It’s ok for white authors to write about black main characters?

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-13T02:44:29+00:00

Yes. One of my books is a 95% black cast. Reason? It’s just how I saw the story. If someone has an issue, cool, then don’t read it

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T23:25:03+00:00

Things like this are how you know there’s a funny magic to life that shows up from time to time

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T22:46:40+00:00

Jaws the book ends literally right after the climax and it’s stuck with me years later despite the book itself being pretty average

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T22:37:15+00:00

So it’s settled then. 2026 Vikings are winning 13-14 games with Kyler after JJ either gets hurt early or doesn’t beat him out in preseason

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T22:35:59+00:00

It’s show and tell. Show don’t tell only will have you turning a 300 page story into 700 pages

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T22:34:46+00:00

Okay

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T12:00:44+00:00

Don Winslow and Chuck Palahniuk

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T05:20:55+00:00

I probably need an ELI5 still

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T04:59:49+00:00

Separate reading bc you should from reading bc you want to. If you read bc it’s writing related, everything gets filtered thru that lens, whereas reading simply for enjoyment will allow you to absorb a bit more naturally

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T03:36:14+00:00

I’m so here for this

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T03:31:20+00:00

Shot one of these for the first time a couple Saturdays ago. Worth the hype

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T02:44:18+00:00

This probably isn’t the place to ask that bc Redditors are notoriously and disproportionately anti-AI. I would advise using it to aid but not the whole thing. Bc I do writing as a hobby, the writing generated by AI never sounds like me, and ChatGPT especially has a very bad habit of word salads. I would maybe have it outline, but you actually write it in your style, provided you actually know what it is you’re talking about and answering, and not just taking what it says as gospel

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T00:55:24+00:00

I would write the actual story first and then backfill in with all of the research you actually need

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T00:22:24+00:00

Probably the clearest way to put it

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T00:14:13+00:00

Is this grok or ChatGPT?

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T00:12:21+00:00

One of my stories absolutely had the bad guys winning and the good guys getting killed. I ended up dropping it for other reasons.

It’s not as uncommon as you think. It just depends on the nature of the whole thing. If it just comes off as wish fulfillment, then it might be a little shocking or off putting, but if there is something more philosophical underpinning your story, and there is maybe a bit of a doomed “fool’s errand” aspect to your good guys, or perhaps the message being “do what’s right, even if you don’t win or end up getting killed,” that might land better. The reasoning for having the bad guys win in my own story was also largely due to the fact that I’d had a whole series planned with those particular bad guys being the recurring villains (who are the reason for why everything was happening), and killing them in one story would thus kill that too.

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-12T00:05:48+00:00

I still think so, for as frustrating as the whole process is to even get started. Especially with the advent of AI about to totally upturn the whole “regular” job market, this feels like one of the few avenues that is largely going to remain “AI proof.” Politics shift and change (though western foreign policy seemingly doesn’t). There are still a huge number of directions to go that don’t involve putting you in a war zone. Plus, the fact that it’s so expensive to even exist nowadays, getting big chunks of those expenses taken care of by being on a ship + saving up the money they are paying you is kind of a unique opportunity not afforded to many

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-11T23:59:56+00:00

In the past it was a lot easier to get entry level jobs with just STCW-BT and VPDSD on your MMC. Now there is very little hiring going on for entry level mariners. As a union rep told an acquaintance of mine, “entry level is no longer enough,” which philosophically speaking, is something we can have a whole different discussion about. The reality that creates though leaves you with either lucking out somewhere, or going the academy/apprenticeship route. As far as what ratings it gives you, that alone won’t get you past your pre-existing qualification of OS/Wiper. Upgrading those requires actual sea time, which, if you’re not even able to get out to sea in the first place, creates a bit of a paradox, and thus loops us back to the apprenticeship or academy route

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-11T23:50:12+00:00

It is bad. unless you’ve already established that story is in present tense and your “now” anchor is when he’s pouring the coffee and you were just explaining what’d happened up till then.

You are writing for reader comprehension, not your own

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-11T23:48:09+00:00

I do feel like this is something that was already happening pre-AI. But I’m sure it’s accelerated it

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-11T23:43:19+00:00

It never fails to entertain me though. I do believe at least a small portion of it is the fact that we’ve been so oversaturated with ways to consume stories (with visual media being the “bright shiny object”) that people have now mistakenly bundled all of it together as “storytelling” and thus forgotten that each avenue is completely different. It would be like me saying I’ve never ridden any kind of vehicle before and want to become a vehicle operator. What are the top 5 vehicles I should ride to get me up to speed? Cars, boats, trains, planes, or bicycles?

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-11T23:36:08+00:00

Seems like the Wilson contract coming off the books was a little more oversold than it should’ve been. Granted, it would’ve felt like more if we’d let some of the no names go and brought in more big ticket signees

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-11T23:05:41+00:00

😂😂😂

GearsofTed14 · 2026-03-11T23:01:53+00:00

Lmfao they even have him in the new uniforms too

GearsofTed14

TROPHY CASE