Part of the How They Do It Series (Monthly Contributor)
This month’s column is more a discussion invitation than a tutorial. ‘Sensitivity Readers’—I confess I am on two sides of the column on this issue.
Now, at their base purpose, ‘sensitivity readers’ are critical partners in the novel crafting process. For example (and in an effort to keep races, sexual orientations, religions or genders out of the equation) let’s pretend you are writing a story about a social worker. It would be in your best interest to have your story vetted by a few bona-fide social workers because let me tell you—as a social worker myself I find that characters crafted in the vein of my profession almost inevitably fall into one of two (grossly aggravating) stereotypes: they are either baby-snatching lunatics who rip well-loved children from the arms of doting parents OR they are brain-dead dupes who can be hoodwinked by teens with one single, well-spun lie.
