Authorial Responsibility
Jun. 21st, 2010 04:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bewizeI'm going to make a second serious!post about my feelings with regards to the latest rounds of fandom uproar. To my astonishment, I find that my thought patterns have settled to the same conclusion with both the issues of race!fail and issues regarding the hurt/comfort paradigm.
In sum, this is my opinion -
"Authors, write whatever you want, but be prepared to stand behind it. Do not feel that you're entitled to a pass if you fail. If you write something, and people are upset about it, you should be able to explain why you wrote what you wrote and still sleep at night. If you cannot do this, then it's a safe bet that you have, indeed, Done It Wrong."
For a little bit of background, I wrote this post on DW (which is the same as this post on LJ) about an incident where I failed in the past and got called out on it. And you know what, I survived just fine.
Here's the short of it - I have two jobs, both require me to write a great deal and both require me to write persuasively. Also, both jobs require me to obtain feedback from my bosses/editors. In both jobs, I've been told to do better before, and it hurts my pride and it makes me upset and at the end of the day, I suck it up and do it better.
(And for the record, I had an asshole!boss once who threw something at me that I'd written and demanded, "What the hell is this shit?!", so it's not like the critiques I get in my professional life are all that nice. Just saying, for comparison's sake.)
I will confess that some of the posts about the H/C Bingo left me irritated for the simple fact that I do not like being told not to do something. This is not how I feel about posts telling me not to do something badly.
As an author, while I may have the right to write whatever I want, that doesn't guarantee me the right not to be called out for Doing It Wrong. There is no single other aspect of my life where I am given this right. If I do my work badly, I get called out. If I am a bad friend, I get called out. If I'm not meeting family obligations, believe me, people tell me.
Now, if I am doing something for a small group of people, or for myself alone, and I do it badly - then I may get a pass. But the moment I put something of mine up on the internet and say, "Hey world, check this out!" I forfeit the right to be insulated from my own fail and my own stupidity.
No one can tell me not to write races other than my own. They can tell me not to do it badly. They can tell me I have done it badly. If I'm lucky, someone will tell me how to fix it and what I should watch out for in the future.
No one can tell me not to write a fic about a disability. And if it's a disability that I suffer from, then no one can tell me that my experiences are wrong. If it's something that I am unfamiliar with, then yes, someone can tell me that I've been inconsiderate/unrealistic/appropriative/or any other way that I may have failed.
And I, quite simply by virtue of hitting post and saying, "Look at me!", do not have the right to then respond, "But I'm a special snowflake and you should leave me alone." If I want to be left alone, I'll keep my writing off the internet.
Or, I'll accept the fact that what I say and do can affect other people. It can make them angry. It can make them upset. It can be racist/sexist/ablest/dismissive. And when I make those mistake (because I will make them - anyone who writes will make them), I will do my best to humbly apologize and do it better.
I am responsible for what I write. That is the simple truth.
I will write whatever I want, but I will be prepared to stand behind it. I will not feel that I am entitled to a pass if/when I fail. If I write something, and people are upset about it, I should be able to explain why I wrote what I wrote and still sleep at night. If I can't do that, then I think it's a safe bet that I have, indeed, Done It Wrong.
And, like with every other aspect of my life, if I have Done It Wrong, I will suck it up and Do It Better.
In sum, this is my opinion -
"Authors, write whatever you want, but be prepared to stand behind it. Do not feel that you're entitled to a pass if you fail. If you write something, and people are upset about it, you should be able to explain why you wrote what you wrote and still sleep at night. If you cannot do this, then it's a safe bet that you have, indeed, Done It Wrong."
For a little bit of background, I wrote this post on DW (which is the same as this post on LJ) about an incident where I failed in the past and got called out on it. And you know what, I survived just fine.
Here's the short of it - I have two jobs, both require me to write a great deal and both require me to write persuasively. Also, both jobs require me to obtain feedback from my bosses/editors. In both jobs, I've been told to do better before, and it hurts my pride and it makes me upset and at the end of the day, I suck it up and do it better.
(And for the record, I had an asshole!boss once who threw something at me that I'd written and demanded, "What the hell is this shit?!", so it's not like the critiques I get in my professional life are all that nice. Just saying, for comparison's sake.)
I will confess that some of the posts about the H/C Bingo left me irritated for the simple fact that I do not like being told not to do something. This is not how I feel about posts telling me not to do something badly.
As an author, while I may have the right to write whatever I want, that doesn't guarantee me the right not to be called out for Doing It Wrong. There is no single other aspect of my life where I am given this right. If I do my work badly, I get called out. If I am a bad friend, I get called out. If I'm not meeting family obligations, believe me, people tell me.
Now, if I am doing something for a small group of people, or for myself alone, and I do it badly - then I may get a pass. But the moment I put something of mine up on the internet and say, "Hey world, check this out!" I forfeit the right to be insulated from my own fail and my own stupidity.
No one can tell me not to write races other than my own. They can tell me not to do it badly. They can tell me I have done it badly. If I'm lucky, someone will tell me how to fix it and what I should watch out for in the future.
No one can tell me not to write a fic about a disability. And if it's a disability that I suffer from, then no one can tell me that my experiences are wrong. If it's something that I am unfamiliar with, then yes, someone can tell me that I've been inconsiderate/unrealistic/appropriative/or any other way that I may have failed.
And I, quite simply by virtue of hitting post and saying, "Look at me!", do not have the right to then respond, "But I'm a special snowflake and you should leave me alone." If I want to be left alone, I'll keep my writing off the internet.
Or, I'll accept the fact that what I say and do can affect other people. It can make them angry. It can make them upset. It can be racist/sexist/ablest/dismissive. And when I make those mistake (because I will make them - anyone who writes will make them), I will do my best to humbly apologize and do it better.
I am responsible for what I write. That is the simple truth.
I will write whatever I want, but I will be prepared to stand behind it. I will not feel that I am entitled to a pass if/when I fail. If I write something, and people are upset about it, I should be able to explain why I wrote what I wrote and still sleep at night. If I can't do that, then I think it's a safe bet that I have, indeed, Done It Wrong.
And, like with every other aspect of my life, if I have Done It Wrong, I will suck it up and Do It Better.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-21 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-21 09:26 pm (UTC)stepping on your feettelling racist/ablist/sexist/homophobic jokes is seen as a grave offence and personal attack on them....
Anyway. Thanks for your post.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-21 11:25 pm (UTC)You've pretty much summed up my own opinion on standing behind your writing. I refuse to let fear of someone calling me out stop me from writing, and I pledge to do my best not to hurt people. End of story.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-22 07:11 pm (UTC)Excellent post and I agree 100%. I hope to whatever god is listening that if I fuck up in a major way people will tell me so I can Do It Better.
Thank you.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-24 12:16 am (UTC)I think it's the responsibility part that confounds faaaaaar too many people.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-24 08:01 pm (UTC)I am managing a roundup post for the recent J2 fail, and I'm linking to your post here. If you'd prefer I not link to you just let me know!