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The Real Racism Problem

I am a writer so I guess it is my nature to be intrigued by language.  I don’t just hear what people say to me, I also “hear” what they don’t plainly come out and say.  You see, the way in which someone has articulated something can at times be more telling than what they have actually said.  As you probably know by now Dr. Laura Schlessinger used the N-word 11 times on her nationally syndicated radio show.  As a result the familiar debate about whether or not the N-word should be stricken from our vocabulary has again sprung up.  When people use such an emotionally charged word it is easy to pounce on them for doing so, and I get that.  Believe me I get that.  But what really bothers me about the exchange Schlessinger had with the caller is something I have labeled the real racism problem, rhetoric.  Everyone gets so caught up in the N-word, to the point that the real racism problem gets ignored.

So what Schlessinger used the N-word 11 times.  We all, well most of us anyway, agree that using it is wrong on some level.  What doesn’t get discussed, because of all the furor over a single word, are all those other insensitive words.  Used to form generalizing, offensive statements that are more harmful than the single N-word.

What Schlessinger Said:   
a lot of blacks voted for Obama simply 'cause he was half-black.  Didn't matter what he was gonna do in office
What I (Tanya Yvonne) heard:
Blacks do not know or care about the issues.  They operate like children where girls seek out other girls and boys seek out other boys simply because they are a like.  Meaning blacks looked at then candidate Obama and deduced, he looks like me so must vote for him.    
   
What Schlessinger Said:  It was a black thing.
What I heard:  Blacks are not individuals.

What Schlessinger Said:  You gotta know that. That's not a surprise
What I heard:  I know how you people are.

What Schlessinger Said:  I don't get it. If anybody without enough melanin says it, it's a horrible thing; but when black people say it, it's affectionate. It's very confusing.
What I heard:  I really don’t understand why you are feeling this way.

What Schlessinger Said:  Yeah. We've got a black man as president, and we have more complaining about racism than ever. I mean, I think that's hilarious.
What I heard:  We have a black president so I feel we no longer have a race problem.  I don’t care about how you are feeling.


Language is very powerful.  The Dr. Lauras of the world are masters of this rhetoric game.  Because it is never what they come out and plainly say that creates divides.  Only the residue.  That nasty stickiness that you can’t really see but somehow feel.  The N-word 11 times -clearly heard.  All those others words -kind of heard, but definitely felt.  Time to focus on the real racism problem.

Hook Me

Okay, so you have written a story that you want me to read.  I’ll give you one paragraph to convince me to read the whole story.  That’s it.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  No worries right?  Because I know somewhere in that first paragraph of your story there will be a hook.  Delicious morsels constructed of words that will leave me and other readers with burning questions.  Questions that can only be answered by reading your story.  A hook.

The rain pounded hard against the window.  But I could still hear them.  The light footsteps of a child.  Alone in the darkness of my bedroom I thought about hiding, or even jumping out the window.  Yet I couldn’t move.  I was paralyzed by fear.  I thought back to what had brought me to that moment. 

Is the narrator male or female?

Why be afraid of a kid?

Is this one of the parents?

Why consider jumping out a window?

Is someone crazy?

I have to find out. 

Now I want you to set your story aside for a few days.  Once you have done this go back and read your opening paragraph.  Ask yourself, does it leave me wanting more?  Be honest:)    

 

"Alien Line" Poster

What will happen to Teah when she discovers the truth?

Here is the poster (NOT the book cover)
for "Alien Line" created by n*Vision Designs.

What's Driving Your Story?

Are your stories driven by plot or character?  This question reminds me of this guy who was in my fiction workshop.  When his short stories were read aloud I was often left feeling as if I had been taken on a wild ride.  His stories were action packed.  Passage after passage of skirmishes or small feats, all memorable.  Even though what happened stuck with me who it happened to escaped my thoughts as soon as the story had ended.   The type of stories Workshop Guy was writing would fall under the heading, plot driven.  Meaning that how fast the car was going, how the vehicle flipped over a curb, or the extent of damage done to the car was narrated at length.  Whereas few words were used detailing what the character(s) was feeling or thinking at the time of that crash.  If the situation was reversed and Workshop Guy had taken several paragraphs to chronicle the character's feelings and thoughts instead, then the story could be categorized as character driven. 

