Writers!!! I have a tip!! I have a tip!!!!

My writing slowed down in 2020 because my brain was like fudge. I found I could write a good chapter but muuuuch slower than usual, or I could write a chapter at my usual rate but it would be a pile of crap and I’d have to rewrite it Basically my ideas weren’t firing, the story wasn’t coming together, and the characters weren’t ringing true, in the same time frame as usual.

But this year, with my latest project, I have found a way to work around that issue so I want to share.

Sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t say this stuff bc trans people are already saying it & clearly being ignored, whereas I will be listened to more simply for being cis, and that pisses me off, but at the same time NOT saying it surely = silence in the face of injustice, so: I am very sick of scrolling through Romance Twitter only to see a cis woman espousing the “Dicks are evil bc I’m a feminist!” philosophy. It is boring, childish, limited, inaccurate, & most of all, harmful & offensive.

I just read a review that really disgusted me. It was for a historical romance featuring queer characters and/or characters of colour, and the reviewer’s treatment of that fact was one of the most upsetting & disheartening things I’ve read in a while. The reviewer seemed to like the book itself. Their issue was with ‘social justice stuff’ and ‘wokeness’ being ‘forced’ into the book. How was it forced in? Apparently by including queer and non-white characters.