❤️ For those of you in the Detroit area, I will be on the panel at St Clair Shores Public Library's Author Showcase.
1. On Saturday, March 1st, from 1:30-3:30 PM, join me and other authors as we talk about writing! You'll hear some behind the scenes information on Raising Women and other books and have a chance to ask questions during our Q&A. I will be selling copies of Raising Women and selling RW swag, but I'm also happy to sign whatever you want signed (I had one of my own favorite authors sign my journal once). *This is free and open to the public - just show up to the St Clair Shores Public Library. 2. In addition to my book, I'll have some lipstick, stickers, Raising Women cootie catchers, and other fun things too. You can buy those separately, or get one free with the purchase of a book💄 3. 🔥 I announced this previously, but if you're excited about the interactive novel Raising Women, then get excited for its expansion pack. This summer, I'll be releasing an "expansion pack" for Raising Women - it will be a collection of short stories that focus on each of the women as individuals, including both prequels and sequels! I am telling you this because I'll have free copies of chapbooks with a few stories from that collection that you can take. 📖 (Also, a reminder, you should buy a copy for your friends! I have a free downloadable book club kit for you) Let's gooooo. I'd love to chat with you!
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Salt Lake Dirt, hosted by Kyler Bingham, is a literary and film zine, podcast and radio show. Salt Lake Dirt airs on KPCR 92.9FM every Monday at 6:00pm PST in Los Gatos, CA, and interviews some really incredible authors (a few that I love have previously joined the show, so I'm honored to now be a part of the lineup). In this episode, Kyler and I talk about my interactive novel Raising Women.
As summarized by Kyler, "This week on Salt Lake Dirt, we welcome author Shannon Waite to discuss her interactive novel Raising Women. Shannon shares the inspiration behind her unique storytelling approach that combines the classic choose-your-own-adventure format with literary fiction, allowing readers to navigate through 24 possible pathways and four distinct endings. Shannon also reflects on her experiences as a teacher and writer, emphasizing the importance of routine and community in honing her craft. We explore the themes of empathy and perspective within her work. Great book, great chat." If you're curious to know more about interactive novels and/or my writing process, then you should definitely check out this episode of Salt Lake Dirt - Shannon Waite - RAISING WOMEN - Episode 297. While I’ve given hours of preliminary research and thoughts in a previous blog post, I know I don’t have enough research done, or enough of a plan laid out, to say: this is exactly how you can use (transgressive) fiction to create social change, so have at it! Change the world! But I do think that this week has already made me feel frustrated, angry, and helpless. Knowing the type of person in power, and knowing that he has so many supporters. Feeling like this made me think of The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club written by Phillip Hoose. I read this book last month and felt inspired by the stories of some teenage boys who did not like what they saw when the Nazis occupied Denmark, and how they transformed those feelings into actions, leading the resistance. They knew what was happening was bad, and they didn’t let it go. Reading about this made me think about the importance of doing what we can to make a difference, even when we feel helpless (maybe even especially when we feel helpless), and I think art has a place in that. Art and writing can be used as tools to make those differences and so I decided to do some more digging and research to add to what I've already done; to shed some light on ways we can make these tools work.
My previous related essay briefly explored some historical examples of how fiction influenced people, what kinds of things influence people, and how transgressive fiction could be written to influence people in the future. As I continue considering how impactful stories can be, and how they can be used to change society, this essay dives a little deeper into the science behind storytelling and how storytelling can impact our beliefs, and how it can be used to change beliefs. More specifically, today's research focuses on Narrative Identity Theory and narrative therapy. First, I’ll begin by exploring what stories can do. The Cambridge Dictionary defines narrative as: a story, or a description of a series of events. In “Narrative Identity: What Is It? What Does It Do? How Do You Measure It?” McAdams (2018) says that stories entertain us, stimulate social experience, and observe human intentions and conflicts. By describing events, stories can place people in experiences they’ve had before, or experiences they’ve never had, which do provide us with a window to human intentions and conflicts. He adds, “It is probably no exaggeration, then, to claim that stories teach us how to be human” (p. 364). It makes sense then that people learn from these scenarios; so if stories teach us how to be human, then think about the ways in which stories can reteach us about our humanity. That’s where narrative identity and narrative therapy come in. McAdams continues by explaining how Narrative Identity Theory came to be. First, he defines identity. He says, “Identity is a ‘‘configuration,’’ Erikson (1959, p. 113) wrote, an ‘‘integration’’ of ‘‘childhood identifications,’’ ‘‘the vicissitudes of the libido,’’ ‘‘aptitudes developed out of endowment,’’ and ‘‘opportunities offered in social roles,’’ all working together, as it were, to confer upon a life a sense of ‘‘inner sameness and continuity’’ (Erikson, 1963, p. 261)” (p. 360). These then develop, and usher in adulthood, making identity something continuous. McAdams (2018) then muses, if identity was physical, what it would look like? After some possible metaphors, McAdams decides that identity might look like a story. He then proposes that identity and storytelling are intertwined. Humans have many experiences, and experiences can be told through story, so there are many stories people use to create for themselves a central identity story. McAdams presents two ways that stories might work together to create the larger autobiography that we carry with us. The first way is a part of Narrative Identity Theory. McAdams talks about how in his Narrative Identity Structure Model (NISM), Dunlop discerns a form that puts our big and little stories in a hierarchy. This means that a person might consider her stories of herself as a mother to be the most important, maybe next to her role as a doctor, then next to the stories of her as a wife, among others. All of these sets are subordinate to, and contribute to, the great story of who she is. Thus, while these stories have different levels of importance, they work together to make the complete idea that is a person. McAdams (2018) then goes on to describe another possible form that does not use a strict hierarchy, but rather looks more like a short-story collection by a single author. In this case, the stories are centered around one person, the person whose identity is in question, but