This is really helpful for me in a number of ways. I've been trying to figure out what you mean when you say white writing rules don't fit Black writers (paraphrased). This gives me some clarity on that. But I have to add that the "rules" feel too arbitrary and confining to many white writers, too, including me. They aren't even based on the literature of our culture at all. Dickens, for example, wrote anything but tight. His sentences are long, often lyrical, frequently with rich dialogue, though not AAVE, and he probably never met an adverb he didn't like. My theory is that the current "rules" were written by people who didn't have the patience to read more than a few words strung together, were never exposed to poetry, and had limited vocabularies, or by editors who had to churn through too many manuscripts. Your section on How to Use Craft works for everyone. We each have a story to tell that can only be told in our own words and voice. Personally, I love that enrichment.
Mmm yes… Dickens definitely didn’t meet an adverb he didn’t like. And I agree, a lot of the people making these “rules” have the attention span of gnat. Going through manuscripts is part of the job as an editor, so if don’t get they want to make “rules” that actually make the writing less alive. If you don’t want to read manuscripts, then choose another profession lol.
This is really helpful for me in a number of ways. I've been trying to figure out what you mean when you say white writing rules don't fit Black writers (paraphrased). This gives me some clarity on that. But I have to add that the "rules" feel too arbitrary and confining to many white writers, too, including me. They aren't even based on the literature of our culture at all. Dickens, for example, wrote anything but tight. His sentences are long, often lyrical, frequently with rich dialogue, though not AAVE, and he probably never met an adverb he didn't like. My theory is that the current "rules" were written by people who didn't have the patience to read more than a few words strung together, were never exposed to poetry, and had limited vocabularies, or by editors who had to churn through too many manuscripts. Your section on How to Use Craft works for everyone. We each have a story to tell that can only be told in our own words and voice. Personally, I love that enrichment.
Mmm yes… Dickens definitely didn’t meet an adverb he didn’t like. And I agree, a lot of the people making these “rules” have the attention span of gnat. Going through manuscripts is part of the job as an editor, so if don’t get they want to make “rules” that actually make the writing less alive. If you don’t want to read manuscripts, then choose another profession lol.