If The Call To Read Diverse Books Gets You Hot Under The Collar, I Need You To Lean Into That Discomfort
If the call to read diverse books gets you hot under the collar, I need you to lean into that discomfort a little and ask yourself the question: What would happen if I did?
First and foremost, let’s make sure we are on the same page about the diverse books effort. When someone says “Read more diversely,” what they are asking is for you to take the author into consideration when you are choosing your next read. It’s unfortunate that we live in a world where current prejudice and a long history of prejudice impact the day to day lives of minority groups, but the publishing industry is largely white, heteronormative, able bodied, and cis. We can uplift authors of color, disabled authors, and queer authors by purposefully looking for their books, especially when the publishing industry fails them time and time again.
This does not mean that you can’t read books by white, cis, straight authors. A focus is not an exclusion. All that is being asked is that alongside your normal reads, you intentionally branch out into more diverse writers.
Creating space for more diverse authors is important because people deserve to tell their own stories. Have you ever read something in your area of expertise and the author just got it so incredibly wrong? This happens with identity, too. Not only is it cringe worthy when someone outside the community gets the essence wrong, it can also be incredibly harmful by spreading destructive stereotypes. Allowing community members to tell stories about their community empowers them and helps to establish good representation in mainstream media.
Representation matters because every person deserves to see themselves well represented in a book they love. It’s so easy to feel alone, especially if you are part of a minority community. Books open up a window for us to feel more connected and to understand our identities. It’s no wonder that having positive representation has been shown to increase self-esteem.
Even if the representation isn’t your identity, it’s still incredibly important. Diversity is a teacher. We live in an age of echo chambers. It’s so easy to get sequestered into our own personalized bubble on the internet. Putting yourself in a place to listen to the stories of people different from yourself is vital for connecting with others, for understanding their struggles, and for building solidarity in our communities. It will stretch you in the best of ways.
And finally, if that wasn’t enough, we should read diverse because we deserve to read excellent stories. Diverse books are brilliant. They challenge the industry, inject new life blood into publishing, keep thing fresh and exciting. Diverse books are stunning. They are well written, and fun, and capture the imagination. Diverse books keep the humanity in publishing, because humanity is millions of unique facets joined together into a whole. Why would you limit yourself to just one?
More Posts from Charm-writes and Others
woo cool powers for the gang!!
this project looks so good so far!! I do have to ask what are everyones affinities (all the main ros i mean)?
thank u so much for the nice words ! of course,
Martin: Fire with sub-affinity lightning and Dark with sub-affinity shadows.
Demetra: Air with sub-affinity wind and Dark with sub-affinity manipulation.
Evander: Void with sub-affinity speed.
Harley: Air with sub-affinity sound and Light.
Echo: Void with sub-affinity abyss and Dark, which is a very rare and powerful combo.
Dominic: Water and Earth with sub-affinity nature.
The Origami Princess
(Hello and welcome back to @flashfictionfridayofficial! This prompt was a nice jumping point to actually get around to writing this lil story lol)
There. All settled?
Uh-huh. Can you tell the story about the Origami Princess again?
The Origami Princess? Alright.
Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there was a princess who lived alone in a tower. Now, for the most part, she was a very normal princess. Even her circumstances for being in the tower were normal, as it was a long-standing tradition upheld by generations of princesses before her. But this princess had a special gift she kept hidden away: she could breath life into the origami she created. She spent her time in the tower creating a menagerie of paper animals to keep her company while she waited for her 20th birthday.
But little did the princess know that her life was about to change one stormy night.
Keep reading
✨FFF 205 Masterlist
Thank you for all your wonderful entries, we loved reading every single one ^^ (If we missed your entry, please let us know)
Consider checking out your fellow writers’ pieces, give out those likes and reblogs and gather some inspiration for the new prompt at 12pm!
We’ll see you then!
Where the flowers grow by @somealienquill
The Magic Mirror by @charlies-storybook
Imaginary flowers by @rins-love-wins
Where the Flowers Grow by @renee-writer
Hanahaki by @lix88888
She will wait by @whogavemeapen
Everyone Deserves a Flower by @shipping-through-eternity
Where the Flowers Grow by @aquadestinyswriting
Soar, young one by @writing-with-olive
Curses by @drowning-in-cacophony
Clarification by @lisbeth-kk
Where the Flowers Grow by @clarislam
of ancient roots by @ginneke
Where the Flowers Grow by @stories-by-rie
Growing to be who we really are by @mimisempai
Missing home by @sam-glade
Stolen Moment in the Fields by @pen-of-roses
Something About Poppies by @scottdarlingstorytime
A lovely day by @ngkiscool
Where the Flowers Grow by @lassiesandiego
Desolation by @odysseywritings
Two Suns by @theoriginalsapphic
What She Left Behind by @starlightswitch
Make It True by @jlilycorbie
The Beauty You Are by @edosianorchids901
Snowdrops in the Summer by @betweenthetimeandsound
Disappearance by @e-lisard
so hold my hand, i'll walk with you my dear by @ineedaplacetostay
soil under his nails by @asher-orion-writes
✨ intermission ✨because you wrote so much that tumblr can't post them all in one block ✨ apparently ✨
Where the Flowers Grow by @landofspaceandrainbows
Wherre the Flowers Grow by @nooowestayandgetcaught
Life on a new Sphere by @goblin-writer
“You can either let this journey crush you, or let it transform you into someone stronger.”