explore different facets of this person’s life. They are not necessarily more important than others, but instead simply sit next to each other because they are related. Both concepts can explain how a person continues to affirm a sense of ‘‘inner sameness and continuity’’ (Erikson, 1963, p. 251) across different situational and role contexts throughout their life. (p364). Despite having different roles and different experiences, sometimes over the course of one hundred or more years, people are able to see themselves as one person. This ability is referred to as a special function – integration. McAdams says that, “Narrative identity brings things together, integrating elements of the self in both a synchronic and a diachronic sense (McAdams, 1985)” (p. 364). Thus, translating our experiences into stories, and using those stories to create an identity for ourselves, makes us feel human. So if stories teach us how to be human, and we use storytelling to define ourselves, like McAdams says, then can’t we use storytelling to redefine ourselves and others? That’s what narrative therapy works to do. Guy-Evans (2023) agrees that humans have many stories to tell about the different experiences they have and the things they participate in, and act as a powerful influence on our beliefs. She says, “We like to interpret daily experiences in life, seeking to make them meaningful. The stories we have about our lives are created through linking certain events together in a particular sequence across a period of time and finding ways of making sense of them – this meaning forms the plot of the story.” Narrative therapy asks clients to separate themselves from the stories they’ve come to identify with, and instead reshape and reauthor their life stories into more empowering ones. She says, “How we have developed these stories is determined by how we have linked certain events together in a sequence and by the meaning attributed to them.” She seems to agree that we create a hierarchical structure with our stories. That hierarchy is then how we give our stories meaning, and the meanings that we give them then create our identity. Understanding how stories impact identities can help with understanding how to help people separate themselves from those stories to change their beliefs. McAdams (2018) discusses how stories can promote social relations, give guidance for life, and boost morale. These stories compound over time, and contribute to our personal beliefs. Tankard and Paluck (2016) also explain how individuals’ attitudes tend to develop over a long time and may be tied to personal experiences and beliefs. This means that beliefs can take a longer time to change, although that’s not to say they can’t be changed, because they can. David McRaney (2022) discusses one way to change people’s minds called deep canvasing, where volunteers go door to door and have conversations with people about their beliefs. “Not every time, but often, people using their technique could get a person to give up a long-held opinion and change their position, especially about a contentious social issue, in less than 20 minutes” (p. 15). To do this, the volunteers build rapport, ask questions, and reflect the homeowner’s views. McRaney (2022) describes one example of deep canvasing when a Proposition 8 campaign in California asked people to vote against same sex marriage. Some voters went from approving of same-sex marriage to voting against it. It seemed that this change of heart may have been because of propaganda videos that scared parents into believing their children would be negatively affected if the proposition passed. Instead of ignoring these videos, volunteers brought the video ads with them on their canvassing, and used them to address voters’ concerns in their discussions (p. 23). Arguably, this act helped voters rewrite their understanding of their own story. If parenting made up many of the person’s identity stories (and especially if it ended up near the top of their hierarchy), then something they felt threatening to that story would have put them on edge. By addressing those concerns with the voters and discussing it with them, volunteers helped voters reconsider their beliefs and rewrite their own stories. By considering how narrative identity theory works, and how narrative therapy is used to help people change the stories they tell themselves about their own lives, these techniques can be incorporated into transgressive fiction to change social beliefs. In narrative therapy, “The therapist will help clients to objectify their problems, frame these problems within a larger sociocultural context, and teach the person how to make room for other stories.” The steps include: putting together the narrative, externalizing the problem, deconstruction, and re-storying. The therapist listens to the client as they explain their stories, which sounds similar to the process of deep canvasing. Additionally, the therapist works to help the client deconstruct their stories into smaller, more manageable parts, like the way McAdams (2018) describes Narrative Identity Theory. I am arguing that literature (more specifically, transgressive fiction) can do this work too. Stories that can get people to recognize themselves in the story, reflect on the part of their identity that feels threatened, and help them reimagine that story for themselves, could be a way to use storytelling to create social change. Guy-Evans (2023) says, “When someone’s problematic stories are well established, people can become stuck in them, unable to view alternative versions of the story. A narrative therapist will help people challenge their stories and encourage them to consider alternative stories.” This work, challenging beliefs and presenting alternative stories, is something that an author can do. The work that the therapist does in this kind of therapy, challenging clients’ stories and rewriting them, could be considered a form of transgression. In my previous essay, I address some ways that transgressive fiction can be used to challenge social norms and create resistance. Performance is one thing that influenced my arguments in that essay, and is a topic addressed in Transgression as a Mode of Resistance by Christina R. Foust (2010). Foust discusses performance and how it can be one example of transgression in resistance. One example that she talks about is festival street performance. This kind of act is transgressive in that it is unexpected and unconventional; it certainly goes against norms. Foust says though, "While festive street performance is a display of communal strength and a means of educating the public, no policy, or law, or budget will change unless the State feels threatened" (p. 14). Another example of performance she talks about is the destruction of property; however, Foust (2010) says, “Symbolic property damage and radical street performance, like the smashed GAP windows and human blockages that rocked the Seattle WTO meetings, do not clearly communicate "global justice” (p. 5). Thus, there are arguments against performance, saying that it is “immature and ineffective” or difficult to “build and maintain a collective agent, which is ‘necessary’ for social change” (p. 13). I’d argue that performance can be effective, if it clearly communicates its intentions