Diversity Dialogue: How to Pen Diverse Narratives That Work

The Diversity Dialogue is a monthly feature on the SCBWI-MI Chapter Blog. Learn more and meet the committee members HERE. Read the previous posts HERE.

Artwork by Rebecca Howe

We welcome Rachel Werner, our guest blogger, to this month’s Diversity Dialogue blog post. 

How to Pen Diverse Narratives That Work

By Rachel Werner

‘Diverse’ and ‘Authentic’ are mutually exclusive. To create narratives which will resonate with the intended audience, a firm grasp of this premise is crucial. Many authors, playwrights and filmmakers, although making an increased effort to more be inclusive, are actually having an inverse affect—by widening the disparities a lack of #OwnVoices representation in the arts has produced. Novice and seasoned writers alike can struggle to accurately construct a lens into the societal nuances, subtle hierarchies and enduring traditions within a marginalized community.

Whether writing from lived experience or attempting to generate a genuine depiction of another culture, use these objectives to ensure diversity comes through as substance rather a than a soapbox.

• Stay in your wheelhouse—and make it a mansion. If the evolution of your protagonist is starting to stagnate, take a step back and reassess the setting. Fallacy could be seeping in from the foundations, if say, you set the story in a city or country you’ve never been to (and have done less than a week’s worth of research on). Characters can’t properly evolve in spaces they don’t organically exist in. Thus, take time to reflect if you are adequately informed about a historical era and/or geographical locations the streams of consciousnesses you are creating are unfolding within. (Even sci fi or fantasy realms should incorporate some variances across regions.)

• Describe the small pieces of a BIG connection. Story structure is about how people are; Not about how stories are. Remember: Your readers are experiencing the tale through the main POV you’re crafting. Editor and Popsugar book reviewer Andrea J. Johnson cautions writers to avoid subconsciously weaving racial bias into the text. “Sure, you can include a LGBTQIA or Latinx best friend. But when you do so, give those characters their own goals, conflicts, and desires. Don’t saddle them with motivations hitched exclusively to the main (or a Caucasian) character’s whims,” she advises. And “precisely determining a person’s ethnicity upon sight is not only laughable, it’s unrealistic. Omniscient viewpoints aside, don’t make gross assumptions until the characters do or say something to verify it.”

• Find stories. . . but also let stories find you. In other words, take the truth that shows up. Part of the craft of storytelling is the writer giving themselves permission to notice what you notice. . .  then noticing more. The writing should also prompt the reader to do so as well. You can cultivate this skill further via creative writing prompts such as generating a one-page description of how your character moves through the day. A neighborhood? A social group? Then ask yourself: Does the scene “fit?” And how will his/her/their perception of this environment (plus other characters) change as the plot progresses? These sorts of sensory cues can be used to portray growth—or limitations.

• Need mentor texts suggestions for additional guidance? What I most appreciate about the following books are the complexity of their characters. Yes, several of the authors are blatantly addressing contemporary themes and issues, but their fictional casts transcend stereotypes—with a handful also having to confront a few of their own before the conclusion of these tales:

Picture Books:

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña; illustrated by Christian Robinson

A Different Pond by Bao Phi; illustrated by Thi Bui

Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love

Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel; illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

Middle Grade: 

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Young Adult:

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

The Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon









Penning diverse narratives is certainly challenging, but it does not have to be solitary or isolating work. Find a critique group, writing course and/or book club focused on exploring such themes in a specific genre. And we all have much to gain from a more inclusive publishing industry—endless opportunities to discover fragments of others (and ourselves) we never knew existed.

Rachel Werner is the Content Marketing Specialist at Taliesin Preservation; guest faculty at The Highlights Foundation; Hugo House, a We Need Diverse Books program volunteer, and former digital editor at BRAVA (a Wisconsin-based publication
created by women for women). In 2019, she also presented at the UW-Madison Writers Institute, Write to Publish at Portland State University; and The Loft Literary Center's Wordsmith conference in Minneapolis on digital marketing and social media strategy for writers. Follow her adventures around the country on Instagram
@therealscript.