Writing Excuses 6.15: Writing Other Cultures

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:26:00 GMT

Posted by: mbarker.livejournal.com

Writing Excuses 6.15: Writing Other Cultures

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2011/09/11/writing-excuses-6-15-writing-other-cultures/

Key points: approach it with integrity, authenticity, and research. Beware the homogenous culture -- remember the Klingon belly dancer! Ultimately, we are all human. Don't write to the stereotype or to the average. Do the research, wed it to an understanding of people, and build interesting characters who feel right. Give them something else to care about, something else at stake. A character whose identity is "The Other" has no identity.
( which word did I leave out? )
[Brandon] We are out of time. But... Lauren, here's something we do to guests, and I'm going to do it to you.
[Lauren] Oh, dear God.
[Brandon] Yes, I know. But we're going to ask you for a writing prompt. If you can think of one. You just have to come up with something that people could write a story about. Just ask them a question or some concept. Make them do.
[Lauren] Take some aspect of your neighborhood. Twist it around in the same kind of way that district 9 twisted a suburb of Soweto around.
[Brandon] Okay. That's a great one. Thank you for being on the podcast, and thank you all for listening. You're out of excuses, now go write.
[Applause]

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Writing Excuses 6.15: Writing Other Cultures