Countdown of favorite posts of 2020: day 3

Countdown of readers' favorite posts of 2020 continues with the sixth most-popular:

Should books last forever? On writing in a 'cancel culture'

Writers think a lot about how to write but, surprisingly, not always about why they write in the first place. The Writer’s League of Texas’ Becka Oliver cornered a disparate trio of writers – Sarah Bird, Varian Johnson, and Joe R.Lansdale, one Black, two white, at the WLT’s recent virtual “unconference” and bumped into a debate about the life span of books in today’s “cancel culture.”

 

Why write? “That is a hard and complicated question,” Johnson acknowledged. “I write because I’m trying to work something else (out) in the world.”

 

“I would call (writing) a happy compulsion,” Lansdale said. “I write for me. I write like everybody I know is dead and hope readers like it.”

 

“It’s a defense against all the nonbelievers who surround you,” Bird said, noting that when she first began selling stories she was still reluctant to award herself the title of “author,” and would have answered the question by saying, “I write for money.” Later, during harder times, “I wrote to cheer myself up. . . (and) to memorialize my family.” Later, she termed the writing of her most recent book, Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen, a fictionalized narrative of the only woman among the 19^th-century’s all-Black Buffalo Soldiers, “a calling.”

 

Then, having reached the point at which she could retire from writing, she found she no longer could abandon that calling. “I would be mentally ill if I didn’t.”

 

Nice word, that, “calling.” “Can you talk about what the calling of writing to kids,” Oliver asked Johnson, whose primarily for young readers books include The Great Greene Heist, The Parker League, and more.

 

Turns out, writing for kids is more complicated than a reader might think.

 

“Middle grade (literature) has to be written for years 8-12ish, while remembering that adults will read it too. . . The first draft is for only me, before putting the words out for an audience,” Johnson said.

 

Image: Pixabay

Later drafts are about “sculpting for that (i.e. middle grade) audience,” including dealing with such difficult issues as racial slurs. “I think my only responsibility is to be true to the story, including some of the larger themes. The characters have to be true.”

 

And there it was again. The word in the room. Race.

 

Lansdale, whose dark tales are definitely not written for school age audiences, agreed with Johnson on the need for discretion when writing for the young. But for himself, “If you’re going to address race in the past, it may be uncomfortable. If I’m going to write about racism I have to write about the ugly aspects of it.”

 

So, how do classic books about those “ugly aspects” – the Huckleberry Finns and To Kill a Mockingbirds – with their plentiful racial epithets and violence, stand up in today’s audience? Is it time, the group debated, to “cancel” books written about race by White writers for primarily White audiences?

 

Lansdale was adamant about defending Mockingbird, which he opened his eyes as a youngster brought up in deep East Texas. (Some of his own writings, such as the thriller The Bottoms have been compared to Harper Lee’s story, and his comic duo Hap and Leonard features Black and white oddball investigators.)

 

“The thing about books like To Kill a Mockingbird, which I read as a kid,” Johnson said, “(is) when people say that defines racism for the South, no, it (defines) racism for white people.”

 

But although, as Lansdale noted, “some of those books make white readers see what we don’t see,” Johnson didn't find that sufficient. 

"Why," he asked, "should a book be expected to last forever?” 

Should books last forever? On writing in a 'cancel culture'

Writers think a lot about how to write but, surprisingly, not always about why they write in the first place. The Writer’s League of Texas’ Becka Oliver cornered a disparate trio of writers – Sarah Bird, Varian Johnson, and Joe R. Lansdale, one Black, two White -- at the WLT’s recent virtual “unconference” and bumped into a debate about the life span of books in today’s “cancel culture.”

Why write? Oliver asked.

“That is a hard and complicated question,” Johnson acknowledged. “I write because I’m trying to work something else (out) in the world.”  

From top left: Oliver, Bird, Lansdale, Johnson

“I would call (writing) a happy compulsion,” Lansdale said. “I write for me. I write like everybody I know is dead and hope readers like it.”

“It’s a defense against all the nonbelievers who surround you,” Bird said, noting that when she first began selling stories she was still reluctant to award herself the title of “author,” and would have answered the question by saying, “I write for money.” Later, during harder times, “I wrote to cheer myself up. . . (and) to memorialize my family.” Later, she termed the writing of her most recent book, Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen, a fictionalized narrative of the only woman among the 19^th-century’s all-Black Buffalo Soldiers, “a calling.”

Then, having reached the point at which she could retire from writing, she found she no longer could abandon that calling. “I would be mentally ill if I didn’t.”

Nice word, that, “calling.” “Can you talk about what the calling of writing to kids,” Oliver asked Johnson, whose primarily for young readers books include The Great Greene Heist, The Parker League, and more.