and makes people feel threatened. For example, in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, Sinclair tells a story of dreadful working conditions in the meat packaging industry. This novel reached President Roosevelt and resulted in the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, regulations on food and drugs, and the formation of the Food and Drug Administration (“Upton Sinclair's The Jungle”, n.d.). This novel communicated its intentions with criticisms directed at a clear system (companies producing harmful meat), making it clear who society needed to take down, and the novel also made people feel threatened, which is why the topic ended up on the president’s desk. By harnessing performance in other ways, transgressive fiction could effectively use elements of Narrative Identity Theory and narrative therapy to help influence change. D’Hont (2020) does argue that the transgressive texts she analyzes in Extreme States: The Evolution of American Transgressive Fiction 1960-2000 do not offer solutions or alternatives, which is what narrative therapy seems to fix. By using transgressive storytelling to help people place themselves in a situation where they are offered alternative solutions, writers can help readers “re-story” themselves. Some literary techniques that lean into the transgressive and performance side of storytelling include the interactive fiction genre, and the second person point of view. I’ve admitted before that I’m nowhere near a concrete formula for transgressive fiction that would create social change, but as I’ve worked on research for the last two years, this genre and point of view had been on my radar as possible elements in such a formula. Considering how re-storying can support this formula, these elements only seem to be that much more important. Narrative therapy can be used with individuals, or couples or families; I’m arguing that, if done intentionally and effectively, this work could be used to help reshape more community-sized beliefs and identities too. As I look through my previous research notes on other examples of performance that could be incorporated into transgressive fiction, I’m seeing so many that align with Narrative Identity Theory and the process of narrative therapy. I truly think that writing a transgressive novel that engages readers and then guides them into rewriting their story could be effective. I don't have the formula to do that figured out yet, like I'm still unsure of exactly how to write a novel that guides people to restory their identities, but this essay explores more elements that support the possibility, and allow me to think more about elements in the stories that could accomplish it. I’m not claiming that any book could change everyone’s minds; after all, deep canvasing says don’t waste your time on people who are too deep-rooted in their beliefs because it will be a waste of time. Deep canvasing says to identify the people closer to the fence because you can change more minds that way. If transgressive stories could sway enough people to start a revolution, then that’s what matters. In a time when I feel like the United States is crumbling because too many people are acting selfish and heartless, I decided it was time to do more research. I’m throwing myself into ways that writing can be used as a form of resistance; writing can be used to start a revolution. For anyone else who feels hurt, scared, or attacked by the people in power and the people who support them, just know that I stand with you. I stand with women, people of color, indigenous people, LGBTQ+ people, low-income individuals, people with disabilities, senior citizens, immigrants, refugees, and veterans. Let’s be loud, transgressive, and start a revolution. References D'Hont, C. (2020). Extreme States: The Evolution of American Transgressive Fiction 1960- 2000. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Group. Foust, C. R. (2010). Transgression as a mode of resistance rethinking social movement in an era of corporate globalization. Lexington Books. Guy-Evans, O. (2023, September 21). Narrative therapy: Definition, techniques & interventions. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/narrative-therapy.html McAdams, D. P. (2018). Narrative identity: What is it? what does it do? how do you measure it? Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 37(3), 359–372. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276236618756704 McRaney, D. (2022). How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion. United States: Penguin Publishing Group. Tankard, M.E., and Paluck, E.L. (2016). “Norm Perception as a Vehicle for Social Change.” Social Issues and Policy Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12022. “Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: Muckraking the Meat-Packing Industry” Constitutional Rights Foundation, Constitutional Rights Foundation, https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-24-1-b-upton-sinclairs-the-jungle-muckraking-the-meat-packing-industry.html. Hey there. It's been a minute since I've done any blogging about writing/craft since there has been a lot of excitement over my publication, so I decided I wanted to get back to why I had initially started blogging in the first place. A year and a half ago I threw myself into a rabbit hole - one that had a very lofty goal of using transgressive fiction to intentionally create social change. This is a massive task for something like a monograph, which I kind of want(ed) it to turn into. I started some initial leg work, like, tip of the iceburg stuff, that I wrote a beginning essay on, and presented on at a conference, but then research got set aside for life things and other writing endeavors. I was reminded of it when talking to a friend about narrative identity (future research for this topic) and decided I wanted to share with you the research I have already done. That being said, welcome to my research on creating social change - transgressive fiction's role in shaping past and future revolutions, baby! Revolutions have, historically, been messy. They’ve come at the cost of economic efficiency, trauma, and precious lives, but still, many communities have taken their shots at revolution, hoping for a ‘better’ society. Chirot (2020) says revolutions are “Inspired by ideals that call for the building of a better society by deliberately and quickly changing, at a minimum, key political rules and institutions” (p. 5), and when a group of people agrees on these new ideals, that’s when a revolution may begin. Depending on who you ask, revolutions may be a violent overthrow of government or, maybe more simply, an instrument to combat oppression. Regardless, they require dedication and work in order to succeed. While not the first nor the last, The American Revolution is a world-famous example of this. Starting not even as a revolution, but just a desired reform of the American-British relationship, the tension rose between divided sides in America, turning the conflict into a civil war. Blanco Núñez explains how with American colonial protests turning into battles, outside countries eventually joined the fight against Britain, and it became as much a world war as it was America’s fight for independence (Blanco Núñez, 2018, p. xvii). In the end, the British negotiated a close to the war. John Adams, a leader of the Revolutionary War, did not consider the armies and battles to be the revolution though. In a letter to Thomas Jefferson, Adams wrote: "What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the Revolution. It was only an effect, and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected, from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years, before a drop of blood was drawn at Lexington. The records of thirteen legislatures, the pamphlets, newspapers, in all the colonies out to be consulted, during that period…" (Bergh et al., 1905, p. 347). Adams believed writing to be what revolutionized America. It was the educating, the mobilizing, and the inspiring that stirred the people to build what Chirot (2020) called a better society; the bloodshed that resulted was just a consequence of that. Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum (2022) also notes how prose played part in the revolution. General Washington led troops across the Delaware River to attack Trenton in December of 1776 and before battling, the troops were read a passage from Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, The Crisis to inspire them. Writing, it seems, has long had the power to comfort and persuade people. In this paper, I examine characteristics of contemporary transgressive fiction, the process of how minds change, and literature that has made change, to argue how transgressive fiction can be used as a catalyst for future revolution. Changing politics or institutions, something so ingrained in a culture, requires work and time because the social values that some want changed are typically built into systems over time; they are a part of culture, so to change any rules, laws, or codes of conduct, means changing the culture. Culture is defined as the behavior that a group of people learns socially, reflecting the traditions of that people that get passed on from generation to generation (Dirette, 2014; Hofstede, 1997; see also Nasir et al., 2006, as cited in How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures). As discussed in How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures, culture reflects the traditions of people that get passed on from generation to generation. It’s the rules that are understood and are expected to be followed by the group that people belong to. Challenging people to create new rules and systems, especially on a relatively short timeline, is difficult. This is oftentimes where revolting begins. The hope is that a revolution will work more quickly to spark the desired change. To revolt and to drastically change institutions or politics inherently involves transgression, which is the act of breaking a law or code of conduct, so while a revolution includes transgression, transgression does not automatically create a revolution. Breaking social order can be powerful though, and writers have tried to use writing to instigate changes to their societies. One way is by using transgression to call out harmful norms despite backlash from the social majority. Christina Foust (2010) said, “…as scholars and practitioners have figured it, transgression's threat to social order runs deeper than violating the rules and expectations that govern what is normal” (p. 6). Transgression threatens the community because those actions show that social order is fluid rather than fixed like people think. While a multitude of varying definitions grasp at characterizing transgressive fiction, I will refer to Coco D’Hont’s (2020) definition: transgressive fiction is “A historically evolving type of fiction that takes on a specific form and level of importance during specific historical periods, changing along with the extra-textual sociopolitical shifts it explores” (p. 2). She argues that transgressive fiction is not just text that is shocking or has socially unacceptable behavior, but that it develops social ideologies, and crosses between boundaries. Her view, however, claims that transgressive texts simply reflect society. D’Hont (2020) thinks transgressive fiction has the “potential to disrupt seemingly stable ideas, norms and conventions” (p. 5) but that it has “an unclear relationship to social activism” (p. 4). While it does defy society, she does not think, like John Adams does, that it affects society enough to create a revolution. Foust (2010), however, thinks that “transgression typically translates into "resistance" because its actions oppose dominant powers that occupy preferred positions in hierarchies" (p. 11), and this resistance can turn into a revolution. This means that if a transgressive text is strategic, it should be able to influence a culture. Culture, however, is not easy to transform. Culture is the way that individuals learn to exist among others. These mutual understandings get expressed through actions, expectations, and beliefs, and similarities that develop among the people who surround each other is what builds community. With culture at the heart of society, it’s necessary to acknowledge the role that it has in resistance, revolution, and transgression. Culture is reflected in the time period in which someone lives; it’s reflected in what people learn and how they learn (How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures, 2018) and that develops a group identity. McRaney says that an outsider who wants to impose different cultural practices on a group threatens the group’s identity (2022). That’s why many people choose not to adopt new cultural practices because once someone demonstrates behaviors outside of the community’s norms, the person becomes an outsider. Most people do not want to be outsiders. It’s also why changing culture requires specific strategies to effectively work. In her book, Extreme States: The Evolution of American Transgressive Fiction 1960-2000, D'Hont (2020) argues that American transgressive fiction analyzes transgression in its societal context and reflects transgressive dynamics that occur in society, but the writing itself isn’t transformational. To prove her point, she examines five transgressive texts, Fight Club, American Psycho, Hogg, The Monkey Wrench Gang, and Beloved. Four are largely known as transgressive for their shock value and aesthetic characteristics, and one particularly holds significance during a specific historical period and explores extra-textual sociopolitical shifts. She admits the novels push the boundaries of what’s considered socially acceptable, and exaggerate the reconstruction of American ideologies, but since the writing isn’t transformational, they do not lead to concrete revolution. Over the course of her discussion of these five texts, D'Hont (2020) explores a variety of craft choices that these stories employ. I will highlight three of them. One that she brings up frequently across the texts is the use of the body (1) (2). For example, in Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, men choose to physically fight each other to express dissatisfaction with their lives and masculinity. Bodily violation is common in transgressive literature, but it makes sense: our body is one of the only things that we will always own during our lifetime and the act of violating a body challenges that or takes it away. This act can