A researcher's rest journal: Some company is good from time to time
Hi there,
Thanks for stopping by! I fought off a cold from last week; now it’s back with a vengeance, so my nose is wetter than a flower pot left out in the rain. Some construction crew are working on a small roof extending out from the back of the house. My mom’s been cooking up some delicious smelling egg-and-okra combination, that somehow I can smell despite my nose. I hope wherever you are reading this, the day is relaxing and if it’s not, maybe it can wind its way there in time. Maybe a book or warm drink is in order. Welcome to my researcher’s rest journal.
For this week’s rest, I had a chance that I don’t normally get. Well, technically, last week. I’m talking about the Prologue Day of History Through Fiction’s own Writing Conference. There was a panel, workshops, and mostly presentations. Let me show you.
Now, me being all the way in Malaysia, these times meant the middle of the night, onwards till morning. So I didn’t make it to the earlier ones. Don’t they say sleep’s all part of rest too?
Zzzzzz
Being registered meant I got the accessible resources later anyway. But towards morning, I woke and attended the later events. It felt good to listen to other writers sharing, teaching, watch them commenting in the Zoom chat. Each event gave me a good deal of thought, but the one that stayed longest on my mind was The Enigma of Cultural Appropriation, presented by Elizabeth McLean.
Being a writer and historian of color, a lot of my story ideas revolve around characters of color. While I am Chinese-Malaysian (and both identities have a lot of subtlety and flavors to them), not all my characters are. While I love Pennsylvania like a second home, there’s a lot of it I’m not familiar with.
So much out there has touched me, changed me. Yet there’s so much I don’t know.
So when I approach my writing, I genuinely must think. Is this cultural appreciation or cultural appropriation? The presentation also prompted us to ask ourselves a lot of questions, and even more, ask those whose cultures our premises are set within.
That presentation’s been on my mind night and day now. Which just goes to show how necessary it is, for historical fiction writers amongst all people.
More thoughts on this to come. It probably won’t be the first time I return to the subject… Meanwhile, if you’d like to read another person sharing about this, take a look at my boss Colin Mustful’s Substack in this post What I didn’t understand about writing a history that isn’t mine.
Bottom line: Every so often, hang out with fellow writers. Some company is good from time to time. Those attending History Through Fiction’s Writing Conference, this is very apt right now.
Journal question: When was the last time you hung out with fellow writers? What can they glean from you?
See you again next week,
Ian Tan, intern
History Through Fiction
