#like let's squash the myth of cancel culture cus im not entertaining that here

[northern-passage]

Hey, about the whole representation matter, I think one of the issues some authors - especially newcommers - have is fear.

It may seem strange, but what I mean is that I think they are scared (perhaps even subconsciously) of writing some types of characters - trans among these - because they are afraid of the backlash if some people are hurt or offended by their depiction, and they sort of try and avoid it altogether. I don't think it's necessarily something to hold against people, but I guess it's a form of lack of confidence so to speak?

I'm not talking from experience though, just an observation. I know I am subject to that kind of fear in some cases, though not in these specific circumstances, so I can sort of understand where such a mindset can come from.

i do understand but i also think it's a cop out?

in the original post i think i put this in the tags but specifically with IF, a huge part of this community is sharing your first draft and updating it as you write. it's Extremely easy to get feedback during this process, For Free, from readers.

if you're unsure about something, you can ask. just be transparent. that's not to say that i think the onus should fall on readers to correct authors (authors should be doing their own research to begin with), but a huge part of writing is being open to criticism and being prepared to make mistakes. i feel like in recent years in this community there has been a huge shift in regards to criticism where now most people just blow it off with a cheeky comment or respond viciously because they interpret every single negative comment as a troll or a personal attack (which is not true) and imo this is what leads to that big backlash that you're talking about, not the mistake itself.

and i think you're right, it is also a confidence thing. if you're sharing your work online, if you're writing to publish to an audience, then you're going to have to be prepared for people to not like what you write, you have to be prepared for people to point out your mistakes, and you should be willing to do research and correct yourself when that happens. it's part of the process. this is not meant to be mean but genuinely if you're not prepared for that, if you don't have the confidence to handle that, then i don't think you should be sharing your work publicly yet.

authors should be allowed to set boundaries around the feedback/interactions they receive & i always think an author is within their right to disregard certain criticisms (especially when it's something subjective like writing style or someone demanding something silly like more ROs/changes to the narrative just because they want it, etc) but i also think it's important to be able to tell genuine criticism apart from trolls/entitled anons and to be receptive to that criticism.

on the other side, i do agree that some people definitely tend to zero in and dogpile (Especially on tumblr but this happens on other social media platforms as well) though i hesitate to generalize here because i think it honestly depends on the situation, but i do also think there needs to be more nuance and more space for people to breathe and ask questions without being met with hostility. but i also need to reiterate my previous point which is that this responsibility should not fall on readers (or other authors) to "educate" someone, and that the people that are hurt, even if it's a mistake, are within their right to feel that way. the best you can do is apologize and listen to the feedback people give you, rather than being defensive and dismissive.

and at the end of the day, you should be doing research. there are so many resources available online now, there are people within the community that offer advice, there are entire tags compiled on interact-if solely for writing advice on these specific topics, there's the writingwithcolor blog, and also just googling can answer so many questions before you even get to the point where someone else has to correct you.

writing is hard. you will have to do research and you will make mistakes and be corrected and i think, generally, if you handle it with grace and understanding, people will be forgiving. i definitely think in the end it's way worse to treat an entire group of people as "unwritable" because you're afraid of making a mistake and being criticized. to me it comes off... as someone victimizing themselves while also dehumanizing an entire group of people because you think they're "too hard" to write and "too mean" in their criticisms, if that makes sense, and i just don't see it as a valid excuse.