A practical guide to help authors authentically write and edit a character whose identity is different than their own.
Do you have the tools to authentically write and edit a character whose identity is different than your own? It's not a subject that's generally taught in creative writing programs, and there are so few craft books and online resources on the subject. Even if you can take a seminar, class, or workshop, there's nothing like having an easy-to-understand book on hand to provide guidance and insight every time you craft characters with historically"This thoughtful guide brings clarity to a fraught topic." - Publishers Weekly
"Alex Temblador provides a concrete and detailed guide to the issues of misrepresentation, appropriation and stereotypes in creative writing. She asks difficult questions of writers who would wish to create characters with identities different from their own and she demonstrates not just how challenging this task can be but what is required to even approach this task with intelligence, sensitivity, knowledge and self-interrogation. In the end Temblador interrogates not just issues of craft but the biases we all carry that we may be unaware of. An essential text." -- David Mura, A Stranger's Journey: Race, Identity & Narrative Craft in Writing "Alex Temblador breaks new ground in Writing an Identity Not Your Own, guiding writers to craft characters from historically marginalized backgrounds with sensitivity and depth--a seminal guide to responsible and enriching creative writing that is both timely and timeless. Every writer who aspires to write great fiction should have this book on their shelf. It's an instant classic in the new canon of essential craft books." -Blake Kimzey, Founder & Executive Director of WritingWorkshops.com