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Last December, my friend Ethan Freckleton, host of The Fearless Storyteller Podcast, sent me a link to the Fierce Womxn Writing podcast, saying ‘I’ve listened to a couple episodes now, and it strikes me as the kind a podcast that you’d be a good guest for’.

Ethan and I had discussed my dream to be on more podcasts to talk about my coaching work, my tarot books, and my attempt to put my coaching into a book (the result of which is the 52 Weeks of Writing Author Journal and Planner), so his suggestion was more than welcome.

What I found, however, was not just a platform I wanted to be on (although I’d love to at some point). I really admired the format, the questions the host asked her guests, and the wide diversity of writers she invited. It resonated so much and on so many levels. I became an instant fan, and I still am.

And I’m ridiculously excited Sara accepted my invitation so I can properly introduce you to the show now.

Sara Gallagher (she/her) is a writing guide who delights in helping adults find their voice and access their creativity. She coaches, teaches workshops, and hosts a weekly podcast called Fierce Womxn Writing where her mission is to inspire you to write more.Read More →

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Diversity is a hot topic within the literary world. As a teacher of Gender and Post-Colonial Studies, the question of diversity and its representation within literature is at the forefront of everything I teach, read, and write. Even though the larger part of the canon is still made up of white heterosexual men who write about other white heterosexual men, things are gradually shifting. Self-publishing is doing a lot to alter the gender dynamic: more women are successfully self-published than men, and I have high hopes for self-publishing to open the way for non-white and non-heterosexual writers as well. Next to that, more writers are becoming increasingly aware of the necessity to include a more diverse array of characters in their work.

This last issue is the focus of my new blog series on Writing Diversity.

Each month, I will address the complexity behind the portrayal of diverse characters in our work by diving deeply into a variety of topics, including representation, tokenism, gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and so on. This month, I discuss the subject of ‘essentialism’, from what essentialism is to why it is problematic to attribute our characters with essentialist traits.

What is essentialism?

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Diversity is a hot topic within the literary world. As a teacher of Gender and Post-Colonial Studies, the question of diversity and its representation within literature is at the forefront of everything I teach, read, and write. Even though the larger part of the canon is still made up of white heterosexual men who write about other white heterosexual men, things are gradually shifting. Self-publishing is doing a lot to alter the gender dynamic: more women are successfully self-published than men, and I have high hopes for self-publishing to open the way for non-white and non-heterosexual writers as well. Next to that, more writers are becoming increasingly aware of the necessity to include a more diverse array of characters in their work.

This last issue is the focus of my new blog series on Writing Diversity.

Each month, I will address the complexity behind the portraying of diverse characters in our work by diving deeply into a variety of topics, including essentialism, tokenism, gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and so on. In this first post, I will go a little deeper into the question of representation, the two steps representation is made up of, and the reason why it is important to consider both these steps when we bring diverse characters into our work.Read More →