But surely these sensitive “sensitivity readers” are at least trained in literary analysis? Not quite. In most cases, what qualifies them to advise authors on how a given identity should be represented is simply their status as a purported representative of a particular group or experience. It’s not difficult to see how this identitarian solipsism might become a problem when editorial decisions demand a nuanced understanding of an author’s lexical, syntactic and rhetorical choices.
Typically, sensitivity readers are brought in after structural edits and copyedits, combing through the manuscript for any element of character, plot or narrative development that might cause offense. Sometimes this means advising the removal of individual words, sometimes entire scenes, character traits, or narrative arcs.
One of the benefits of self-publishing is that these parasites don’t get a look in on the process. Rose is about a mixed-race pirate who started out as a plantation slave – or, as sensitivity demands, an enslaved person. When Grammarly decided on that particular change to my prose, Grammarly got a swift slap, and the sensitivity filter was switched off, never to be reinstated. You can see immediately how this adversely affects the prose, making it clunky and unreadable, as is the case with political correctness. Many years ago, a reader of this blog tried to convince me that you put the person before the disability, resulting in mangled, awkward language. I refused then, I refuse now. That said, as a white man, I don’t have the relevant lived experience, so I shouldn’t be writing about such a character anyway.
The confusion now runs so deep that the industry’s obsession with authenticity has begun producing editors who genuinely believe men shouldn’t write female characters, because they lack the experience required to capture the essential “truth” of that identity.
My response to this is simple. I’ve never been a pirate and never brutally murdered anyone, either. I mean, I get the idea, write what you know, but if you only write what you have ever experienced, the world of fiction would be a very dull place indeed.
I could just imagine a female sensitivity reader marking up the proofs of Anna Karenina and writing: “It’s not believable that a woman would jump in front of a train because she thinks her boyfriend cheated on her”. Would the publishers then have to find a woman who had jumped out in front of a train?
Indeed. My work is a sensitivity free zone. It will remain that way. Some of the language and depictions I use may cause offence. Get over it.
So, as with the title of this post – fuck off.
I read a fair few Bernard Cornwell and Conn Iggulden and similar historical fictions and recently came across a female author trying to write similar novels. I read one and it didn’t “feel” right. She had hidden behind initials instead of a Christian name so now I take care to find out who’s at the keyboard before cranking up my Kindle.
I think I might have read one of those. I gave up halfway through.
“That said, as a white man, I don’t have the relevant lived experience, so I shouldn’t be writing about such a character anyway.”
WTF? You’re not writing non-fiction are you? You are making up characters, storylines. It’s called imagination and make-believe. That is what novelists do.
Welcome to the world of modern publishing. It’s awash with this bullshit. When I wrote my first novel, I secured the services of an agent and went down the traditional publishing route. We never got anywhere, and I dropped the idea until Leggy encouraged me to have another go. I wouldn’t dream of traditional publishing now.
A few years ago, a young novelist withdrew her book from publication because the online mob was enraged because one of her characters was enslaved. This fantasy novel had nothing to do with black people, but that didn’t matter. Me, I’d have given them the finger and carried on. I write about slavery in Rose and have mapped out a novel set against the background of the American Civil War, so again, I will be writing about slavery.
I write fiction using a mix of imagination and historical research. However, the modern publishing industry has been captured, so I’ll never pitch any of my work to them.
The comment that men shouldn’t write about female characters resonates. My reading preference is SF which has been a male dominated genre until recently. I have unknowingly picked up a book or two written by a female and been left disappointed. As The Jannie says, check who’s behind the keyboard. There’s a heck of a lot of crap out there and much of it is from this new wave of over hyped glass ceiling smashers.
Yet, Anne Mcaffrey wrote fantastic Fantasy/sci-fi novels that were classics of the genre.
Likewise Ursula Le Guen.
Sensitivity reader posts are now being advertised for Martians, vampires, Chewbaccians, and persons from Medieval England. All must have relevant lived experience except for vampires who must have relevant dead experience.
[Satire. No, really]
Poe’s Law applies here.