then I read a bit about the background culture of the character and switched perspective and hit google with a vengeance and that really helped. Along the way I picked up some very interesting historical sources. Plus the microaggressions site you suggested was a real help for the "death by a thousand cuts" mentality.
I'm not claiming to have it perfect, there will always be gaps, but if anyone were to ask me how I improved, I would say: background reading. That's what helped me.
Oh good, I'm glad this place has been of help to you. And don't fear imperfection-that's the state of human nature, I'm afraid. But we can get pretty close if we try ;)
I'm one of the picowrimo mods (that sounds very posh, it really just means I will be putting up nearly al the posts this November.) and I'd just like to say it's a really great community and everyone is welcome. Mind you my last couple of picos have been writing sprints with up to 30-40K words each time. This one is going to be more gentle for me.
I have to say that thanks to this community and general practice I have learned a lot more about writing characters of colour and I think it's made me a better writer overall. I found when I first tried it, I was very stiff (I think I added a scene and you provided some very constructive feedback). Then I read a bit about the background culture of the character and switched perspective and hit google with a vengeance and that really helped. Along the way I picked up some very interesting historical sources. Plus the microaggressions site you suggested was a real help for the "death by a thousand cuts" mentality.
I'm not claiming to have it perfect, there will always be gaps, but if anyone were to ask me how I improved, I would say: background reading. That's what helped me.
So thanks very much for that.
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