Nisi and I continue to give online classes through WritingTheOther.com and on top of that we’re expanding to new platforms in order to reach more writers. This year we’re starting with LitReactor and a class on Description, Dialect, and Dialogue. It costs $199 ($179 if you’re already a member of the LitReactor community) and starts February 23rd.

During our WtO classes, students always ask us how to describe skin tone without using food metaphors or facial features without falling back on problematic cliches. When we do exercises around this and other aspects of description, we find that many writers unwittingly use words that reveal unconscious bias. We also see them struggle to depict dialect or regional dialogue without flattening characters into caricatures.

We cover all of this in our regular classes, but since this is such a big anxiety point for many writers, we decided that our first LitReactor craft class would focus on these specific aspects of writing the Other. It’s only 2 weeks, it’s structured so that you can read the lectures and do the hands-on exercises at your own pace. Plus, students will leave class with resources to hone their skills further.

Register at LitReactor or pass this on to any writers you think may be interested.