Kern Carter's Blog, page 123
April 9, 2021
April 8, 2021
April 6, 2021
Dealing With Insecurities as a Black Writer
How I overcome insecurities as a black writer.
For as long as I can remember I've always been a writer. I've been writing poetry and short stories since I was nine and everything that I write is usually heartfelt and sincere. Currently, I work as a storyteller content writer for a website called Adoption.com, and I thoroughly enjoy it. However, there are doubts that come to my mind especially when it comes to writing proficiently.
I worry about normal things that all writers worry about like grammar, structure, prose, and how the words come together. And honestly, most of the time when I write it feels like I'm writing mush. Being a woman of color also while trying to establish myself as a writer is hard. I tend to read a lot of writing books to learn how to become a better writer. I also learned a lot of tips from my editors and other writers.
No matter how much I try, I never feel completely inadequate to my other storytelling colleagues. There are days that absolutely feel like giving up on writing but deep down I know it's one of my greatest gifts. When these thoughts come to my mind I try to think positive. As silly and cliche as that sounds, it helps. But for some practical tips, here's what I've learned when it comes to insecurities when it comes to writing.
Realize that no one can think or say things quite as you can, and it's okay to share your feelingsWhen it comes to writing, everyone has something to say. The difference is that no one can say it like you can. What I mean is that nobody can read what's on your mind, and say it the way you know how to. I like to use my words in a heartfelt way. So whatever emotion I'm feeling, I tend to write it out and use it to let others know that they're not alone with how they feel.
Use Your Words to Connect With PeopleI use my words to connect with others. Being an introvert at heart, I've never been great with talking, but I've always excelled with writing. People love reading what I have to say, and they love that I share my stories. One thing I've learned about being a storyteller is that people love a good story, and feel like they have something in common with what they read. Whether heartfelt, informal, or technical, use your words to engage with others.
Get All Your Words Out on Paper, and Revise ThemWhen I write, 98% of the time I don't love the finished product. That's why it's great to revise. If I don't like how I worded something, I think of creative ways to change what I wrote. It helps to get rid of all the brain mush in my mind so I can fully focus on creating a masterpiece out of that mush. Revising can be a bit of a process at first, but it'll be a beautiful thing once you've felt like you've done your best.
Read, Listen, and Ask for AdviceThey say to be a better writer, you should be an avid reader and writer. Read what inspires you, and don’t hesitate to ask other writers for help. I’ve only been writing professionally for a year now, and I’m still learning so much from editors and writers. I struggle with grammar, and my editor suggested using the app called Grammarly. Whatever you’re insecure about, the advice from editors and other writers can be beneficial for you.
Find What You’re Passionate AboutWhat are your passions? What gets you excited, and is something you can’t stop thinking about? Writing about your passions helps creativity, and can keep you motivated and on task.
Never Give UpIf writing is something you see yourself doing, please don't give up. The journey of becoming an established writer can be tough and frustrating. You might not feel like you're any good, but stay focused. Take some writing classes, set aside time just to focus on writing, and realize just what kind of writer you dream of being. When doubts creep up on you, face them and prove that you're good enough by staying dedicated to your craft.
You're a good writer. Insecurities about my writing still come up from time to time, but I try my very best to stay focused on becoming a better writer. I use my insecurities as motivation to prove to myself that I can be great and can make even more great content. If you use your insecurities as your own motivation, you too can show the world that you're something great too.
Dealing With Insecurities as a Black Writer was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
April 5, 2021
Call for submissions—Insecure Writers
Insecurity feels so familiar for many of us writers. So often, we can be our own worst critics and that can prevent us from writing and trying to get our writing out into the world.
For this week’s call to submission, tell us about a time or times you’ve felt insecure about your writing. Did it prevent you from putting words on the page? How did you get over it?
Be as creative as you want when telling the story. Use the prompt as a guide to describe how insecurity has played a role in your journey as a writer.
Same rules as always:If you’re already a writer for CRY, go ahead and submit.If you’re not a writer for CRY but would like to submit to this request, let us know and we’ll add you ASAP.Be as creative as you want in your submissions. As long as you stick to the topic, we’ll consider it.Just because you submit doesn’t mean we’ll post. If you haven’t heard back from us in three days, consider that a pass.The deadline to submit is Monday, April 12th, 2021.Please reach out if you have any questions at all. If you are new to Medium, here’s how you submit a draft to a publication.
Call for submissions—Insecure Writers was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
April 4, 2021
March 30, 2021
March 29, 2021
Every Week Brings New Opportunities
Image from CanvaThey say, crisis breeds opportunity…And with the economic and social reset, we’ve all experienced, creatives are wondering what lies ahead for them. What forces will shape the post-covid, creative world?
For many of us, we’ve begun to pivot as the digital revolution has radically accelerated. We’ve turned our social accounts into platforms to share our art, our thoughts, and everything else in between. But when it comes to looking ahead, how can we make sure to keep finding opportunities that propel us forward?
