about being a (brain and sexual) minority writing student

[aslanscountry]

(notes for something a lot longer)

ssa stuffwhen I was 19 I remember writing something like "my area of interest is gay werewolves, aliens, and zombies." I didn't actually write much genre stuff but I liked the idea of genre because I felt that same-sex-attracted characters in fiction were either "just like everyone else" or alternative in the way

Comments

[chaos_by_design]

For record, I would totally read a story about gay zombies. That's just awesome.

People would say, "Why don't you write things that everyone can enjoy?"

That has to be the dumbest piece of criticism ever. There isn't any 'thing' that 'everyone' can enjoy, because 'everyone' is different. Besides, it may be a cliche, but I do think it's true that often when you try to please everybody, you wind up pleasing nobody.

I wish there was more well-written fanfic out there, because at least one thing about fanfic is that there tends to be acknowledgment that gay and bi people exist, which is a step above mainstream media. Of course the fanfic world isn't perfect either in that regard, since the gay stuff tends to be written from the point of view of being there for the purpose of entertaining straight people and still incorporating traditional gender roles. But that just shows how invisible QUILTBAG people are in the mainstream media.

[edania]

As they say, you can't please all the people all the time, so write to please yourself.

Gay werewolves? That's so spun out! Go for it.