It does not matter to me if a story is driven by plot or character.  My belief is that producing a captivating tale is what really matters.   My stories tend to be more character driven.  Yours may not.  But it is important to be aware of the kinds of stories you do tend to write.  That way you will be more likely to spend extra time on that action scene or give the reader some insight about a character’s motivation.       

When Describing a Character it’s Best to Leave a lot to the Reader’s Imagination

Relationship experts are always stating how men find it more attractive when a woman does not show everything.  That they find it more appealing when women wear something like a low cut blouse paired with a long skirt.  It peaks their interest because it leaves them something to fantasize about.  Instead of them seeing the legs as they really are the guys instead get to drum up an ideal image of those hidden limbs.  Okay, so what is my point?  That the same idea applies when describing a fictional character.  No matter how detailed a description you give the image among readers will vary and none of them will come close to that picture you have in your head. 

Take for instance this photo of JaeLynn and I:

  Wrong

The wall was pink.  A brown and pink, art deco like flower print hung on the wall behind the African- American mother and daughter.  Beside the art on the wall there was a rack with seven shelves that contained numerous bottles of nail polish in shades of blue, green, pink, purple, yellow, orange and white.  Are you ready to skip to the end of this description yet?  The three-year-old black girl sat at a white table in a blue chair.  On the table sat a large bottle with a green label.  The girl's hair was done up in a ponytail that hung over to one side.  She was wearing a multicolored striped, orange jumper.  Her nails were painted pink.  Okay, enough already.  Now the correct way.
  Right 
The coffee colored skin of the mother and daughter glowed against a backdrop of pink.  I focused my gaze on their smiles which seemed to be genuine.  A normal looking family doing ordinary things, like visiting a nail salon.  I absently ran my fingers through my dark, long hair.  Hair that looked very much like the young mother's.  I described the characters while being mindful of the whole story.

Now you go give it a try.  Use the picture above or seek out one that better fits the type of character(s) you wish to create.  

NYC Pitch and Shop Conference

I will be attending the NYC Pitch and Shop conference that will be taking place September 23rd-26th.  I am very excited and a bit nervous.  I have never been to New York and although I should be focusing on the writing, I can't stop thinking about what I should wear:-)  I know it's terrible.  But while conducting the final read of my manuscript I can not keep my mind from wandering.  Visions of me strolling down the New York streets all Sex and the City like just keeps popping up.  Anyway, I will chronicle every detail right here on this Tanya Yvonne blog of mine.  Wish me luck!             

Be Choosy When Choosing a Point of View

Before you initially begin your story you must first choose a point of view.  Meaning, who would make the best storyteller?   If you only want the reader to get the perspective of a single character than first person point of view should be used.  Readers will have to rely on accounts given by a single character.  Explanations and descriptions that might be marred by the character’s  motivation.  For instance, let’s imagine that a story about a robbery is being told from the first person point of view.  The narrator is the robber.  Throughout the course of the story  the reader would have to question whether or not the robber is being impartial.  A type of question that could never be answered because the reader does not have any other character’s point of view to compare the robber’s account against.  Also when using the first person point of view a beginner writer has to be mindful that the use of I and we could get monotonous.  Try to find other ways for the single narrator to refer to themselves.  Instead of I sat it could be my bulk rested on the torn chair.  

Next we have my favorite, third person point of view.  I like third person point of view because I feel it gives the whole story.  And it makes for a more complex tale.  Lets go back to the robber premise.  Only this time when using the third person point of view we now get to see how it happens from the clerks perspective too.  Instead of using I or we, you will be using she, he or it. 

