Shows
Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S3 Ep8 - Writing Non-binary CharactersIn 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 the (re)sources we mentioned on the show:
“Tweens and teens explore the power of pronouns” by Matt Vilano: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/19/health/pronouns-guide-for-par...2023-02-101h 30Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S3 Ep7 - Writing Trans CharactersIn 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 the show:
“The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Transgender Characters” by Alice Thomas: https://properz.medium.com/the-dos-and-don-ts-of-writing-transgender-characters-15ae8fbfab6b
“How to Wri...2023-02-071h 17Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S3 Ep06 - Exploring Mental Health with Eric MillsIn this sixth episode of Season 3 of Doing Diversity in Writing, Bethany—Mariëlle is still on vacation—has guest clinical mental health counsellor Eric Mills on the show to discuss mental health. Together, Bethany and Eric explore mental health services, both as it might show up in our stories, and how we can help ourselves as we write.
(The first half of this episode was previously published as a Part 1. This is the full and complete interview.)
Here’s what we talk about:
What professionals exists in mental health services and their different roles
Some...2022-10-012h 35Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S3 Ep05 - Writing Men - Part IIIn 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 encouraging
Touch and intimacy (primarily nonsexual)
Using name calling as world building and character communication
And here are the (re)sources we mentioned on the show:
Tough...2022-09-062h 08Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S3 Ep04 - Writing Men - Part 1In 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 characters
Should we write all male characters with straightforward personalities?
The male character, lust, and ego
Making room in our stories for male characters who aren’t leaders or in search of power
The myth of the capa...2022-08-012h 14Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S3 Ep03 - Writing Women We Want to Read - Part 2In 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
The ridiculous misconceptions there are about the female body and how to describe the body and bodily functions right
How the (male) author’s Point of View can skew descriptions and charac...2022-06-301h 16Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S3 Ep 02 - Writing Women We Want to ReadIn 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 board, only have one female character to four male characters
But that many readers FEEL like there are way more female protagonists these days than there are male pro...2022-05-311h 08Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S3 Ep01 – How to Write Hair and Head CoveringsIn 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 describe different hair textures
Whether dreadlocks are cultural appropriation
Who wears wigs and weaves, and for what reason
That head coverings for men and women come into play in many ways tha...2022-05-011h 24Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S2 Ep12 - Using Racial Slurs, Acknowledging Characters’ Racial History, and Other End of Season ThoughtsIn 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 community
Co-writing with BIPOC authors as a white author
The representation of Asian masculinity in Western media
Being accused of being too political when including a diverse cast in our books...2022-04-071h 00Doing Diversity in WritingDDW S2 Ep11 – Writing Interracial and Intercultural relationshipsIn 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 for other reasons
Questions to ask yourself and things to keep in mind when crafting interracial and intercultural relationships in your writing
A ton of examples in which interracial and intercultural relationships are depicted well and convincingly
...2022-03-311h 15Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S2 Ep10 - Naming Our Fictional CharactersIn 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 characters or not
(Re)sources mentioned on the show
Think Baby Names: http://www.thinkbabynames.com
Behind the Name: https://www.behindthename.com
Behind the Surname: https://surnames...2022-03-231h 06Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S2 Ep 09 - Flipping the Script and Building Different Worlds with Clare SagerIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—interview Clare Sager about building different worlds in our fiction.
Clare Sager is an office lackey turned full-time author. With both a bachelor of arts and a masters of arts in Creative Writing, she is now living her life-long dream of writing fantasy adventure stories of swoon-worthy, troublesome men and strong, sassy women who can handle them.
When she's not writing or master planning her next book, she's an editor, outline coach, and formatter. In her spare time, she enj...2022-03-1756 minDoing Diversity in WritingDDW - S2 Ep 08 – When Money Gets Between Your Writing and Hiring ProfessionalsIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—take a pause to talk about what to do when hiring professionals to better your writing is not an option (yet).
What we talked about
That there’s privilege in being able to advice others to do it right or not do it at all
That not everyone has the same resources going into publishing their work
What options are out there for authors with limited or no budgets
(Re)sources mentioned on the show
“The different kinds of ed...2022-03-101h 00Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S2 Ep 07 - Sensitivity Reading with Erin Olds, CEO of Salt & Sage BooksIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—ask Erin Olds, CEO of Salt & Sage Books, all our questions about sensitivity reading.
Who is Erin Olds?
Erin Olds loves to travel, read, and drink boba tea! She currently lives in Seattle, where she homeschools her two excellent children. Erin is the CEO of and editor at Salt & Sage Books, an editing company dedicated to kindness. With a degree in English and French, Erin has worked with authors of all ages her whole adult life. Her poetry and shor...2022-03-031h 03Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S2 Ep 06 - Diversity and representation in Disney’s EncantoIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—discuss diversity and representation in Disney’s Encanto.
