#WritersCoffeeClub Dec. 10 - Is it ethical to base characters on real people? What is the limit?

I mean... you're asking someone who writes #historicalFiction? Is the entire ethical basis of the genre being questioned here? 😁 Presuming you mean living private individuals and especially those who are personally known to the author, I think it's a gradation depending on factors like how recognizable the person is in the pages, how obscure and specific the details are and so on. The more traceable the character is to a living (or possibly deceased) person and their real-life private details, the likelier it is that their (or their love ones') consent would be needed, IMO.

I bring up historical fiction not only because it's a genre I write in but because characters are routinely based on historical figures, which is generally considered to be within ethical bounds because these are considered public figures and known details of their lives are generally public knowledge as well. A broad range of fictionalization is considered acceptable especially in premodern fiction, though certainly people will argue the history as they always do!

#WritersCoffeeClub Dec. 10 - Is it ethical to base characters on real people? What is the limit?

I mean... you're asking someone who writes #historicalFiction? Is the entire ethical basis of the genre being questioned here? 😁 Presuming you mean living private individuals and especially those who are personally known to the author, I think it's a gradation depending on factors like how recognizable the person is in the pages, how obscure and specific the details are and so on. The more traceable the character is to a living (or possibly deceased) person and their real-life private details, the likelier it is that their (or their love ones') consent would be needed, IMO.

I bring up historical fiction not only because it's a genre I write in but because characters are routinely based on historical figures, which is generally considered to be within ethical bounds because these are considered public figures and known details of their lives are generally public knowledge as well. A broad range of fictionalization is considered acceptable especially in premodern fiction, though certainly people will argue the history as they always do!

#WritersCoffeeClub Nov. 23 - What's your niche?

Fiction: English-language Korean #HistoricalFiction and #folklore retellings based on close research of the eras involved, particularly premodern history and folklore with a focus on queer, disabled, and working-class characters who are underrepresented in the written #history. It's not a niche I occupy alone by any means, but I try to leverage my linguistic and cultural proficiency, plus largely self-taught research skills, to present an internal view of people as they might have lived and thought in the era, both alien and relatable.

#Poetry: I tend to write more classical formal poetry than is fashionable these days, and like to experiment with form and content like sonnets on labor issues or poems whose lines make visual shapes.

#WritersCoffeeClub Nov. 23 - What's your niche?

Fiction: English-language Korean #HistoricalFiction and #folklore retellings based on close research of the eras involved, particularly premodern history and folklore with a focus on queer, disabled, and working-class characters who are underrepresented in the written #history. It's not a niche I occupy alone by any means, but I try to leverage my linguistic and cultural proficiency, plus largely self-taught research skills, to present an internal view of people as they might have lived and thought in the era, both alien and relatable.

#Poetry: I tend to write more classical formal poetry than is fashionable these days, and like to experiment with form and content like sonnets on labor issues or poems whose lines make visual shapes.

Should I be? Everything I do has been done and is being done by others, thank goodness, but the combination may be unusual. The philology/linguistic reconstruction work was inspired by #Tolkien and made possible by the incredible scholarly work of Korean historical linguists; I center female and queer characters as inspired by other female and queer writers; I write in #HistoricalFiction which is a well-established genre; the language I write in is English but the subject matter is usually East Asian/Korean.

Should I be? Everything I do has been done and is being done by others, thank goodness, but the combination may be unusual. The philology/linguistic reconstruction work was inspired by #Tolkien and made possible by the incredible scholarly work of Korean historical linguists; I center female and queer characters as inspired by other female and queer writers; I write in #HistoricalFiction which is a well-established genre; the language I write in is English but the subject matter is usually East Asian/Korean.

Historical Asian gays let's go! #HistoricalFiction#QueerFiction

Historical Asian gays let's go! #HistoricalFiction#QueerFiction

That's basically all I do! 😁 I started out writing #fanfic, and while not all of fanfic is retelling, I especially enjoyed writing pastfic where I'd retell pre-canon (or mid-canon) events with new details and from different angles. I do the same with #HistoricalFiction where I reimagine specific historical events (the life of Queen Soseono 2,000 years ago, or how WWII spy Virginia Hall met her husband) or come up with characters and events that zoom in on a generality (lesbian palace workers) or mystery (the disappearance of an ancient princess from the records).

I've also written two #transfem retellings of the Northern Wei-era classic #Mulan, one in narrative verse and one in prose fiction. If you've been following along you know I am obsessed by this idea, and if you read the original Ballad of Mulan you may understand why--my own translation is offered here. https://ljwrites.blog/posts/ballad-of-mulan/ I've also written a retelling of a war in ancient China that started over mulberry trees, focusing on a lesbian love story between two peasants caught on different sides of the border.

That's basically all I do! 😁 I started out writing #fanfic, and while not all of fanfic is retelling, I especially enjoyed writing pastfic where I'd retell pre-canon (or mid-canon) events with new details and from different angles. I do the same with #HistoricalFiction where I reimagine specific historical events (the life of Queen Soseono 2,000 years ago, or how WWII spy Virginia Hall met her husband) or come up with characters and events that zoom in on a generality (lesbian palace workers) or mystery (the disappearance of an ancient princess from the records).

I've also written two #transfem retellings of the Northern Wei-era classic #Mulan, one in narrative verse and one in prose fiction. If you've been following along you know I am obsessed by this idea, and if you read the original Ballad of Mulan you may understand why--my own translation is offered here. https://ljwrites.blog/posts/ballad-of-mulan/ I've also written a retelling of a war in ancient China that started over mulberry trees, focusing on a lesbian love story between two peasants caught on different sides of the border.

