The Sensitive Plant (Mimosa Pudica)
by Anne R. Allen
A friend recently hired several sensitivity readers to review his YA novel, which features characters of diverse ethnicities. He’s about to get on the query-go-round and wants to make sure the book won’t be found insensitive to those minorities.
This is becoming increasingly important to the publishing industry. Books that feature characters of a different race or ability than the writer are often subject to online vitriol. If the Twitterverse finds a book has “insensitive” content, the book may be headed for the pulping machine. Even after publication, an expensive ad campaign, and distribution to bookstores. That’s a pricey proposition for the publisher, and a tragedy for the author.
A horror story from a few years ago involved an Asian YA writer who wrote a fantasy novel that portrayed Asian-type people who were enslaved. The Twitterverse, not known for its education, deemed the book racist. Apparently Twitter believed slavery only happened to African people. Even in an entirely made-up world. That was the end of the book, even though it had excellent buzz and sales. The author had to return her advance.
So what’s the answer?
The Big Five publishers have turned to sensitivity readers.
My friend hopes for publication with one of the big houses. He also writes for the Young Adult audience. It is mostly Big Five-published YA books that face the wrath of social media for insensitive content.
But what if he were writing an adult novel — and intended to self-publish or go with a small press? Would he need to hire a sensitivity reader? It’s not a bad idea, but he’d be less likely to need a professional sensitivity reader. I say “probably” because nobody knows exactly what will rile up the denizens of social media who make the rules these days.
So What is a Sensitivity Reader?
A sensitivity reader is basically a beta reader — paid or volunteer — who belongs to a marginalized group. Their job is to make sure you have portrayed characters of that group correctly, without bias, unconscious insults or demeaning stereotypes.
Sometimes the readers take on more responsibility, pointing out word choices that could offend other minorities or commonly demeaned groups. It’s easier if you have a reader like this so you don’t have to hire one for each character.
Professional sensitivity readers can be pricey for the new writer. Sensitivity reading has become big business. There are firms who employ dozens of readers so they can cover as many ethnicities, orientations, and disabilities as possible, My friend paid about $400 per read and the prices go up from there.
The Authenticity Reader
Personally, I prefer to work with authenticity readers — sometimes called “cultural accuracy” readers. Sometimes the term seems synonymous with sensitivity reader, and many sensitivity readers also check for authenticity. But there’s a difference. Authenticity readers are not looking for words or situations that offend. They’re looking for things that come across as phony or unbelievable.
I asked an Irish writer to beta read my novel The Queen of Staves because it had a young Irish character. I was very lucky she agreed to “weed out the shamrocks” as she called it. Anything that sounded like a vaudeville Irishman or a stereotype from a Lucky Charms commercial needed to go. Including the name of the character, which turned out to be totally out of date for a contemporary young Irishman.
I was very grateful for her authenticity read. I had to do some minor rewrites, but she didn’t once say the shamrocks offended her. She was helping me make the character believable, not necessarily inoffensive. (The character is a terrible poet.)
I also had a tarot reader look at The Queen of Staves to make sure my tarot readings were authentic. I was awfully pleased when she said I passed muster.
So authenticity readers don’t necessarily require huge rewrites. They can give you peace of mind when you send the manuscript off to your publisher or hit the “publish” button on Amazon.
Is Sensitivity Reading Corrupting Literature?
You may have heard stories of sensitivity readers who go way over the top. There have been several stories recently about Scottish writer Kate Clanchy, who lost her publisher of 20 years after many complaints that her memoir was offensive to minorities. The publisher pulled all eight of her books because she wouldn’t follow all the suggestions of the sensitivity readers they hired.
But when the author gave examples of what the sensitivity readers were demanding, I realized I would have had to part ways with that publisher too.
She was told never to use the word “handicap” even when she was talking about somebody thwarted by an unfortunate circumstance, not a disabled person. People are supposed to substitute the phrase “special needs.” So the average golfer would have a “special needs of 16.1.”
And she couldn’t use the word “disfigured” even when talking about a blight on a landscape because the word would offend teens with acne.
She had to eliminate all mentions of “terrorists” because that might traumatize younger people, (Keep in mind this was a memoir for adult readers, not a children’s book.)
There could be no talk of homophobia, because bringing it up might trigger the LGBTQIA community. She had to make sure all her characters spoke like contemporary people, with contemporary sensibilities, even in historical settings.
Yeah. She would have ended up with a mess. It’s no wonder she says all this “sensitivity” is destroying literature.
But pendulums swing. For too long a time, hurtful stereotypes were perpetuated by the publishing industry, and now they’ve gone really far in the other direction. We can hope they’ll return to the middle.
The Viral Rage of the Twitterverse
Fear of viral online rage has publishers hiring sensitivity readers more and more often. They have lost sales from entire publishing imprints because of boycotts. When the YA book police declare a book “racist” or “offensive” or “triggering” a whole company can suffer, even after the offensive book is gone.
