In today’s Journal
* Welcome
* Yesterday
* Topic: An Open Statement on “Diversity” in Fiction
* The Numbers
Welcome to Bill S., the most recent subscriber to the Journal.
Well, a pretty good day yesterday, but only because a day with any writing is better than a day without any. I fell far short of my goal, and really for no good reason. I just got lazy. Still, every little bit helps.
Topic: An Open Statement on “Diversity” in Fiction
Yesterday too, a reader pointed out that I “haven’t mentioned diversity very much on [T]he Ark.”
That’s true. I haven’t. Some people see this as a sticky wicket. I do not.
The make-up of The Ark is extremely diverse, with crewpeople and/or repopulation passengers from almost every culture on Earth. So The Ark and the whole FOH series is diverse pretty much to the max.
But I don’t mention diversity much. Nor do the crewpeople and repop passengers on board The Ark. Really, they (and I) couldn’t care less.
Every person allowed to board The Ark, crewpeople and repopulation passengers alike, underwent a rigorous psychological screening process to weed-out anyone who might cause problems based on their personal perception of gender or race issues, religious beliefs, national origin, cultural or political beliefs and any other superficial issues.
Actually, The only group the tests were unable to weed out were psychopaths, or sociopaths if you like. And it’s a good thing or there wouldn’t be any stories on The Ark worth writing. No conflict.
But back to the notion that I failed to mention “diversity” enough. It’s an unfortunate fact that some people use the surface differences two paragraphs above this one to divide humanity. It’s equally sad that some national and world leaders use them to their own ends, always for monetary gain and to amass more power.
But neither the people on The Ark nor I think that way. The people on The Ark are doing what they’re doing for the Future of Humanity (FOH), not for this religious group or that skin color or any other false, human-created division.
Consider, if I research and write at some depth about a culture of which I am not personally a member, some readers (like, I assume, the reader who pointed out this “flaw”) will applaud me for being diversity-inclusive.
Others, though—even others who are not members of that culture either—will scream that I’m “misappropriating” the cultural mores of the culture I researched. To those people, if I felt like wasting my breath, I would say, “Y’know what? It’s fiction, it’s taking place on a generation ship that doesn’t exist, and everyone on board is getting along (mostly) despite the problems and problem-children they left behind for good reason on Earth. Get over it.”
Earthbound as we are, people who are actively looking for something to gripe about (too few “Blacks,” too few “Whites,” too few “Asians” or whatever else) will always be out there and they’ll always find something to complain about.
However, I don’t much care whether any of them ever pick up one of my books. Besides, they’re probably too busy dreaming up “causes” to read and then “protesting injustices” for the sake of being seen before going home to their gated, locked communities and their (insert racial orientation here) maids at the end of the day.
Finally, as I’ve said over and over in this and other venues, I don’t consciously decide anything when I’m writing a story. And frankly, being politically correct (saying or writing “the right thing” for appearance’ sake) is the least of my concerns.
I have many flaws, but faking interest in the superficial differences and social mores that some use as wedges to divide human beings into different groups isn’t one of them. I guess I was fortunate to come to maturity in the Marine Corps, where everyone was green and everyone bled red. Seems to me that’s a good way to be.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Street Lib Notes” at http://r.send.streetlib.com/mk/mr/oXtSlErbPIaPP3v1cngwyUwHQX_mOeJ5sNluwa_wOiKL1K-nEvpWuo2thf7JnxsTZJfToy95xrVEm9El4NvUwUwDbuDCD-_R13e3hO8i8F1T. Sorry the link is so long if you have to type it in. This was an email newsletter sent to me that I thought you should see.
See “A Caveman Would Never Do CrossFit….” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/a-caveman-would-never-do-crossfit-why-theres-nothing-natural-about-exercise/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 710 words
Writing of The Journey Home: Part 5 (novel)
Day 1…… 4179 words. Total words to date…… 4179
Day 2…… 4825 words. Total words to date…… 9004
Day 3…… 2746 words. Total words to date…… 11750
Total fiction words for December……… 109035
Total fiction words for the year………… 561566
Total nonfiction words for December… 20990
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 206200
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 767766
Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 9
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 13
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 54
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 214
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31