On the Ethics of Writing Outside What You Know in Fiction

[industrialistDragon]

Or, what is #ownvoices, really?

 

#ownvoices is a hashtag, relatively recently created, that got adopted as a marketing shorthand and catchall for several related ethical issues. These issues have been around in fiction for much longer than the tags and the current discussion. 

 

As defined by Corinne Duyvis (which is also a concise well-written FAQ), who coined the tag, as a shorthand for when"the protagonist and the author share a marginalized identity."

The use has grown to encompass when (or if) an author outside of a marginalized group should publish stories that include marginalized characters, as well as the most ethical ways of doing so, and best practices for avoiding common pitfalls in writing marginalized groups outside of one's own experiences. It's also been used to draw attention to how much of mainstream publishing is stacked against marginalized writers, between the lack of diversity in the industry, unconscious biases, and prevalence of stereotypes (both of marginalized writers, their characters, and "what will sell"), and the resulting push to specifically feature marginalized writers (the #weneeddiversebooks hashtag also covers this, but has its own set of ethical issues). It's also used to highlight authors and works that fall into the original #ownvoices definition. That's a lot! 

 

This is not a clear-cut, black/white issue -- or even one issue at all. Marginalized groups are not monoliths, and individuals differ on their interpretations of what is ethical or "right" in a given instance.

 

From my personal research, it seems that most of the #ownvoices discussion agrees:

 

• That supporting, signal boosting, and seeking out marginalized authors is a good thing;
• That no one should be outright barred from *writing* anything they want;
• That authors outside a marginalized group should think carefully about the issues surrounding both the publishing industry as a whole and the marginalized group in particular before seeking to *publish* work featuring protagonists inside that marginalized group;
• That research is absolutely vital.

 

Here are a few articles and blogs that I have found useful in understanding the issues.

 

• "Should Authors Write Characters of Another Race?"  Two authors on either "side" of the debate (though, they agree on many things so I'm hesitant to use "side") discuss the ethics of writing outside one's own race.

 

• Interview with Corinne Duyvis In which she discusses what #ownvoices is and why it matters

 

• Writing the Other -- Classes, seminars, books, research, videos and resources. Extensive and very good!

 

• Uncanny Magazine: "Writing the margins from the centre"  one author discusses how to write marginalized characters with tact

 

• 12 Fundamentals Of Writing "The Other" by Daniel Jose Older Don't let the hosting site dissuade you, this is a great article.

 

• Book Riot: Why Not All Diverse Stories are Created Equal

 

• The Root: White Writer Black Characters
• Should Ethnicity Limit What a Fiction Writer Can Write

[kais]

TLDR: Write what you want, but do so with research and respect, and understand that you will never write a character as well as someone who is from that character's lane. 

Awesome post, Dragon!

[neongrey]

When it comes to publishing and marketing though, there is a measure of responsibility that needs to be noted, in that while this isn't a zero-sum game, at times it can be closer to that than it should be.

First, recall that it has been tested fairly thoroughly that names that sound both white and/or male are typically taken as being more authoritative regardless of field, regardless of qualification (resume tests are common for this but there's a lot of work going on in this field). Second, with trad publishers, part of why they're selective in the ways that they are is because they're only intending to publish so many books...

... which means that what can and does happen is that you will have publishers declining books on the grounds that they're already publishing these books on these subjects and they're by white/male/straight/cis/etc authors... They will get selected first for publication, demonstrably so.

And then there's marketing: again, it's pretty well documented that on average, white male authors get marketed better than other authors; this puts them in people's eyes and minds a lot more above others. Word of mouth spreads them faster. They get recognized more, and this is by no means universal to publication (consider #oscarssowhite).

And this is not a, you know, a don't/never/etc, but it is one of those things to be cognizant of as one acts. We don't live or work in a vacuum and this is the sort of thing that very much impacts the people around us.

[neongrey]

Here's an article and thread on a similar subject. Most of us don't write outright kids' books but nothing's in a vacuum and all.

[industrialistDragon]

A couple more articles and studies to think about:

 

Fiyah Magazine's poll of African American sf writers -- No, it's not scientific, but it does add some personal context to all the numbers you can find elsewhere. Of note are the authors that report their rejections say their stories are "unrealistic" or "not really black" when in fact they are based on real events or actual experiences the author has had. 

CNN's report on a new study that shows people believe black men are larger, stronger, and more dangerous than white men, even when they're the same size. Also mentioned is a study that shows people believe black boys are less innocent than white boys of the same age. 

The stereotypes we perpetuate in our writing, even unconsciously, can have real world impacts. 

 

[neongrey]

And here's something that's come out recently about one of Nnedi Okorafor's books-- publisher tried to whitewash her cover.