But here’s the most annoying thing: Most of the self-appointed enforcers have never actually read the books. They just RT a Tweet, which goes viral, and nobody really knows what offense has been committed — or if it’s even true. But they sure are mad.
These people are as dangerous as they are ignorant. Like the Q-anon type conspiracy theorists on the other end of the political spectrum, these people wield immense power over a segment of the population. And publishers have reason to fear them.
However, it’s important to remember their complaints stem from the fact the publishing industry is 76% White, and editors are 86% White. Readers want to read about characters like themselves. And they want books written by writers like themselves. If the market is saturated with books about people of color written by Whites, the people of color can’t get in the door. So this movement is really about getting more diversity into the industry.
But they’re going about it in an awfully unpleasant way, at least on social media.
Do You Need a Sensitivity Reader?
In this atmosphere, if you’re hoping for a Big Five book contract, or even if you’re self-publishing YA or Children’s books, you should consider it. Especially if—
- You have a major character who belongs to a marginalized minority
- There’s a bigoted character. Never mind that the portrayal is authentic. Even fictional bigotry can be a slippery slope these days.
- If your character tends to lump people in a stereotyped group — if he says things like “All Norwegians love herring.” (As a Norwegian-American I can say I’m not offended by that. And I adore herring. But if I belonged to a marginalized minority, I might take offense at a similar statement.)
- There are cliches involving minorities, like “almond-shaped eyes.”
But choose your sensitivity reader carefully. Ask for a sample of their work. If you see absurdities, look elsewhere. You don’t want someone to rewrite your book, but make it the best it can be.
Do you need an Authenticity Reader?
As I said, beta readers can often function as authenticity readers. You probably need an authenticity reader if—
- You employ a regional dialect (and the dialect isn’t yours.)
- A character is from a foreign country you’ve never visited.
- The story is set in a part of the world you’ve never seen except on TV
- The main character has a profession that requires specific knowledge and/or jargon — if you’re not thoroughly informed about those things
You can never make absolutely sure your writing will offend no one. And maybe that isn’t a good goal anyway. The reality police can always fault you for something. And fiction doesn’t have to be about realism. But you definitely don’t want to offend your target audience, or make howling mistakes that will take the reader out of the story.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) March 6, 2022
What about you, scriveners? Have you used a sensitivity reader? Have you ever had complaints of “insensitive content”? What about inauthentic content? Do you feel pressured by all this to avoid diverse characters with ethnicities other than your own?
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Featured image: The Sensitive Plant (Mimosa Pudica)
Interesting perspective, Anne, and excellent examples.
The denizens of social media make life difficult. Fake news, fake facts, edited photos … Where will it all end?
We have gone way over the top with what is considered offensive, resulting in ill-advised book bans that just make the books more attractive to readers who want to know why the books were banned. Publishers and book banners need a slap upside the head.
I’d better stop before my comment gets banned for insensitivity. 😉
Kathy–You’re right that this ultra-sensitivity is mirrored by the book banners at the other end of the political spectrum. I’m glad you brought that up. Both are polarizing and both stifle artistic expression. I hope we can find more unity in the future.
Anne—Thanks for an excellent post on a fraught and confusing subject. As you indicate, genre matters here. Also, there is no “one size fits all” solution.
I’m concerned about too many editors/readers chiming in and — perhaps with the best intentions — flattening or distorting the author’s intent. Your crit group post makes points that can be relevant here.
https://selfpublishingsites.com/2022/02/10-dangerous-critiques/
Ruth–I do think this can result in “too many cooks spoiling the soup.” Employing several sensitivity readers can mean you’re essentially using a bunch of copy-editors. And there’s no way that’s not going to water down the author’s voice and message.
Using a sensitivity reader before submitting allows the author more freedom to reject some of the changes suggested, or to rewrite so the subject doesn’t come up. I understand that when publishers hire them, the author has no say in whether the changes are implemented.
It does need to swing back the other way soon.
I’ve not needed either type of reader due to my genre (I’ve yet to offend a space alien) I can see where either of those readers would be a good idea if you aren’t sure or are walking a thin line.
Alex–It must feel good to be safely in space so you don’t run into this stuff so often. But you never know when someone will complain you’ve offended the little green men community. 🙂
Thanks for this, Anne! I am all the more happy that I have signed with a trad publisher who is sensitive to these things and will take charge of this. Last thing I want to do is offend anyone, and I may not know what is offensive. I’m reminded of the days when men would make offensive comments about women, and they say “You can’t take a joke” if you didn’t “take it like a good sport.”
Melodie–Cultural changes do happen through protest, so you have a point. Wives had to take being called “the little woman” and all women had to endure insults to their appearance and sexuality not so long ago. And we all do have some phrases programed into our language that we don’t realize are offensive, like “low man on the totem pole.” So it is good to have a copy editor who catches these things. I don’t think your comedies about bumbling Canadian gangsters contain the sort of language that would need a sensitivity reader, but if you radically changed genres, I suppose you might.
