Writing Diversely: Intersectional Characters | Interview with Sonora Reyes

Writing Diversely: Intersectional Characters | Interview with Sonora Reyes

Writing Diversely Interview

This month’s Writing Diversely interview is with Author Sonora Reyes and we’re discussing intersectional characters (mental illness, neurodivergence, physical disability, LGBTQ+, and Mexican Indigenous identity). Born and raised in Arizona, Sonora Reyes is the author of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School and the forthcoming contemporary young adult novel The Luis Ortega Survival Club. They write fiction full of queer and Latinx characters in a variety of genres, with current projects in both kidlit and adult categories. Sonora is also the creator and host of the Twitter chat #QPOCChat, a monthly community-building chat for queer writers of color.

You May Also Like… 

Writing Diversely Interview with Ryan Douglass

Writing Diversely Interview with Ryan Douglass

This month for the Writing Diversely series, we are chatting with author Ryan Douglass about writing intersectional characters. Ryan Douglass is the New York Times bestselling author of The Taking of Jake Livingston and the poetry book, Boy in Jeopardy.

read more

Writing Neurodivergent Characters: Mariela Diaz

Writing Neurodivergent Characters: Mariela Diaz

Writing Diversely Interview

In this month’s Writing Diversely interview, I’m chatting with the founder of Awekids, Mariela Diaz, about Autism & ADHD. Mariela is an Autistic/ADHD designer, illustrator and founder of Awekids, an inclusive e-commerce business that aspires to unite all children, of all abilities and differences, to go on magical adventures and educational journeys, to learn through play about inclusivity, representation and acceptance.

She is a Mama of four neurodiverse lil’ beans ranging from teens to a preschooler. In her spare time she enjoys being involved in her community and helping to advocate for children’s rights, inclusion and diversity. Mariela creates free educational resources for children, educators and parents that are available on her website.

Watch the full interview below!

 

You May Also Like… 

Writing Diversely Interview with Ryan Douglass

Writing Diversely Interview with Ryan Douglass

This month for the Writing Diversely series, we are chatting with author Ryan Douglass about writing intersectional characters. Ryan Douglass is the New York Times bestselling author of The Taking of Jake Livingston and the poetry book, Boy in Jeopardy.

read more

Best Resource for Writers: Ninja Writers

Best Resource for Writers: Ninja Writers

Best Resource for Writers: Ninja Writers

*This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you sign up for the membership listed below.*

Ninja Writers

In today’s blog post, I’m talking about one of my favorite writer resources: Ninja Writers. Ninja Writers is a community for writers (created by Shaunta Grimes) where you can connect with other writers, take different courses to help you with your writing career, and get feedback from others on your work in progress. Let me tell you, the feedback I’ve gotten on my story has been so valuable to me. I’d recommend and sign up for Ninja Writers if only just for that. But you get so much more with this community.

You can take different writing classes such as the show vs. tell workshop, how to self-edit your novel, how to structure your novel using the save the cat beats, and more. Not only can you take classes to help you with your writing craft, there are also classes that focus on the business side of being an author, such as how to brand yourself, how to build an income stream, how to market your stuff, how to use IG for writers and so much more.

If you are in the Ninja Writers Academy, which is their top tier (I’ll go into all the different levels you can join in a minute), but if you’re in the Academy, then you’ll also receive one-on-one calls with Shaunta herself. Also, the workshops and groups in the Academy are much smaller so you’re able to get more time and feedback on your work.

Ninja Writers Club

Ninja Writers Club

Now Ninja Writers is a membership subscription community and there are 3 levels of membership. The first level is called Ninja Writers Club. This level costs $25 a month, but you can try two weeks for free.

Now at the Club level, you’ll have some weekly classes and workshops, but you get access to much more classes & workshops as you go up the tiers. When I first joined the Ninja Writers Club, I began attending the fiction co-working call on Tuesdays and that’s where you can share a little of your story. You read it out loud to the group, and you get feedback from everyone in the group. The feedback helps so much. I love that group, and it’s fun getting to hear other people’s stories.

Ninja Writers Guild

Ninja Writers Guild

The next level then is the Ninja Writers Guild, which is the tier I’m currently in. The Guild usually costs $75 a month. In the Ninja Writers Guild, you’re going to get access to more classes and workshops than you would in the club. Some of those classes I mentioned earlier like the how to use IG for writers, marketing, how to structure your novel with save the cat beats, those are available for Guild members. So if you’re in the guild you’re going to get a lot more classes and workshops. All the classes (whether you’re in the Ninja Writers Club, Guild, or Academy) are live zoom calls, so you can ask questions & get feedback. If there’s a class you aren’t able to make it to live, they record the class so you can watch the recording later.