Lastly you must decide if omniscient, the narrator knows and recounts all actions and feelings of more than one character, or limited omniscient, only knows the feelings of a single character, would work best for your story. 

If It Doesn't Move the Story Along, Get Rid of It

When Makeup Girl (I’ll use nicknames to protect the identities of any friends and family members used in such scenarios to avoid any Jerry Springer moments:-) first asked for my help with a creative writing class assignment, she had no idea that I would be “so mean.”  Yup, Makeup Girl actually called me mean.  All because I pointed to large sections of her narrative and admitted that I didn’t care about the information given.  What Makeup Girl soon learned was one of the most important rules in regards to writing.  According to Tanya Yvonne anyway, omit anything that will have that voice in your reader’s head screaming: I don’t care.  I can’t tell you how many stories I have read where the author has taken several pages just to describe a room, a dress, a character’s appearance or how she/he walked in a room.  Boring!  Unless it is key to the plot, meaning that it will somehow move the story along , GET RID OF IT.  I know, I know you spent hours maybe even weeks crafting that scene.  I DON’T CARE.  GET RID OF IT.  You know how you watch a movie and there is some random scene where the lead hot actor is partially naked? And once the next scene starts you think to yourself what was the point of that?  Finally, when the movie has ended you realize that the nudity had nothing to do with what was going on, the producers just thought that it would look good.  Annoying.  Same thing with writing.  Don't just put a passage in to show how you can do a great description.  Because if that looong, overly detailed description does not end up moving the story along it should not be there so GET RID OF IT: )              

Taking a Closer Look at Catelynn of MTV's "Teen Mom"

by Tanya Yvonne

Recently I got the chance to sit down and have a phone conversation with MTV’s “Teen Mom” cast member Catelynn.  After an awkward start, I accidentally called her Carly instead of Catelynn, the 18-year-old put me at ease with her girly laughter.  There was so much I wanted to know about her.  After all she was the only one of the girls who chose to give her baby up for adoption.  A decision that her family disagreed with.  I wanted to know how old Carly is now and what type of emotional attachment did she have towards the soon-to-be toddler.  In a delightfully, young, teenage sounding voice she explained to me that Carly was now a one-year-old.  And the feelings she has for the little cutie would fall more under the heading of aunt like.  In a way that hints that what she has gone through has made her wise beyond her years, she tells me that Carly has a mother.  And that person is the woman who is raising her.  I then wanted to know about the level of contact.  She explained that she regularly receives e-mails and gets pics on a monthly basis.  Of course I had to make some inquires regarding her relationship with Tyler:)  Birth father of little Carly.
The tone of her voice shifts slightly as she tells me how in every relationship there are bumps but also that things were improving.  During the first episode of this season Tyler and his mother ask her to move out, indicating that perhaps some space was needed between the two teens.  I asked how things were with her mother.  No surprise to those of us who watched the first season that things are still strained between the mother and daughter.  I wrapped up the interview with questions regarding her future. 

I wanted to know what was next for her.  If she was ready to close that chapter of her life.  Catelynn explained to me that while she was ready to look ahead, when it comes to Carly that is a chapter in her life that will never be closed.  Why do the show at all?  “I want people to know that there are different ways to love a child.  Adoption is not a huge, horrible thing.  It has wonderful rewards.”  This year she is looking forward to graduating from high school and going to college.  Just like any other 18-year-old.  Catch “Teen Mom” Tuesdays on MTV.            

