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eshusplayground:
I wanna talk about ~historical accuracy in worldbuilding for a bit, particularly in secondary world fantasy. Because it’s something that’s come up in discussions w/ friends lately and it won’t let my mind go. So. A mini-thread!
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
Big secret: I did absolutely ZERO historical research for the world building of the Tensorate series. Like none. I just sat down with my notebook and a pencil for a couple of days and pulled the whole damn thing out of my ass.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
.@crashwong asked me what kind of research I did for the series and I was like “errr haha sorry NONE ACTUALLY I just low-key based it off all the terrible Channel 8 historical fantasies/dramas I used to watch as a child???”
And she was like OH THANK GOD
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I feel there’s extra pressure for #ownvoices authors to do the research when drawing from their cultures so that it’s AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE
And that’s great if you WANT to do it, BUT
I’m opposed to the idea that this is the only way to do ~diverse~ secondary world fantasy.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
For me, that’s p counter-intuitive. I use secondary-world settings as a tool to build social structures that are different from the ones I’m familiar with, so I can pick things apart, or you know… just have fun with stretching human interaction.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I’m not here to teach a history lesson. I’m here to tell a good story with interesting characters. That’s all I want.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I’m p sure the people behind the mid-to-no-budget Chinese fantasy dramas that formed the background of my childhood didn’t do a scrap of historical research either. They were just there to have fun, and fuck things up.
So am I!
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I think this is a problem when people expect #ownvoices fiction to also be an educational tool about the culture(s)-slash-marginalizations of their authors.
But here’s the thing, I’m a storyteller. Not a tour guide. I wanna make shit up. Sometimes ALL of it.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I want to write things that maybe reflect my thoughts and experiences and worldview, but most importantly I want them to reflect how I FEEL.
And that’s often incompatible with ~accuracy.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I think a lot about the class I took in college where we analysed Bollywood films. That class taught me about the difference between cinematic realism (prized by Western cinema) and emotional realism (the Bollywood aesthetic).
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
It means that it doesn’t matter how much about the real world you get wrong or throw away, as long as you get the emotions RIGHT. The emotional truth is the core of the story, the part that dictates how everything else goes down.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
And that’s really my aesthetic when it comes to storytelling. Emotional verisimilitude >>> real-world accuracy. I want to tell stories about families and complex relationships and characters that make sense in their contexts.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I’m sorry I can’t tell you which dynasty of Chinese history I drew my worldbuilding inspiration from. The answer is NONE because I am shit at Chinese history and p unapologetic about it.
I just have my aesthetics, and a story I want to tell. That’s pretty much it.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
ADDENDUM bc this is going around and I don’t want the context lost:
This is very specifically talking about marginalized writers working with the cultures they grew up in/around!
If you’re white & want to write outside your lane, PLEASE DO ALL THE RESEARCH. ALL OF IT 🙏🏽 https://t.co/8cK2pJ87qA
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
eshusplayground:
I wanna talk about ~historical accuracy in worldbuilding for a bit, particularly in secondary world fantasy. Because it’s something that’s come up in discussions w/ friends lately and it won’t let my mind go. So. A mini-thread!
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
Big secret: I did absolutely ZERO historical research for the world building of the Tensorate series. Like none. I just sat down with my notebook and a pencil for a couple of days and pulled the whole damn thing out of my ass.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
.@crashwong asked me what kind of research I did for the series and I was like “errr haha sorry NONE ACTUALLY I just low-key based it off all the terrible Channel 8 historical fantasies/dramas I used to watch as a child???”
And she was like OH THANK GOD
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I feel there’s extra pressure for #ownvoices authors to do the research when drawing from their cultures so that it’s AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE
And that’s great if you WANT to do it, BUT
I’m opposed to the idea that this is the only way to do ~diverse~ secondary world fantasy.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
For me, that’s p counter-intuitive. I use secondary-world settings as a tool to build social structures that are different from the ones I’m familiar with, so I can pick things apart, or you know… just have fun with stretching human interaction.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I’m not here to teach a history lesson. I’m here to tell a good story with interesting characters. That’s all I want.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I’m p sure the people behind the mid-to-no-budget Chinese fantasy dramas that formed the background of my childhood didn’t do a scrap of historical research either. They were just there to have fun, and fuck things up.
So am I!
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I think this is a problem when people expect #ownvoices fiction to also be an educational tool about the culture(s)-slash-marginalizations of their authors.
But here’s the thing, I’m a storyteller. Not a tour guide. I wanna make shit up. Sometimes ALL of it.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I want to write things that maybe reflect my thoughts and experiences and worldview, but most importantly I want them to reflect how I FEEL.
And that’s often incompatible with ~accuracy.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I think a lot about the class I took in college where we analysed Bollywood films. That class taught me about the difference between cinematic realism (prized by Western cinema) and emotional realism (the Bollywood aesthetic).
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
It means that it doesn’t matter how much about the real world you get wrong or throw away, as long as you get the emotions RIGHT. The emotional truth is the core of the story, the part that dictates how everything else goes down.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
And that’s really my aesthetic when it comes to storytelling. Emotional verisimilitude >>> real-world accuracy. I want to tell stories about families and complex relationships and characters that make sense in their contexts.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
I’m sorry I can’t tell you which dynasty of Chinese history I drew my worldbuilding inspiration from. The answer is NONE because I am shit at Chinese history and p unapologetic about it.
I just have my aesthetics, and a story I want to tell. That’s pretty much it.
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
ADDENDUM bc this is going around and I don’t want the context lost:
This is very specifically talking about marginalized writers working with the cultures they grew up in/around!
If you’re white & want to write outside your lane, PLEASE DO ALL THE RESEARCH. ALL OF IT 🙏🏽 https://t.co/8cK2pJ87qA
— ⒿⓎ ⓎⒶⓃⒼ 🌈🐋 杨雅珺 (@halleluyang)
April 29, 2018