The post about my #fanfic writing history and beyond captures a lot of what changed for me creatively and as a fan. https://ljwrites.blog/posts/fanfic-writing-history/ As a reader/fan I've moved away from media franchises and started reading more indie, and in my own writing I've changed focus from speculative fiction to queer #historicalFiction. I like to think my writing is more polished, sparer and more expressive. In my personal life I've earned three degrees, gotten married, and had a child. I've made my way in the world for 20+ years since and am more than twice as old as I was when I first started sharing fanfic. A lot changes in over two decades!

The post about my #fanfic writing history and beyond captures a lot of what changed for me creatively and as a fan. https://ljwrites.blog/posts/fanfic-writing-history/ As a reader/fan I've moved away from media franchises and started reading more indie, and in my own writing I've changed focus from speculative fiction to queer #historicalFiction. I like to think my writing is more polished, sparer and more expressive. In my personal life I've earned three degrees, gotten married, and had a child. I've made my way in the world for 20+ years since and am more than twice as old as I was when I first started sharing fanfic. A lot changes in over two decades!

So many, since I mostly write #historicalFiction and riff off the historical or archaeological record to flesh out into stories. What if Princess Neferure of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt suddenly disappeared from the historical record because she got her gay happily-ever-after? What if an ancient Chinese war sparked off by a dispute over trees had a star-crossed queer love story at its heart?

This is fairly standard for the genre, but there are events I'm taking "out of period" into a much more ancient era, like the 13th-century defense of Chungju Fortress from the Mongol army. The commander, charged with defending the fortress with a force of soldiers and enslaved people who had already suffered much from the war, freed the enslaved and promised all of them official titles. There's no record of any of that happening in 1st century BCE (where records themselves are fairly scant), but I'm taking inspiration from that for use in my own big WIP.

So many, since I mostly write #historicalFiction and riff off the historical or archaeological record to flesh out into stories. What if Princess Neferure of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt suddenly disappeared from the historical record because she got her gay happily-ever-after? What if an ancient Chinese war sparked off by a dispute over trees had a star-crossed queer love story at its heart?

This is fairly standard for the genre, but there are events I'm taking "out of period" into a much more ancient era, like the 13th-century defense of Chungju Fortress from the Mongol army. The commander, charged with defending the fortress with a force of soldiers and enslaved people who had already suffered much from the war, freed the enslaved and promised all of them official titles. There's no record of any of that happening in 1st century BCE (where records themselves are fairly scant), but I'm taking inspiration from that for use in my own big WIP.

I started my writing in speculative fiction, specifically fan fiction in speculative fandoms, but I increasingly turned to #historicalFiction as an opportunity to tell untold and under-told stories about groups that get less attention in mainstream history: Women, queer people, working-class people, and disabled people. Disabilities for instance are regularly erased even from the narratives of people you've heard of--did you know Harriet Tubman had seizures and narcolepsy from a head injury, for instance?

My #shortStory A Very Long Malaise, produced into a podcast episode by @heatherrosejones 's wonderful Lesbian Historic Motif project, is a case in point. There are records and allusions to working women in the Korean royal palace falling in love with each other, but none is mentioned by name which was probably best for the safety of these women. My story clothes that premise in the bodies, inner lives, and relationships of hopefully plausible characters for the selected period to tell an untold history. https://lesbianhistoricmotif.podbean.com/e/a-very-long-malaise-by-lj-lee-the-lesbian-historic-motif-podcast-episode-301/ The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast's fiction episodes all do this for sapphic people from a range of eras around the world and are well worth checking out. https://www.alpennia.com/lhmp/essays/lesbian-historic-motif-podcast-index-fiction-episodes

I started my writing in speculative fiction, specifically fan fiction in speculative fandoms, but I increasingly turned to #historicalFiction as an opportunity to tell untold and under-told stories about groups that get less attention in mainstream history: Women, queer people, working-class people, and disabled people. Disabilities for instance are regularly erased even from the narratives of people you've heard of--did you know Harriet Tubman had seizures and narcolepsy from a head injury, for instance?

My #shortStory A Very Long Malaise, produced into a podcast episode by @heatherrosejones 's wonderful Lesbian Historic Motif project, is a case in point. There are records and allusions to working women in the Korean royal palace falling in love with each other, but none is mentioned by name which was probably best for the safety of these women. My story clothes that premise in the bodies, inner lives, and relationships of hopefully plausible characters for the selected period to tell an untold history. https://lesbianhistoricmotif.podbean.com/e/a-very-long-malaise-by-lj-lee-the-lesbian-historic-motif-podcast-episode-301/ The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast's fiction episodes all do this for sapphic people from a range of eras around the world and are well worth checking out. https://www.alpennia.com/lhmp/essays/lesbian-historic-motif-podcast-index-fiction-episodes

A very young noblewoman in 1st century BCE Manchuria thought she could marry the man of her dreams by scam-marrying his much-older cousin. War crimes ensue. #HistoricalFiction

A very young noblewoman in 1st century BCE Manchuria thought she could marry the man of her dreams by scam-marrying his much-older cousin. War crimes ensue. #HistoricalFiction

Working on any creative project at all will be a blessing with how things have been lately, but if the stars align I want to get more headway on a short piece of #historicalFiction I've been noodling with, start a write-up about the Joseon-era novel #BangHallimJeon about the asexual marriage of a transmasc-coded female husband and their fiercely independent (political?) lesbian wife that I promised @heatherrosejones (I haven't forgotten!!), and start talking marketing plans for the feminist horror #ttrpg#BluebeardsBride in Korea. Plus maybe rework a couple of stories that have been languishing on my hard drive to send them off for submission? And make an actual action plan for moving forward with research and rewrites on the big WIP? And restart art practice? So much to do! >_<

What, you said what I WANT to work on. I always want to work on All The Things. Whether I will is another question :P