Just joined the Writing Workshop Webinar with @salesses about his new book, Craft in The Real World, in conversation with @jennybhatt ! So many people are here!

@salesses's book discusses how cultural expectations inform storytelling, and how workshops can often fail writers who are of cultures who may not be in positions of power. Excited to hear more about Matthew's perspective!

The first half of the book discusses craft, and the second half of the book is on workshopping.

Q from Jenny: How do you advise your students to get past their own biases, and what works for you personally?

A: It's mostly about identifying your biases, which has a lot to do with identifying our audiences. If we identify our audience as one group, but our writing does not appeal to them, then that would help us identify our biases. I also advise students to test implicit bias test.

Matthew identifies some hopefulness with regard to content platforms that host international content, like Neflix and Apple+, where people might be able to discover and consume media from a wider spectrum of cultures.

Matthew is discussing who is "the other." We should accept that we can never know the other, and that they have their own standards and norms.

As workshoppers push back against common axioms like "show don't tell," we also should push back against the culture that nurtures them.

Character driven scenes and dialogues are very American! Matthew says that he can read Harry Potter by skipping all narrative summary and simply reading the dialogue. He says K dramas are different, where a story changes just a tiny bit over a very long time.

He notices that is very western to have the Character as the "God of the story," where the conflict of the story and the solution of the story stems 100% from the character, and depends very little on circumstance.

Matthew thinks that enacting changes in workshopping will have an effect on publishing. He says that when when what is written changes, what gets read changes, and then what gets published changes.

Q: What makes a good MFA program? A: A program that will fund you, so that you can spend the time paying attention to the readings, rather than spending all your time working to pay tuition. You also want to look into the faculty, and identify whether you want to work with them.

Also relevant to MFA programs is where to live. Place is not as related to time and space to write as you might think it is, so make sure that wherever you are, that you use that time to do so.

A discussion on audience: A lot of Matthew's ideas here he says comes from post-structural theory. [honestly this is getting too complex for me to report! Baiscally: what is the relationship between the actual author, the implied author, the implied reader, and the actual reader]

Q: Do you see this inclusion and diversity in publishing as just a trend? A: Matthew doesn't see racial violence just going away any time soon, but hopefully as these things happen, people start to take them as opportunities for change.

Q: When you receive a critique related to your craft/storytelling, what is the best way to respond? A: Matthew says he would not recommend spending energy trying to convince someone of alternative ways of storytelling. Use that energy instead to "create what you want to create."

Matthew also says that it is the instructor's place to lay out guidelines that identify the critique and feedback approach. It shouldn't be on the person being workshopped to prove or defend themselves.

Related to bias in education: Many teachers would prefer to not teach in certain ways, but they are required to because of the educational standards that are in place. Many teachers would rather not teach to standards (Matthews parents included).

Q: What is your daily practice to sharpen your craft? A: Matthew's fire pokemon tells him to write fire all the time! He says we each are always challenging ourselves to accomplish something. Just make sure you are putting your energy towards challenges you want to do.

Further readings: Check the bibliography in the back of Craft in The Real World. He says that 9/10 books he consulted did not make it to this bibliography did not make the cut, and he tried to only put things on the list that he though would be helpful.

Matthew subscribes to the Samuel Beckett mode of thought -- "fail better." He asks himself, what is worth "failing better" at? It takes many years for him to write a novel, so he tries to work on ("fail at") many different projects at the same time.

Matthew also says that it feels like you have failed a lot of the time, and this is because you are always improving! Because you are improving, the work which you have just done might seem to you now like a "failure."

Now, the conversation is moving to publishing. How do you strike a balance between your audience and industry? Matthew says: "Don't strike the balance." You only need one person to be your advocate and to understand.

He says that he only found one Asian-American editor, and that is who championed his book. The audience is out there, even if there is relatively few people from that audience in positions of power.

It is a choice on whether to sacrifice some artistic integrity. Matthew says that he would rather not sacrifice.

Jenny says: do not depend on writing to be your primary source of income. Make sure to teach or do anything else.

Question: Who is Matthew reading now and can he recommend some good K Dramas for newbies? A: K Dramas: Goblin (The Lonely Shining Goblin)--his favorite of all time!

Another book recommendation: Appropriate by Paisley Rekdal

Discussion on the necessity of MFAs: Matthew says that no, it is absolutely not necessary, although it can be an invaluable time for reading and writing. Jenny says that she dropped out of 2 MFA programs because she was working at the same time and it was too much.

Kishotenketsu: the structure and development of Chinese, Japanese and Korean narrative structures. Matthew says that we should stop thinking of anything outside of the western psychological tradition as other.

Jenny brings up the discussion in literary Indian circles about how western narrative structures are being used in India, because publishers know stories in this tradition can be candidates for western prizes!
This is heavily informed by imperialsm and colonialism.

Matthew adds, "There is no universal, there is only power."

Q: Do you have any advice for how not to be discouraged by the hype machine? A: Matthew says emotions are intellingent, and that your feelings will come back to you if you suppress them. Lean into the discomfort and try to learn something else about the situation.

What are Matthew's thoughts about breakthrough books like Crazy Rich Asians and Joy Luck Club? And Matthew says, "what do we mean by break out? Appeal to white audiences?"

On the one hand, he says all you can do is be happy for them. On the other, he knows that these stories fall within a certain accepted form of storytelling, and that he is following a different path.

We are wrapping up the webinar now. So many wonderful questions and answers from Matthew, Jenny and the 100+ participants in this event! Thank you @salesses @jennybhatt and #WritingWorkshops.

P.S. my aim today was to take accurate notes for myself for future reference, as well as anyone who may have missed the webinar today. If you have any updates or corrections, please let me know! I would appreciate your comments and feedback!