Keep Your Filthy Hands Off My Novel
Don’t like what an author has to say? Don’t worry. He doesn’t care.
My PSA for today: I have no words to describe my horror when I first heard that some books were being power washed to eliminate any words, phrases or references that others might find offensive.
You are taking someone else’s words and changing them to fit your own philosophy of the world. I’m sure Roald Dahl — and I’m basing this on being an author myself — could really give two craps if you are offended by something he wrote. He’s telling a story, in his way. Don’t like it? Buy someone else’s book.
The notion put out by the group Inclusive Minds that an author must write for EVERY SINGLE CHILD in their books is nonsense. I write horror books, and I know there are kids who don’t like those kinds of stories. That’s fine; read something else. I don’t include LGBTQ characters in my books either, and that’s for one simple reason: I’m cisgender and know nothing about being gay. If I wrote a story with a gay character, the characterization would be cookie cutter and no doubt full of misrepresentation and offensive to LGBTQ readers. Therefore, I use only straight characters in my books.
Groups like Inclusive Minds can promote inclusivity in literature all they want (I support inclusivity to the maximum extent possible) but keep your hands off another authors’ published words!
