I’ve mentioned my basket full of squee for Jim Hines before, but Imma go ahead and tell you all again: so much ♥.
Apex Magazine has recently published an essay by Hines, titled Writing about Rape. For those unaware, Hines is a rape counselor, and is really awesome, and Totally Gets It, as he shows in this essay, with his five easy steps to writing a shitty rape narrative.
By following these instructions, you – like so many writers before you – can create offensive, shallow, uninformed, and flat-out bad stories, too. You can collect rejection letters from editors who will cringe in anticipation the next time they see your name on a submission.
But then, you might ask, how does someone write a story which includes rape and not do a disservice to this horrible crime and its impact on people’s lives? I appreciate that Hines explains there is no Right Way to write about this subject, but instead talks about things a writer can do to treat this subject with respect (which would be quite refreshing).
Seriously go give it a read. Link it widely. Jim Hines is awesome.