When I started this blog (and still to this day) the top concern of authors I work with is is stereotypes and tropes. It's an important

Here is a list of style guides from journalistic societies and cultural groups to help you avoid offensive terminology. These guides not onl

When you avoid pointing out whiteness and put effort into to point out non-whiteness what you're doing is increasing the invisibility of

Your agent should love your story and believe in it enough to pound the proverbial pavement to get it sold. With all the problems with the lack of diversity ...

One of the best tips I give writers who want to create a character outside of their own identity is, read. Read about the people you want to

Once I worked with an author who intentionally veiled the race of several of her characters. She thought she was being clever. To her having no race means th...

Recently I've sensitivity read manuscripts and I've been noticed characters with unacknowledged privilege and it needs to be addressed. Privilege extends far...

People have done (and are doing) horrific things to one another. As writers, we put these things in our stories because they are real and filled with complex...

This test can help determine if the characters with marginalized identities have real utility and meaning in the plot and aren't just Qu

The purpose of this blog is to encourage writers to be inclusive in their writing, to include more marginalized characters in the stories you create. Yes, t...

Authentic character voice can really propel your story from good to great but things can get complicated if your character has an accent or would speak in di...

I conducted a poll on twitter (follow me!) to try to understand what authors are the most concerned about when they're writing characters outside of their ow...

You have a character of color, a homosexual, and/or a gender fluid character in your story, is that enough? Well, no, and I suspect you know that or you woul...

Note from Renee: This is a guest blog by my very good friend, social worker, and queer activist Nathaniel Gray. I invited him to write a post because it is i...

I love reading about immigrants (or kids of immigrants) in stories. It brings such a rich voice point of view that is really unmatched in any other kind of c...

When I learned about the "White Man's Burden" in history class, I was the only black face in the room. There were no Indigenous American or Latinx students....

This isn't going to be easy but no one ever said that writing is easy. Writing a bigoted character needs to be done with special consideration for your margi...

November is Native American Heritage Month and now is the perfect time to be more intentional about adding diversity to your "To Read" list. To write diverse...

You know the story. A white character is in distress. Not immediate, potentially fatal distress but more like a personal crisis. Then, all of a sudden, a bla...

The most successful historical fiction writers know they have to make unique considerations for non-white characters. Here are some tips for