Free advice for cis writers who want to do a story about a trans character troubled by their transition.
Print out your outline. Make sure it's nicely formatted and on quality paper. Take care in your presentation.
Then set it on fire.
Then throw your computer into the fire.
@Nezchan
I'm not sure this is good advice. Writing is a profoundly empathic act. Look at a Clockwork Orange, for instance. The human condition is a very universal thing. While it is true that representing a character like this should be done with a lot of careful research it's by no means undoable, and I do not see any good in arbitrarily making trans characters even more under-represented in fiction.
@Irick If we want trans characters more represented in fiction then promote trans characters /writing/ that fiction instead of cis people half-understanding their stories and centering themselves as the authors who should be telling them.
We've been doing it the wrong way too much, and the results aren't so hot.
@Nezchan
I respectfully disagree with your conclusion. While it is good to take both approaches, excluding the well meaning is not the way to go.
