Let Talk About Black Women (make Your Follow @AveryFrancis On Instagram)

Writing x Characters When You Aren’t x, A Masterlist

x: a variable used to represent something unknown.

We’ve seen an influx of questions about how to write stories based around characters of color, disability, non-binary, etc. when the author does not fall into these categories. Rather than have these posts take over the site, we’ve decided to compile a list of resources to help our fellow writers become more educated about writing what they do not immediately know. However, this list is not the end-all-be-all of knowledge; one should always try to learn from someone with first hand experience in any topic. The world is constantly growing and changing, and because of that, there will always be more to learn. The admins at Plotline Hotline want to help writers form respectful, informed, and realistic characters that broaden the narrow range we see in literature today. 

*Be wary that some of the topics listed below contain sensitive material. Reader discretion is advised.* 

As always, the links I found to be especially apt will be in bold. Topics are listed alphabetically, excepting the “other” section.

Culture

Appropriate Cultural Appropriation

What is Cultural Appropriation? [1,2,3]

Cultural Appropriation Is, In Fact, Indefensible

Voice Appropriation & Writing About Other Cultures

Diversity, Appropriation, and Writing the Other [List]

Disability

Writing Disibilities [1,2,3,4,5]

Guides to Writing Deaf or Hard of Hearding People

National Association of the Deaf - Resources [List]

World Federation of the Deaf

Using a Prosthetic Device

Prostehtic Limbs (Character Guide)

How NOT to Write Disabled Characters

A Guide to Disibility Rights Law (United States)

Timeline of Disibility Rights in the United States

Social Security Disability: List of Impairments, Medical Conditions, and Problems [List] (United States)

How to Write Disabled Characters: An Opinion Piece

Artificial Eye Resources [List][Various]

Adapting to the Loss of an Eye

Misconceptions and Myths About Blindness

Blind Characters: A Process of Awareness

Writing Blind Characters [List]

Types of Learning Disabilities [List]

Diversity

A Guide to Spotting and Growing Past Stereotypes

How to Prepare to Write a Diverse Book

The Diversity of Writing

Why Diversity Matters for Everyone

Writing a Driverse Book [1,2,3,4,5]

Diversity, Political Correctness and The Power of Language

Diversity Book List [List][Books]

Basic Tips To Write Subcultures & Minority Religions Better 

Basic Tips to Avoid Tokenism

Gender

GLAAD Media Reference Guide - Transgender

Creating Well-Written Trans Characters

A Few Things Writers Need To Know About Sexuality & Gender Expression

Trans (Character Guide & Bio Building)

A Non-Binary Person’s Guide to Invented Pronouns

Gender Neutral Writing [List]

Keeping a Trans* Person a Person  

Suggestions for Reducing Gendered Terms in Language [Photo]

How to Review a Trans Book as a Cis Person

Writing Characters of Different Genders [List]

Understanding Gender

Gender Spectrum Resources [List]

Gender History

Illness 

Writing Chronic Illness [1,2]

The Spoon Theory - Also pertains to disibility

About HIV/AIDS

Sexually Transmitted Diseases [List]

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Sex and Gender Differences in Health [Study]

All Chronic Illness Topics [List]

Coping with Chronic Illness

All Cancer Types

A Day in the Life of a Home Health Aide/Health Coach

Fiction Books With Chronically Ill Main Characters- Not Cancer [List][Books]

Neurotype (Including Mental Health)

Writing an Autistic Character When You Don’t Have Autism

Depression Resources [List]

What to Consider When Writing Mental Illness

Stanford Psychiatric Patient Care

Inpatient Psychiatric Questions and Tips

Don’t Call Me Crazy [Documentary]

(Avoid) Romanticizing Mental Illness [1,2]

A Day in the Life of a Mental Hospital Patient

State-run vs. Private Mental Hospitals

Mental Disorders

Mental Hospital Non-Fiction [List][Books]

National Institute of Mental Health - Mental Health Information [List]

Writing Autistic

What Causes PTSD?

Remember, Remember: The Basics of Writing Amnesia

ADHD Basic Information

What is a Learning Disability?

What is Neurotypical?

Race

Writing Race: A Checklist for Authors

Transracial Writing for the Sincere

Is my character “black enough”

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Challenge, Counter, Controvert: Subverting Expectations

Writing With Color: Blogs - Recs - Resources [List]

Writing People of Color (If you happen to be a person of another color)

7 Offensive Mistakes Well-Intentioned Writers Make

Description Guide - Words for Skin Tone

Religion

Religion in Novels: Terrific or Taboo?

How to Write a Fantasy Novel that Sells: The Religion

Writing About Faith And Religion

From Aladdin to Homeland: How Hollywood Can Reinforce Racial and Religious Stereotypes 

Sexuality

Understanding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity [List]

Writing Gay Characters [1,2,3]

American Civil Liberties Union - LGBT+ Rights

LGBT+ Rights by Country or Territory

History of Gay Rights

Gay Rights Movement

LGBT+ Culture

Gay Myths and Stereotypes

LGBT+ Studies Web Sites [List]

LGBTQ Youth Issues

LGBTData.com

Overview of Gay and Lesbian Parenting, Adoption and Foster Care (United States)

Other

How Doctors’ Offices—and Queer Culture—Are Failing Autistic LGBTQ People

Five Traps and Tips for Character Development

Developing Realistic Characters

I hope that this list will provide topics a writer may not initially think to research when writing. If there are any resources that you think would be fitting for this list, please let us know! We want to have as many helpful sources as possible to maximize learning opportunities. 

