Want to include more diversity in your work? Ready to write inclusive fiction but afraid of getting it wrong and contributing to cultural toxicity (or getting yelled at on social media)? This four week course offers strategies to help you get it right and cope when you get it wrong.

• Class Description
• Attending Class
• Accessibility & Technical Requirements
• Available Spots and Scholarship Opportunities
• Class Texts
• Refund Policy
• Register

Class Description

Writers often wonder and worry about if it is possible to write characters whose gender, sexual orientation, religion, racial heritage, or other aspect of identity differs from their own. Many authors are afraid to try even though it is possible to do so sensitively and convincingly. In this four-week course, authors Nisi Shawl and K. Tempest Bradford delve into this tricky skill through a combination of readings, videos, discussions, and writing exercises in a safe, supportive atmosphere. The class is appropriate for all writers (fiction, plays, comics, screenplays, and games included) from all backgrounds and any skill level.

This class covers:

• Representation
• Language & Description
• Stereotypes & Tropes around…
  • Race and Ethnicity
  • Disability
  • Gender
  • Sexuality
  • Religion
  • Class
  • and more
• Characterization & Identity
• Dialogue & Dialect
• Worldbuilding Without Appropriation for…
  • Fantasy
  • Science Fiction
  • Historical Fiction/Alt-History
  • Contemporary Fiction
• Researching the Other

In addition to instruction from Shawl and Bradford, students will have access to the video and resources from three Writing the Other Master Classes (a $150 value) and exclusive access to a guest lecture*:

• Writing Native American Characters: How Not To Do A Rowling with Debbie Reese
• Writing for Trans and Non-Binary Narratives with Ashley Lauren Rogers
• Writing Deaf and Blind Characters with Elsa Sjunneson-Henry
• Worldbuilding and the Other with Max Gladstone

*Please Note: The teachers of these classes will not provide live instruction.

Attending Class

Instruction begins November 20 and ends December 18, 2016. The course does not have set meeting times – all class discussion will take place in a private online forum and all class work done on Google Drive. Students can access class material and discussion on their own schedule. Students from any time zone anywhere in the world may enroll.

In addition to forum discussions, both instructors will be available for one-on-one video chats during virtual office hours and each week there will be an optional live chat on Google Hangouts.

Accessibility and Technical Requirements

All class discussions will take place in a Google Groups forum. Lessons and instructor essays are all available through Google Drive. Weekly chats and Office Hours take place via Google Hangout (text and video chat, respectively). All of these services are accessible to students using screen readers.

Some class material will be in the form of video lectures or classes. If you need closed captioning, please let us know when you register and we will provide it.

If there are any other ways we can make a class accessible for you, or if you have questions about potential needs, please contact us before registering and we’ll answer within 24 hours.

Students must have a Google account to participate in class. Text and videos can be viewed online or downloaded to your computer.

Available Spots and Scholarship Opportunities

There are 20 spots available for open enrollment.

There are at least 2 spots available for Sentient Squid Scholarship recipients (more may open up depending on the number of enrolled students). If you do not have the financial means to take this class and feel that you will benefit from it, please click here to apply. Application deadline is November 6.

In addition, if you need to pay for the class in installments and can send complete payment by December 10, we can accommodate you. Please contact us to set up a payment plan.

If the class sells out there will be a waiting list. Add yourself to it as there are often students who have to drop.

Class Texts

Primary Texts (Required)

• Writing the Other: A Practical Approach by Cynthia Ward and Nisi Shawl
• Invisible: Personal Essays on Representation in SF/F edited by Jim C. Hines (also available from: Barnes & Noble | Google Play)
• Invisible 2: Personal Essays on Representation in SF/F edited by Jim C. Hines (also available from: Barnes & Noble | Google Play)

Secondary Texts

If you cannot find these books in your local library or cannot afford them, please inform us after you register and we’ll make arrangements for you.

• Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K. Le Guin (also available from: Barnes & Noble | Powell’s)
• Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff VanderMeer (also available from: Barnes & Noble | Powell’s)

Refund Policy

If you find that you need to drop the class, you may do so by contacting our GMail or emailing via the website.

If you drop by November 5th, you will receive a full refund minus a service fee.

If you drop by November 13th, you will receive a 50% refund minus a service fee plus a chance to enroll in future Writing the Other classes at a discount before general tickets go on sale.

If you drop after November 13th, we will not be able to refund your registration fee. However, you will be able to enroll in a future Writing the Other class for a 90-95% discount.

Registration is Now Over

Want to know when we give this class again? Join our announcement-only mailing list. We release information about all new classes here first and sometimes offer members the opportunity to register before we open enrollment to the public. This is also where we release any discount codes and coupons.