(I love writing prompts, so I was thrilled to see this series from Deb Runs. She has a cool blog linkup for each week’s word — check it out if you’re a blogger.)
Today’s Wednesday Word is “captivate.” When I read it, I immediately thought of two things: my goals for my writing, and the way I feel about my characters. Continue reading
The term xenophobia is traditionally used to describe fear of literal foreigners from distant countries. I think it can reasonably describe any process by which a person or group of people are perceived as “the other.” Continue reading
For a long time, I shied away from using the word “queer.” In fact I wondered why anyone would want to use it. Wasn’t that traditionally a form of hate speech? But eventually I found the term to be an empowering one. Continue reading
I’m not a minimalist when it comes to my writing. My characters hunger deeply, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Continue reading
Part of my commitment to courage in writing fiction is my desire to give voice to the marginalized: people with mental illness, people of minority sexualities, people who are neurodivergent. Almost all my characters, even those more superficially on the “inside” of society, find themselves in situations where they feel cast adrift, either geographical or emotional outsiders. Many are expats. Most cling to an equilibrium that’s fragile at best. Continue reading
I played it safe for many years in my writing. Kept the deepest and most important parts of my work and my self under wraps. Some of that was due to youth, some of it was due to fear.
But then I reached a point where I couldn’t anymore. My struggles with mental illness, my navigation of my own complicated queer sexuality: all weighed on my mind and my heart in ways I didn’t realize until I started writing about them. Continue reading
Jenn Crowell 