Thank you for this post, Anne. I had never heard of sensitivity readers or authenticity readers, even though all my editors have caught things that I’ve written that are just “no way would s/he say that” or something like that. That’s invaluable. Great suggestions!
Patricia–It’s good to be aware of sensitivity issues. And a good editor usually catches them. So most writers probably don’t need a sensitivity reader in addition to a good copy editor.
Holy Crow! So many thoughts, thank you Anne, very provoking.
Easy for me to flip the literary bird and say “Dude, what part of epic fantasy don’t you understand? My race is offensive? They’re trolls, you Luddite!” But then, the point of genre fiction is to bring the reader home through escape. We see a hobbit, or a wizard or a man becoming king, and we EMPATHIZE through much greater barriers than many we encounter here in the Alleged Real World. So villains yes, but gratuitous insults aren’t helping anyone.
And I’ll go one further about Twitter rage. People, I think, are ANGRIER when they tap out their fury online than when they watch something MUCH worse on video. There seems to be an unspoken compact that it’s OK for a director to petrify, disgust, outrage you on the screen. But “writers” have to toe a purity line. Those stories you told above are just dreadful. Ain’t never going there. I got aches and pains plenty.
Will–You bring up a great point I hadn’t thought about. It seems that books are held to a higher standard than screenplays. There is no “trigger warning” at the beginning of Law and Order SVU to say there are scenes of sexual violence. They can also portray bigoted characters who say horribly offensive things. Personally I wish they did have some trigger warnings. I’ve tried to watch a number of highly reviewed movies that showed nothing but carnage for the first 15 minutes. After which I turn it off and go watch another episode of Call the Midwife.
Unfortunately, that one cancelled author was writing Fantasy, so you never know if somebody will say your portrayal of Hobbits offends the short, hairy-footed community. But let’s hope not.
Great post, Anne, and one that surprisingly lit my dander (as mom would’ve said). I started reminding my author clients about habitual ‘male’ orientations in their work about 15 years ago. This wasn’t because I was so ‘woke’, it just plain bugged me.
As the years passed, I started pointing out other clamshell wordings and phrases, offering more neutral directions and ideas. Again, I just started seeing too much of it and likened it to lazy writing, as the author was simply falling back on ‘established’ assumptions.
All this extended into regional ways people talked, hitting me hard when I left KY to return to my roots of northeastern KS. Suddenly, I relaxed, felt ‘at home’, and it seemed like everyone understood me again. I realized the tremendous importance of regional cultures and the language within them, especially when writing about such places.
This chatter is to say that I related to your discussion of the authority reader, as the process seemed to be what I had evolved into doing with my developmental work. I still include this level of review in my developmental edits. I also still point out, even in a copy edit, instances where the author’s own bias seeps into the story.
I’d like to see less specialization in editing and any review service and more integration of those supposed specialties into any ‘regular’ editing service. Your post, to me, shows that need — no author should be paying extra for what I consider to be an authentic editorial skill, available with every edit.
This all comes too close to the grammar police who live for their rules, even to the point of throttling a great story. I say the reader has the responsibility to accept the story as written and if they are offended, shut the book and give it to charity — not take your plastic sword to Twitland and slay non-existent dragons.
Thanks for this, Anne — told ya my dander had sparked a bit… :O))
Maria–I agree. I think a good editor can catch most of the authenticity problems. And even some of the sensitivity problems. People generally only need a sensitivity reader if they’re portraying major characters of an ethnicity or disability that neither the author nor the editor share. And I needed a couple of beta readers with specific knowledge of contemporary Irish speech and tarot reading. Luckily I didn’t have to pay them. We do beta read exchanges.
I absolutely see the benefits of engaging a specialized reader in a case such as yours, and have made that suggestion when I’m not able to pursue such a review due to my own (or the author’s) lack of knowledge.
I believe I was reacting to the idea behind your post’s point: when does an author need that specialized level of support? Your ideas and examples were clarifying and great information — as always!
Love the beta read exchanges idea!
Maria
Holy moly, YEAH. ????
*takes a deep breath*
I’d agree with that pendulum that’s in the middle, because it can be exhausting!
I haven’t hired a sensitivity reader and am not planning to. However, I have about one or two 1-star ratings for my first book (without reviews) on Amazon and I’m like WHY? Have I offended anyone?
I might have. Maybe by an LGBTQ+ person because my main character once says she’d not want to be thought of as a lesbian as she’s straight.
It didn’t occur to me until recently that some people might be offended. My character only says it once because she’s suspected to be gay.
Or maybe because my main character encounters a “Big Fat Lady from reception” whom she hears outside her room in a B&B as she makes so much noise.
Maybe I have offended people who aren’t particularly slim? ????
As I’m translating the book into German, I have exchanged the word “fat” for big, at least.
There is no fat-shaming in my book, by the way!