Ninja Writers Academy

Ninja Writers Academy

The last level is the Ninja Writers Academy. Now this is the most expensive tier, but from what I’ve heard from others in the community that are in this tier is that it’s well worth it. I don’t remember the exact price of the academy, but it is over $100 a month, unless you can get it when it’s at a discounted price. Now the Ninja Writers Academy has limited spots available to join, they only allow 100 people in at a time. Right now, the Academy is closed and you can’t join it, but you can email them to get on the waiting list if you’re really interested in joining.

The Ninja Writers Academy is also a year long commitment so if you don’t have the time to invest in it, I would just stick with the Club or Guild. With the Academy you’ll get quarterly one-on-one calls with Shaunta, small workshop groups, and more classes than in the Ninja Writers Guild or Club (plus of course all the classes that are offered in the Guild or Club).

You’ll also get access to a private slack group when you join. There’s a slack group for each level (Club, Guild, & Academy), where you can communicate with other writers and the teachers/mentors in the community. Ninja Writers is a highly valuable resource that I definitely recommend, and I will leave links to their free trial so you can check it out and see if it’s something you want to try. Leave me a comment below and let me know what are some of your favorite writerly resources.

Until next time,

Keep reading & writing!

Book Updates & New Online Course for Writers

Book Updates & New Online Course for Writers

Book Updates & New Online Course for Writers

The start of the second quarter has been a busy, busy time for me as I work to complete a few new projects that I’m excited about sharing with you today.

The Azaïs Witches

So first, let’s talk about my novel: The Azaïs Witches. I got stuck for a while when I was trying to do revisions, so I took a break from my novel for a little while.

Usually doing this will help me see things more clearly and I’m able to get unstuck once I get back to it. So for now, I’m taking a break and working on some other stuff.

One thing I’m working on is a short story that takes place in The Azaïs Witches’ world, but from the point of view of one of my side characters, Sam.

This story takes place two years before the novel, but is still connected to the events that happen in the novel or in better terms, it leads up to those events.

I’m hoping to have this short story finished and hopefully published by end of the summer (early September), fingers crossed.

How to Write Disabled Characters

I also have another ebook I’m planning to publish this summer. This one is a non-fiction book for writers on How to Write Disabled Characters.

If you’ve watched my videos on my YouTube channel that I did a couple of months ago, you know I talked about the dos and don’ts of writing characters with a disability in those videos.

I’ve expanded on what I shared in those videos and created a short ebook for writers wanting to write disabled characters. My plans are to publish the ebook by late June, with pre-orders starting around June 7th, if all goes well.

So if you’re a writer looking for tips on how to write disabled characters, you’ll want to sign up for my monthly newsletters (form below), so you’ll get reminders for when the book releases.

How to write disabled characters

How to Write Diverse Characters

The last project I’ve been working on recently is an online course for writers on How to Write Diverse Characters. If you’re a writer and if you’ve been wanting to write diverse characters in your story, but you’re not sure how to do it or you’re afraid of getting something wrong, this course is for you.

In the course, we’ll go over the difference between writing diverse characters vs an own voices story, we’ll also go over the “token minority character” and how to avoid this, we’ll talk about what are diversity readers & where to find them, and more.

Currently, the first round of this course is being offered at the discounted price of $35. The registration deadline is June 30th. After that, enrollment will be closed until the fall, and the price of the course goes up. So if you want to get in from the beginning at a low price, sign up now! Go to the course registration page here.

Well, those are all the updates I have for you right now. If you want to continue to stay updated on everything I’m doing, sign up for my monthly newsletter below. You’ll get access to the member’s only section of my site where I have tons of resources for writers and short stories & sneak peeks for readers.

Until next time,

Happy reading & writing!

Writing During The Holidays

Writing During The Holidays

Writing During The Holidays

holiday writer image

It’s here! The holiday season is upon us. If you’re a writer, you’re probably thinking “how in the world am I going to have time to write and participate in all the holiday and family activities without ripping my hair out?”

Don’t worry because I’ve got you covered. In today’s post, I’m giving you my top six tips for writing during the holiday season with less stress.

