How to Tell if Your Writing Deserves Praise – A Cosmo Quiz
Not too long ago, my good friend Julie Carrick Dalton sent me this comic from Chuck Draws Things:
Category: Diversity
It’s Not the End of the World: Rethinking How We Tell Stories About Climate Change
Apocalyptic stories of rising sea levels and choking dust storms come to mind when most people think about climate fiction, the emerging genre often referred to as cli-fi. Dystopian anarchy where nations battle over water resources appear in books and…
Don’t Be Scared, Just Be Careful: A Guide for Writing in an Identity PoV That Isn’t Yours
Marginalized characters are the cool thing now, amirite? Everybody wants to read them, everybody wants to write them. And while it’s nice to see so many privileged writers embracing characters unlike themselves and trying to incorporate them into their work,…
When the Universal is Just Mainstream: 3 Writing Rules That Fail Marginalized Authors
(Note: This rant was originally inspired [or should I say, rekindled] by this Grub Street blog post by Suzahn Ebrahimian.) It was frustrating when I first got into more “serious” fiction writing, for I was a good little student. I…
Counting Characters: A Lesson in Diversity
My Novel Incubator instructors loved to tell us to kill our characters. Most of us came into class with drafts bloated with characters who served no purpose, so it was sound advice. During revision, I created a giant diagram of all…
Bedtime Stories to Tell Your Crush
You’ve finessed an invitation to your crush’s house. It wasn’t hard. Your best friend (is she your best friend, do you have a best friend?) was invited, she mentioned it, and now you’re going too. Not difficult. Choosing what to…