Stay educated,

xx Sarah

let me be tired

Icons: Kageyama and Hinata

like/reblog to save

ancient greek word of the day: ἐρωτοπλοέω, “to sail on love’s ocean”  

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know my all-time favorite book is Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient. Anyone who truly loves this book (or the equally great—albeit different—film) has, at a minimum, become intrigued with one of the settings: the pre-WW2 Libyan Desert. I’m going to start a series of posts that will provide some background information to The English Patient (TEP). This is the first. Also, I should mention that while TEP is a work of fiction, it borrows (steals?) greatly from events and individuals who really existed. The explorers and cartographers of TEP traveled to the Libyan Desert in the early- and late-1930s in search of the “lost oasis” of Zerzura, a mythical city that curiously is said to have existed in one of the harshest stretches of the Libyan Desert. The discovery of an oasis here, in one of the last unexplored regions on earth, was a call to adventure with the promise of historical immortality for any fraternity of explorers who might find it, as with it they would breathe life and certainty into a people and culture that was rumored to have existed for centuries. More to come.  Pictured: 1861 edition of Herodotus’ Histories; March 1933 and April 1939 editions of The Geographical Journal, published by the Royal Geographical Society, London.

Idk how you could stan Dorian, he gives 0 fucks about anyone unless it directly benefits him 🤮

helllooo psa here

so to any of my dyslexic followers, i learned something new today that was actually really helpful that i didn’t know before so i’d thought i’d share it to help out anyone who needs it.

personally, reading white text on a black page is best for me but it may be different for others!!

love you all <3

Earth’s Land Ice by the Numbers

“At a glacial pace” used to mean moving so slowly the movement is almost imperceptible. Lately though, glaciers are moving faster. Ice on land is melting and flowing, sending water to the oceans, where it raises sea levels.

In 2018, we launched the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) to continue a global record of ice elevation. Now, the results are in. Using millions of measurements from a laser in space and quite a bit of math, researchers have confirmed that Earth is rapidly losing ice.

16 Years 

ICESat-2 was a follow-up mission to the original ICESat, which launched in 2003 and took measurements until 2009. Comparing the two records tells us how much ice sheets have melted over 16 years.

½ Inch

During those 16 years, melting ice from Antarctica and Greenland was responsible for just over a half-inch of sea level rise. When ice on land melts, it eventually finds its way to the ocean. The rapid melt at the poles is no exception.

400,000 Olympic Swimming Pools

One gigaton of ice holds enough water to fill 400,000 Olympic swimming pools. It’s also enough ice to cover Central Park in New York in more than 1,000 feet of ice.

200 Gigatons

Between 2003 and 2019, Greenland lost 200 gigatons of ice per year. That’s 80 million Olympic swimming pools reaching the ocean every year, just from Greenland alone.

118 Gigatons

During the same time period, Antarctica lost 118 gigatons of ice per year. That’s another 47 million Olympic swimming pools every year. While there has been some elevation gain in the continent’s center from increased snowfall, it’s nowhere near enough to make up for how much ice is lost to the sea from coastal glaciers.

10,000 Pulses

ICESat-2 sends out 10,000 pulses of laser light a second down to Earth’s surface and times how long it takes them to return to the satellite, down to a billionth of a second. That’s how we get such precise measurements of height and changing elevation.

These numbers confirm what scientists have been finding in most previous studies and continue a long record of data showing how Earth’s polar ice is melting. ICESat-2 is a key tool in our toolbox to track how our planet is changing.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

a compulsive obsession with cleanliness is beaten into us from birth, don’t curse, don’t scream, that’s dirty, don’t wear that, don’t touch that, that’s dirty, have sex, don’t have sex, that’s dirty, you made a mess, clean it up, your brother made a mess, your father made a mess, clean it up, pills instead of a gun, blood’s dirty, don’t play in a dress, you’ll get it dirty, open the windows and boil water with cinnamon and vanilla when da smokes, it’s dirty, older brother not learning he smokes til five years later, he can’t know, that’s dirty, don’t want things, don’t need things, desire can’t be pure, not yours, are you a virgin? have someone else’s hands taken that cleanliness? would that be so bad? of course it would, doesn’t he know there’s no cleanliness left in me to take? he doesn’t care, he’ll take my filth if it’s all i have, as long as he’s taking, as long as it’s all i have left, don’t love her, don’t touch her, that’s dirty, ive cleaned this kitchen ten times, it’s still dirty, da spilled his drink clean it up, he can’t know how bad he’s getting, this house must be clean, clean of him, clean of sin, clean of evidence at least, i’m not clean anymore but i try to be, i have to try, i can’t be dirty, and now it’s not about staying clean but only appearing to be, plato said there’s a class of woman who are receptacles for filth, a sewage system of women at the bottom, and i’m part of that, it feels like it, and now i’m a hopeless cause, i’m tainted, i’m dirty, and i can’t let it spread, what’s around me must stay clean, i can’t infect the world around me, i have to hold the filth inside and keep the world safe, but every woman is this way so what world is there to care for, because no one cares, no one sees, but they don’t want it dirty either, do they.

White America: “We need to keep our (machine) guns so we can enforce our own rights in the event our government turns on us.”

White America, when people are actually trying to protect their rights: ”Violence is not the answer”