A small collection of resources for creating inclusive fiction and other narratives curated by Writing the Other teachers. A more comprehensive library of online resources is available to alumni of our classes, workshops, and retreats.
Writing the Other Recommends
Should I Write Diverse Characters?
- Representation Matters: A Literary Call To Arms
- Representing My Equals by Nisi Shawl
- How Not to Be All About What It’s Not All About: Further Thoughts on Writing About Someone Else’s Culture and Experience by Nisi Shawl
- When it comes to writing the “other,” what questions are you not asking?
- 7 Casually Racist Things White Writers Do
- Writing the Margins from the Centre and Other Moral Geometries by Amal El-Mohtar
- Max Gladstone on Bees and Diversity
- Mexican-American author and poet David Bowles on #ownvoices, representation, allyship, guests, and assorted issues dealing with POC characters/stories being written by white folks. [Twitter thread]
- Worldbuilding: What’s Missing, What’s Real, and What You Shouldn’t Leave Out by Elle Maruska and Jeannette Ng
Resources By Identity Category
Writing Characters of Different Races and Ethnicities
Resources for writers who want to include characters who are a different race, ethnicity, or culture from their own in their work. Learn about common stereotypes and tropes, language to use and avoid, find research sources, and learn about available on demand classes.
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Writing Characters of Different Genders | Trans, Non-Binary, Cisgender, More
Resources for writers who want to include characters who are a different gender than they are in their fiction. The links list common stereotypes and tropes, information about language, and research sources on cisgender, transgender, and non-binary genders.
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Writing Characters With Different Sexual Orientations
Resources for writers who want to include characters who are lesbian, bisexual, gay, asexual, demisexual, or any other sexual orientation that is different from their own in their work.
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Writing Characters With Disabilities
Resources for writers who want to include disabled characters in their work. Learn about common stereotypes and appropriate language, find research sources, and learn how to write fiction that includes characters with disabilities.
[Read >>]Resources That Dig Deeper
Intersectionality and Characterization
Though the term’s origins are academic, intersectionality is not a distant theory. It impacts everyday lives and should be a part of every writer’s thought process when creating characters. [Read >>]
The Cultural Appropriation Primer
An extensive collection of articles, blog posts, and essays on how to understand what Cultural Appropriation is and is not, why it’s a problem, and how to avoid it. [Read >>]
Resources for Editors, Agents, and Publishers
- Questions Agents and Editors Can Use to Evaluate American Indian Content by Kara Stewart
- Custom Writing the Other Seminars for Agencies and Publishing Houses