Writing Fat Characters

A coaching package for writers who want to bring creativity, intention and authenticity to portraying fat bodies.

Writing about fat and plus-sized bodies is fraught.

This is true whether we’re writing about our own lives, or writing fiction. It’s true if we are already versed in at liberation, or if we’re new to it. It can even be true if we as writers identify as fat.

Stereotypes, unconscious bias, and well-worn tropes find their way in. These might look like:

• The reliable but loveless fat best friend 

• The funny fat person who always brings a laugh

• The obedient fat person who is constantly working on becoming thin

• The fat outsider, rejected and alone

• The nefarious fat villain who can’t be trusted

• … The list goes on and on.

This 1-hour coaching session is for writers who want to clear the slate and write fat characters who are realistic, complex, and far less likely to send fat readers into a shame response, in other words — how to write fat characters as people, not cliches. 

This is not a simple progress or a place to get a quick stamp of approval. As with all marginalized groups, there are vast variations in experiences of fatness, including how it intersects with other identities and levels of privilege. This is a place to sink into complexity, ask big questions, self-reflect, and then bring that aliveness to your work.

Sophia will ask questions, give feedback (you’re welcome to send her excerpts before you meet) perhaps walk you to the edges of your comfort zone, and also provide resources for further learning if that’s helpful.