Eh, Houston is still within driving distance! We could all have one hell of a get together. :D
Yes, I agree. It is a failing I see a lot in social justice circles, the idea that if a book is not perfect and without any problematic issues whatsoever, then it is trash. And... no book is that way. Even books which are well considered, there is always someone who will dislike it because it does not fit their experience or opinions (such as Amanda Downum's trans character in The Bone Palace; I know trans folks who loved the character, but there were also some who thought that showing a sex scene with a trans woman was exploitative, especially being written by a cis author).
No piece of media is without fail. Authors will have their blind spots, and so will critiquers. It's entirely possible to run a book past betas of a specific group and have them okay it -- but then others say that it is "fail" because it doesn't fit their experiences. Perfection is impossible, because no group is a monolith.
And yet, there is some expectation to strive for perfection, and it is something I struggle with. I'm reading a collection of essays on writing by Laura Resnick, and something she said stuck with me, and that is that she realized her writer's block came from focusing on the experience she wanted to provide for the reader instead of writing for her love of the story and telling the story she wanted to tell. And I do that too, focusing on how every minute detail could possibly be misread, and it is paralysing. But being conscious of that now, I can work against it. Because perfection is impossible.
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regna
(no subject)
Date: 2014-02-27 01:49 am (UTC)Yes, I agree. It is a failing I see a lot in social justice circles, the idea that if a book is not perfect and without any problematic issues whatsoever, then it is trash. And... no book is that way. Even books which are well considered, there is always someone who will dislike it because it does not fit their experience or opinions (such as Amanda Downum's trans character in The Bone Palace; I know trans folks who loved the character, but there were also some who thought that showing a sex scene with a trans woman was exploitative, especially being written by a cis author).
No piece of media is without fail. Authors will have their blind spots, and so will critiquers. It's entirely possible to run a book past betas of a specific group and have them okay it -- but then others say that it is "fail" because it doesn't fit their experiences. Perfection is impossible, because no group is a monolith.
And yet, there is some expectation to strive for perfection, and it is something I struggle with. I'm reading a collection of essays on writing by Laura Resnick, and something she said stuck with me, and that is that she realized her writer's block came from focusing on the experience she wanted to provide for the reader instead of writing for her love of the story and telling the story she wanted to tell. And I do that too, focusing on how every minute detail could possibly be misread, and it is paralysing. But being conscious of that now, I can work against it. Because perfection is impossible.