With each passing year, our world is gradually becoming more and more concerned about respecting the voices and experiences of people and groups who, historically, haven’t had a say in how and if they are represented to the general public. This may have been due to race, religion, gender, cultural background, or physical and mental disabilities, among other reasons.

We’ll put aside the argument of political correctness for the moment. The fact is that writers have a responsibility to their readers to represent the world in the most honest and genuine way possible.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t include elements and characters from other people groups. That wouldn’t be true to the diverse world we live in. However, it’s impossible for any one person to be an expert on all peoples and groups, especially if they’re not a part of that group.

​Sometimes, we need to bring in an expert. That’s where sensitivity readers come in.
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Sensitivity reading is a specialization within the publishing industry, just like proofreading, copyediting, and book design. Often, but not always, sensitivity readers might also do other publishing tasks, like editing, but some specialize solely in sensitivity reading.
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If your writing includes characters or elements from groups you don’t belong to, it might be a good idea to hire a sensitivity reader to make sure you’re not misrepresenting a group (and potentially alienating readers). The sensitivity reader will read through your manuscript and give you a report on how it could read to those groups they represent.
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If possible, you want someone who is a member of the group they’re reading for, or at least has some special understanding of that group.

For example, if a character in your book is Korean, you’ll want to look for someone who either is Korean, has close ties to that region of the world, or has studied the people/language/culture extensively, not someone who has read a couple of books on Korea or knew someone from Korea in college.

However, having a connection to the group in question isn’t enough. A good professional sensitivity reader is trained in sensitivity language and triggering wording. They’re not just combing through your manuscript for what they find personally objectionable.

​While a professional sensitivity reader is more likely to meet these criteria, if your budget is tight, you might look for beta readers or peer reviewers who could represent the necessary groups. Just make sure they still have the proper qualifications described above.
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A good sensitivity reader isn’t some oversensitive left-wing nut or paranoid right-wing nut with a political agenda just looking for an excuse to rip your precious manuscript apart. That’s not the person you want to hire.

You’re looking for a true professional who is genuinely interested in making your writing the best it can be and helping you reach as many readers as possible. They should be able to explain to you why they’re making the suggestions they are.

If the person you’re considering hiring doesn’t show a genuine interest in helping you improve your writing and representation of other peoples, move on. They’re not the one for you.

​Also, a sensitivity reader doesn’t have the power to force you to make changes to your manuscript, unless you’re working with a publisher who insists. The sensitivity reader’s job is to bring issues to your attention, but it’s your choice on how to proceed after that.

Remember that sensitivity reading isn’t about catering to oversensitive people looking for something to be offended by. It’s about being thoughtful, deliberate, and intentional with our words. It’s about asking for help in truthfully representing people groups we’re not a part of.
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It’s not about censorship; it’s about making informed decisions based on the perceptions and experiences of our intended readers.

There are so many services out there offering to help you become a better writer, from master classes with acclaimed authors to professional writing coaches. But one of the most valuable resources for aspiring writers is at the same time one of the most readily available and one of the most overlooked.

All you need is a library card and a bit of free time for research.

I’ve read the writings of and listened to interviews with numerous experts, whether published authors or publishing professionals, and one of the most common pieces of advice they give is to read.

​But what does that entail?
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We’ve all seen that text message or social media post where it looks like the writer hit the Caps Lock key and couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. People often laugh about it as a marker of older generations, but the truth is that all caps is often overused in writing, regardless of the age of the writer.
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But all caps (also known as shouty caps) does have its place and and purpose.
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It used to be, if you wanted your book published, you either had to go through an established publishing house or spend stacks of cash at a vanity press and still not see your book get into the hands of more than a few readers.

As we advance farther and farther into the digital age, though, self-publishing becomes an increasingly viable option, but it’s still not ideal for everyone.
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So, which one is best for you? There are pros and cons to both options. Here are a few points to help you decide which one best fits your circumstances and your book.
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Nothing will ever equal the expertise and value a trained professional editor can bring to your writing project. However, not everyone has the funds or opportunity to take every project to a pro. And if you do decide to hire an editor, the better shape your manuscript is in, the less work the editor has to do and the less they’ll charge for the work.

I’m in this position myself with this blog. It’s just not practical at this time for me to pay someone to edit each week’s post, so the burden of self-editing falls on me.

Editing your own work is difficult at best. Assuming you have the technical skills and grammar and punctuation knowledge, your mind still often refuses to see your own errors clearly. Even professional editors face this challenge.

​But there are some tricks I use (and you can, too) to catch more of those errors and typos.
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​Last week, I wrote about some of my thoughts on the importance of sleep to our health, focus, and creativity, and I promised to talk this week about the changes I’m making in my own life.
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Whether you’re writing or editing, anyone who works in publishing and the written word needs to be reading. Reading within your genre is important, sure, but broadening your range has all kinds of benefits.

I love fiction. It’s my way of unwinding at the end of the day, but I try to balance that with at least some nonfiction. I may not read as much of it as I do fiction, but it’s still a part of my routine.

So, what am I reading now? So glad you asked!

I just finished Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, and it’s made me reconsider a simple, essential part of my daily routine that I routinely neglect: sleep. It’s also been eye opening to consider how regularly shorting myself on sleep could be having a negative effect on my concentration and creativity.

The internet abounds with memes and social media posts about the funny and often horrific results of autocorrect. It comes installed as the default setting on most of our devices and almost never fails to reduce us to screaming or tears. Or both.

As a matter of fact, every time I get a new device, autocorrect is one of the first things I switch off.
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However, the autocorrect feature of Microsoft Word is the only time I’ll tolerate it. It can actually be a valuable asset when you’re typing. What makes autocorrect in Word an asset is the fact that it is customizable, the same as the dictionary. (For creating a custom or exclusion dictionary, see my earlier blog posts.)

When someone mentions copyeditors, the first things that come to mind are probably books or magazine and newspaper articles. But we work on so much more.
If it involves the written word and is presented to the public, chances are it could benefit from an editor’s touch.
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Admittedly, there are some things that just aren’t worth paying a professional for, but what about your website?
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My grandfather was a poet. He didn’t find this out until after he retired from over thirty years as an electrician for Dow Corning. His family treasures every one of his poems. Each of his daughters keeps a copy of his work collected in a three-ring binder, and I wish I knew where to find those poems he would write and send me on my birthday.

But you’ve probably never heard of him, even if you’re a hardcore poetry fan. You’ve never heard of him because he never published or sold a single poem, except in the occasional senior-center newsletter. To my knowledge, he never even tried to sell any.
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