Ultimate Fakebook
I've always written as a means not only to understand myself but to try and understand others, which many authors have done and which can be extremely challenging. Of course, as hard as I try, there is always a little bit of me in every character, just because its unavoidable. That said, I've been writing a short story for the past week that I can't identify with at all yet I feel must be written, about a Hispanic woman whose husband leaves her and who has a miscarriage shortly thereafter and what she must do to make life meaningful again. Okay, so I've cheated a little and made her a high school art teacher in the District. However, I find myself at strange odds with this story. Although this character has been living with me for a bit and wants to get out, I have no way to authenticate her, her voice, her feelings. Hell, I've even had to resarch Hispanic foods, holidays, and motorcycle clubs on the Internet. Even as she begs to be written, I can't help but feel I'll fail, that I'll write the perspective of a white woman and try to cleverly hid it behind Spanish phrases and burritos. For instance, I've totally avoided the subject of faith, even though it is incredibly important for many in the Hispanic community, because I don't want to make her two-dimensional or less sympathetic in the eyes of the audience who will probably wind up reading the story. However, am I really understanding this woman's culture, or am I trying to assimilate her into mine? What do we ultimately do as writers? Do we bring our readers to the other, or do we force the other to conform to our lens?
posted by Jen @ 9:33 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I have no story advice, but I will say, that's a great Yo la Tengo title...
JWER: Actually, there's also a lame emo/punk band named Ultimate Fakebook who couldn't hold Yo La Tengo's jock straps (and bras and baby diapers).
Fpduck, I'm not sure why the Hispanic character came to me (most characters do, in dreams). Could have been all the Hispanic influence in some of the movies I watched over the weekend. I would have just the same trouble writing about a white pregnant woman who loses her baby as I would a Hispanic one, so the Hispanic part may be another layer of originality, as you said. However, I'm not the type to write something because I think it's an untapped market. That would require keeping up with current literary trends, which I'm not even close to knowing these days...
I would not like to see you second guess yourself too much. Authenticity is good. Multiple dimensions is good. Capturing some of your essense in one of your characters is good. Unless your intention is to create an in-depth profile that is correct down to the most minute detail, I don't believe that you need to be a part of a group in order to write about it. Indeed, some of the best observations of a group come from people outside of its confines. That's where the best perspective is. I consider myself more of a storyteller than anything else, so I always worry more about what the characters are DOING more than who they ARE, even though who they are has considerable sway over what they're doing. Perhaps you could reverse-engineer your character by starting with what you want her to do and then determining what sort of person would do them.
Hmm, since Romanians are Latin I shouldn't be amazed by all the thigns we have in common. This is what I've noticed:
Latin women are raised to cake on the makeup; Latin men are more forgiving of a few pounds on their women; Latin people anywhere talk so loudly it's hard to distinguish between arguing and talking (my voice changes too between English & Romanian); we take more pride in our food; we don't have parties like Americans or Canadians.
I want to read your story. :)
Hmm, my character doesn't cake on the makeup, and I don't think she speaks at a volume higher than normal, but she does eat. I think I'll be sending this one to you first, Maktaaq, for the seal of Latin--Romanian approval.
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