Writing Excuses 6.15: Writing Other Cultures

In our second WorldCon 69 episode we're joined by Lauren Beukes, whose novels Moxyland and Zoo City are excellent case studies for writing in other cultures. It's a difficult subject, and anybody venturing down the actual path in practice should be aware of the metaphorical minefield ahead of them.

But perhaps it's not as bad as all that. Fundamentally, we're talking about writing from the mind-set of characters who are not like us in some key way, which writers have to do all the time. Lauren walks us through her process and her approach, and Dan, Brandon, Mary, and even Howard have interesting and useful things to contribute.

It's a great discussion. We learn what a "fixer" is in South African parlance.

Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: Fangland, by John Marks, narrated by Ellen Archer, Simon Vance, Todd McLaren, and Michael Prichard.

Writing Prompt: Take some aspect of your neighborhood and twist it around, perhaps in the same way District 9 twisted the township of Soweto into an alien reservation.

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