Writing the Other | Online Writing Classes and Workshops

Representation is fundamental to writing great fiction. Creating characters that reflect the diversity of the world we live in is important for all writers and creators of fictional narratives. But writers often find it difficult to represent people whose gender, sexual orientation, racial heritage, or other aspect of identity is very different from their own. This can lead to fear of getting it wrong–horribly, offensively wrong–and, in the face of that, some think it’s better not to try.

The hard truth is this: Representation and Diversity are too important to ignore.

It IS possible to write characters who represent the “Other” sensitively and convincingly. Through our classes, workshops, and seminars and the resources available on this site and elsewhere creators can get a solid foundation in how to craft characters from any background, no matter how different they are from you.

News & Events

Holiday Sale: 15% Off Gift Cards and On Demand Classes

November 25, 2021November 16, 2021Writing the Other

To celebrate the holiday season, the end of 2021, the announcement of our 2022 class schedule, our new on demand videos, and still being alive in These Times, we’re having a sale! [...]

Announcing New On Demand Webinars

November 18, 2021November 18, 2021Writing the Other

Writing the Other has always sought ways to offer affordable options for learning. In addition to our core classes expanding on the concepts found in Writing the Other: a Practical Approach, we are also pleased to present a new and expanded selection of affordable On Demand Writing Classes. [...]

Announcing our 2022 Writing The Other Class Schedule

November 11, 2021November 18, 2021Writing the Other

Our 2022 Class Schedule includes twelve writing classes, seminars, and workshops featuring established and new instructors. [...]

Resources

Writing the Other on Writing Excuses – Crafting Chinese-American Characters

March 1, 2021February 17, 2021Writing the Other

Yang Yang Wang joins Tempest, Piper J. Drake, and Dan Wells for a discussion of language, food, and a whole raft of other cultural elements critical to crafting Chinese-American characters. [...]

K. Tempest Bradford and Sheree Renée Thomas on the Glitchy Pancakes Podcast

February 27, 2021February 18, 2021Writing the Other

K. Tempest Bradford and Sheree Renée Thomas do a deep dive into Own Voices fiction, why it’s so important, and how it fits in with Writing the Other. [...]

Writing the Other on Writing Excuses – Researching for Writing the Other

February 24, 2021February 17, 2021Writing the Other

Nisi Shawl and Silvia Moreno-Garcia join Tempest, Piper J. Drake, and Dan Wells to talk about how writing stories which feature people who are not like you is, in a word, difficult. [...]

Open for Registration

Charting Your Character’s Arc Webinar and Workshop

December 1, 2021November 20, 2021Writing the Other

In this webinar, author Stant Litore will walk you through how to chart your character arc in a way that allows you to use that arc as a potent tool for revision. You will leave the webinar with a more defined and vigorous vision for your character’s conflict and actions and with fresh and specific ideas for structuring your story to maximize the emotional and dramatic impact for your character and the reader. [...]

Available Any Time: On-Demand Webinars

On Demand Webinar: Cultural Appropriation – What It Is & How To Avoid It

November 16, 2021Writing the Other

Most writers want to avoid Cultural Appropriation but worry that they don’t fully understand what it is or how to ensure their work does not include it. In this On Demand webinar, we’ll give you the resources you need. [...]

On Demand: Writing Fat Characters | Master Class

November 14, 2021November 15, 2021

On Demand: Should Authors Write Characters Different From Themselves?

November 13, 2021November 15, 2021

Writing Blind and Deaf characters header

On Demand: Writing Deaf and Blind Characters | Master Class

January 21, 2019November 4, 2021

What our students say about us

Taking this deep dive class connected me to a lot of wonderful people and resources. It helped me pinpoint several immediate problems in my current works in progress, gave me specific strategies to address those flaws, and ways to analyze my work in the future to better tell the inclusive stories that I imagine. I would not have been able to take this class without the scholarship.

― A Building Inclusive Worlds student

This is a very good, condensed, well balanced and presented mix of information and practice on writing about difference.

― SK on the Classic Seminar

The conversations and community that emerged over the course of the Writing the Other intensive was as valuable as the issues discussed within the readings and exercises, if not more so. So glad I did this!

― Fran Wilde, Nebula Award-winning author of Updraft

A lively, entertaining, and above all stimulating experience, proving yet again that even the examined life benefits by being re-examined from time to time, all the more so in the case of writers.

― Suzy McKee Charnas, author of Walk to the End of the World, on the Classic Seminar