What we talked about
All the ways in which diversity shows up in Encanto, from skin colour to body type, to the different roles the characters get to play
How no cultural artefact, including Encanto, can speak for an entire community, and why that is OK
How Encanto is a step in the right direction as far as diverse representation goes
(Re)sources mentioned on the show
We didn’...2022-02-251h 03Doing Diversity in WritingDDW S2 Ep05 – Indigenous Futurisms and Writing Indigenous Characters with Prof. Grace L. DillonIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—interview Professor Grace L. Dillon about Indigenous Futurisms and how (not) to write Indigenous characters.
Grace L. Dillon (Anishinaabe with family, friends, and relatives from Bay Mills Nation and Garden River Nation with Aunties and Uncles also from the Saulteaux Nation) is Professor in the Indigenous Nations Studies Department in the School of Gender, Race, and Nations and also Affiliated Professor at English and Women, Gender, and Sexualities Departments at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses...2022-02-171h 30Doing Diversity in WritingRDDW - S2 Ep04 - Show Don’t Tell Race and Ethnicity in WritingIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—compare two F/F romance novels to talk about how to “Show, don’t tell” race and ethnicity in your writing.
What we talked about
Caren J. Werlinger’s She Sings of Old, Unhappy, Far-off Things
J.J. Arias’s The Single Matchmaker
How these two authors use different ways, including names, food, comparisons, terms of endearment, and many more, to “Show, don’t tell” their characters’ races and ethnicities
(Re)sources mentioned on the show
Caren J. Werlinger’s She Sings...2022-02-031h 14Doing Diversity in WritingDDW - S2 Ep03 -Interview with Antoine Bandele, author of TJ Young & the Orishas, Tales of Esowon, and The Sky Pirate ChroniclesIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—interview Antoine Bandele.
Antoine Bandele is an Amazon bestselling author in action adventure fantasy, dark fantasy, sword & sorcery, African American fantasy, and African literature. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, though he spent one year in Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Washington while his father served in the U.S. Army.
He lives in Los Angeles with his girlfriend and cat. You can find him producing videos all over YouTube, including his own channel (which you should totally check out...2022-01-271h 08Doing Diversity in WritingSeason 2 Episode 2 - Writing Race and Ethnicity in Fantasy & Sci-fiIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—discuss the writing of race and ethnicity in fantasy and sci-fi stories.
What we talked about
How race and ethnicity is done in fiction and TV series that are not grounded in real-life human history
What gets lost and is added in translation when novels are turned into films or TV series
How to not let yourself be limited by the world we know when building a world of your own
That it’s never to late to start adding more diverse...2022-01-201h 35Doing Diversity in WritingSeason 2 Episode 1 -Writing Skin ColorIn this first episode of Season 2 of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—discuss how to write skin color.
Here’s what we talk about:
Why we should avoid comparing anyone’s skin tone to food, even if people from a certain community do that among themselves
Why we should be careful when using the term ‘colored’ to describe black characters and characters of colour
What descriptions we CAN use and how to get creative
How important it is to actually look at what you’re describing
That skin colour isn’t the only way how t...2022-01-131h 21Doing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 Episode 12 - Writing Holy Days and End of Season Q&AIn this final episode of the first season of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—discuss holy days and answer some listener questions.
More specifically, we talk about:
the fact that there are many more holy days than Christmas and it serves us as writers of diverse characters to be aware of that
that stories around our holy days create worlds and images that serve some while excluding others
the American Thanksgiving and Dutch Sinterklaas traditions
the need to both revise and correct harmful origin stories AND create better represents for the pre...2021-12-161h 28Doing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 Episode 11 - Not All Descriptions Are Created EqualIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—conclude our conversation about marking the unmarked by discussing description.
In this third episode on the topic, we discuss:
marking and unmarking in terms of description
the Twilight series and the problematic use of dark and light
why we, as writers, have to consistently ask ourselves what the outcome is of the descriptive choices we make
Some quotes from this week’s episode:
“Describing things as good or bad, welcoming or frightening, is done differently d...2021-12-0953 minDoing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 Episode 10 - Racial and Gendered LanguageIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—continue our conversation about marking the unmarked.
In this second episode on marking the unmarked, we discuss:
the importance of being conscious about the language you use AND how you use it
that language is forever changing and we need to keep up with it
how the gendered (and racial, etc.) use of language demonstrates the inequality of language
how conscious use of gendered (and racial, etc.) language can elevate your characters and story world
Some quotes from this wee...2021-12-0259 minDoing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 Episode 9 - Deborah Tannen, linguistics, and Peter ParkerIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about marking the unmarked. It’s the first episode of three on the topic.
