The simple fact is that we can never truly know what someone else’s life is like. This is true, of course, of literally anyone, but there is a greater risk of harm when you’re writing characters with marginalized identities that you don’t personally have. For that reason, I think you have a greater responsibility to do everything in your power to get it right.

Now that you've received feedback from your sensitivity reader, this helpful guide can get from comments to revisions.

Sensitivity Readers from the Writing Diversely Directory shared their favorite #ownvoices books and why they love them.

Here is a list of style guides from organizations representing marginalized groups, as well as, journalistic societies. These guides not only define terms but also directly state if they are slang, offensive, or simply outdated. Keep in mind these guides are intended for journalists which is good because they are current and thorough but don't take the context of fiction writing into account.

Your agent should love your story and believe in it enough to pound the proverbial pavement to get it sold. With all the problems with the lack of diversity in published it's important you don't waste your time querying just any person.

One of the best tips I give writers who want to create a character outside of their own identity is, read. Read about the people you want to write about. Read authors who fall into that demographic of your character. Read, read, read.