I love reading new stories, especially ones that will make me see a group of people in a new light. I have one complain though: Why is it that bookstores only sell sad, depressing stories of non mainstream cultures? I have read folklores from many cultures online, and they are fun. I understand that these sad, depressing stories are important, but I also feel that it is important to make young indigenous readers feel hopeful, strong and proud through cultural stories that are heroic, adventurous or funny. Maybe this is the reason why many indigenous cultures are being side-lined by the younger generation, because they could not relate.
For example, poverty is a horrible thing. My family had a roof over our head when I was growing up, but my parents worry about putting food on the table almost daily. John Keats' Meg Merrilies gave me hope during those dark days. Maybe that was the reason why I love visiting my grandparents' farm, because there I could get a taste of how Meg lives. Of course now that I am an adult, I know that it would had been a disaster if my family had been forced to live like that. But at that time when I was growing up, when I was a teenager especially, the poem gave me a sense of dignity. Society tells me that poverty is bad, but Meg Merrilies shows me that life can be super fun even when you are poor.
I hope that my tips will encourage you write a fun or thrilling adventure, so that you can inspire your readers the way that Keats had inspired me with his, I assume, Celtic culture.
Now, let's talk about some attitudes and habits you should adopt to keep yourself mentally and emotionally healthy as a writer.
[Watch the video for this post here.]
When Preparing
One of my earliest mistakes in the beginning was my belief that all the information I needed were either in books or online. This actually restricted my writing because I thought of my characters in terms of right or wrong. Eventually I realised that people are at their best behaviour when they want to impress, like children who are mellow and polite when a guest visits the home.
This means that most of what you watch or read is the ideal of anything you are exploring. Real life is not like that at all.
For example, we are all taught from young that it is important to respect the poor because they are human beings too. Have you noticed how people actually react to a beggar or a homeless person in real life? Or even what they actually think of their poor relatives? Many shun the poor, with the excuse that they are irresponsible, drug addicts or diseased. Yet if you speak with these people, they will tell you the standard answer that we are all taught in our civic classes: Be charitable to the poor.
Because of this behavioural discrepancy, whenever you find yourself in a public place, I encourage you to put away your book, magazine or phone and just watch the interactions about you. You do not have to participate. You do not have to judge. You just observe.
This is important because the habit will give you a diversity of ideas about how to make your characters behave, to mimic real-life. A wider range of behaviour will give you a wider range of emotions and thoughts to work with when you are writing.
When Writing
When I was a child, I really enjoyed chasing and being chased by my friends. Screaming and playing tag was a lot of fun. However, I hated it when the class had to train for athletics. They both involved running, so why should I feel so differently about them? It is the same with writing stories. I find that if I try too hard to do things right, I will not be creative. You see, a story does have rules. And like the game of tag, the single rule of 'don't get tagged' is meant to be the reason for the fun. This rule does not control how or where I ran. My organic brain loves it. Training for the tracks, on the other hand, required that I run in a single direction, and within two narrow lines.
So when you write a story, make sure that you are following the rules that give you the freedom to be creative, not ones that restricts you. For this reason, you must know your own writing tendencies. What time of day do you like to write in? Do you like writing a bit every day or binge write one day a week?
If you are the kind that needs to play to be creative, then find out when that is. Leave your disciplined work-brain for everything else related to writing; such as research work for your story, lessons for improving your grammar, networking etc. If you prefer to be rigid and disciplined, then draw out a timetable. Some people find it easier to be creative when they follow a strict schedule.
When Editing
In the beginning, you will want to write in every itsy-bitsy detail. I did that for my first few stories because I feel like I need to explain everything. But in the end, I only got myself confused because the theme of the story was all over the place. As my confidence grew, I began to focus only on details that support the plot of my story.
When you are editing your draft, understand if the details on the page are helping your story along, or weighing it down. If the story does not need it, take it out. You do need a lot of details when you are writing non-fiction, but when you are writing fiction, you need the words and the scenes to flow smoothly. Too much detail will get in the way.
Imagine this as being like the difference between a bride and a dancer. They may both be beautifully dressed in indigenous costume. Non-fiction is like the Iban bride, who wears more beads and silver because she is trying to impress the guests with her family's wealth. Fiction, however, is like the Iban dancer, who wears less adornments because the extra beads and silver will get in the way of her dancing.
Reacting To Reviews
After you have published and launched your book, the reviews will start to roll in. The positive reviews will lift you up, but the negative ones will discourage you. Keep in mind that there are two kinds of negative criticism in the world: the kind that destroys you and the kind that grows you. I mean both toxic sludge and organic compost smell bad but they have different effects on the plant.
The way you can tell if you should pay a negative critique any attention is by whether it is focused on the actual story. Of course, if you misrepresent your people, then you deserve all the harsh criticism that is thrown at you but that is a different topic for a different week.
Okay, back to your work. Here is how to know if you should give a negative review any serious attention.
Toxic criticism compares your work to another book from a different culture. It says that your work is inferior because it does not have the elements of that other culture. Sometimes it mistakes your culture for a different culture, as in no flaming swords or kung-fu fights in Iban Journey. Hello, we are not Chinese. Sometimes they even compare your characters to a trope that is being sensationalised in mainstream culture. Generally, toxic criticism wants you to assimilate a mainstream culture into your work.
Growth Criticism, on the other hand, compares your work to another from your own culture. It compares your book to the actual lifestyle or experience of the culture. Criticisms are mostly focused on plot or structure, or even your writing style. If it is negative, it generally shows you what you can do to improve your work to make it clearer or easier for a reader who is unfamiliar with your tribe. Editors with good conscience sometimes do this because they honestly want to help you succeed.
Just remember, even if you do get bad reviews, you can only get better moving forward: On your terms.
Start writing, keep writing. See you next time.
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