This week, we’re starting things off right with a new mantra:
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”
So here’s a door we’ve built for you, just turn the knob and open it.
Opportunities for CreativesChicken Soup for the Soul just quietly announced calls for submissions to a forthcoming anthology on the topic of grief, loss, and recovery. This is a chance to be part of a bestselling book. They pay $200 per story or poem, as well as 10 contributor copies. The deadline is currently August 31st, 2021. To learn more, visit this page.Facebook is looking for a Copywriter for their in-house team Creative X. The selected applicant will “write and concept big ideas for all mediums” and “communicate complicated technology topics in clear, concise ways to a non-technical audience.” The candidate should have 6+ years of experience. The job is full-time and based in New York, NY. To learn more, refer to this page.The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper that covers news from Southern California and the world. They are looking for a Multiplatform Editor, Newsletters. The editor will help edit, write, and produce their newsletters. The editor will primarily work a night shift. The job is full-time and based in El Segundo, CA. Details here and here.POWER TO PLAY FREE ONLINE MUSIC PROGRAM Until March 22nd// Are you interested in improving your skills in bass drums, keyboards or guitar? Learning to play music by ear and improve your technical skills and knowledge? Receiving mentorship from young, experienced black musicians? Connecting with other youth who are passionate about music? Engaging with important topics relevant to the black community? Then this program is for you! Click here to learn more and register now!FREEDOM BY DESIGN WANTS TO HELP YOU!Freedom By Design is a not-for-profit organization run by Ryerson Architectural Science students dedicated to giving back to the community. We are looking for applicants who are looking to develop projects that could benefit the community and could use a helping hand! Our work ranges from blanket-making for the Toronto homeless to design-builds like our playground revitalization project with Church St. Elementary school. Email questions to fbdryerson@gmail.com .
Every Week Brings New Opportunities was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
March 23, 2021
Home?
Where does the black queer man find this?
Photo by Anete Lusina from PexelsWhere do you call home?
Nooo.
Do not tell me your actual street or apartment number. Where do you feel safe? Secure in self?
This was the first question I asked myself some weeks ago while sitting in a therapy session. It was something I thought about while doom scrolling on Twitter, realizing that I haven’t really, established, with myself, what home is or what it feels like. (Pro-Tip, this is a conversation you want to have with your therapist.).
After that session, I discovered that what I call “home” surpasses just a physical space, but rather, the people I meet and have long-lasting connections with. I attempted to juxtapose this with my own childhood experiences centered around abandonment and stability issues.
During my formative years and even recently, I spent a lot of time moving. Between parents, between houses, between parishes, and between countries. This isn’t however, what has caused my general sense of displacement or unwelcomed-ness. I just genuinely, usually feel like a fish out of water.
The only exception? When I’m with my friends.
I spent a lot of my time as a teen, imagining spaces where I could feel more at home. At that time, I was very into the Canadian comedy-drama, “The Kink In My Hair”, by Trey Anthony, which helped to remind me of Canada, but through the lens of the black diaspora.
Looking back, I think I also loved it because of the space created by this black woman, in her hair salon, for other black women from different walks of life. Without prejudice, judgment, or prescribed identities.
And black men dare say…. “What about us?”
We are literally our worst enemies.
Let’s talk about the absence of safe spaces, for black men, and this is from the perspective of the queer man.
Now, imagine, a straight guy and a queer person walk into a black barbershop, who will be the first to feel like a scourge to society?
Patriarchy allows for the straight black man [close to] as many privileges as it affords the straight white man, and that’s just the truth. Yes, some privileges are affected by varying intersections such as race and class, but I like to think that a straight black man is closer to being equal to a straight white man than a cis-gendered black woman, black persons of trans experience, genderqueer individuals, and queer men and women.
Recently, I saw a tweet asking for safe spaces for black men. But how can black men ask for safe spaces when we’re partly responsible for creating unsafe spaces for ourselves.
Straight black men want to have spaces where they can be heard and they often talk over anyone else wanting to speak. Yes. You’re hurt. But you’re hurting me in the process of healing yourself and you simply do not give a fuck.
Half of the time that safe spaces exist for black men, they are used to perpetuate and support oppressive systems and institutions. Going back to the barbershop example, I often feel as if there are added things I have to check for in spaces, predominantly occupied by black men, for my own safety.
From the moment I walk in, my guard is up. I treat every man I see as the enemy, even the attractive ones because you just never know. I spend the few seconds it takes to scan my environs for the most suitable place to sit, usually beside a woman with her toddler waiting for a cut or the woman who helps with maintaining the shop. Women are usually most likely the saviors in these situations.
You’d probably say I’m projecting. You’d probably even say that it’s internalized homophobia. It is homophobia but more like the systemic kind.
Finally seated, I’ll glance at the faces around me, making my judgment with every scan so that I’ll have an idea of their politics. A smirk, a snicker, or a glare are usually their tells before they say some homophobic or misogynistic shit, then I’ll know. This is not a safe space.