Turns out, writing for kids is more complicated than a reader might think.

“Middle grade (literature) has to be written for years 8-12ish, while remembering that adults will read it too. . . The first draft is for only me, before putting the words out for an audience,” Johnson said.

Later drafts are about “sculpting for that (i.e. middle grade) audience,” including dealing with such difficult issues as racial slurs. “I think my only responsibility is to be true to the story, including some of the larger themes. The characters have to be true.”

And there it was again. The word in the room. Race.

Lansdale, whose dark tales are definitely not written for school age audiences, agreed with Johnson on the need for discretion when writing for the young. But for himself, “If you’re going to address race in the past, it may be uncomfortable. If I’m going to write about racism I have to write about the ugly aspects of it.”

So, how do classic books about those “ugly aspects” – the Huckleberry Finns and To Kill a Mockingbirds – with their plentiful racial epithets and violence, stand up in today’s audience? Is it time, the group debated, to “cancel” books written about race by White writers for primarily White audiences?

Lansdale was adamant about defending Mockingbird, which he opened his eyes as a youngster brought up in deep East Texas. (Some of his own writings, such as the thriller The Bottoms have been compared to Harper Lee’s story, and his comic duo Hap and Leonard features Black and White oddball investigators.)

“The thing about books like To Kill a Mockingbird, which I read as a kid,” Johnson said, “(is) when people say that defines racism for the South, no, it (defines) racism for White people.”

And if, as Lansdale noted, “some of those books make White readers see what we don’t see,” Johnson replied, “Why should a book be expected to last forever?”

***

I notice that in an earlier post I promised to provide guidance on some of the “tools” writers use in their work. But I admit, I’m now digging deeply into the virtual Thrillerfest, with its dozens of author conversations, so I’ll end here. Stay tuned for words from Virginia, Wyoming, South Carolina, and more!

Wordcraft -- Young people to books: we love you!

I could hardly believe the sight was real. Dozens of school buses from districts across North Texas lined the road outside the Irving Convention Center, unloading kids who’d given up a beautiful Saturday to hang out with their favorite authors at the first annual North Texas Teen Book Festival.

And it wasn’t just hundreds of kids, but thousands of them. The final attendance count totaled 3,500, according to festival steering committee member Mandy Aguilar. Crowds of young people (and a scattering of adults, like me) filled two stories of the convention center to see and hear more than fifty authors. And to line up for questions, and buy books, and mob writers for one-on-one discussions and selfies beyond number.

As someone who worries over predictions that boys stop reading once they hit adolescence, it was reassuring to see almost as many boys as girls line up to question authors.

And since I’m always looking for the next new thing to satisfy my tweenaged grandsons’ appetite for books, I took copious notes at author panels designated for middle grade readers (generally, ages 8-12).

What would tempt boys who crave male heroes but who don’t turn up their noses at spunky females? Boys who are daringly geeky, the kids who spout hockey league statistics at the drop of a puck, but are undecided about whether to pursue careers in science or the arts?

Maybe they’d like The Great Greene Heist, by engineer turned author Varian Johnson, www.varianjohnson.com/? Johnson still pursues an engineering career,  but he’s spending ever-increasing amounts of time writing award-winning books for young people.

And then there was Plano author Polly Holyoke (http://pollyholyoke.com/) with The Neptune Project, about a group of genetically-altered, ocean-dwelling young people and their dolphin friends. Former middle school teacher Holyoke enjoyed researching The Neptune Project and its out-this-May sequel, The Neptune Challenge. The downside of research? Sharing so much scary stuff with her daughters they're now reluctant to go swimming or scuba diving with her.

I personally sympathized with author/panelist Shannon Messenger who started her career intending to major in art, discovered she hated it, switched film because she loved a screenwriting course but found she hated the Hollywood life, and finally realized she really wanted to write novels, like the Keeper of Lost Cities series starring a preteen telepath, and admits at
http://ramblingsofawannabescribe.blogspot.com/ to keeping company with insane numbers of animals.

By lunchtime, all the mental exertion left me starving. But with the line for the convention center’s café out the door (note for next year, bring sack lunch), I hit the book room stocked by HalfPrice Books. Oh, here was something that looked fun, a book from Obert Skye’s Creature from My Closet series, illustrated by drawings my grandsons would love. (See samplings at his website, www.abituneven.com/.)

The boys were flying off the next day for spring break. And although their dad had loaded movies on his iPad, they couldn’t resist taking a book along as well, an actual printed book. Which one was it? I’m waiting to see. And to hear all about it.

By the way, if you missed the festival, I’m sorry. But mark your calendar for the next one, March 5, 2016. Because like a good book series, the sequel is already in the works.