Plot, This Took Place Because That First Took Place

Plot is what occurs during a story.  In the best of tales it is done in such a way that it’s clear to the reader when, this took place because that first took place.  Allow me to clarify.  I am writing a romantic type of story where I have a male character going on a first date.  Throughout this date he demands that the woman pay half of everything.  Movie tickets, popcorn, drink and even dinner.  At the end of the date before leaving the restaurant he hints at a second date.  The woman flatly turns him down.  Not wanting to waste more gas, for he was the one who drove, he gets angry and tells her to take a cab home.  The story ends with his date taking a cab that just happens to be driven by a guy who had a crush on her in high school.  When he pulls up to her home she reaches in her purse preparing to pay him but he indicates that the ride is on him.  She gives him her phone number and they soon fall in love.  The end:)

See how it is clear how the female character went from being on a date with one guy to riding in the back of a cab be driven by another guy whom she quickly falls for?  This took place because that first took place.  While revising your story if you can not pinpoint the moment that this took place because that first took place, the section(s) then needs to be reworked so that is does.  

   

Well Since This is What I Do

Recently I have had a few people express to me their confusion over the lack of posts regarding writing.  I  surprised myself when I could not offer up a good enough excuse as to why I have avoided the topic.  As a result of these conversations I plan to make frequent posts about writing fiction.  Here is the first of such posts:
When people find out that I am a writer as well as stay-at-home-mom the next phrase is almost always about how they too have wanted to write, but could never find the time to get started.  I can totally relate to this because when I started, "Alien Line" I was a full-time college student as well as full-time mom.  After sometimes going weeks without working on the manuscript I committed myself to, at the very least, reading it over for a minimum of twenty minutes a day.  Now think about this.  How many of you find time in each day to watch a thirty minute program?  Replace that television time with writing.  If you don't have twenty or thirty minutes find at least ten.  There is nothing wrong with scheduling short burst of times for your passion(s).

MTV's "Teen Mom," Why This Momma Loooves That Show

by Tanya Yvonne author of the forthcoming book “Violet Eyes”
 
Sure “16 and Pregnant,” is good but it is the “Teen Mom” spinoff that I make sure to never miss. It reminds me of a time when shows like “The Real World” were real. When the lives of its cast members sparked discussion about topics that many teens grapple with, yet were reluctant or unsure how to start a discourse regarding them. Like cast member Pedro Zamora’s battle with AIDS. And Tami Roman’s difficult decision to have an abortion. Though only a teen when the seasons in which Pedro and Tami were featured, I vividly recall their stories. But it is only since becoming a mother that I think back to how I then reacted to the episodes that dealt with such difficult subject matters.   

By talking with my mother. I don’t remember why my mother started watching the show with my sister and I, but I do recall the chats we had about key episodes. I felt comfortable asking questions about the possible effects an abortion procedure would have on Tami’s body. Mainly because I didn’t have to worry about my mom asking me a bunch of questions about why I wanted to know or thinking I was “in trouble.”

Being a teen at the time I had taken sex education classes that covered the risks that came with sexual activity.  Risks that included the possibly of an unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, like HIV.  Yet it wasn’t the sex ed classes, nor the awkward, formal safe sex talks with my mother that made any of those consequences real for me.  It was the many snapshots of a stranger’s life that had made all of those warnings real to the teenage me.  Which explains why I looove the show, “Teen Mom.”

Nowadays there are countless ways that our offspring can avoid talking with us parents or simply go about tuning us out.  Thanks to such wonderful things as text messaging, Facebook, You Tube, email and similar technologies.  “Teen Mom” presents a rare opportunity for parents of teenagers, especially teenage girls, to have an informal discussion about sex.  So the next time you catch your teen(s) watching the show why not just end viewing the program with them?  That is what my mother did and it worked.  She got the chance to give me the information that she felt I needed, and the teenage me got her moment to ask all those embarrassing questions:)

The Betty White Factor

In our youth obsessed culture an 88-year-old Betty White is showing that along with wisdom, age can also bring out one’s it-factor. The Betty White factor, the idea that we get better as we age, could not have come at a better time for me. While most people think of July as the month in which we celebrate our nation’s independence, I think of it as the time when I edge closer to the other side of that proverbial hill. Yes July is my birthday month. And lately I find myself pausing in the mirror searching for new wrinkles. It is not like I can avoid thinking about such things. Online, the television, newspapers, magazines, standing in a store checkout line, no matter where I happen to be there are screaming words and images that convey that the older version of me is something to be feared. Not according to the Betty White factor. 