symbolize multiple forms of loss that are relevant to a variety of American ideals, making it a strong example of transgression. Secondly, D’Hont (2020) also explores constructed hierarchies through the use of an “other.” In the novel Hogg by Samuel R. Delaney, for example, she describes the character Hogg who is portrayed as physically filthy and running a rape business. His character represents a sharp contrast to typically displayed American values. Thirdly, D’Hont’s (2020) book discusses how the novels explore societal complexities. This includes Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang’s philosophy on anarchism and social margins, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved’s redevelopment of the perception of race and gender, to name just a few. While these three craft choices demonstrate transgression’s role in shaping society, and call attention to situations by creating exaggerated, aesthetic systems where the authors reveal, destruct, interrogate, and reform “the ideological structures of their extra-textual content” (p. 16), D’Hont acknowledges that clear solutions are not typically given and so the stories do not end up impacting social change. While it’s true that the books D’Hont (2020) discussed did not create revolutions, there are books that are recognized as having prompted change. Three of these books include: Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. These books can all be considered transgressive because of their time-period importance and their defiance of extra-textual norms which shocked and upset people by exposing them to a part of American society that many were unaware of. These books did more, though. Silent Spring wrote about the hazard of pesticides entering the food chain and damaging the environment, which resulted in increased public awareness of nature’s vulnerability, the beginnings of environmentalism, and identifying which pesticides were dangerous (“The Story of Silent Spring”, 2015). Uncle Tom’s Cabin portrayed the evils of slavery and arguably impacted the Civil War by changing popular opinion. Its relatable story transformed slavery from an abstract concept to a real horror and moved society to enact antislavery laws (McNamara, 2020). The Jungle’s story of dreadful working conditions in the meat packaging industry reached President Roosevelt and resulted in the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, regulations on food and drugs, and the formation of the Food and Drug Administration (“Upton Sinclair's The Jungle”, n.d.). These books were able to transgress and transform, showing that it’s possible to use transgressive fiction as a way to revolutionize. Considering stories that have not revolutionized America despite diving deep into complex, transgressive plots, and ones that have, and how fiction can create future revolutions, it’s necessary to consider social attitudes, norm perceptions, and how minds change. All that considered, the following ways are my initial thoughts on how writers can employ the techniques of transgressive fiction alongside the science behind how minds change to use the genre as a vehicle for social change. Unlike the five books D’Hont explores, these three books identified a specific problem. D'Hont’s (2020) analysis said that in her discussed books, “The characters aim their actions at a faceless government but their inability to clearly define the shape of the “system” complicates their ability to overthrow it” (p. 74). McRaney (2022) describes how even if a society agrees on a moral (such as “mass shootings are a problem”), they may not agree on the interpretation of its facts, like what has caused the problem. These disagreements start to divide the society, even on a topic agreed upon, and then people struggle to update their beliefs, even when offered new information (p. 83). By Silent Spring, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and The Jungle aiming actions and criticisms at a clear system, whether it was companies creating pesticides or producing harmful meat, it was clear who society needed to take down. Critiquing social complexities is an important part of transgressive fiction. Using this characteristic of the genre to create change just requires writers to make some adjustments in order to be very clear so that readers' understandings of the topic, and their anger to propel change align. By making the conflict and opposition clear, it’s easy for readers to understand who to fight. Additionally, effective craft choices in the three books that changed society include relatable characters, which aligns with culture and how it impacts our choices. As mentioned previously, communities are rooted in culture. To stay in our community, we must maintain its cultural beliefs and values or we risk being pushed out. Amidst our efforts to remain in our community and avoid being pushed out, many people adopt the group’s beliefs. The culture that then develops in the group becomes what’s known as group identity (Dovidio et al., 2009; McRaney, 2022; Tankard & Paluck, 2016). In David McRaney’s (2022) book, How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion, McRaney compiles evidence for why minds make decisions based on group identity, why people keep the ideas that they do, and what changes their minds despite group identity. He spends time discussing the process of deep canvasing to explore a method that has worked in getting people to change their minds on typically controversial topics. In deep canvasing, a volunteer speaks to people at their homes with the goal of shifting their minds (for example, having conversations with people on gay marriage beliefs before an election where this is on the ballet). Laura Gardiner, the national mentoring coordinator for the LAB, explained that the first step in this process is having the volunteer build rapport with the homeowner. Then, the volunteer describes his or her own relation to the topic at hand. Finally, the majority of the mind-changing conversation should be based in the homeowner’s own story. The volunteer reflects feelings and asks probing questions that prompt the other individual to reflect. Reflection is incredibly important because providing facts isn’t what changes minds; rather, the person has, oftentimes, never thought about the causes of his or her beliefs before and then realizes what caused the original belief and reconsiders it. By facilitating a conversation that puts the listener in the driver’s seat of a controversial topic and forces them to consider what has caused this belief, the volunteers are able to show that other beliefs do exist. Similarly in storytelling, when writers offering readers a relatable character, writers speak to their readers’ sense of community and identity. For example, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a narrative that engaged general readers in something they could relate to. She made her characters seem real, even drawing on factual incidents. By creating characters that readers feel are real mimics a sense of community. Writers then must provide readers opportunities to reconsider their own beliefs and the other possible beliefs that exist. When a reader reflects, writers are able to facilitate change. When Silent Spring wrote about the hazard of pesticides entering the