In this first episode on marking the unmarked, we discuss:
what we mean by “marked” and “unmarked”
how conscious marking and unmarking in our stories make us better writers
the “Everyman” archetype in literature
how the “unmarked” in Western society is slowly losing that privilege and how uncomfortable that is for them
Some quotes from this week’s episode:
“As writers, we mark all the t...2021-11-2547 minDoing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 Episode 8 - Diversity Within DiversityIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about diversity within diversity and what writers can learn from the concept of intersectionality.
More specifically, we talk about:
how Kimberlé Crenshaw came to coin the term ‘intersectionality’
Black Lives Matter as an example of an organization that does diversity within diversity right
intersectionality as a lens that helps you see how each individual character is made up of different identity markers and how these identity markers intersect within that individual character
how a character’s set of identity markers might mean di...2021-11-181h 00Doing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 Episode 7 - Tokenism in LiteratureIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about the third common pitfall when representing diverse characters: tokenism.
More specifically, we talk about:
what tokenism is and why it is problematic
why characters such as JK Rowling’s Cho Chang are the perfect example of tokenism
the custom of turning diverse characters into token sidekicks or “bit-players”
how Cassandra Clare avoids tokenism in her Shadowhunter series
strategies to prevent tokenism in your fiction writing
Some quotes from this week’s episode:
“Tokenism is inclus...2021-11-1134 minDoing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 Episode 6 - Essentialism and Affirmative Myopia in LiteratureIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about two very common pitfalls when representing diverse characters: essentialism and affirmative myopia.
More specifically, we talk about:
what essentialism is and what makes it problematic
the fact that a lot of stereotypes that persist today are based on pseudo-scientific practices we don’t consider science anymore
what affirmative myopia is and why we need to avoid it
how the movies Stonewall (2015) and Carol (2015) both fell into the affirmative myopia trap
why bringing down the dominant group upholds the structures we are t...2021-11-0454 minDoing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 Episode 5 - How Does Representation Work for Writers?In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about how representation actually works.
We talk about:
at representation is about who we make visible and who are rendered invisible because of those decisions
why minority voices are automatically amplified when they are represented
that representation is not just about who is present within works of fiction but also about HOW they are present
why shoehorning diverse characters into your work isn’t the answer
Netflix’s Bridgerton showing us how we can reinvent the world without erasing painful histories
w...2021-10-281h 04Doing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 Episode 4 - The Fear of Cultural AppropriationIn this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—talk about the fear of cultural appropriation.
More specifically, we talk about:
How we define cultural appropriation
The difference between cultural appropriation and cultural exchange
Assassin’s Creed III vs. Disney’s Pocahontas, and why Assassin’s Creed III does it better than Pocahontas did
The “So sorry about colonialism” narrative
Marvel’s Black Panther, and why the museum scene made Mariëlle say “Fuck yes!” aloud in the theater
Some quotes from this week’s episode:
“These days, cultural appropriation is understood...2021-10-2147 minDoing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 Episode 3 - Common Fears and FrustrationsShow notes episode 3 – Common fears and frustrations
In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—discuss some of the fears and frustrations that might come up when writing diverse characters.
More specifically, we talk about the following fears:
Representing someone in the wrong way…
…and why that shouldn’t keep us from trying
Taking someone else’s voice away by trying to speak for them…
…and where we stand in the Own Voices vs. Allies debate
Misrepresenting your own community…
and why this calls for a multiplicity of voices from each and every co...2021-10-1458 minDoing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 - Episode 2 – Diversity and Representation in FictionEpisode 2 – Diversity and representation in fiction
In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—explain why a conversation about diversity and representation in fiction is necessary.
We also talk about:
the fact some characters are overrepresented while others are severely underrepresented in fiction
positive, and less positive, examples from our childhood and adult reading
Mariëlle’s #ownvoices project My Voice, My Story
some of the reasons our literary canon is the way it is, even though things are slowly changing
how representing diverse characters is not just about quantity, it’...2021-10-071h 34Doing Diversity in WritingSeason 1 Episode 1 - IntroductionIn this first episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany A. Tucker and Mariëlle S. Smith—talk about why we started this podcast, what our goals are for the show, and what topics we will be discussing in our first season and beyond.
We also talk about:
who this podcast is for—fiction writers wanting to write characters who aren’t like them in one or multiple ways
our personal experiences with diversity and how these influenced both our writing and editing
why we need to have a conversation about writing diversi...2021-09-2945 min