A scene from the newly-released, New-York-Times-bestselling (?!) book Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, art by 最后的L and water effects by me! 🤗
Honestly, Zachary Ying is a book I didn’t think I’d have the strength to write. The concept is very wild and wacky, yes—the First Emperor of China possessing a young Chinese American boy’s AR gaming headset and compelling him on a journey across China to heist magical artifacts—but writing the story required me to dig deep into my complicated relationship with my heritage.
When I immigrated to Canada in 6th grade, I spent a year as the only Asian kid in the school of a small town. In that one year, I became self-conscious of all sorts of things that didn’t seem to matter before: the way I looked, the way I spoke, the clothes I wore, the media I liked. The white kids wouldn’t insult me outright, but they’d ask me questions that made me embarrassed of my differences from them. I felt backward, alien. The feelings of isolation and rejection I experienced took me many, many years to unpack. It’s been a long journey, learning to love myself again, and I drew much strength from stories in Chinese history to do so.
However, as the years passed, I’ve also watched in horror as the government of China became increasingly authoritarian, cracking down on dissent and committing genocidal atrocities against minority ethnic groups, of which I belong to one myself. Being Chinese has become so painfully political. Pride in Chinese culture is no longer as simple as that, but could accidentally play into the Chinese government’s use of traditional culture as propaganda. Yet on another hand, there’s the necessity of demystifying and defending Chinese culture to combat anti-Chinese racism. Many diaspora like myself are caught in the crosshairs, struggling to find the balance. But what I firmly believe is that traditional Chinese culture and history don’t belong to the Chinese government. It belongs to the Chinese people, both native and diaspora. If we distance ourselves from our heritage specifically because of the Chinese government, that’s letting them win, validating their claim to be the one true representative of Chinese culture when that is absolutely not the case.
Through Zack’s journey in this book, I wanted to engage with the complexities of Chinese identity, but I also want to have fun. This book remains a love letter to my 12-year-old self, taking inspiration from everything I love—anime, video games, sci-fi, and of course, Chinese history and myths. You’ll find appearances by real figures from said history and myths, wielding magic inspired by their legends, along with many famous Chinese artifacts.
If any of that sounds fun to you too, especially if you like Percy Jackson or Yugioh, I really think you’d like this book as well 😩✌🏼 You can find out where to get it at ZacharyYing.com!
🥺I love echo, your honour. Pls may I have some crumbs about her? Can't wait for my shy MC to be absolutely smitten by her 🙂
awwww thats so cute !!! i also cant wait for yall to meet her + all the ROs <33
Here's some Echo crumbs 🤲
She should technically wear glasses, but she never does, not even contacts.
Even though she's very shy, she's never had problems with making friends; people seem to always approach her, usually 'cause they think she looks cool or attractive (but mostly both).
She found out about Magici from a random dude who randomly ran up to her and asked for an autograph (and prolly a kiss) 'cause he thought she was Cara, a contestant from Magici's first season with a huge fanbase. Her reaction was just "Who? From what?", totally clueless about it lmfao.
She has an unhealthy obsession with brie.
She really really loves reading romance webtoons, her favourite is Insol's Law.
She is Croatian and English.
She has like 500 hobbies; crocheting, playing bass, knitting, writing, painting, etc etc... The list is never ending and she somehow manages to do all that consistently.
She has the most random dream jobs ever, like she'll have a week-long phase where all she does is research how to become a train conductor.
Her affinity combo means she can become basically invisible when it's dark, though not for long.
She makes an amazing burek, her cheese one is scrumptious.
“people have endured the worst events in human history and lived to share their experiences,” i say after taking a sharp deep breath through my nose
“people have found small comforts in small ways throughout humanity’s bleakest moments,” I say, resisting the urge the scream
“people have survived the worst atrocities humanity has thrown their way and lived to share what they went through,” I say as my eye twitches
“even though the worst parts of history may end up repeating itself that also leaves the possibility of the best parts of history also repeating itself,” I say, trying to comfort myself
Happy book birthday to this week’s new releases! 📚
Hi!! i love how you write gods and the lore surrounding them!! i cant wait for more- salvatore my beloved
!!! 🥺🥺 thank you so much, charm-writes!! I see this is your writeblr, so I also wish the best for your own writing endeavors! I'd love to see what you write in the future. Before that time comes, I will have to keep refining the lore and the world to keep up!
Thanks so much for sending your love, and Salvatore sends theirs as well through the warmth of tomorrow's morning sun ☀️💖
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charm-writes reblogged this · 5 months ago -
thistle-nightshade reblogged this · 1 year ago
21 | Chinese | Autistic | Aspiring Fantasy Writer and Narrative Designer | Fae and Chinese Mythology Enjoyer | @charmycharmcharms' writeblr!
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