food chain and damaging the environment, readers were exposed to a truth that existed in their own lives. Additionally, when Uncle Tom’s Cabin portrayed the evils of slavery, readers were confronted with another reality that they lived in. The three change-making stories also incorporated positive contact, which is a way to expose people to their adversaries. Positive contact is another mind-change technique described by both McRaney (2022) and Dovidio et al. (2009). When people have positive contact with a group they oppose, the contact can help people learn and understand the group more. This breaks down initial misconceptions, and the new and positive interactions reshape people’s prior experiences and understandings. The positive experience can change people’s minds about the opposing group. Positive contact can be achieved in storytelling through serial writing. The three texts successful at creating change were published in short installments in magazines before full publication in book format. Shorter meant easier to read, and if it hooked readers’ attention, it spread their attention out over time. McRaney (2022) acknowledges that building rapport can sometimes take multiple times. Tankard and Paluck (2016) also explain how individuals’ attitudes tend to develop over a long time and may be tied to personal experience and beliefs and thus can take longer time to change. By publishing writing serially, the readers get multiple points of contact with the characters who, if done right, should give readers realistic insight into a world that will upset their values and cause them to make change. It seems, then, that transgressive fiction should be a great avenue for social change, as its characteristics align well with ways that social change occurs. In order to accomplish it though, it is very important for writers to be very intentional about the ways they craft their stories. One of the craft choices that is common to transgressive fiction that D’Hont points out is the violation of the body. This characteristic offers writers many ways to develop imagery, conflict, and plot, which can be used in the way they identify a specific problem for readers. D’Hont also acknowledges the way that transgressive fiction frequently uses the “other” character. This character-type, paired with identifying social complexities, can also be a part of writers addressing specific social problems, and also a way in which they create relatable characters. The “other” character can also get folded into the writer’s use of positive contact. There is so much more research to be done in order to develop a very specific plan that could use transgressive fiction for social change; however, after my initial research, considering aesthetic characteristics of contemporary transgressive fiction, literary techniques that have seemingly accomplished social change before, and what causes minds to change, I am proposing some craft and structure that can help writers write transgressive fiction with the purpose of not just re-imagining social norms, but also acting as a key point in social activism. This includes: identifying and giving a name to the offender, using characters in a way that both builds rapport and a sense of community, causing the reader to reflect on his or her own thinking, and publishing the text as a series. Transgressive writers can use violating the body, the “other” in the social injustice situation, and the resulting social complexities to drive stories that use methods that change minds and culture. These are just some of the techniques that mirror past efforts in change, and if thoughtfully and effectively used, can most likely support future change. In Mack’s (2011) book How Literature Changes the Way We Think, he says, “The moment when art has come to have a ‘life of its own’ it clearly ceases to be mainly representational. It does no longer mirror the world but contributes to the plurality of the world by its unique form and power of animation” (p. 167). By incorporating elements that re-imagine social rules, create a new, real world for the reader, and force them to reflect on their own thinking, transgressive fiction can become its own life and support people in redesigning the one we exist in. (Other possible techniques based on my reseach that may impact change but not yet discussed include:)
Read about using narrative identity theory in transgressive fiction to create social change (a sequel to this blog post) References The American Crisis. (n.d.). United States: Library of Alexandria. Bergh, A. E., Johnston, R. H., Jefferson, T. (1905). The writings of Thomas Jefferson. United States: Issued under the auspices of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association of the United States. Blanco Núñez, J. M. (2018). The American Revolution: A World War. United Kingdom: Smithsonian. Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. “American Revolution History & Time of the Revolutionary War.” Boston Tea Party Ships, Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, 19 Aug. 2022, https://www.bostonteapartyship.com/american-revolution. “Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: Muckraking the Meat-Packing Industry” Constitutional Rights Foundation, Constitutional Rights Foundation, https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-24-1-b-upton-sinclairs-the-jungle-muckraking-the-meat-packing-industry.html. Chirot, D. (2020). Revolution as Tragedy. In You Say You Want a Revolution?: Radical Idealism and Its Tragic Consequences (pp. 1–11). Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvp7d46f.4 D'Hont, C. (2020). Extreme States: The Evolution of American Transgressive Fiction 1960- 2000. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Group. Dovidio, J.F., et al. (2009) “Commonality and the Complexity of ‘We’: Social Attitudes and Social Change.” Personality and Social Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868308326751. Foust, C. R. (2010). Transgression as a mode of resistance rethinking social movement in an era of corporate globalization. Lexington Books. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures. (2018). United States: National Academies Press. Mack, M. (2011). How Literature Changes the Way We Think. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing. McNamara, R. (2020). “Uncle Tom's Cabin Made Slavery a Personal Issue for Millions.” https://www.thoughtco.com/uncle-toms-cabin-help-start-civil-war-1773717. McRaney, D. (2022). How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion. United States: Penguin Publishing Group. “The Story of Silent Spring” NRDC, NRDC, 13 Aug. 2015, https://www.nrdc.org/stories/story-silent-spring. Tankard, M.E., and Paluck, E.L. (2016). “Norm Perception as a Vehicle for Social Change.” Social Issues and Policy Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12022. The Phase 4 Podcast is a podcast hosted by JP as an intersection of What We Focus on Expands, and Your Story is your Superpower. This podcast explores coaches and creatives and insightful things they have to share. Among other things, he talks with guests about personal growth, evolution, expansion, transformation, and more. On his show, he explores where guests have came from, where they currently are, and where they are going. All that being said, I had a great time talking with JP about my new book, Raising Women, and about my writing process, and how I got to where I am with it. As summarized by JP, "In this captivating episode of the Phase 4 Podcast, we welcome award-winning writer and educator Shannon Waite to the podcast. Shannon is the author of Raising Women, an interactive and innovative transgressive fiction novel that invites readers to determine how the story unfolds, immersing them in the wild and often turbulent journey of growing up as a girl. Her stories breach societal norms, the characters who dare to defy them, and the wounds that shape our shared humanity. With two bachelor’s degrees in English and Creative Writing and an MA in Teaching and Curriculum, Shannon brings a unique perspective to storytelling and education. We discuss how her work challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths and explore their own narratives. Shannon also shares insights into her teaching journey, inspiring the next generation of creative thinkers and writers. Whether you’re passionate about contemporary and transgressive literature, curious about the power of interactive storytelling, or simply looking for inspiration to challenge norms, this episode is one you won’t want to miss." If you're curious to know more about interactive novels and the behind the scenes of me writing one, then you should definitely check out this episode, Breaking Norms and Raising Women with Author Shannon Waite on The Phase 4 Podcast! (or check it out anyway. I enjoy talking about the nerdy things I love). If you go to a fancy enough restaurant, you might find recommended food and beverage pairings. This is because the right pairing can elevate a meal. It can make eating the meal a truly memorable experience. I don't know anything about drinks, so maybe a specific drink could enhance a book, but I do know a lot about music. I'm thinking about how a specific song paired with a book, like a beverage with a meal, could place the story in the right atmosphere and enhance it, make the experience that much more memorable. I'm here to tell you my pairing for my book Raising Women. If you want a more enhanced, accurate experience reading Raising Women, listen to Artemas's "i like the way you kiss me." And watch the music video. At the end of September I blogged about my weird process for making mixes (not drinks - also, not the same as a playlist). In that blog post, I talked about what makes mixes and playlists different, and also the extensive process I go through to make them. Anyway, all that's to say is that I've also got a mix full of VIBES for RAISING WOMEN! Whether you've read any of the stories in Raising Women or not, it's a solid mix (although if you've read the book, you'll "get it"). Songs Include: 1. Caffeine - Jack Kays 2. It's Called: Freefall - Rainbow Kitten Surprise 3. i like the way you kiss me - Artemas 4. ...Ready For It? - Taylor Swift 5. dirty little secret - Artemas 6. Broadripple is Burning - Margot and the Nuclear So & So's 7. # Grownupz - Fein 8. Girls Like Girls - Hayley Kiyoko 9. Lunch - Billie Eilish 10. It Gets Better - fun. 11. If You're Gonna Lie - FLETCHER 12. Detroit - Badflower 13. Where Is My Mind? - Pixies 14. Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl - Broken Social Scene Go check it out. It's available both on Spotify *and* Youtube to listen to! SPOTIFY YOUTUBE And if you haven't read Raising Women yet, check it out here. If you were to pair your favorite book with a song, a song that enhanced the book, which song would you choose?
I'm extremely excited to share my short story "Small Animals" that has been published over on Expat Press.
This story started as a much smaller, kind of experimental piece, but turned into what you see now. While I do think it still has a place in its original form, I fell in love with what it turned into, and luckily Expat Press did too. Told as a tetraptych, one woman examines people’s self-perception through the names of small animals others give us, and that we sometimes give ourselves, allowing the story to deep dive into some complex themes. As always, I'm grateful to share everything that it is with you. In a previous post, "5 Ways to Create Visceral Images in Writing," I briefly talk about my experience with synesthesia. I knew when I wrote about it though that I'd eventually want to dive into it more, and talk about how it impacts the things I make. I'm going to get really nerdy now about how I experience synesthesia, and how I use it to make mix CDs.
Synesthesia is when someone experiences one of their senses through another (like tasting colors or seeing sounds). I have grapheme-color synesthesia. This is when someone associates a color with a symbol such as letters and/or numbers. For example, the letter e is a dark, navy blue for me. The number one is a very pale yellow, close to white. The name Justin is a blue (although can sometimes be a green depending on last name). I don’t know why these things are what they are, they just are (and the colors associated may be different for different people). I also have chromesthesia where I see colors when I hear sounds. I have minds-eye synesthesia though. This means that I only know the colors when I think about them; I don't actually see rooms full of colors when I hear or read things. Experiencing words and sounds with colors though does impact the words I choose when writing, or the songs I put on my mixes. I’ve noticed that my synesthesia affects the things I read and write. I find that I especially love books or stories or poems that use words with strong colors, and when all of the words in the piece tend to lean toward a cohesive color scheme (like the story tends to use words with colors that create a black, red, and silver color scheme or a variety of navies and purples). This probably isn’t anything the writer’s thinking about when they do it, and even if they were thinking about it, they probably weren’t writing words that fit the same colors I see, BUT when it works for me, it really works for me. In this post though, I'm going to focus more on my chromesthesia, and how I use it to make (really great) mix CDs. Listen, I'm eighty years old and I don't have a smart phone, still use an iPod, and still listen to CDs. I also still make mixes (CDs, not to be confused with drinks), and I take great pride in the craft that goes into them. I'm going to clarify how I define a mix though because I consider mixes to be different than playlists. Playlist - A playlist is a bunch of songs grouped together so they can be listened to at the same time. They can follow the same theme, they can just be what someone's into at the time, whatever. There's no rhyme or reason as to which songs get added to a playlist. Mix - A mix is an art. A mix is very intentional, and songs on the mix are put on there because they convey a certain meaning. Additionally, mixes flow. I want listeners to finish a mix of mine and understand that it was a curated, seamless piece. And I will clarify, a mix doesn't have to be on a CD - it's about the songs on it, the order they're in, etc. It's about the process of putting it together, not the format the songs are in/on. My mixes, at minimum, take hours, although usually they take weeks, and often can take months to