I'm a writer who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. I like poetry and fiction and have had some pieces published in literary journals. I've dedicated this blog to writing, fiction and poetry posts.
George Michael’s life was constantly trailed by homophobic media that painted him as a sexual deviant and a drug addicted train wreck “corrupted” by the gay lifestyle. In reality, George Michael was an artist who, for a large portion of his life, was forced to hide his sexuality and live a lie in a pre-millennium society that emotionally punished anybody whose orientation challenged heteronormative expectations. Let us not forget the paths paved by people like George Michael: those who bravely came out during a time when closet doors were locked from the outside.
I never felt I fit into conventional beauty standards but many black guys liked me because I wasn’t like the other “hood/ghetto” girls. I used to take that shit as a compliment when I was in HS but once I started college, I knew that was bullshit. I never understood why certain white people would be nice to me but make fun of fat, dark-skinned black girls who were seen as ‘ghetto.’ I always thought, “If they’re ugly because they fit your idea of 'bad blacks’, what does that make me? I’m black too.” It doesn’t matter if you think that thin, light-skinned black girl is pretty while you shame a fat, dark-skinned girl. You HATE BW. You’re letting me know you only like me because I temporarily disassociate you from blackness. You’ll shame me any other time.
Writing, to me, is an offshoot of my passion for reading, a habit that I developed from an early age. I grew up as an introverted child and as the only boy in the family. Books became my closest companion.
Contrary to popular perception, writing short requires a lot of discipline as there is no luxury of time and space. One has to develop a story using very few characters, and every word used must be accounted for in order to develop a concrete and aesthetically powerful story.
[My ideal readers are] imaginative individuals who allow words to invade their minds, penetrate their heart and soul, and take them to the highest peaks of ecstasy.
I write at any given moment. Inspiration to write comes at the strangest of times and in very awkward places. I once wrote a story on the programme while attending a funeral. Sometimes when I’m overwhelmed by voices in my head I sneak out of the bedroom and sit in my study without my wife noticing.
I always begin with handwritten sketches before using the computer. Much as computers are a more advanced medium, I find them quite obstructive when writing a new story.
Books are resilient, enduring and will remain an essential part of our civilisation. They possess a certain aura of intimacy that cannot be obtained in iPods, kindle, computers and all such devices. They are reliable companions that keep you company when you go to bed, to the beach, in a taxi or even in a remote desert. Books are sources of entertainment as much as they are fountains of knowledge and wisdom.
I always try to write work that resonates with the broader society and that would exhort people to take action.
Mahala is a South African writer. He is the author of the short story collection,African Delights, and he received the 2006 Ernst van Heerden Creative Writing Award for When a Man Cries. He is the Head of Books and Publishing at the National Department of Arts and Culture.
Source for image
Source for quotes: Mail&Guardian and Sunday Independent
Sometimes it’s as if you are stagnant while the world is rotating around you. You move but you get nowhere, so you sit there and watch the world around you turn and turn, wishing you were one of those people who are running and making it to their destinations.
We tend to forget that everyone moves at their own places. We choose different roads and pave paths to make our own destiny. So be gentle to yourself. Be kind to yourself. And give yourself the patience and time you would to anyone else.
Ming D. Liu, You ever feel as if people are going places and your feet are cemented on the floor?
This girl became the youngest designer in history represented at New York fashion week!
Our schools are so hateful, racist and cruel! It is too hard for girls like Egypt “Ify” Ufele to ignore these bullies! She overcomed all these troubles and showed what she can! And I’m very proud of her!
I can say Leslie Jones is not ugly and has cool hair and some black man wants to correct me on how she’s not “pretty” either. First of all, I don’t need you to contradict my own opinion on another black woman’s looks. Second of all, not being a conventional beauty doesn’t mean you’re not pretty. I think she’s pretty and you don’t have to find her attractive but why do you need to state she’s not pretty as if it’s a fact? That was so unnecessary. Black men are the main ones putting down a black woman’s looks and for no reason.
ok, in 2016 shit is critical. if you aint supporting black women in every way, then you in the way. if she wrong, we’ll handle it in the locker room but fucking support and protect them. every shade, every size, every color, from flotus to sex worker… no excuses
So we all know working with critique partners is a very good thing you should be doing if you’re a writer, and we know that even after you get an agent, the revisions don’t stop until the book is on the shelf. Which means between the first draft and the final printed copy, writers have to do a lot of revisions. And generally, when those revisions are based off someone else’s notes…there comes the edit letter.
A lot of edit letters.
I recently got a question on tumblr about handling edit letters, and it occurred to me that while I’ve mentioned tips here and there for handling critiques, it doesn’t look like I’d really dedicated a post to it. So now I am.
