Writing as a Gay Man

I've been thinking about writing and the following words--wishes, fears, knowledge, background, experiences and desires--and how they relate to me as a writer who is also a gay male.  Other than occasionally writing gay male characters, I'm not sure how I write as a gay man.  I write women characters, too, and I'm pretty sure that doesn't make me a female writer.

(Pause for gay super-hero madness...)

I stand before my secret Phallic Shrine, which is guarded by a band of taut satyrs, and which I go to to renew my Gay Writer's Pen.  In the pink glow of the shrine, I hold my pen up to the Mystic Gay Phallus and recite:  "By Brightest Day / By Darkest Night / My Gay Body / Brings Great Insight / Let All Who Worship / Writing Trite / Beware My Power / Gay Writer's Might!"  When writing wrongs, those whom I have rescued exclaim, "Ooh! Look at that pen!  You must be... Gay Writer!"  

(Meanwhile, back at the essay...)

My personal gay male story is probably not as a unique an experience as it sometimes feels to me.... I officially came out in 1995, when I was thirty-one (hooray for me, I got to go through awkward dating rituals fifteen years after high school).  As a result the gay narratives of the Baby Boomer Generation feel like they're for characters in an old play, and the gay narrative of Gen Y seems like it's come from some inappropriate party-tunes radio show.

Trying a different tack, I wonder if I can approach being a writer who is gay by asking how I read as a gay man.  Man, that sounds like a Gay Agenda Joke waiting to happen.  

Um, it would be nice to read about gay characters who don't die in car crashes as soon (or just before) they discover their same-sex desire, or who don't die so we can see how the other gay character is sad and noble.  It would be nice to have gay characters who are more than just gay, or who spend time outside of a gay ghetto.  I want my gay characters to be more than "magic gay guys" who exist only to give another (usually straight) character advice and who's sole source of wisdom is that they're gay (Queer Eye, I'm looking at you).  I'd like more stories that are not about coming out, pride, or reminiscences about post-stonewall/pre-AIDS New York City.  And just because there's a gay guy in a story isn't going to automatically make me like it; it has to be a good story.

There... that's enough queer literary theory for today...   

Post Clarion Mini-Workshop

I'm on the train after attending a Clarion one-day workshop on character.

What I learned.

1. I write slowly. I think I am editing in my head too much. The remedy for this is to not use the backspace key and instead hit return and recast the sentence the way I want it. Then go back and revise. I was blown away with how much good content people created in short amount of time.

2. It's common for science-fiction and fantasy writers to be good at world-building and writing plots, but not so good at writing characters. Insert "'Tolkien's Women' Essay Joke" here.

3. My particular approach to writing characters is to draw a picture of them, what they're wearing, and any objects or tools they may be using in the story. And then sort of fine-tune the character depiction with an increasing number of approximations. I need to supplement this method with a concisely written set of character traits, character goals, and author goals for the character so I'm not staring at a picture--instead of writing--trying to divine the character as if it were a tarot card. It will help when I'm returning to a manuscript later.

4. Good characterization is layered. Add the layers during revision. The most common writer errors are defaulting to the writer's vocabulary and observations, and having a character observe things because the plot demands it. During revision look at how word choice, character observation, a character's interpretation of observations, and character's vocabulary reveal character on a word by word basis.

So.

Practice, practice, practice. Which means discipline going to bed early so I can have discipline getting up extra early to have solid, consistent blocks of writing time.

Spring Update

I was doing so well this morning -- I managed to wake up before 6 AM, make some tea, and finish up a critique. Then I went to The Day Jobbe. This afternoon isn't going so well -- once again between little errands and lunch, I'm finding myself with little chunks of time that are akward. Somewhere between the phone ringing so a recording could try to sell me something and Scrivener suggesting a software upgrade, I realized that I wasn't going to get much done in the way of writing.

Last week I put the finishing touches on a short story that I'd like to send to Sword and Sorceress. It would be so cool to be in S&S. I guess we'll see. I'm resisting the urge to fiddle with the story, but I'll put it away for a bit and re-read it a few weeks before S&S opens and see if I like it as much as I do now.

The current short story I'm working on has been an off-again, on-again affair. I'm a little embarrassed by how long I've had it sitting around. I guess it's not that long a time, and I have gone on to some other projects. Still, there is a little voice in my head reminding me that a better practice would be to work on one thing at a time and finish projects once I start them.

In other writing news, I'm excited to be attending a Clarion one-day workshop in the middle of April. It's focusing on character development. I have about three stock characters that I seem to be re-writing (one who keeps showing up in my published stories), and I'd like to be able to write a variety. I tend to be strong in world-building, language, and in interesting ideas, but my characters don't seem to be as well fleshed out.

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In other news, we hope to be adding a deck to the side of our house.

Last year we replaced a large window with a sliding glass door and spent the summer bouncing out of the house onto a small round trampoline. And into the house off of the trampoline. And in once case bouncing into the screen door instead of into the house.

We're looking forward to the deck. It will make going into the backyard easier--currently we have to troupe through the garage--and it will be nice to have an "extra" room.