finish. It is a lot of work deciding on the songs that work thematically, and use sounds that work together. This is where my chromesthesia comes in. It's especially helpful paying attention to the songs' colors because the colors identify if the songs will flow from one to another. Like, it's really hard for me to feel confident about a mix that has bright red songs, sky blue songs, purple songs, and yellow songs. Don't get me wrong - usually, any one song has a few colors going on it, BUT there's a general color or vibe that it has, and the majority (if not all) of the other songs need to have overlapping color similarities in them for me to feel good about the mix. Here's a mix I feel very confident in: We Are Here 1. Just Saying - Jamie xx 2. Mind on Fire - Aisha Badru 3. She Burns - Foy Vance 4. First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes 5. Honey - Sir Sly 6. Meet Me At Our Spot - THE ANXIETY, WILLOW, Tyler Cole 7. Can't Help Falling Love (cover) - Twenty One Pilots 8. Sparks - Fleurie 9. Crystaline - JOME 10. Carry You - Novo Amor 11. Seaside - Haux 12. Just Saying - Jamie xx We start with Jamie xx's "Just Saying" which has a dark feel to it - it's black with some dark greens and other-color highlights. It feels like a night in the forest. This transitions into "Mind on Fire" which is similarly breathy and dark - a perfect transition. It feels like they were meant to go together. The ending paces well into "She Burns." "She Burns" is a different color though - a light blue and light brown. It woks okay though because of the easy transition between the two, and because that brown isn't too far off from the black in the previous song. Now that "She Burns" has lightened the colors up a little, it makes it easier to move into the next Bright Eyes song, which is a yellow and brown. These browns feel a little classic, which is different than the moody breathy beginning, but the color changes (from darker to lighter) work with the lyric changes (as the lyrics in each song get more hopeful). Bright Eyes moves into Sir Sly's "Honey" which brings us back to some black shades, but also some yellow (which transitions nicely from First Day's browns and yellows). This song ends with some bright colors splashed on blacks and moves into "Meet Me At Our Spot" which has pops of bright colors. Our acoustic Twenty One Pilot's cover is then a brown and yellow shade, which helps the pops of yellow from the previous song transition. We're back to some darker hues in "Sparks", but again - those pops of brighter colors. That seems to be a large connector through most of these songs. "Crystalline" is a little more colorful. There are some subtle pinks and purples in it, but there is still an underlying shade of brown/black. "Carry You" is lighter. It's a light blue, but it has silver and yellow highlights in it. This moves into "Seaside" which is a beautiful light blue and silver. It's breathy though. We then end back with "Just Saying" which, isn't the same color, but breathy still. I feel really good about this mix because many songs have primarily black bases, with pops of colors that are then mirrored in other songs without black bases. Many of the songs have an airy, breathy element to them, and we flow nicely between tempos. Beside considering colors, I also have to consider pacing. You can't have too many slow songs in a row, or fast songs with competing beats. I also always make sure that I include a few songs that I knew the person I'm making the mix for likes. This is so, in case they don't know songs on the mix and start to zone out, I can bring them back in with things they like. I typically make sure song 3-ish is a song I know the person likes, and then another few spread throughout. I try to keep my mixes between 12-14 songs. So to sum up, when I make mixes, I consider:
The worst is when there's a song that's perfect in meaning but you have to cut it because sound-wise it just. doesn't. work. Ugh. RIP to some songs that got cut for the betterment of the mix as a whole (although when I do this, the mix is usually a knockout after. It just sucks. I spend hours trying to find where to put it in the mix so it will work, and then I kill it anyway). This is why making a mix is a very in-depth process (for me, anyway), and very different from a playlist (of which I have many! I listen to a lot of playlists at the gym where I just have songs on them that I want to listen to). My mixes are an art and, like I said, take up to months to finish. It's so satisfying to finish one though that hits just right and flows perfect. Not all of them are perfect. Sometimes I settle on a song or two that isn't hitting how it needs to, but I can't figure out what to replace it with. They can't all be knockouts I guess. Haha. Anyway, this probably sounds wild, BUT I swear it’s a thing, and it’s an element of how I, personally, find writing and music that feel concise. In the near future, I'll be sharing the mix I made for Raising Women. It incorporates both plot elements and vibes and does so with some beautiful color transitions. If you've gotten to this point in me rambling about the weird colors I "see", then you might appreciate my mix for the book a little more. Keep an eye out! ❤️ I am SO excited to announce some more preorder opportunities. The Raising Women ebook can currently be preordered through Amazon, but if you're interested in a 💫signed💫 paperback copy and some fun extras (like the Raising Women stickers and an exclusive randomly selected Polaroid photo), then now is your chance!
For $20.99 (plus shipping & taxes), you get the complete package (book, stickers, Polaroid). For $2.00 (plus shipping and taxes), you get a sticker of your choice (or multiple stickers for $2.00 each). *If you're outside of the US, please use my contact me form to request an invoice as shipping will have to be adjusted. We're getting so close. Just over a month before Raising Women is official. 📖 RAISING WOMEN: 🖋 Self-destructive decisions 🖋 Girls destroying girls 🖋 Womanhood 🖋 Reality (and when the lines blur) 🖋 Queerness 🖋 Interactive fiction PREORDER TODAY: 🔸Really cool physical copy 🔸Ebook I love experimenting, and playing with different forms. Last year I decided I wanted to write a piece of literary fiction that incorporated an interactive fiction form (I'll blog more about writing in this way soon). Then this last December, I just dove in and decided to do it - I started writing Raising Women. It wasn't planned; I had just finished a fiction workshop for my fall semester and had another one in the winter semester and was in the middle of writing other things, but for two weeks I just decided to write this. I knocked out most of the first draft then, then revisited it a few months later to finish it. Many rounds of editing and revising later, and I'm extremely excited to reveal the cover and announce that Raising Women will be released on October 11th! Learn more about it here. Look out for more blogs about how I wrote this, what I love about it, and other fun freebies that are coming soon.
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I'm Shannon Waite and I write stories about norms, characters who break norms, and society's wounds. They're always contemporary, often transgressive.
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