This is an excellent thread. As someone who grew up with Chinese novels and dramas, let me tell you, Chinese writers tend to do this storytelling stuff differently. There's no rush, no strict adherence to a 3-act structure. The hero doesn't have to drive the plot on every page https://twitter.com/laviecestmoi/status/1354384187659173888

I've noticed the slow pacing is a common critique Westerners have of Chinese novels that were translated into English (i.e. Jin Yong's A HERO BORN). Anyone who's seen a historical C-drama knows these stories are hefty, and they writers take their sweet time to build the world.

The protagonists are "inactive" by Western standards, but it's a different type of storytelling. By Chinese standards, stories like A HERO BORN are considered masterpieces - the kinds of stories that might wander and take their time while contextualizing sociopolitical details

Western cultures are very individualistic compared to collectivist Asian cultures, and we see this play out in fiction, with Western narratives that focus on getting the protagonist from A to B and getting there fast. Not every culture focuses on individual growth like that

When publishing says they want diverse stories, what they mean is they want Western-style stories with BIPOC characters.

But seeking out diverse voices means seeking out diverse forms of storytelling too. I hope publishing can keep that in mind in the future