Let's Be Real

Introduction

            First of all, this book is based entirely around the knowledge I have gained in all of my years of my life. If I offend you, I want you to know that I am not trying to hate or make you feel bad. The whoe purpose of this book is to point out problems that I have seen repeatedly in stories over my years on wattpad, and to teach others in order to solve them, little by little. These problems are not things such as grammar (although, correct grammar would be much appreciated). The problems I will be addressing are actually problems that are related to social justice. I guess this is why the title is "Let's Be Real". We will be talking (or more like reading) about real topics that may (and probably will) be triggering. This includes chapters on mental disorders, sexism, racism, abuse, LGBTQ+, etc, and how they are portrayed in certain situations ( in writing). I will dedicate hours of research in order to help readers (in other words, you) learn about identify things such as racism, sexism, homophobia, exclusion, marginalization of people, and so on and so forth in the stories you read and write here on wattpad. 

In some ways, this will be book will be similar to those "How to write fanfiction" books (there are many excellent ones here on wattpad, I know), except it's more of a "How to write fanfiction that does not enforce gender roles, toxic masculinity, and is not sexist, racist, homophobic, or culturally appropriating, etc." 

I promise you, there may be terms that you will not be familiar with, or that you will not quite understand. I also promise that I will try my best to explain those terms and help you understand them. However, I want to let you know that I am not google. I do not know everything about ever social justice topic, but that only means that we will learn together.

            Moving on, I want to let you know that if you ever have any questions about certain topics or ideas, or you want me to cover a certain topic I will willingly try to provide answers and explanations, and will include them in here somewhere. Don't be afraid to DM/ PM me. Trigger warnings will also be put in the title of chapters that need them. I ask that you do not fight with others in the comment section- I would like this book to be a safe place for us to learn about each other, our world, and our lives, no matter what our position is on a certain subject. If you have nothing nice to say, don't say it at all. 

The whole reason I made this book was to help. As you may know, this site is used by many young authors who are developing and growing in both skills and life. Although I know there are many older readers/writers here, there are many more younger people who are just experiencing the world. I hope to reach both groups, and those in between, and share one important message: It's a wonderful world we live in, but some don't get to ever believe or experience it. Although it is tempting to simply continue with our lives, ignoring those around us, it is not always the best. Yes, it's okay to be grateful for what you have, but we must also remember that many cannot. Because the truth is, our world is still messed up. Our economy is failing, our children are dying, and our society is killing us. As people, it's up to us to start patching up the wholes that many are falling into. It's our job. We are the future, and the future is now. In order to build a better life for those after us, we have to learn about those problems, and learn how to fix them. Many of us make mistakes, and many of us continue to make them, and that's okay. Because from now on, I want you to learn, I want you to grow, and I want you to help others learn. Although it may seem like you won't make much of a difference by yourself, you do. Simply by changing the way you think about a certain subject, you do something. And together, we change the world, and hand it down to those after us. 

This being said, I hope that this book (and the comment section) will be a place for you to learn, share your own experiences, seek help, and give help to those who may ask for it. 

This has been my official introduction to Let's Be Real

2/25/18. 

P.S. If anyone could make a cover for me, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.