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.

Available Any Time: On-Demand Classes

On Demand: Building Inclusive Worlds | Part 1: Foundations

April 13, 2024Writing the Other

For creative writers looking to decolonize their fiction and avoid harming marginalized people and cultures, crafting immersive worlds for science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative narratives can be especially challenging. Taught by a team of renowned authors and experts, this course explores and explains the foundational worldbuilding concepts of ideology, religiosity, cosmology, sociology, and more. Whether you’re a seasoned storyteller or just starting your journey, this course will equip you with an advanced worldbuilding skillset plus the confidence to create inclusive narratives and worlds that resonate with a wide range of readers. [...]

On Demand: Research Skills for Fiction Writers

February 21, 2024February 21, 2024Writing the Other

Research is a necessary part of the creative process for every fictional narrative, whether you’re creating whole new worlds or futures, using historical settings or events, or crafting characters whose identities or cultures are very different from your own. You don’t have to be a scholar or even a university student to get help and learn how to find the information you need to craft great stories. In this course, reference librarian Melody Steiner will take you through the research process step-by-step. [...]

On Demand: Writing Bisexual and Pansexual Characters | Master Class

September 15, 2023February 21, 2024Writing the Other

Bisexual author Cecilia Tan walks writers through the process of researching and representing characters who are not attracted exclusively to people of a single gender. Termed pansexual by some, bisexual by others (the “B” in LGBTQ), these sexual identities are among the most stigmatized and misunderstood, and are often represented by cliches and inaccurate stereotypes. [...]

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, 2021February 21, 2024Writing the Other

In this Master Class authors Marianne Kirby and Meg Elison will help you move beyond these kinds of tropes and create characters with big bodies that constitute good representation. [...]

On Demand: Should Authors Write Characters Different From Themselves?

November 13, 2021February 21, 2024Writing the Other

Though framed as a yes or no question, the answer to this is complicated and complex. In this On Demand webinar we’ll give you the answer. [...]

News & Events

2023 Year End Donation Drive

December 8, 2023December 9, 2023Writing the Other

In 2024, we want to reach more creators and provide more educational resources to support inclusivity and positive representation. To accomplish this, we need your help. Donations of any amount are appreciated, as are social media boosts. [...]

Spooky Season Scholarship Drive

October 20, 2023October 25, 2023Writing the Other

We’re facing a challenge with our last classes of the year: a lack of sufficient scholarship funds. Will you help us raise enough to cover these last few students in financial need? [...]

Writing the Other and Clarion West Join Forces!

July 25, 2023July 23, 2023Writing the Other

Writing the Other and Clarion West, two Seattle-based writing organizations, announce the beginning of a new partnership. Clarion West will serve as the fiscal sponsor for Writing the Other, as the organizations explore partnership opportunities and shared resource development. [...]

Resources

Excerpt: Refusing Compulsory Sexuality by Sherronda J. Brown

April 6, 2024Writing the Other

In this book, the author breaks down the ways in which cultures (mostly Western ones) force sexuality on everyone, regardless of orientation. Creators who build worlds and futures should always interrogate their own culture’s “norms” in order to consciously create narratives that challenge, or are in sync with, said norms. The introduction to this book, excerpted below, is an excellent start to interrogating sexuality and the status quo. [...]

Thoughts On Exposition by Kim Stanley Robinson

January 23, 2024January 17, 2024Writing the Other

The good/bad encoded in the “Exposition Bad” binary is wrongly applied, because writing is always telling stories, it’s a function of being caught in time; whether the protagonist of the story is a person or a rock, whether the story is narrated or exposed, there is an equal chance of it being interesting. And the advice “show don’t tell” is a zombie idea, killed forty years ago by the publication in English of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, yet still sadly wandering the literary landscape, confusing people. [...]

Death to “Show, Don’t Tell”! | A Conversation with Rebecca Makkai and Cecilia Tan

January 23, 2024February 8, 2024Writing the Other

In this video we explore the idea that “Show, Don’t Tell” is an outdated and inherently colonialist piece of writing wisdom, offer different frameworks for analyzing how and why exposition works in narrative, and offer tools to determine what to tell, what to show, and how much space each tactic gets. [...]

What our students say about us

The class on worldbuilding provided many valuable insights into how to include a diverse cast of underrepresented groups, demonstrating how to break out from traditional hierarchical and normative presentations with solely focused on privileged groups. Rather than a prescriptive list or an approach that focused on performative and manipulative “wokeness” the class offered insight and an opportunity for dialogue on true worldbuilding and the art of crafting secondary worlds that are inclusive and avoid accidental usage of analog cultures and otherization. Lessons on research, criticism, and varied frameworks left me well prepared with a toolbox to tackle issues of inclusiveness for today, tomorrows that may or not may not be, and histories that never were.

― B Phillip York, a Building Inclusive Worlds student

Writing the Other is an invaluable workshop for anyone who cares about writing honest and true stories. On point exercises. Loads of reference material. Experienced instructors who bring passion and wisdom to each and every lesson. I highly recommend it.

― Beth Bernobich, author of The Time Roads

The workshop was one of the highlights of the Potlatch science fiction convention last February. It’s a Don’t Miss.

― Christie Maurer on the Classic Seminar

What an incredibly valuable class. This course provided a thoughtful and supportive place to dig deep into tricky issues and questions, and to examine our own context and assumptions. The resources were incredible, and I know I’ll come back to them over and over. The discussion was illuminating and my approach to my writing has already changed. I’d recommend the four week Writing The Other course to any author without hesitation.

― Amie Kaufman, author of the Starbound Trilogy