Writing Dystopian Stories with Hope and Representation with Ivette Diaz
Dystopian fiction often focuses on what’s broken in the world—but in my conversation with author Ivette Diaz, we talked about something way more important: hope.
Ivette writes young adult dystopian stories that center on representation, integrity, and resilience. Her work reminds readers—especially young readers—that even in difficult worlds, courage, compassion, and agency matter.
Writing the Stories You Needed to See
Growing up, Ivette rarely saw herself reflected in the stories she loved. When Latina characters did appear, they were often reduced to stereotypes—oversexualized, flattened, or portrayed as villains. That pissed her off.
So when Ivette began writing her I Am Chronicles series, she made a conscious decision: her children would see themselves on the page as heroes. Not caricatures. Not side characters. Heroes who are powerful and also compassionate. Strong and also ethical. Capable of using their power to help others.
Ivette reminds us that representation isn’t about checking a box. It’s about offering readers a mirror and sometimes a window that tells them: You belong here. You matter.
Choosing Hope in a Dark Genre
Ivette describes her work as genre-blending: sci-fi fantasy, dystopian with hope. Her stories imagine futures where things have gone wrong, but people still have choices. Leadership can come from unexpected places where change is always possible.
That hopeful lens isn’t accidental. In a world that already feels heavy, especially for young readers, Ivette believes stories can offer something more than despair. They can offer possibilities.
Integrity Over Marketability
One of the most honest parts of our conversation centered on the pressure to make stories more “marketable.” Ivette has considered changing covers or softening characters to appeal to a broader audience but each time, she came back to the same truth: doing so would cost her vision and therefore her integrity.
She chose self-publishing in part to protect her creative control over her characters, themes, and values. While that path requires learning new skills and wearing many hats, it allows her stories to remain true to who she is and the vision she has for books.
Writing Through Hard Seasons
Like many writers, Ivette has lived through seasons where writing felt almost impossible. During a particularly difficult period marked by family illness and emotional strain, she couldn’t show up to her work in the ways she thought she “should.”
So she didn’t.
Instead, she honored her reality. She wrote what she could, sometimes just a short piece and sometimes nothing at all. And when she was ready, she returned to her novel with deeper emotional insight than she’d had before.
What helped her through wasn’t grit or hustle. It was community.
Other writers. Honest conversations. Permission to take micro-steps instead of giant leaps. A reminder that pausing doesn’t mean quitting.
Community Over Competition
Ivette shared a truth I want us all to internalize:
We are not competing with one another.
Readers read faster than we can produce our books. There is room for many voices, many stories, many approaches. When we stop treating writing like a zero-sum game, we gain access to something far more sustaining: mutual support.
Referring readers to other authors. Celebrating wins that aren’t your own. Letting yourself be seen in both struggle and success. That’s how a writing life becomes livable and deeply enjoyable.
“You Are Doing Enough”
At the end of our conversation, I asked Ivette what she would want other writers to hear—especially those in hard seasons.
Her answer was simple and powerful:
You are doing enough.
Enough even if you only wrote a sentence today. Enough even if life took precedence. Enough even if the work feels slow.
That reminder—that worth is not measured by output—is something many of us need to hear again and again.
Because writing isn’t just about the stories we put into the world. It’s also about how we choose to show up for ourselves while we create them.
To connect with Ivette, read her books and follow her many adventures, please visit her website, ivettendiaz.com, or find her on IG and Threads at @ivettendiazauthor.
