Doing Diversity in Writing

In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, Bethany and Mariëlle discuss the dos and don’ts of writing non-binary characters. Here’s what we talk about: What non-binary means How diverse the non-binary community is How to handle characters who are questioning their gender identity Pronouns and how to use them in our writing Naming characters beyond the binary And here are t

In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, Bethany and Mariëlle talk about how to write transgender characters. Here’s what we discussed: Who gets to write trans characters Which stereotypes and tropes to avoid Other things to avoid when writing trans characters The things we SHOULD be writing about when writing trans characters And here are the (re)sources we mentioned on t

In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, Bethany and guest host Louvie Tucker talk about writing better male characters. This is the second part of a two-part episode on the topic. Here’s what we talk about: Physical representation of male characters Derogatory language often applied to men and how we might handle it in fiction Representation in media that we’ve found enc

In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, Bethany and guest host Louvie Tucker talk about writing better male characters. This is the first part of a two-part episode on the topic. Here’s what we talk about: Masculinity in terms of definition How class affects definitions of masculinity Deconstructing arrogance, emotionality, and protective instincts assigned to male charact

In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about writing better female characters. This is the second part of a two-part episode on the topic. Here’s what we talk about: Words and descriptions to avoid when describing women Words and description to deeply consider before using them Gendered words to avoid or consider when writing about women

In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about writing better female characters. This is the first part of a two-part episode on the topic. Here’s what we talked about: That, in the US, women are estimated to buy 70–80% of fiction books There are way more male than female leads in children’s books That novels, on average and across the

In this first episode of Season 3 of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—discuss how to write hair and head coverings. Here’s what we talk about: That hair, hair care, and head coverings are often ethnically dictated and gendered That there is no such thing as “ethnic” hair: we all have ethnicity! How to describe different natural hair colors How to descr

In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—bring our season on Race and Ethnicity to an end by delving into some lingering some questions. What we talked about If and how to use racial slurs in our writing When and how to acknowledge our characters’ racial history Whether authors are allowed to write POV characters belonging to a different communi

In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—scratch the surface of an incredibly broad topic: writing interracial and intercultural relationships. What we talked about That writing relationships between characters of different races and cultures is really not that different from writing relationships between characters who are not exactly the same fo

In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about naming our fictional characters. What we talked about General things to look out for when picking our characters’ names All the different aspects that might influence which names make sense for your characters Where to look for names How to verify whether these names are appropriate for your ch