[Picture cap: I have a question, or maybe a blog post subject request or a vlog post subject request: could you write about the edit letter, and how you handle it? I am facing my first and it’s unlike any feedback I’ve ever received and I’m not sure how to tackle it. Thanks!]
The long and short of this is even when you like revising (like me)—even when revising is your favorite part (like me)—edit letters can be pretty hard to swallow. Whether it’s a bulleted e-mail or a fifteen-page Word document (both of which I’ve received), reading an edit letter can feel a bit like getting punched in the stomach repeatedly. And at the end you’re supposed to smile and say, “thank you.”
So how do you handle an edit letter? These are the steps I take:
Before you read the letter, remember this will (probably) make your book better. I try to approach each letter as open-minded as possible. I trust whoever I’m getting the edit letter from, and I trust that their suggestions will help me make this book even better than I imagined. I also remind myself at this stage that whatever the letter says, it’s not personal, and they’re sharing the suggestions they have to help me improve the book.
Read the letter once. I like to read it through the first time quickly. This is the gut-punch stage where little flaw hurts like hell, which is why I try to race through it so I reach the end quickly and know the worst of it.
Read the letter again. This time I’ll read it through more carefully. Now that I know what to expect, it’s a little easier focus on the nitty-gritty. I pay special attention to any suggestions and start thinking about what I can do to fix the problems.
Put the letter away. Unless the edit letter is all super easy fixes I’m ready to tackle immediately, I’ll usually step away. Most of the time I won’t look at the letter again for the rest of the day—I need some time to process the suggestions so that the next day I can…
Get a battle plan together. First I’ll open up the edit letter again. If it’s in an e-mail, I’ll now copy and paste it over to an Evernote note—if it’s in a Word document, I’ll probably work off of it from the document. If I have multiple letters, I’ll put everything in the same Evernote document, and from there I’ll start to organize the notes by type: plot/pacing, voice/writing, characters, world building, miscellaneous. I use a process I wrote about in this post to organize everything into different editing passes, and then…
Start revising. In the case of heavy revisions I recommend trying a strategy like this one, but whether your revisions will be super intensive or relatively easy, now’s the time to get to work. I’ve come to really love the revising process because it’s a really cool thing to watch your manuscript get better and better, but even if you don’t, just remember that this process will all be worth it. The hard work definitely pays off—just stick to it, be kind to yourself, and keep your head down and eyes on your own paper until you’re done.
How do you handle edit letters from critique partners or publishing professionals?
I really wish people will realize it is unrealistic for most men to like you for anything other than your looks. They’re too misogynistic to give a fuck about your intelligence or any other decent quality you have. Why do you think you have nasty bitches saying they have a “better” body than you as a compatibility trait for a man y’all both want? Because they know they don’t need to do much to find a decent partner or get “wifed up.” As another womanist said, no man cares about an Ayesha Curry who can cook and goes to church. They might say they do but they’re still going on looks alone. Ayesha Curry may just get chose because she’s an attractive, light-skinned woman with light-colored eyes. Looks shouldn’t matter in a woman but it does. That’s not your problem a man can’t see good person you are. Don’t blame other women for it either.
Somebody will accept you for who you are but it’s not the loser men and women who think your looks determine your virtue and intelligence. They’re threatened by you anyway. They don’t want to see you get ahead of them, even women who have “beauty privilege.” They don’t want intelligence in a woman to trump outer qualities. The only time looks don’t matter is when a dark-skinned black woman with Afrocentric features is pretty and people like her. Suddenly she’s trying to “appease” the male gaze. Anyone who isn’t privileged and thought as conventionally beautiful are suddenly “too in their looks” if others like them.
I tried that shit where my intelligence and humor would trump my outer exterior but niggas upfront told me, “Nobody cares about that.” They was too busy tryna see if they could fuck me or netflix and chill. That shit don’t work. That’s why I got some trolls on here and Twitter on my page trying to talk shit about my womanism but yet they still try to talk to me. They hate every quality about me but because they’re attraction is so violent, they can’t leave me alone. I have horrible qualities to them; human decency, courtesy for others and support for black women. Yet they’re like, “lol but you cute tho.” We can discuss beauty privilege and how it should not determine how intelligent a woman is for a job or position but let’s not act like looks don’t matter for men. Most “good” Christian men will tell you the biggest blessing in their life is to have found a “hot” or “beautiful” wife. Aha!
The Universe is Made Up of Stories @mywordsareair - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
blakekathryn
izzy806
ellievsbear
dailybridgerton
