There’s no creativity without inclusion

Inclusion has been a buzz word in publishing for a while now. But what does it mean? And are we in danger of the focus waning?

What does ‘diversity, equality and inclusion’ (DEI) encompass?

For a long time, talk of diversity only focused on ethnic diversity. Now there’s a greater awareness of the range of people who are missing, marginalised or unrepresented. It’s not just disability, sexuality and gender/gender identity we need to consider, but much more, including age, socio-economic situations and body shape and size.

An inclusive workforce is essential

The industry is known for having a homogenous workforce, which can be self-perpetuating. There are a number of schemes that focus on recruiting a more diverse workforce and actions to ensure publishing is less London-centric. But do those who have traditionally been underrepresented find publishing a welcoming space? Do they stay? Will they be the leaders of the future? We need to ensure that publishing is an industry where anyone can feel that they belong, and one where they can afford to stay. And that will necessitate changes in culture and infrastructure.

In a team where people have a range of lived experiences, differing perspectives are brought to the table. This isn’t specifically about representation, but about different worldviews. And that leads to creativity. With a homogenous workforce, many people will be working in an echo chamber. And that doesn’t lead to innovation. Diversity is essential if we want to continue to be a creative industry.

Could the ‘own voices’ movement be a barrier to creativity?

It’s not just the workforce that is homogenous, but there is also a lack of diversity in who gets published. There are myriad reasons for this, including who has the financial freedom and time to create and pay for courses to hone their skills, and the industry playing it safe by publishing what feels familiar.

Publishers need to proactively seek creatives who have been underrepresented and support them to publication. However, there’s a danger that marginalised creatives feel they must write about their own experiences to get published. Being pigeonholed is another barrier to creativity. Publishing a diverse range of voices should be about ensuring books feature different perspectives, not a tick box for representation.

Whilst writing from experience brings nuance that may otherwise be missed, we face problems when there’s an expectation that marginalised creatives share their personal experience (and struggle to get anything else published). Writing about lived experience should be a choice, not an obligation. Authenticity is vital, as is enabling people to tell their own stories. We must be careful that we don’t say only those with lived experience can represent themselves. Instead we need to ask whether the industry is giving diverse creatives opportunities, regardless of the subject matter.

Creating inclusive content

Obviously, a diverse workforce, and diverse creators, should naturally lead to wider representation in published content. But we need everyone to write outside of their experience if we want to every book to be inclusive. This can be achieved authentically if thorough research is carried out in the early stages of a project, not just tagged on at the end. Rather than this level of research hindering creativity, fully understanding a character enables you to be creative with them, and what they do, without fear of getting it wrong. This allows the story to come first.

Creating inclusive content isn’t just about representation, it’s about who is included, who is inadvertently excluded and what biases are being formed. When a book assumes that all children have a mum and dad, or live with their birth parents, the child in a ‘non-traditional’ family feels ignored and disengages. When ableist words are used, often to denote negativity or ignorance, the disabled reader is shown that their experience isn’t valued.

Making books inclusive is as much about the tone, language and approach as it is about the characters. And here’s yet another barrier to creativity. Editors can generally intuit when something is off, but if they don’t understand the basic principles of inclusion, they can’t necessarily pinpoint what. This leads to second guessing, delays and potentially removing content due to uncertainty.

Is creativity in publishing in crisis?

Publishing is a supposed to be a creative industry. But when publishing lacks true diversity, and diversity (of thought, experience and perspective) is integral to creativity, then we have a big problem. Inclusion in publishing can’t be a fad, or a phase. It needs to be embedded across all aspects of the industry and throughout its infrastructure if publishing is to thrive.