Thinking back to the 18-year-old Tanya and I can’t help but to shudder just recalling the former hairstyles not to mention some life choices. Sure the skin was tighter and wrinkle free but the lack of knowledge. If I could go back and chat with the 18-year-old me I assure you the phrases: just don’t, bad idea, ignore his call, and stupid move would come up often.  Age has given me skin that is not as firm or smooth as it once was, but it has also given me something else. Experience and a confidence that only women of a certain age can understand:) A combo that helped to push me to aggressively pursue my writing when everyone else was shouting, GO TEACH. I hope the Betty White factor is not just another trend for she has truly inspired me.

I will no longer dread the fast approaching birthday or the following ones for that matter. Instead of counting wrinkles I will look forward to the day when I will look in the mirror and see that older version of myself. A smarter, it-factor version of a bygone girl that was once quite shy. And it appears that I am not alone in my thinking. I believe Hollywood has discovered something that we women have known all along.  That we can still be leading ladies even after we hit 25. Meryl Streep in, “It’s Complicated,” Betty White and her cast mates are all over the age of 45 as well as the cast of the recent “Sex and the City 2" movie. Sure heads will always turn whenever a new Megan Fox type (supposed younger version of Angelina Jolie) bursts on to the scene, but it is the post 30 it-factor version of that type that will have figured out how to keep those heads from turning away.

I Would Never Want to "Tame" My Daughter

When I sometimes look at my daughter I see a bygone version of myself. Like me she has a deep affection for music.  When a pleasing beat hits her ear she can’t help but to sway her young hips.  When I see this I smile and see her, truly see her for the individual that she is.  Others may think it inappropriate but why would I want to chide her for doing something that comes naturally?  I don't want to “tame” my girl.  I merely want to be able to guide her.  Hoping that when I do nudge her from my nest she will be well equipped to choose a proper path of flight.  But at what age will my girl stop being thought of as a mere girl by the world and be shifted to being thought of as a young woman?  I have a nephew who is only eight and already people refer to him as, little man.  I am a woman, a mother and yet there are times when I am still referred to as a girl.  Take the recent “Sex and the City 2” movie where when talking about the movie many have started a statement with, “the girls.”  Which brings me to Miley Cyrus who recently made some waves with her new video for the song, “Can’t be Tamed.”  Miley who is now 17 has been accused of  going from being a good role model to now being a bad one, due to her new supposed sexed up image.  As a girl I was a Madonna fanatic.  I remember how my fascination with the then rising pop star had bothered my mother.  At the time I did not get what the problem was.  While my mother was seeing a raunchy, pelvic thrusting woman, I saw an empowered woman.  I guess my path had been laid out long before I realized it, for it was Madonna’s lyrics that had me captivated not her skimpy outfits.  While the world was gawking at and talking about  her pointy bra  costumes I was hearing her words, “Express yourself, but respect yourself.  Hey, Hey.”  The problem was not Madonna it was my mother and other mothers like her, all who could not believe that it was them that had the biggest influence over their daughters.  Just because I liked an artist who had a sexed up image did not mean that I would suddenly turn promiscuous.  And for the record I did not:)  I read the lyrics of Miley’s “Can’t be Tamed” song several times and viewed the video as well before writing this entry.  The problem is not that the artist’s image has changed.  The problem is with the parents of her core audience who still see her as a girl instead of the young woman she has become. 

Our Trek Through Maymont Park

This past weekend we visited Maymont Park located in Richmond, Virginia.  If you happen to visit the state this summer or already reside there and are looking for a great staycation idea, this would make for an ideal stop.  Just pack a lunch, a few dollars for the donation and a few quarters for the feed machines.  I take JaeLynn there at least once a year.  Click on the link for more information.     

Maymont Park Website