There are a lot of ways to look at storytelling, but one of the crucial ways to look at it, in my view, is by who it includes. I think this is true of any genre, but since I write speculative fiction, that’s how I’m going to consider it here.
Some very talented writers have addressed this already. If you haven’t read what they have had to say, I’d highly recommend you read:
Daniel José Older: 12 Fundamentals of Writing “The Other”
N.K. Jemisin on Why I Think RaceFail Was The Bestest Thing Evar for SFF and more recently Your groundbreaking is not my groundbreaking
Malinda Lo: On Self-Rejection and Writing From a Marginalized Perspective
Derek Newman-Stille on SFF fandom, ableism and homophobia and transphobia: My Cane is Not a Costume, and an interview with Kathryn Allan on disability in science fiction
These are just a few of the people writing on these issues.
