Invisible: Personal Essays on Representation in SF/F
edited by Jim C. Hines

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“…part of what makes a good story is that it’s honest. I want the characters to feel true. I want the world to feel like a genuine reflection of ours. Even the most distant fantasy worlds or science fictional universes have a connection to our own. … It’s not about quotas or checklists. It’s about recognizing our own assumptions and defaults. … That means looking around. Listening to people. Moving beyond stereotypes and assumptions, and writing well-rounded characters.”
― Jim C. Hines at Book Smugglers

Invisible 2: Personal Essays on Representation in SF/F
edited by Jim C. Hines

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“In reality, representation is more like constructing your fancy glass houses, then letting everyone else smash them apart and pick up bits to take home. Your art can easily cut others deeply, resulting in infection and scars. People may step around the broken fragments to protect themselves, or gather them carefully with padded gloves. And, on occasion, someone may pick out a shard from the dirt because it had sparkled like a jewel in their hand.”
― from Diana M Pho’s essay

Invisible 3: Essays and Poems on Representation in SF/F
edited by Jim C. Hines and Mary Anne Mohanraj

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“…there is no One True Way of being any identity… Every perspective, every experience, offers a deeper understanding of what it means to see yourself, even a part of yourself, reflected in media, and maybe even understood by others. Every essay, every poem, speaks to us of the power of mirrors: ‘There is no mirror for me.’ Jo Gerrard writes in their poem Unseen, Unheard. ‘My voice does not echo / from the page.’
Let’s make more mirrors more the mirrorless.”
― from the introduction by K Tempest Bradford

Craft Books

“Racist writing is… a craft failure.” –Kwame Dawes

Many of the mistakes writers make when they create diverse characters or representatives worlds are due to poor writing craft. Each of these books talks about character, language, and worldbuilding in a way that will give you an excellent foundation for learning higher level skills.

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