As I’m writing my second novel, I might offend the Catholic audience because my priest speeks his mind every now and then… also, he wants out of the Catholic Church because he loves a woman. (It’s not romance)
Yeah, and then this leads to the question of do we need trigger warnings as well…
I heard of a book that contains 2 pages of trigger warnings in the beginning. And Twitterverse will discuss how important these are.
Yawn, to be honest, because maybe we should all just read and write children’s books then.
Good post! I’ll think about sensitivity readers on my priest, even though I’m already trying to make sure I’m not exactly bashing the Catholic Church! Just using confession and stuff and that the priest isn’t actually allowed to love a woman.
Katja–Don’t assume those one-stars on Goodreads mean anything. There are trolls on Goodreads who one-star any book in a genre they don’t like, or because they hate the cover, or just because they’re trolls. One famous troll gives 100s of one-stars a day. (I suspect she’s paid by rival authors.) The place is troll central. I’m not sure if there are sensitivity readers for defrocked priests, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Everybody knows Catholic priests can’t marry, so that’s hardly a slur. I’d rest easy.
The point of literature is to offend.
Among books that were banned for “controversial and highly offensive” content, we got classics such as Gulliver’s Travels, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, Lolita and The Color Purple.
And yet, we read them today and I am sure future generations will too.
We read to be challenged. Literature is meant to be challenging, even transgressive.
Although we must aim not to purposely offend and discriminate with our writing, we should not be held hostage a vocal minority who is not our intended audience.
There are dozens of books I read that I disliked. I don’t raise hell in social media. I just won’t recommend them or review them in my blog.
Furthermore, we should remember the point of reading is to empathize with characters different than us. Otherwise, why read?
Another excellent and thought-provoking post, Anne. Thank you.
Ingmar–Yes. And “a great library contains something to offend everybody.” That’s good to remember. Where would our culture be if “offensive books” had been forever banned? Because pretty much all great books were banned at one time or another, including the Bible.
But we do want to make sure we don’t insult innocent people without knowing it. Certain words or phrases we used in our childhood are not okay now, because we found out some people were really hurt by them. People who have a tendency to use these words need a sensitivity reader or a good editor. Or sometimes a good critique group will help.
Ingmar,
I completely agree with this sentiment:
“We read to be challenged. Literature is meant to be challenging, even transgressive.
Although we must aim not to purposely offend and discriminate with our writing, we should not be held hostage a vocal minority who is not our intended audience.”
Amen. Unfortunately, there are many readers who do not wish to be challenged. There are many who want literary comfort food, with literary characters who look and act like them, and who present as the reader wants to be seen, and not as a complete character. I think this explains the rise of the sensitivity reader — “you have written a character who does not embody what I think a woman, LGBTQ person, or person of color should be, so let me correct you.” In so doing, the sensitivity reader inevitably inserts her own bias into someone else’s writing, in much the same way that an earlier poster claims to help authors eliminate instances “where the author’s own bias seeps into the story.”
Our job as writers is to tell honest, truthful stories. We should not deliberately offend or incite, but enlighten.
Thank you for this great discussion.
Uggh.
I don’t use sensitivity readers for anything I write. I do use real people to answer any real questions that I do have about a particular topic/subject (touchiest one that I dealt with was asking a close co-worker to explain bra cup sizes to me) just to make sure I’m writing it correctly. When I used to show my stuff to an ex-friend (a former journalist with some real word traumas in her life) I had to make sure to ask if she wanted to read it if it had those particular triggers contained within.
I did have a small snippet pulled from a writer’s group prompt because one of the admins, who is about three decades younger than me, took exception to a legitimate skin tone description that she personally felt was offensive. I chose not to fight that battle, because it would’ve honestly been a flame war with no winners. Instead, i walked away from the group for five months or so.
I personally don’t mind if people find my writing offensive in some particular way, but I am careful about what I post in my writing group, due to the aforementioned incident. But, being the strange person I am, I managed to turn it into a running gag in the group, where I do “three cheers and a Tigger for me” whenever I find something clean to post
You’re not going to satisfy everyone, and if you bow down to the “sensitivity trolls”, then you’re not really going to accomplish much with your writing.
GB–Oh, I’m so glad you did research about bra sizes! I still see books by men that describe a pretty woman as having “double D” breasts. And then the poor woman has to run from the bad guys. Unless she’s wearing a sports bra, she’s going to be hurting so bad! Even worse are the “38 double D” breasts. A woman with a 38 rib cage is not especially slim, and may not be up for running at all.
Ahem. Back to the subject at hand. As I said to ingmar, we do want to make sure we don’t insult innocent people without knowing it. Certain words or phrases we used in our childhood are not okay now, because we found out some people were really hurt by them. If younger people clue us in on this, we should thank them. Sometimes old dogs need to learn new tricks. (I’m an old dog, too.:-) )
This is reminiscent of “woke” culture, where “he” or “she” might trigger non-binary people and we should all use the singular “they” and “their.” To which I have no public comment. But I will say I don’t follow the new advice. ????
