Tag: diversity

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The Intentional Writer

Boost Creativity by Increasing Diversity

The intentional writer

Do you want to take your creativity and problem-solving abilities to a new level? Diversify your inputs. Increasing the diversity of the groups you interact with and the sources of your creative inspiration will lead to:

  • Greater creativity
  • More innovative ideas
  • Improved problem-solving
  • Better decisions

All of which lead to greater success and greater job satisfaction.

It makes sense when you think about it. The more alike your friends and writing associates are, the more likely they will think along the same lines and come up with similar answers to problems. On the other hand, a more diverse group of people will have a broader outlook, more varied ideas, and more novel approaches to solving problems.

If you want to tap into the power of diversity, consider where you can add more diverse inputs in your writing life. Here are some suggestions.

Critique partners

Do your critique partners all write in the same genre? Do they all prefer to read the same sorts of books? While a critique from someone who hates your genre is usually not helpful, it’s wise to find critique partners who aren’t all writing the same kind of story.

My main critique partners write in completely different genres. This has served us well. In addition, I have joined forces with a fellow mystery writer (through the Sisters in Crime organization). When we were first brought together we weren’t sure it would work because our styles and worldviews appeared to be very different, but it turns out those differences have helped us identify blind spots, faulty assumptions, and plot holes. (Not to mention an occasional discussion on midwest vs. northeast idioms and brand familiarity.)

If you are looking for ways to diversify your critique input, here is a sample of the factors to consider:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Cultural background
  • Income level
  • Education level
  • Occupation(s)
  • Work experience
  • Religious beliefs
  • Where they’ve lived
  • Where they’ve traveled
  • Family background
  • Personality / temperament
  • Taste in books
  • Taste in music, and/or other arts
  • Main interests and hobbies
  • Favorite leisure activities
  • Writing experience level
  • Genres they write
  • Pantser or plotter?
  • Writing style and voice

Beta readers

The same goes for beta readers. Your readers will (hopefully) come from all walks of life, so finding a diverse group of beta readers will help ensure your story makes sense and appeals to different audience segments who might benefit from your book.

Brainstorming

Who do you bounce ideas off of? Do you count on your spouse and your critique partners to solve all your writing problems, or do you solicit ideas from a larger group of people? You might benefit from finding a handful of people with diverse backgrounds who are willing to gather now and then to brainstorm plot problems, plot ideas, marketing strategies, or anything else that could spark new life into your writing career. When choosing brainstorming partners, remember to choose a mixed group, and don’t limit yourself to writers.

Social contacts

How diverse are the backgrounds and life experiences of the people you interact with on a regular basis? Could you benefit from spending more time with people outside your usual group? I realize it’s difficult to socialize in a post-Covid world, but social media and internet forums provide an opportunity to interact with diverse viewpoints.

Book and media consumption

Just as with nutrition, the more varied our diet, the healthier we’ll be. If you find yourself reading book after book in the same tried-and-true genre, it may be time to branch out. Pick up a few books in genres you don’t normally read. If you really hate them, you don’t have to finish them, but don’t dismiss an entire genre just because you disliked one or two books. Ditto for movies, music, and other creative inputs.

Years ago I stated a book club with the primary purpose of forcing myself to read books I wouldn’t normally read. Because it’s an organized thing, it makes me remain intentional about choosing a variety of book genres, topics, and styles. Do you have a book club that pushes you out of your reading comfort zone? If not, perhaps its time to join one or start your own.

 I hope these ideas help you widen your creative horizons and find new inspiration.

Award-winning writer Lisa E. Betz believes that everyone has a unique story to tell the world. She loves inspiring fellow writers to be more intentional about developing their craft and courageous in sharing their words. Lisa shares her words through speaking, leading Bible studies, writing historical mysteries, and blogging about living intentionally.

You can find her on Facebook LisaEBetzWriter Twitter @LisaEBetz and Pinterest Lisa E Betz Intentional Living.

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Writing for YA

Writing Diverse Mental Health Themes in YA Fiction

If you’ve queried in the past five years, you’re familiar with the plea for diverse books. Publishers and readers alike are searching for stories that reflect the world in all its colours, orientations, beliefs, and abilities. We are searching for connections. We want to be seen.

But not all diversity will be as obvious to spot on the cover of a book.

Diversity goes deep—down to the core of who we are and how the neurons in our brains allow us to think. But, as a society, we are less likely to recognize or celebrate this deeper neurodiversity.

Each of us process and react to the world differently.  Our life experiences also play a role, leaving unique internal scars and mended pathways. For a growing majority of teens today, this internal milieu feels like a battlefield and it comes out as mental illness.

Right now, more than ever, these differences in neurological wiring and life experiences will affect how teens react to fear, anxiety, grief, and confusion. And if they can’t find themselves in the stories that they’re reading, we risk letting them feel alone in their experiences. Which we all know is false.

As YA Authors, mental health themes need be high in our considerations for diversity. But how can we do this authentically?

