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Letter to RWI Contest About Their Discrimination
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You might have heard the news. In case you didn’t, please take a moment to read this letter I wrote speaking out against discrimination regarding same sex story submissions.
If you feel strongly about this, please send an email to: jackie.rwimagic@netscape.com, and info@rwa.org Please keep it civil. It would only hurt the cause if hateful words are used. Spread the word if you care to.
Hello,
Your contest, More Than Magic, offers as a grand prize: “cash prize equivalent to RWA National Conference registration fee for 2012 (check payable to winner…” to a variety of subgenres in romance EXCEPT for same sex pieces.
The article I read asserts it’s because those who judge these pieces are uncomfortable reading this sort of literature. If this is true, it’s very unfortunate. I say this as both a reader and writer of same sex literature, and as a reader and writer of opposite sex literature. I am not gay, I am not bisexual, and I’m not anyone but a straight-heterosexual woman. I am not pushing an agenda. I’m not interested in converting anyone to agree with a lifestyle that makes them uncomfortable.
What I am interested in is equality.
Telling one subgenre of writing they’re not welcome to participate in a contest that is not limited in any other way, is discrimination. That is exactly the same as “We serve White’s only. No Spanish or Mexicans” http://www.thefunkyapple.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/WhitesOnly.gif “No Dogs, Negroes, Mexicans” http://testaae.greenwood.com/aae-files/books/greenwood/GR0210/media/thumbs/GR0210_fig04_01.jpg or that women don’t have the right to vote http://www.nowaustin.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/march.jpg. Now I’m not suggesting that all of these are on the same level. Obviously, basic human rights are of utmost concern and the opportunity to win a prize is trivial in comparison. But would you replace the word “same-sex” in “Note: MTM will no longer accept same-sex entries in any category.” with the word “Interracial” or “fetish” or any one of the races?
Somehow I doubt it. In fact…no, you didn’t. You singled out only one subgenre because some of the judges aren’t comfortable with it.
“Gays need not apply” is essentially the sign you hung on your door.
This does not represent all readers. This does not represent all of the readers who follow your contests and awards.This does not represent all of the participants of your contests.
Though I am sincerely disappointed with the choices that were made in your contest, I harbor no ill will or disrespect.
Regards,
R. Renee Vickers
Like this:
Are You Out Of Your Mind???
We’re playing musical blogs today. R. Renee Vickers, Jane Ellis, and J.S. Wayne are guest-posting to each others’ blogs, so come see what’s going on!
There’s a little bit of a switch today. I’m here, taking over Renee Vickers’s blog, so that she can post at Jane Ellis’s spot and Jane can post to me. Schizophrenic?
Not exactly.
While talking with Jane Ellis and Renee Vickers on Skype a while back, I made a remark that our conversation could only occur among writers. . . or in the confines of an insane asylum. This, in turn, triggered off an idea: why not do a mini blog-tour where everyone could sound off about the subject? The plot bunnies bred, as they so often do, and the result is sitting in front of you as you read this.
My typical conversations with my fellow writers start off something like this:
How are you?
Fine, thanks!
Have you eaten?
Um. . . what day is today?
I’ll take that as a no. Have you slept?
Got about four hours.
That’s not sleep. That’s a nap.
True, but consider: I got a short story out of the way, did a review on a book, made a bunch of posts, got my cover for “Angels Would Fall,” and pounded down a 2-liter of Mountain Dew, so I’m good.
Granted, these are not typical results, but that’s the basic gist of how it starts. Then we get into the writing:
Remark: UGH! This plot isn’t doing what I want it to do. My characters are going off and doing their own thing, and my MC is. . . fluffy? Why the HELL is my main character fluffy?!?! He’s supposed to be a badass!
Response: Check your outline and get ‘em back in line.
Remark: I tried that. . . but my MC was supposed to DIE! Somehow, he got away, and now he’s in a corner whining about how scared he is!
Response: Go with it. See what happens. . .
It’s an occupational hazard among writers that we talk about our characters and plots as if they were real people and events. I have seen writers who have literally cried when their personal favorite characters met their demise. In interviews and on chat forums (or fora, if you’re really hell-bent on the proper Latin phrasing), we tend to talk about these people and what is befalling them as if they are real, flesh-and-blood beings with real trials and tribulations, as opposed to being the product of one person’s imagination.
But on the other hand, consider this: part of a writer’s craft is to make the characters and the events swirling around them as believable as possible, even when what you’re doing flies in the face of everything the “real” world has codified as natural law. Take, for example, Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files: The “real” world insists that there is no such thing as magic, never mind that science is just now catching up to what metaphysicists and alchemists have insisted is possible for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. His plots should be wholly unbelievable. And yet, there is a deeply modern human element that takes the reader and immerses them completely in the stories he crafts. It is this same element that makes the reader cheer when Harry, because of or in spite of himself, pulls the metaphorical rabbit out of the hat or cry out in outrage when it seems like after all he’s done, he’s still doomed to fail.
And that is the magic of the writer’s craft; Mr. Butcher actually said it best, so I hope that he won’t mind if I paraphrase something that he said in one of his books:
The writer’s skill, in conjunction with the reader’s mind and knowledge, creates a world within the reader. These are the “parents” that give “birth” to the characters and the settings in which they move. Depending on the talent and ability of the writer and the knowledge base of the reader, the result is optimally, a clearly drawn and defined world within which the writer guides the reader to the conclusions they desire the reader to draw. This is what sets apart “good” writing from “bad,” at its heart. Technical skill is certainly a factor, but ultimately, what matters is whether the reader can clearly see what the writer is trying to say.
But it still sounds nuts when you talk about it in public. My family, in the main, is used to it, and I do try to be careful with my phrasing; but I still catch myself slipping into that habit once in a while, and then they shoot me puzzled looks and ask, “Okay, did this really happen or is this something from your story?” If I were to answer that, yes, it really happened, I’m pretty sure the next call they made would be to the nearest psychiatric facility, and a Monte Python sketch would ensue. “They’re coming to take me away, HA HA!”
In the company of writers, though, I have no such concerns or worries. Because what they create is no less real to them than my characters and my world are to me.
Reality, like so much else, is in the eye of the beholder. As the shirt says, “I reject your reality and substitute my own!”
It’s been fun, folks. We’ll have to do this again soon! Go see what Jane and Renee have to say on the subject; I promise you won’t be disappointed!Until next time,
Best,
J.S. Wayne
For those of you who don’t know, our blogroll is as follows:tiaden@wordpress.com
museampoule@wordpress.com
jswayne@wordpress.com
Writing a good review (via Jane Ellis – Writer)
Great post by a friend and fellow writer. Follow this up with reading my piece on accepting criticism titled: Criticism & Creative Endeavors
Criticism & Creative Endeavors
Flip past any channel on t.v. these days and you’ll likely see some contest with raucous judges telling starry-eyed hopefuls just how much they suck. That’s the norm. Scandalous, harsh, scathing reviews on where they failed and by how far. My husband once pointed out how he couldn’t understand how these ravaged artisans on these dancing or singing competitions could not only accept that some stranger was tearing them a new one on national television but thank them with a smile and walk away.
My response was obvious to any person who has put themselves under the creative microscope. They accept the criticisms to grow. Whether it’s a painter, a writer, a dancer, a singer or a musician, any creative person who has put their masterpieces, their brainchild, their hard-earned physical prowess, their vocal ability, or their soul on the line for whatever reason has had to deal their whole life of a slew of (semi)professionals telling them how, what and why. By the time they make it to the point of presenting their work to the world they (should) have developed a thick skin. I walked him through the process and he understood…but not everyone does, especially the inexperienced.
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