Sue–It’s tough for those of us brought up to make sure the subject and the object match, it’s very hard to use “they/them” as a singular pronoun. But we need to when we’re talking to people who ask us to. It’s like when somebody changes their name from Jane Clark to Sunshiny Morning, it’s hard to remember, because it seems silly to us. But it doesn’t to them, so we have to say it so we don’t seem hostile.
I agree, Anne. Chatting with someone IRL is different. I would never want to intentionally harm anyone, emotionally or physically. My comment referred to my writing. Since I only portray two genders, he and she work just fine. 🙂
Good article. Personally, I am sick of the Twitter mob perpetually searching for the safe space that doesn’t exist while simultaneously looking for things to get offended by. Checking for authenticity and outdated phrases is one thing. Trying to pander to the constantly outraged is another. And what if the story takes place in the past? Imagine Huck Finn and his society speaking like modern day progressives! You’re right, the loudest complainers never read, they only repeat outrage. I’ve chosen to ignore this bunch because nothing will please them. And I’ve noticed many in this group believe no one should write about characters not from their own race, gender, etc. Yet they complain about lack of diversity.
Missi–I agree about the Permanently Outraged Community. As soon as you give in to their demands, they have new ones. A tiny segment of the population think they should have total control over what other people say and think (Does that remind you of any people named Vladimir Putin?) Bullying is just that–and there’s always a backlash. And forcing us to keep our books lily-white seems to go against their own goals. But I have to admit I have eliminated most diverse characters from my mysteries.
About the aforementioned friend. She once spent roughly five minutes patiently explaining exactly the point you brought up and made suggestions as to why a lower (higher?) letter and number would make the character that more realistic, especially since I wasn’t writing a screenplay.
I think sensitivity readers are necessary for a lot of books but… One, that story you told here is ludicrous and gives me pause. Two, this comment is spot on: “they’re going about it in an awfully unpleasant way, at least on social media.” Gah! Enough with the Social Media Rage Fest. Thanks for this post, Anne.
Sarah–I agree. The manufactured social media rage is toxic. Early in my blogging career, they took offense at one of my blogposts about Amazon reviews, and you’d have thought I’d been torturing babies. I got a ton of hate mail, including a death threat with a picture of my house. It was terrifying.
Well, “terrifying” sounds like a reasonable description. I know this has been said dozens (hundreds) of times over the past decade or two but what the hell is with people now that they can hide behind screens? I’ve heard of nightmares like this and seen some of your posts about it. I’m so sorry you went through that. Sorry anyone goes through that. I had some stupid hope that the rage would have simmered down a bit once the initial toxic people got over their “the-screen-hides-me-and-allows-me-to-do-anything” phase. Alas, it seems to have only heightened.
I’ve seen a few Twitter blow ups over books and many times the author says they had sensitivity readers and were flat out told that didn’t matter. I imagine the people yelling in those instances fall into the category of “looking to be pissed off”. There’s a lot of those on Twitter.
Patricia–You’re so right. I call them the “Permanently Offended Community”. They can find fault with anything. It’s why the “anti-woke” people are getting so vocal. These permanently offended people are shooting themselves in both feet.
I used a sensitivity reader for my Upper Middle Grade WIP with a service dog. In addition to reading for service dog mishaps, my reader was also very tuned in to mental health and social issues. She tagged many words such as “stupid” and “crazy” as offensive to various populations. I changed all those words even though preteens do say those things in dialogue. “That math test was stupid” or “My mother is crazy strict.” She also sent me a list of Black vernacular words I wasn’t supposed to use. It turns out “duh” is on that list. Who knew?
Deb–I think that stuff goes way over the top. The taboo on “cultural appropriation” is absurd. The US was built on cultural appropriation. We’re a melting pot. We would have no jazz without cultural appropriation. Or country music. The banjo comes from an African instrument. Melding cultures is what we’re about. White people always copy Black slang, just the way the ruling class appropriated Irish slang when the Irish were the street people. Besides, I thought Homer Simpson invented “Duh.” 🙂
As far as not using “stupid” or “moron” or “crazy” or “bonkers” I say enough already. What do they want, that we drop language and all go back to grunts? Get funding for more mental health workers and beds. That’s what’s going to help the mentally ill. Not word games.
Hi Anne!
It’s been a while. I really appreciate this post of yours, but I must admit that I had shelved my novel for exactly the reasons outlined in the article and in the comments.
I have no desire to be crucified by the perpetually outraged mobs that can do real damage with weaponized social media. My protagonist is a noble woman in her late twenties with a slightly darker skin colour (think Persian). Red flag for the woke mob? Maybe, maybe not.
A major antagonistic force in the story is a steppe clan that I have written as a cross between the Mongols and North American Plains natives.
Probably a major red flag, though I went out of my way to avoid writing them as villains. Bonus. I can offend two major groups of wokesters with one story. I believe in efficiency.