  1. Write #OwnVoice – Mental health stories written from lived experiences offers a genuine and raw lens. If you’ve lived it and feel comfortable communicating the everyday struggles, along with the big plot turns of life, do it.
  • Write Deep – Don’t include mental health as an afterthought. A person is more than one aspect of their diversity. Our characters need to be seen this way as well. Ask deep questions of your characters. Know their wounds and back stories. Empathize with them before starting to write.
  • Write Educated – If you haven’t experienced the themes present in your story, spend time researching what they are and how they present. Look to respected resources (i.e. The DSM-V) rather than arbitrary blog posts.
  • Write Relationally – Even with the best research, there is something powerful about speaking with a person who has experienced mental illness first-hand. If you will listen and come with empathy and encouragement, odds are you will find someone who will share. Please be considerate though. Never approach someone who is in crisis and stick with friends and family.

With my novel, FADE TO WHITE, I wrote from both personal experience, research, and over 10 years of relational conversations with teens. Some of those conversations were painful to hear, but there was also mutual healing and hope gained through sharing our stories.

mental health

Mental illness is a hidden disease, despite its ever growing prevalence. By considerately sharing diverse mental health experiences, we are giving young people a chance to be seen. A chance to be recognized as broken but not lost. A chance to be represented within the diverse and unsettling world we now live in.

Tara K. Ross lives with her husband, two daughters, and rescued fur-baby in a field of cookie-cutter homes near Toronto, Canada. She works as a school speech-language pathologist and mentors with local youth programs. When Tara is not writing or reading all things YA, you can find her rock climbing the Ontario escarpment, planning her family’s next jungle trek, or podcasting at www.tarakross.com.

Categories
Writing for YA

How to Alienate and Offend Readers: Diversity and Sensitivity

What’s sensitivity reader?

A sensitivity reader may not be what you think it is.

These are not “thin-skinned” readers ready to roast a writer for making a misstep. They are fact checkers who examine your writing for specific things. Sensitivity readers help authors find places in their manuscript where they have unwittingly used inaccurate information in describing a diverse character, and to check for things that could be considered offensive. They are Diversity Editors.

Who needs sensitivity readers?

Everyone writing a character from any marginalized or diverse community.

Even if a person is writing about a group they feel they know everything about, a sensitivity reader isn’t a bad idea. Different points of view enrich understanding.

An author can write beautiful prose, have a great story idea, and even be well known, but if a story doesn’t pass muster, the manuscript may not have a chance with an agent or publisher. And it shouldn’t!

When does it matter?

Always.

A novelist is duty bound to represent all sorts of people in such a way that it does not harm or perpetuate harmful stereotypes and myths. People are influenced by what they read, and there is no magic loophole. Claiming it’s “just fiction” or it’s “just a minor character” won’t fly. Words influence.

Listen to your sensitivity readers.

When engaging a sensitivity reader, a writer doesn’t get to tell them what they’re being nitpicky about. As with most differences of opinion, finding common ground requires listening. If there is a disagreement about feedback, engaging more sensitivity readers and going with the majority is the best course of action.

If a writer chooses to ignore their suggestions on style, grammar, plot lines, they are not hurting anyone, except possibly themselves, but ignoring information acquired from a sensitivity reader poses a real danger of failing the author’s audience.

Once a novelist has done harm, I no longer trust them.

As a reader, I don’t often let novelists off the hook for representing of groups of people in a harmful way.

If I read a novel I know is misrepresenting people, I am not likely read books by the author again or suggest his or her books to anyone. If their name comes up in conversation, I may not have a positive reaction, no matter how famous they are.

Our stories influence.

Sadly, there are novels out there that continue to do damage by perpetuating falsehoods and stereotypes, encouraging attitudes and prejudices. Writers have a certain amount of responsibility. The stories we write influence the world around us. The best ones influence in a positive way.

Sensitivity readers can be found by searching for readers within the community you are writing about, or by finding paid sensitivity readers online. I start my search with writing groups, then the community groups, both local and on Facebook.

Donna Jo Stone writes YA contemporary novels about tough issues but always ends the stories with a note of hope. She blogs at donnajostone.com.

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The Afterword

How Diverse Books Support Empathy

A discussion of the future of words

In a time of divisive discourse, empathy appears to be a missing element in the fabric of some of our conversations. Join us for a timely chat about stepping into the shoes of others as we welcome poet Glenis Redmond and behavior specialist Tyson Wright to our table. We talk about diverse literary works and how they can influence our mindsets, which creates space for empathy. 

Glenis is a traveling poet who teaches the creative process of writing and presenting poetry. Her books include: What My Hand Say, Monumental, & Under The Sun. 

Tyson has been a police officer and a classroom teacher and is currently a behavior interventionist. He is also a football coach and is married with four daughters. 

Listen to Part One

Listen to Part Two

Meet the hosts

Holland Webb is a full-time freelance writer and editor. He spends his days writing about higher education, B2B technology, and nonprofit organizations. His clients have let him write for U.S. News & World Report, The Learning House, The Red Lantern, and Sweet Fish Media. Holland’s favorite writers are Malcolm Gladwell, Olive Ann Burns, and Flannery O’Connor. In his spare time … are you kidding, what spare time? You can reach him through www.theafterwordpodcast.com or on Twitter at @WebbHollandLyle.

Amy Bowlin is a veteran teacher. She works with 6-year-olds in literacy intervention and shares with college seniors the art of teaching literacy. Balancing both worlds involves commuting which allows her to listen to her favorite podcasts, “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me,” “This American Life” and “Revisionist History.” When she is not traveling to Greece to work with refugees, she likes to write, hike, kayak and spend time with family and friends. You can reach her through www.theafterwordpodcast.com or on Twitter at @albowlin1.