Presenting a new way of thinking about the practice of writing fiction for Black writers and any writer who includes non-white characters in their work, The Black Writer’s Toolbox is a practical guide to crafting authentic Black characters and fictional worlds.
For Black writers, there are connotations within description, language, setting, characterisation and voice when they approach the page that are often overlooked in creative writing instruction. This book seeks to address this gap, offering writers the tools to decolonise their own minds, banish stereotypes and caricatures from their writing and address important contemporary cultural questions.
Helping writers articulate their fully formed characters as well as guiding readers to understand the nuances of writing while Black, the book considers the effect of stereotypes on Black writers and readers, explores the historical implications of language, voice and power, and explains why all writing is not the same. With consideration of sentence structure, senses, scene, point of view, plot, emotion, writing 'self' and ‘other’ and more, each chapter employs examples of literature from Black authors that explore narrative perspective within the cultural, racial and historic contexts of the work, and features writing prompts and exercises around the topics discussed. Calling upon the writings of Yaa Gyasi, Courttia Newland, Bernadine Evaristo, Nalo Hopkinson, Marlon James and Jamaica Kincaid and many more, The Black Writer’s Toolbox is an important corrective to existing literature on the writing process.
By:
Dr Muli Amaye (The University of the West Indies Trinidad and Tobago)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 216mm,
Width: 138mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781350444768
ISBN 10: 1350444766
Pages: 192
Publication Date: 05 February 2026
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgements Introduction: Why is this textbook necessary? Chapter 1: Sentences matter: Using vernacular Chapter 2: Sensual senses: Chapter 3: Being Present: Settings and more settings Chapter 4: Character development: 3D Chapter 5: Creating authentic voices Chapter 6: Differing Points of View Chapter 7: Language and its presentation Chapter 8: Story, Plot and Structure Chapter 9: Writing Self, Writing Other Chapter 10: Using Emotion Effectively Recommended Reading Bibliography Index
Muli Amaye is the Coordinator for the MFA in Creative Writing at The University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobego. A novelist, short story writer and occasional poet, she gained her PhD in creative writing at Lancaster University, UK where she also taught for several years before developing the English programme at Soran University, Northern Iraq. Her novel A House With No Angels was published in 2019 and her short stories have been published in Midnight & Indigo Literary Journal and the anthology Glimpse.
Reviews for The Black Writers' Toolbox: A Practical Guide to Writing Fiction
Born of Amaye's long experience as a writer and educator, this timely book is a confidence-boosting antidote to racist assumptions which dominate the world of creative writing. An essential guide for writers who seek practical guidance on writing Black characters. * Corinne Fowler, Professor of Colonialism and Heritage, University of Leicester, UK *