The book is close to finishing — I think — and has gone through three drafts and a beta read. Though beta reader did suggest I get a sensitivity reader for the novel.
That spooked me, and now I am pretty much of the opinion that I won’t publish until I retire, when I can’t be fired from my job.
Paranoia? Perhaps, but then, I read about the world around me. 🙂 My wife thinks I should just source a sensitivity reader, implement any changes that don’t destroy the story, and be done with it. We’ll see.
Best regards,
Brant
Brant–It sounds as if your book is Fantasy. If it is, you don’t have to make your characters so close to real historical tribes. You could make them blue, which worked great for Avatar. I think a character who seems like an ancient Persian would be okay. So far nobody’s cancelled 1001 Nights. And if you self-publish, you’re a lot less likely to incur the wrath of the Twitterverse. I say go for it. Just change a few things.
Any ideas on how to find said sensitivity and authenticity readers? Though, you probably have so many ideas depending on the situation, it would not fit in a simple quick answer here. How about a second article on ways to find these types of readers? Would love to know how to find them. I need both. And I find nothing wrong with an author using these types of readers, because it’s still your book, you don’t have to use all the advice given. Just like I don’t use everything offered in my critique group, I decide what to use. But I value all opinions. Thanks so much Anne!
JoAnn–I think it’s pretty easy to find sensitivity readers. Google is your friend. Here’s one sensitivity service, with a number of readers. https://www.writingdiversely.com/directory. Choose one who reads your genre if possible. And yes, if you’re hiring the person, you get to choose what comments to follow or ignore. They are basically beta readers, so treat them the same way.
Great post, Anne! You mentioned YA being particularly a minefield. Should I assume New Adult books would be similarly at risk for these issues?
Thea–I haven’t heard of any New Adult novels being “cancelled.” NA is expected to be steamy, so maybe the Permanently Offended Community steers clear of it, since steam probably offends them too. 🙂
I could leave a comment that’s as long as this blog post, Anne! I have come across those books in which people of the 1930s talk as if they live in today’s world – absolutely awful. As bad as having Anne Boleyn eat potatoes. I read one a while back in which a man who had time travelled to prehistoric times, came back 10 years (or whatever) later, and was immediately totally PC, asking women friends if they had a man or a woman in their lives, even if the woman had previously not exhibited signs that she might be a lesbian.
I refuse to have my characters act out-of-character. Now and I again I write (shock horror!) a bigoted or sexist one, because I write ‘real’! I have a one star review for a book of mine that is many people’s favourite of them all, talking about ‘fat girl tropes’. The section of the book (which is not the main story) is one in which people start being discriminated against because of their size (it’s a futuristic dystopian novel). The reader didn’t get that far; all she saw was the mention of a well-covered woman eating ice cream, and slammed on the 1*.
I think it’s more racist/homphobic/whatever to consciously add characters-of-colour and gay couples because you think you should. I check out the racial ratios in an area/time, before I write, and write accordingly. Once or twice, I have added a black character to an otherwise all white scenario without mentioning their race, if not relevant. To make a point of mentioning it every time you write a non-white character is more racist, I think. Ooh look, someone who is ‘different’ !!
btw, re the name thing – I google lists of most popular names from the year the characters were born. That way, you don’t get it wrong!
I agree with you, Terry. (BTW, my late wife, who I will mention in this reply, was also called Terry, even though her given name was Teresa. So we’re off to a good start.)
My WIP – actually finished – is a memoir. Set in 1964, discriminated, insensitive, racist, sexist, biased, whatever-you-want-to-call-it talk, was the norm of the day…and Teresa got her share of it. She was born with cerebral palsy, used crutches her entire life and even called herself “crippled” and preferred others did too. She disliked “handicapped,” “disabled,” and especially “challenged” and “special needs.” All terms in her opinion that actually downplayed what people like her went through with their conditions. She actually felt that having to endure all that talk and shabby treatment made her a stronger person. She embraced what she was; even the moniker “freak” in much the same way that Blacks at the time were starting to say the n-word to each other publicly. She knew why they did it: it empowered them by taking the sting out of the word as the Whites intended it to have. Coming from a small, Eastern Colorado town like I had, which had no Blacks, I was amazed at how she knew this fact. I’d learned of it when I read the book “Black Like Me” in 1963, but she never read that book. She learned it instinctively.
I am not “crippled” like her. I met her in college in 1964. My memoir is about the first three weeks after that meeting wherein I learned more about discrimination than I ever believed I could, had I thought about it. (As she and others like her called the un-crippled like me “normals,” a term I did not hear in open society until about 15 or so years ago.) What was also interesting during that time was that she was accused of being racist by her dorm roommate. She never did get it resolved…I married her two months later and she left the dorm.
