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 the reader could just see them as human beings and not be categorized. She had good intentions but I advised against it. But it wasn't the first time I've had to field the question, Does this character's race really matter? If you're wrestling with the question regarding race, sexuality, or any other identity keep these th

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, there needs to be more diversity in writing but it needs to be done thoughtfully, with purpose and intention. A common mistake I've seen from authors is what I like to call the Quota Character. A quota character is usually a static character with a marginalized background who was thrown into a story for the sole purpose of

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 own identities. More than half of the voters said "overall authenticity" concerned them the most so I want to address what authenticity is and what steps you can take to make sure your characters are authentic to your readers. Authenticity is tricky, even if you share the same identity with your character, and even harder

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 wouldn't be on this blog. Since you've taken the step to be more inclusive in your writing, you've probably tried your best to avoid anything overtly offensive but it's important to think about microaggressions in your writing, as well. This isn't easy so I highly suggest you hire a sensitivity reader (or two or three) to do

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 important for Writing Diversely to be inclusive of all types of diversity, I am not LGBTQ+, and I believe giving fellow marginalized people voice. He was and still is my level headed, open-hearted, and empathetic teacher and advisor about LGBTQ+ matters. I hope you enjoy! Honest and Diverse Queer Character Writing I’m so e

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. I wanted to look into another person's eyes and without saying a word agree that "this is bullshit." My teacher didn't express an opinion, she also didn't point out the flaws, missteps, and racism in it. So that's what I'm here for. The "White Man's Burden" referred to now as the White Savior Complex is when a white pers

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 marginalized readers. There's a line between what the character represents and what you, the writer, actually believe. Your readers need to believe there is a distinction. Here are some things to think about as you're planning and writing a bigot. Why? You should be questioning yourself. Why does this character need to be x-is

"How do I write a character of color without using stereotypes?" I get this question often and it is legitimate. Creating characters is not easy. Creating characters that belong to a different racial group than you are can be down-right difficult. You don't want to rely on stereotypes to describe them that can be offensive, harmful, or cliche. In response to that apprehension I often see authors avoid it, they take the easy way out and you don't describe them at all, but is t