Once I’ve made my assessment, I try my best to stare into space or at a screen and keep still. This is important because once you’re still and silent, you disappear. I become so small and holed up, even if I’m in an open space, that my existence only returns when I’m called to the chair.
It doesn’t end there.
The performance continues as I adapt the voice and demeanor of the straight black man, just for this moment. I remain quiet because even though I’m extremely passionate about the Tory Lanes and Megan situation, I just know that anybody who is in opposition to Tory would be outnumbered. I don’t want to support and I sure as hell can’t oppose, so I just shut up.
And you’re telling me this is a safe space?
Barbershops were sometimes used as bases for activism and social awareness. They are supposed to encourage you to speak and be passionate about causes affecting the black community. But instead, they have been molded into spaces of toxic masculinity and the dumbing down of conversations which should help to holistically improve our community. Or possibly, they were always toxic? Who knows.
I want the freeness that my female friends have when they visit their nail techs or their hairdressers. This goes beyond giving allowance to a person so that they can say actual words.
I would like to live out loud, outside of my friend group, and still feel safe to do so. I don’t want to feel safe in only one space but in all spaces, because that is what is supposed to happen.
Will we get there? The truth is I don’t know.
Home? was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
March 22, 2021
We Want to Say Thank You!
CRY Magazine was built with the idea of creating a community of creatives looking for support. Over time, we’ve fostered real relationships with our writers and readers who love interacting, sharing experiences, and expressing their emotions through art. We know it isn’t easy, the struggles of post-COVID life make it difficult to navigate the creative journey. But if we stick together, great things can be accomplished.
As we continue to grow, we value this open bond with our global community. It gives us a deeper sense of belonging in a world of isolation. With this in mind, we want to thank YOU!
Founder of CRY Magazine Kern CarterThank you, to the amazing writers from CRY Magazine who shared their work, during the Draft 16.3 event, in collaboration with the Draft Reading Collective and the Nia Centre! In the safe space that Draft provided, Kern Carter curated writers from CRY Magazine and the Nia Centre to connect three groups together for an evening of literary connection.
We love amplifying the voices from our collective, and if you are a creative looking for more opportunities to share your work at future CRY Magazine events, please feel free to let us know in the comments!
We want to shout out:Helen Akey
Rachel Barduhn
Omi
Muna (Warda) Youssouf
Thank you for sharing your words with us!
Love & Literature by CRY MagazineNEXT, we want to thank our subscribers! With the launch of our newest platform, Love & Literature, we were overwhelmed by your support!
Love & Literature is weekly [written] episodes of real-life drama delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning. Our Sunday morning posts are like episodes of your favourite TV series. If you haven’t checked it out yet, take a look.
Read, share and tell your friends to subscribe to Love and Literature!Opportunities for CreativesThe Marguerite and Lamar Smith Fellowship for WritersThe three-month fellowships are to afford writers uninterrupted time to focus on their work at an apartment in Carson McCuller’s childhood home in Columbus, Georgia, free from the distractions of daily life and other professional responsibilities. A spouse or companion is welcome. The application includes a writing sample of up to 20 pages.
Value: $5,000
Deadline: 1 April 2021
Open for: Unspecified
Details here (scroll down — see the tab marked ‘Fellowships’).CINTAS Foundation: Fellowship in Creative Writing
This is a creative writing fellowship for writers having Cuban citizenship or direct lineage (having a Cuban parent or grandparent). Applications can be in English or Spanish. Fellows who are not U.S. citizens and who are living abroad must provide a U.S. taxpayer identification number when they accept the fellowship to receive payment. The foundation also offers fellowships for other disciplines — architecture & design, music composition, and visual arts.
Value: $20,000
Deadline: 1 May 2021
Open for: Writers having Cuban citizenship or direct lineage
Details here.REGISTER NOW FOR JAYU’S iAM PROGRAM!
Are you interested in making art? Growing your storytelling skills? Incorporating social justice into your creative process? The iAM Program provides youth-led arts and social justice mentorship to anyone ages 12–26, across Ontario. We will provide you with the creative toolkit you need to develop social justice focused artwork. Click here to learn more about the program and to register now!ANNOUNCING TORONTO PUBLIC LIBRARY’S FIRST ARTREPRENEUR IN RESIDENCE
Until April 23rd// TPL’s Artrepreneur in Residence (ArtIR) program supports visual artists who are looking to build knowledge and confidence through exposure to entrepreneurial expertise. This program includes a series of artrepreneurship workshops as well as one-on-one consultation sessions. Click here to learn more!RESOURCES FOR HIRING BIPOC CREATIVES! HireBIPOC is an industry-wide roster of Canadian BIPOC creatives and crew working in screen-based industries. Access Reelworld is a comprehensive database of racially diverse creatives in the Canadian entertainment industry.
We Want to Say Thank You! was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
March 18, 2021
A Letter To My Younger Self
Self-Reflection is the ability to pay attention to your own thoughts, emotions, decisions, and behaviors.