Prioritize

My first tip is simply to prioritize. Figure out what is most important to you during this season. Is it baking cookies and watching holiday movies with your kids? Taking a break to relax and rest before the new year and tackling all the new year goals? Is it finishing your book in time for a new year’s release?

Decide which activities and traditions you’re going to make time for. Whatever is important to you during this season, you’ll want to write that down and prioritize it. It will help you stay focus during this busy season, especially when it comes time to creating your schedule, which is my next tip.

Plan Ahead

So now that you know what’s important to you and what activities you want to prioritize this season, it’s time to plan ahead and create a schedule.

First thing you’ll want to do when creating your schedule is write down any events or activities that are “non-negotiable.” Since you’ve already prioritized what’s important to you during this season, the non-negotiable things are easy to figure out.

Important note, if you wrote down “writing” on your list of priorities for this season, then treat it as a non-negotiable. Don’t keep moving around and rescheduling your writing time to fit in other activities, especially if they weren’t on your list of priorities to begin with. Also mark down any commitments you’ve already made for this season.

Next cross out any days you know you won’t be able to write. This was a tip I got from fellow writer and mentor, Sarra Cannon. For example, I know for me I’ll be too busy with family and church activities to write between December 23-27. So I’ve already marked off those days as non-writing days. By doing this, it gives you a better idea of how much time you have to write.

Calendar image

Once you know this, you can more easily schedule in your writing days/times. Block out the times you plan to write and put it in your calendar as an event. You’re much more likely to follow through with your writing if you make it into an event/appointment in your calendar, as you’ll be less likely to schedule something else during that time. 

Set Realistic Goals

My next tip for writing during the holidays is to set realistic goals. Raise your hand if you are overly ambitious with your goals and to-do lists. 🙋🏽‍♀️ I’m right there with you.

I want to do everything under the sun and then set goals and to-do lists that are a mile long and impossible to accomplish within the time frame I’ve set. I, like most people, underestimate the time it takes to do certain tasks, and overestimate my ability and energy level at any given point.

But to avoid burnout and have a less stressful holiday, we need to learn to set realistic goals. If you have lots of family events and activities scheduled for this season, then it may not be realistic to have a goal of writing 75,000 words of a new novel before the end of the year. Unless you’ve already got a good chunk of it written during NaNoWriMo.

This is why I started my first two tips with prioritizing and planning ahead. Now that you know what your priorities are and you’ve created a schedule for yourself, blocking out your writing times, you can determine what’s a realistic goal based on the time you have planned to write during this season.

Develop a Self-Care Routine

Holidays can be a stressful time of year, even when you’re not writing. Your schedule is filled with so many activities, you’ve got family to visit, people to shop for, decorations to put up, it’s a wonder any of us make it through it. That’s why it’s so important to develop a self-care routine.

Carve some time out of your day just for yourself. Time when you’re not running around, picking up ingredients for Christmas dinner or mailing out someone’s gift. Even if it’s just 20 or 30 minutes a day, set that time for you to relax and do something you enjoy. Curl up with that cozy mystery you’ve been wanting to read. Take a bubble bath. Watch a holiday movie. Whatever it is, just make sure you take time for you.

cozy reading image

Create a Reward System

If you sometimes struggle with writing like me, then consider creating a reward system for yourself. These can be based on milestones such as a word count, number of chapters or scenes written, or they can be time based, such as writing for 2 hours daily.

Once you meet your daily goal or milestone, reward yourself. This could be something small like your favorite treat or drink, or if you met a bigger milestone, it could be a bigger reward, such as a mani-pedi or something you’ve been saving up to buy.

Whatever it is, a reward system could be a wonderful motivator to stay on track with your goals during this busy season.

Give Yourself Grace

My last tip is to just give yourself some grace. We’re only human, and life doesn’t always go the way we want or expect it to. Sometimes, even with the best planning, things happen that cause us to fall off track and get behind.

Don’t beat yourself up if you have to push back a deadline or rearrange your timeline. Give yourself grace and know that things will work out as they should.

So those are my top six tips for writing during the holiday season without burning out or stressing out. If you have any other tips you’d like to share, please leave them in a comment below, I’d love to know.

If you want to learn about more writerly tools and resources, then sign up for my newsletter below. You’ll get access to all the writerly things.

Until next time,

Happy reading and writing!