All that said, and in the light of today’s sensitive readers, I needed to make a decision concerning this memoir and its publication. I’ve come to the conclusion that I will never find a traditional publisher who will take it, so I will be putting it on my Smashwords account when I have it ready. On Smashwords you are your publisher, giving your work a great deal more latitude.(There are limits of course, but you get the idea.) I have no intention to submit it to beta readers and certainly not sensitivity readers. Once I started editing out possible offenders I wouldn’t be able to stop and would end up with a one page dull as dirt story about something or nothing, rather than the 83,000 word, hard hitting book it is. It’s what Teresa would have wanted. (She passed away from breast cancer in 1997.)
Thanks..
Neil–I agree that if you’re writing a book set in the 60s, you can’t superimpose the values of the 21st century. I remember a lot of people watching the TV show Mad Men thought it was glorifying the sexism and racism of the age instead of criticizing it. There’s willful ignorance as well as literal-mindedness in this new “sensitivity” movement.
Smashwords is a great self-publishing outfit. They’ve recently merged with D2D so they have much better distribution. Excellent choice. As I say, self-publishers usually don’t run afoul of the PC police as much as Big 5 books, especially YA. I’m sure your memoir will do just fine with Smashwords. BTW I’ve met the CEO of Smashwords, Mark Coker, and he’s a solid guy. Nothing phony about him.
Terry–I actually did Google baby names for the year my Irish character was born, but it didn’t pinpoint Dublin, and country folk have more old fashioned names.
I love your example of Anne Boleyn eating potatoes (or tomatoes for that matter.) Anacronisms take the educated reader right out of a story. I think true historical novels will last longer than this fad of “sensitivity.”
If people want to do something to help fat people, criticize the medical profession, who shame fat people into getting weight loss surgery that will kill them (but is very lucrative for the hospitals.) Lying about the way fat people are discriminated against will not change the discrimination. I’m speaking as a fat person here.
Thanks for sharing
Anne,
Thank you for this wonderful and thought-provoking post. I have just completed a novel about John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, told from the perspective of one of Brown’s men. Because the events take place in the mid-1800’s, there is much language that is not acceptable today, and themes that will offend many with modern sensitivities.
I have no intention of hiring a sensitivity reader, because it is not possible to write about slavery, or really any form of oppression, without offending someone. If you write historical fiction, you will touch controversial topics, and you will offend some. That is why we write — not to deliberately offend, but to enlighten and tell a story. We still get to choose which stories to tell, and how to tell them.
Another poster wrote that she “also still points out, even in a copy edit, instances where the author’s own bias seeps into the story.” It is impossible to eliminate an author’s own bias from a story. The goal is to acknowledge that bias, while being truthful to other views. By eliminating the author’s own bias, the poster is simply substituting her bias for the author’s.
Terrance–I agree that historical novels can’t be read the same way as contemporaries. And there will always be “insensitive” situations and dialogue in a historical novel. Because…history. I also agree that all authors have a certain bias. Our personal experiences color what we write. An author who had no opinions whatsoever would be a snooze to read.
Hi Anne,
It was a very helpful read! I have been writing my book, and I have included characters from different ethnicities. I will be following your advice and taking the help of more sensitive readers to read my book. I think they will provide better insight to me, and alert me if something sounds wrong or offensive. I am really thankful that you shared this advice. I am sure it will help me make necessary changes and make sure my book turns out well.
Jesus–Sensitivity readers are most helpful for contemporary novels with diverse characters, so it sounds as if you’ll be considerably helped by contacting one or two.
If you’re referring to this writer, the good news is that her debut novel did get published about 5 months after the whole Twitter brouhaha (and she also has other novels out). The woke mob has zero attention span, which is a good thing. If I ever write something that alerts the outrage performers, I know I can wait it out until something else grabs their fury: https://www.amazon.com/Am%25C3%25A9lie-Wen-Zhao/e/B07N95K6CN%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
Grace–What great news! I’m so glad her book (s) got published after all. And she seems to be selling well. Hey, Writing Well is the Best Revenge, right? I think you’re probably right that the Permanently Offended Community is always off looking for something else to be offended by, so these things mostly blow over.
I suspect all these efforts to avoid offense will lead to banal literature and eventually to fewer readers. No great literature will get past a sensitivity reader. I do realize most writers aren’t shooting for that, so maybe for them, readers are the way to go. Give me a biting point of view, no holding back, fearless work any time over a book of euphemisms.
Sonja–I do fear that when the pendulum swings too far to one side or another, literature (and readers) will suffer. We don’t want to see horrible racist stuff in our books, but we don’t want to see them turned into sanitized pablum.
One of the main characters in my work in progress is Muslim American. Because I want my character to be an accurate representation, I’ve been doing lots of research. I also don’t want to create something stereotypical. Like any religion, not everyone believes in the same principles in the Islam world. Do you know of any agents who might be good to work with to nail this character?
Pete–I don’t know any sensitivity readers myself, but Google is your friend. Googling around, I found several firms that provide readers of many ethnicities and abilities. I know one had a Muslim reader. Google “sensitivity reader” not “agent”, since a literary agent is something very different. 🙂
New to this site and glad I stopped by. I also believe we’ve gone too far, especially when anyone can retweet or share something without knowing the reason behind the original post. And the fact that a lot of people have become mean and much too quick to anger. It’s dangerous.
