#WriteInclusively

Hint hint, this picture fits *perfectly* as a Twitter banner/cover photo!

I am very, very proud to start the #WriteInclusively campaign. Created after a period of hopelessness and grayness following the Michael Brown and Eric Garner decisions, this campaign is all about promising actual action to the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign. This campaign will push the publishing industry and the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign to investigate - and fix - its own institutional racism, homophobia, cissexism, classism, ableism, and other exclusive systems. #WriteInclusively will focus on institutional racism, and - as the campaign gets larger - is growing to include other exclusive systems as well.

Writing Inclusively is going to be a major focus on my blog. I'm very happy to host guest bloggers that are willing to speak about various aspects of diverse writing and diverse life. If you want to guest blog, please email me at SC_Author (at) yahoo (dot) com!

Guest Bloggers

Debra McKellan
Bronwyn Deaver - "Why I Write Inclusively as a White Woman"
Heather Murphy Capps - "Committed to Diversity"
Tiffany Rose - "The Case of the Missing Ace"
"Dear Publishing Industry: Fix Your Own Racism Before You Beg for Diverse Books"
Writing About Disability: An Insider’s Confession
The Need for Real, Honest Diverse Books: A South Asian Perspective
Hidden Voices: How Being a Teen in the At-Risk School System Almost Silenced Me
B R Sanders: "My Stories Will Be Intersectional Or They Won’t Be Worth Writing"
Katherine Memmel: "We Write Diversely. We Fail. We Write Again."

Posts from Me

The Humanizing Power of Writing
Walter Scott, Eric Garner, Michael Brown - We are Looking at Volcanoes
The Rihanna Solution: Navigating Cultural Appropriation & Avoiding Tokenization in Writing
The Taylor Swift Dilemma - Centering Whiteness in Conversations About Race
There is No "Evil Racist" in Publishing - It is the System

I'm asking whoever wishes, marginalized and non-marginalized, to join me in this campaign.

The Guidelines to "Write Inclusively":

1) actively write, edit, and revise to challenge stereotypes that may be present in my writing

2) actively work against the normalization of a single identity

3) actively work towards the normalization of diversity
4) evaluate and see the unique issues that face marginalized peoples and, if these issues would come up in my plot, I will not erase or ignore these issues
5) tackle and fight against institutional barriers present in the world and within Publishing as an industry

Also:

• Write Inclusively doesn't want you to write non-white books. We Need Diverse Books is there for that. Write who you want! Write Inclusively DOES help people writing outside their identities to write more responsibly. Write Inclusively, although not ally-centered, can really help allies. 
• But, Write Inclusively depends on allies, because most authors in our community are white (which is NOT something to feel guilty about - it is something to act on).
• Write Inclusively trusts our white allies enough to not silence itself for white comfort--racial discussions are fundamentally uncomfortable.
• And above all, Write Inclusively will not close itself to the outside world's problems; our potential authors of color and authors with other marginalized identities are in that world.

Read this for more information.

First step: Sign Lee and Low's petition asking publishers to participate in a diversity survey!

Second step: Read this post and understand and internalize what the point of #HireAgentsOfColor is.

If you want to join the campaign, please subscribe below. I'll be sending out a newsletter (I do not email often - I'm super super concerned with making sure I never over-email you) which will cover issues pertaining to Write Inclusively, such as related campaigns (#HireAgentsOfColor), important articles, etc. The newsletter will also have information about writing contests and other publishing fun stuff that might be exclusively available only through the newsletter!

What this campaign has done so far:

The campaign is new, young! The biggest thing we've done so far:

We created the hashtag #BigFiveSignOn spurring the Big Five publishers to sign onto Lee and Low's diversity survey. Penguin Random House, Hachette, and Scholastic signed on after the hashtag trended #1 in the writing community. (Whether they signed on because of our voices or not can't be known for sure.)


The newsletter will be the central organizing tool for the #WriteInclusively campaign. If you want to join in this movement, please subscribe.

Subscribe!

Email Address

First Name

Last Name

If you want to publicly display your commitment to the pact for Writing Inclusively (see more below!), the gray circle will be the symbol of the pact. I've been searching for universal and simple signs for inclusion and diversity; the circle seems to pop up very often.

Once can easily, with some picture manipulating tools, overlay it on top of their Twitter/Facebook icons. If you need help, please contact me! I'd be very willing to do it for you.

Write Inclusively has an anonymous ask.fm. Please please use it as a free and open space to voice your critiques, opinions, and hopes for this campaign. I will be taking it very seriously.

Please send your emails to writeinclusively (at) gmail (dot) com.