writermag.com • The Writer | 31When Ramadan found himself
writing about lesbian Syrian women
while working on The Clothesline
Swing – which focuses on the experi-
ences of queer Syrian refugees, not
unlike himself – he sought out Syrian
lesbians in order to give the commu-
nity the authenticity it deserves.
“I’m doing my research at the
moment, through examining the cul-
ture of the local drag,” he says about a
work in progress involving Syrian drag
queens, “getting to know multiple drag
queens, participating in the drag scene
not only through my research but also
through integration into it: voting for
the drag royalty, attending drag shows,
and celebrating their ups and downs
with them, as well as advocating for
support for them.”
If you’re struggling for places to
start – unsure of how to find details
about a community, where to find
spaces that welcome you, who to
interview, etc. – Google is free! Start
an online search for events, centers, or
organizations in your area. Spend
time volunteering with LGBT youth
centers – maybe offer to do a work-
shop or two. Go out and talk to Black
people at Black events (provided you’re
welcome to the cookout, of course).
Engage meaningfully with any articles
(or videos) produced by queer or trans
or POC or disabled creators.
For interviews, social media is a
lifesaver. Tweet about your project and
that you need to interview subjects.
Writers and other creators do this
pretty often to solid results. If it doesn’t
work? Try using another social media
platform; ask people with a stronger
following to signal boost.
Recruit diverse beta readers – espe-
cially ones who share pillars of identity
with your characters. Diversify your
circle of critique partners if you have
one, and hire sensitivity readers.
Sensitivity readers are especially
important since their job is to help us
writers avoid negative biases,insensitive language, or cultural inac-
curacies in their work. In other words,
their entire job is to make sure we
don’t screw up royally. Sindu’s advice?
Hire as many as you can manage.
If you’re stuck on where to find
them, writingdiversely.com’s directory
or quiethouseediting.com’s diversity
reading list are good places to start.
(They’re also among the first Google
results for “sensitivity reader list.”)
If all of this seems daunting to you,
good. It should be. The more con-
cerned you are about making a mis-
take, the more effort you’ll put in – and
the more likely you are to get it right in
the long run. After all, the end goal is
to avoid hurting whatever community
you’re representing and to avoid
exploiting them. The less authentic –
the less intimate – the narrative, the
more likely it manages to do both. Of
course, one size does not fit all, but
these are some solid first bases.
Respect requires tenacity and
humility. Tenacity in the drive to dive
deeper than you ever imagined you
would need to for the sake of the story
in the hopes of building that realness.
Humility – equally as important – in
being perfectly ready to accept and
acknowledge criticism as well as your
own shortcomings.
You’re going to make mistakes. It’s
inevitable when you aren’t directly
connected to your subject matter.
What is most important is that you do
everything you can to mitigate those
mistakes. And when members of the
community speak up about what you
got wrong, don’t get defensive. Don’t
hide behind the declarations of “am I
allowed” or “what do you want from
me” that so many others do. Instead,
own it.
Learn from it.
And do better moving forward.Eden Squish Mackenzie is a queer and trans
writer of color currently studying at Ringling
College of Art and Design.BY
EDEN SQUISH
MACKENZIE
explore and feel you can without snub-
bing more connected authors. In such
cases, there’s a follow-up question: How
do you represent the community well?
Research.
No, really. Research! Research the
community. Not like an anthropology
assignment, but if you want to accu-
rately write a community you aren’t a
part of, you have to engage with it. But
remember to engage when and how you
can as respectfully as possible.