Hudson Bartholomew

Ah! Excited!! Been waiting for this update for a while

Congrats!!

This sounds amazing. Count me in, as well!

I've been demoing an alternative software called Ulysses, which has fewer functions, but seems a lot easier to use, at least for me. It's about the same price as Scrivener, and I'm honestly leaning toward Ulysses instead since I find Scrivener to be so bulky. In the end, though, everyone's just got to find what works for them, right?

Congrats!!

Oh, yes, I know you didn't name them. Wasn't trying to imply that at all

Um... so the first thing that stood out to me about comparing the Competent Man to Mary Sue, is the naming of these two archetypes. Specifically that the "man" gets through life by cunning and skill, while the "woman" gets through life by luck. >.> I know that wasn't the goal of this particular discussion, but I thought it'd be an interesting point to bring up.

Congrats!!

I miss the kitten, too!

Thanks!!

Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it Thanks for leaving a comment!

Hi Ron - good point about the ray of hope. I'll keep that in mind for next time. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment!!

Thanks for the feature!

This is great advice! Thanks for sharing. I'll definitely be thinking about this more in the future

My co-workers and I gush about the Instant Pot at work on a regular basis. I don't have one because my kitchen is too small, but my co-worker is thinking about getting a second one because one just isn't enough! There's an entire Facebook page devote to Instant Pot devotees!! Glad you're enjoying The Pot and the chili! nomnomnom

“Cup of coffee, please?” Cam reached into his battered knapsack to pull out his wallet. “Sure. How do you like it?” The guy behind the bodega counter was about as typical a New Yorker as he could get. Big guy with a tattoo sleeve on one arm, scruffy face under a Mets baseball cap, and an accent so thick it took Cam’s brain a second to translate. “Just black. Thanks.” “That’ll be two dollars.” Cam handed over the money and his gaze wandered around the store. A bodega on a stre

Thanks!!

I'm glad we've got prompts back. I missed this last week! This was my first prompt and I still really like it: https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/story/hudson-bartholomew/promptsbyhb/1

I think people can be racist against white people. I know plenty of Chinese people (usually of an older generation) who are plenty racist against white people. I think the counterargument to your point is that in Western society, the media is dominated by white people, so everyone living in Western society regardless of race gets daily doses of "white culture," so to speak. I have experienced this myself, both in defaulting all my characters to white because I've internalized the idea that characters in stories are supposed to be white. And also, I sometimes forget that I'm not white (weird, I know), because the majority of people I see reflected back to me in media are white. I really like this piece of advice and I'll definitely keep it in mind in my future writing. Thanks for sharing! I agree that things like gender, race, and sexuality are not the only defining features of a person. I do, however, think they play an influencing factor, some more so than others. Still, good thing to remember. @asamvav111 (side note, I love how we can tag people now) Eleven different women? That sounds exhausting Thanks for sharing about Sankritayan. I think immersing ourselves in the culture and language of the people we're trying to write about should give us a lot more insight. I wonder if there's a limit to how much insight one can glean this way? I'm not Indian or black or indigenous, so I'll never know what it feels like to have someone treat me as if I were one of those races, based solely on skin color. @R J Drew Thank you so much for your post!! And I'm sorry about the headache You know how there's a weird thing where I can complain about my mom, no problem, but the minute someone else says something bad about my mom, I'm all up arms? That probably applies to race, too, huh? I wonder if that's because I can appreciate both the good and the bad about my race and culture, and so write a character that has some stereotypical qualities but it's balance with some that aren't stereotypical. So it doesn't feel as offensive that way. Whereas, someone not Chinese may not know the nuances as well, and so the character leans to heavily on the stereotype? I don't know... I think you've alluded that we can't please everyone with our writing, which I completely agree with. I think I'm very sensitive to the fact that I don't want to offend people unnecessarily (and certainly not intentionally). Thanks for all your thoughts, you guys. Sorry again for any headaches I've caused, but I do really appreciate hearing what you guys think. I wrote this post because I haven't figured out where I stand on the issue. Most of the points I've raised are actually what I've heard from other people--I think there's something to them, but I'm not sure I agree 100%. But seriously, thanks

See, I totally get what you're saying, because you're exactly right about not having to be a murderer to write from a perspective of a murderer. There are also many people who argue that a writer doesn't have to be gay to write about gay characters. At the same time, I can see how incredibly easy it is to end up with stereotypical POC characters if the writer isn't intimately familiar with that community--are there certain nuances with race that cannot be gleaned from research? I don't know the answer to that question. I also wonder if race is something different than writing about murderers, etc. because race is so systemic in society. There are so many layers when it comes to race and so much history that's shaped the way we understand race that it might not be fair to compare the nuances of race to the psychology of murderers. Would it be dismissive of us to say that race is something we can figure out simply through research? Are we not taking the issue seriously enough? I ask myself this: if I write about an African American character, and then an African American reader reads my story, would the reader appreciate my portrayal of his/her race? Or would it be offensive? As someone who is not African American, would I ever have enough research to be able to write an authentic African American character with subtlety? Sorry for the rambling, it's a bit of a stream of consciousness at this point.

Thanks for the clarification. If it's any help, I'd vote for it to come back, if possible. I think I'd prefer it over the Forum Posts sidebar.

On the old site, there used to be a "Latest Blog Entries" section on the main forums page. Is that not a thing anymore? Or has it moved and I just haven't found it?

Over on Twitter, I follow some authors who are strong advocates of writing characters who are people of color. There are some strong opinions about this, and the general message I'm hearing is this: 1. There should be more characters who are people of color because (i) this is more representative of the real world (where not everyone is Caucasian), and (ii) readers who are people of color should be able to read stories about characters who look like them. 2. It is difficult for Caucasian writers to authentically portray characters who are people of color because they have not lived that experience and they may not understand the nuances of that community. This often leads to stereotypical characters who reinforce stereotypes. 3. Some people feel that Caucasian writers should not write main characters who are people of color because of #2 above, and because they should leave room for writers who are people of color themselves to write their own stories. I, myself, am a person of color; full disclosure, I’m Chinese, grew up in Canada. Having consumed Western media from a young age, I rarely saw people who looked like me on TV, in movies, or even in the books I read. I never gave it a second thought. I took it as given that the make-believe world of storytelling was supposed to be made up of all Caucasian people, and that has translated into my own writing. In all the stories I’ve written to date, all my characters, even the secondary ones, are Caucasian. The movement for having more diversity in entertainment is something I’ve seen growing in recent years, and although the lack of diversity never bothered me before, I do believe that greater diversity is good. That’s why I’ve committed to writing at least one of my main characters as Chinese going forward—that’s what I know, and I know all its ins and outs very well, so why not put that out there for others to see? My pondering on this subject has raised a whole bunch of questions: should people of color write characters of a different color (wouldn’t that be the same problem as Caucasian writers?); most stereotypes are based in some truth, so how much of that truth is allowed; do all characters who are people of color have to be positive role models? At the risk of starting an internet shouting match, I’d like to see what other people think. If you have an opinion that you can express politely and respectfully, then let me know what your thoughts are.

Thanks for reading!! I'm so glad you liked the story!