I just had a discussion with my daughters about how a writer will reference ‘he’ or ‘she.’ The younger one is a NYC public grammar school teacher and said teachers have to refer to boys and girls as “friend” and use “they” for he or she.
So a man looking into a woman’s eyes might read: They looked into their eyes. The alternative is to use the characters’ names instead of he or she in every sentence.
Bringing the gender issue this far just doesn’t make any sense.
KC–Oh, my! I had not heard that gender is simply being erased in NY public schools. Everybody is “they”? And students are now your “friends”? Can’t have any hierarchy there. I guess. Maybe the friend of choice can teach and the teacher friend can sit in one of those teeny tiny desks. This has veered into the realm of farce. I’m glad you enlightened me. This is why people vote for those right wing extremists. It appears the left has gone so far in the other direction they’ve fallen off. But those people are such a tiny fraction of the population (even the left-leaning population.) How did these nutjobs get to dictate what gender the rest of us identify as? And what language we’re allowed to speak (if at all)? I missed the part where they got elected. Sigh.
Anne, you wouldn’t believe the things that are going on in the NYC schools. And that tiny left population may be tiny, but they’re powerful enough to dictate what we can say. And worse than that, they’re ingraining this craziness (oops for ‘craziness’) into the children from kindergarten up. I’m so sad and angry at what’s going on.
I’ve just done a little research, and luckily this is not the NY public schools. It’s a private school attached to Grace Church in NYC. But they are calling “mom and dad” and “boys and girls” hate speech. Pendulum swinging way too far in the other direction.
Anne, unfortunately, they’re not making it public, but my daughter and the other NYC public school teachers are living it. I wish it weren’t true. Not sure why this isn’t transparent.
Your statement, “insensitive to those minorities”…. that statement struck me. I would shy away from the term minorities because the term itself can be offensive. Also, the reality is that there are more “people if color” in the world than Whites… So, I love the article and think Sensitivity/ Authenticity readers are a great idea, and needed. And, please consider phrasing that sets you apart, perhaps unintentionally. Thank you!
Anne,
If I am reading Jo Lena’s comment and your original post correctly, the phrase “insensitive to those minorities” was a direct reference to “characters of diverse ethnicities.” It was not intended to exclude people with physical disabilities, but was used only in reference to “characters of diverse ethnicities,” which was the exact language you used in your original post.
Again, great topic.
Terence–She’s still way off base. I did originally write “ethnicities and abilities” but then put the phrase farther down the page. But “ethnicities” does not have to mean people of color. They could be Polish, or Israeli, or Greek, or whatever.Every ethnicity has its own culture. Assuming everything is about you is narcissism. Narcissists trying to cancel half the English language because they’re drunk on their own power is why so many centrists are voting for right-wingers. I’m going to keep using the word “minorities” since I belong to a minority. And people of color ARE in the minority in most of the English-speaking world, which is presumably your audience if you’re writing in English.
Neil, I am Theresa too, though with an H! Your wife sounds as though she was an admirable woman. All this ‘challenged’ and ‘special needs’ stuff is so patronising. Good for her. And yes, write the story as it should be. Never mind the ‘safe space’ lot 😉
Or criticise the food manufacturers, who label items ‘low fat’, and ‘low sugar’ etc, but fill them up with chemical sweeteners that make the brain think it’s getting something sweet, and so produce insulin, too much of which adds the pounds – a close family member is a Type 1 diabetic, so I know about all this stuff! And don’t get me started on aspartame, or all its aliases.
Recently I saw a recipe for a vegetable and lentil soup, on a supermarket site’s recipe section. It was listed as ‘low carb’. It actually contained 53 grams of carb PER HELPING – which is extremely high carb!
Totally off the subject, of course, but I thought that might interest you!
I would never hire a ‘sensitivity’ reader. It has gone too far. Controlling language and print is another step to authoritarian thinking. Sanitizing author’s and books is just wrong. Adults and young teens need to decide for themselves what to read what to write, otherwise we all become lemmings running over the cliff.
Jeanne–I’m feeling more and more that way myself. Fascism on the left is just as bad as fascism on the right. Everybody’s offended by some word or other. If we tried to please them all, we’d only be able to communicate with grunts.
I agree that hiring a sensitivity reader can be a valuable step for writers, especially when creating characters from marginalized groups. It’s interesting how the publishing landscape is shifting to prioritize authenticity and representation, reflecting broader societal changes. Thank you for outlining the roles of sensitivity and authenticity readers—they can help ensure that stories resonate genuinely and respectfully with diverse audiences.
Any–Publishers use sensitivity readers for self-preservation. Several times when “offensive” things have been found in new books, the book and the author get “cancelled.” Several authors have lost their contracts and had to return advances. Sensitivity readers save money.